Hi, this is Brian Bennett for CNET and right now we're taking a first look at the new Jawbone Era Bluetooth Headset.
This fresh model for 2014 officially hit store shelves January 16 and costs $99.99 by itself or $129.99 bundled with its handy charging case.
Jawbone says it has tweaked, revamped and improved this gadget to outperform its predecessor, the First Era which made its debut back in 2011.
The first thing you'll notice about the New Era is its very, very small size.
It's downright tiny.
In fact Jawbone claims that this device is 42 percent smaller than the one before it.
Frankly, it's the most minute headset I've ever seen.
Hey, I've seen horse pills bigger than this thing; essentially a little black bar also available in silver, brown and red.
The Era consists of an ear bud and soft, silicone ear gel cover and power switch.
The headset's 2 microphones works in conjunction with
the voice activity sensor, the small nub next to the power switch to knock out background noise on calls.
The company has dubbed the solution Noise Assasin 4.0, paired with the new companion app, you can also use the phone to find the Era if you've misplaced it, customize what the main action button does or get tips on how to use the product properly.
Another trick that the app can do is to configure the Era to speak to you in a wide range of custom voices.
For example, there are colorful characters to choose from
including Mobster, Ace, Arcade and Bombshell just to name a few.
And Agenda keeps tabs on all your upcoming meetings.
What's really slick is that the Era will provide alerts for appointments that are about to start.
You can even automatically dial into conference calls with a software smart enough to punch in all those bridge numbers and annoying strings of dial-in codes.
Sounds great but I'd like to see this in action personally.
To charge the Era, either use the micro USB port on back or plug it into
its optional battery case.
So there you have it, I'm Brian Bennett for CNET and you've just taken a first look at the new Jawbone Era.
