Philips Tapster--photos

Although the Philips Tapster won early praise for it's sleek and unique design, the product will never set foot on a retail shelf.

Jasmine France

Nov. 2, 2009 5:21 p.m. PT

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Josh Miller/CNET

On first blush, the Philips Tapster appears to be a sleek but fairly standard on-ear, stereo Bluetooth headset, with a single cable connecting the two modules.

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Josh Miller/CNET

In fact, the outer shell is merely a base and control panel that is attached to small, earplug-style earbuds that are inserted into the ear and twisted in for fit.

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Josh Miller/CNET

Though they are not pictured, the package included a set of detachable earclips that were to help ensure a secure fit.

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Josh Miller/CNET

The real show-stealer with these headphones are the touch-sensitive ear modules. Although you can't see the indicators in this photo, the right earpiece offers up controls for volume and play/pause/call answer. Swiping your finger across adjusts volume, whereas tapping pauses playback.

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Josh Miller/CNET

The left earpiece includes the remainder of the touch-sensitive controls. Tapping the outer shell stops playback, while swiping your finger skips forward or back a track.

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Josh Miller/CNET

A hard case was also included in the package to protect the rather fragile-seeming headset. This wasn't particularly easy to use, either, so don't feel too bad about not being able to get one.