New phone lets users listen with their bones


22 Oct 2007

Rather than trying to hear a mobile phone conversation in a crowded room you can now send the sound directly to your ear through the bones in your skull with bone conduction technology.

South Korean mobile handset producer Pantech has developed a new phone, the Pantech A1407PT, which uses the natural audio amplification qualities of the bones in the human skull.

When placed against the jaw bone, or bone behind your ear, the bone conduction amplifiers in the phone can pick up on lower frequency sounds, most notably the human voice, and channel it straight into the inner ear.

When the Pantech flip-phone is closed over the bone conduction speaker is then held up to anywhere on the skull to transmit the sound.

This phone will be available on the Japanese market from November but no plans have been announced yet to release it in Europe this year.

Bone conduction technology is certainly not a new concept, it has been around for many years and has been previously developed for use in hearing aids as well as MP3 players and headsets.

By Marie Boran