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Doppler Labs, the company behind Here One smart earbuds, has announced that it's shutting down all operations today, as reported by Wired.
Founded in 2013, Doppler Labs debuted the prototype of its Here Active Listening System two years later in 2015. The battery-powered earbuds, according to Doppler Labs founder and CEO Noah Kraft, were built to enhance sound in the world around you. By using the accompanying app, users could, in theory, apply any manner of EQ settings that did everything from reduce overwhelming bass frequencies at a concert to dim the midrange chatter of co-workers while in an office. Kraft's vision for Doppler's future was an compelling idea — "we want to put a computer, speaker, and mic in everyone's ear" — but the Here Active Listening System was met with mixed reviews.
[...] Unfortunately, in bringing Here One to market the company was met with a raft of problems. According to Wired, a manufacturer change pushed production delivery from the fall 2016 to February 2017. There was also bad news on the battery front. The company hoped to offer 4.5 hours of battery life using augmented hearing and three hours of music streaming, but the unit's Bluetooth chip wound up diminishing those expectations.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday November 03 2017, @02:22PM (1 child)
Google is trying to one-up [theverge.com] Apple's AirPods with real-time translation. Under $250. The future for this category of devices is looking better than ever, and if it's hackable, FDA medical device restrictions could be bypassed.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by meustrus on Friday November 03 2017, @03:07PM
Just as long as anybody trying to make money off it still has to deal with the regulations. People so easily forget that there's a difference between sharing and selling, and it has to do with the incentive to push snake oil.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?