Published in IoT

Intel powered IoT SMS Audio headphones shipping

by on05 December 2014



€169.90 in EU, $149.95 in USA

There is a crazy trend in America, hip hop artists are founding headphone companies and in the process manage to outgun some big names like Bose or Sennheiser, who have been doing this for a while. Beats Audio, now owed by Apple, has become a huge name. SMS Audio, created by Curtis Jackson better known as 50 Cent is not that far behind. (Fudzilla prefers Curtis Mayfield. Ed)

Beats hit a billion dollar jackpot and 50 Cent's outfit may also 'Get rich or die trying'. The company made a deal with Intel and SMS Audio just started selling BioSport headphones powered by Intel. It's a part of Intel's Internet of Things (IoT) push. Wearable technologies are just part of IoT and there is a rush to enter and dominate this emerging market.

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SMS Audio BioSport In-Ear Wired Ear Buds have heart monitor and come with RunKeeper support. Back at IDF 2014 we saw the headphones and talked to one of the company representatives, who told us that SMS Audio headphones actually have a heart rate sensor, not an SoC inside. The SMS Audio company representative told us that Intel is behind the sensor that does the heart rate measuring.

Intel on the other hand explained its contribution to these headphones a bit better. Intel is branding the products as Intel inside, as Intel IP and technology are integrated in the product. Intel contributes key IP to the design. The chipmaker wrote the firmware that powers the features, designed the layout and circuitry, and handled the system’s integration. That’s quite a lot from Intel if you ask us.

The way in-ear headphone heart rate tracking works is that the ear-wing is design to sit deep in the ear canal, continuously measuring the heart rate and filtering out other types of noise. There should be an optical sensor that tracks the bloodstream under your skin. SMS Audio is using an photomechanical sensor that shines light against the skin inside your ear to detect your pulse with a goal to generate a reading. Jabra Sport Pulse Wireless uses a similar approach but being wireless and using the Bluetooth needs to be charged via USB port.

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BioSport In-Ear Wired Ear Buds are powered from your phone's headphone jack. They use the power that usually goes to the microphone which means you won't be able to use the heart rate monitor and the microphone at the same time. The official product page lists only a handful phones that will work with BioSport In-Ear Wired Ear Bud With Heart Monitor

The list includes all Apple phones including Apple iPhone 4S, Apple iPhone 5, Apple iPhone 5S, Apple iPhone 5C, Apple iPhone 6, Apple iPhone 6 Plus. If prefer Android you can use the headphones with Samsung Galaxy Note II, Samsung Galaxy Grand II Duos, Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy S5, LG Nexus 5, Motorola Moto X.

We were surprised to see that there are no Intel Inside phones like the Asus Zenfone, Lenovo K900, Motorola Razr I or less known Etisalat E-20 or some other popular phone brands including many LG, HTC, Sony phones. We still hope it will work with the rest of Android phones too.

 

Last modified on 29 December 2014
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