Sony Officially Unveils 'Xperia Ear' Smart Wireless Earbud

Sony has officially unveiled 'Xperia Ear', a smart wireless earbud. The earbud lets you send and receive messages, check your schedule, search, and navigate without picking up your phone. 

Xperia Ear is a next-generation wireless ear-piece that brings a new way of communicating, without compromising on enjoying the world around you. It provides you with useful information such as your schedule, weather and the latest news to keep you up-to-date on the go. Powered by Sony’s voice technology, it responds to verbal commands, so you can ask it to make a call, perform an internet search, dictate a message or navigate to a certain location. It enables you to face forward and get things done, for a convenient hands-free experience.

The Xperia Ear connects to Android smartphones via NFC or Bluetooth, communicating with a host application that lets you customize settings. It's unclear if the company plans to release an iOS companion app. 

The soft silicone earbud features IPX2 water-protection, all-day battery, and a case that doubles as a charger. Xperia Ear is set for release this summer.

Notably, Apple is rumored to be working on headphones that are completely wireless without anything connecting the left and right earbuds. They are apparently similar in concept to the Motorola Hint and the Bragi Dash headphones. Additionally, they are said to include a special noise-cancelling microphone system which will enable clearer phone calls and communication with Siri.