I just checked with my GPS, and I could get it to 400 feet outside. I had to stand real still, and had to point the earpiece towards my house, but I could talk.
350 feet was more reliable. I got a few gaps in sound here and there, but it was ok.
250-300 feet was just fine. I would get sound gaps if I was walking towards or away from my house, (doppler effect...).
I would say the effective range is 250-300 feet, (I live in a semi-rural area, so your results may vary...)
(Noah Bergevin here. I finally got the whole registration thing worked out...)
To start out with, I'd like to set the record straight. I don't work for ArialPhone, and I haven't and will not receive one red cent from anyone for my opinions.
I've been using this product for about a month and a half, and I like it. It suits my needs in my home-office environment.
I think a few of the readers are missing some key points.
First off, the ArialPhone isn't all things to all people. Every situation has a different need, and a different set of solutions. This one seems to fit my needs and my situation.
It isn't a cell phone. It's a cordless phone. How often do you take a cordless phone to a noisy environment like Grand Central Station? Some cell phones do have voice dialing, but how many rely almost completely on voice commands for operating the phone?
It isn't Bluetooth. I'm a big fan of Bluetooth, and am eagerly awaiting it's acceptance into the mainstream. However, I don't think Bluetooth would make a very good cordless phone; I think it would have the range of a $15 pair of walkie-talkies. Bluetooth is meant to be the RF link in a Personal Area Network in the 2.4ghz spectrum, amongst other devices fighting for bandwidth, (802.11b, HomeRF, Microwave Lighting, etc). 900mhz digital cordless phones have proven themselves as being able to "play nice with each other" for quite some time.
Voice Recognition isn't perfect, but there are some things you can do to make it useable. First off, the Voice Recognition software that comes with the ArialPhone doesn't have the full Oxford English Dictionary to try to guess what you are trying to say. It has a very simple dictionary, composed only of the phone commands, numbers, and the names of the Contacts from your address book. Voice Recognition does a lot better on a multiple-choice test than a sort essay, (as do the rest of us). If it knows that the first word you are going to say is either "Call", "Dial", "Hang-Up", "Mute", "Hold", "Press", "Flash", or "Cancel", it has a pretty good chance of getting it right. I also have a scaled-down list of contacts in my address book instead of everyone in my Outlook Contacts; fewer choices mean it has a better chance of getting a good match, and during a normal work day you probably only call a handful of people on a regular basis. Sure, it has a hard time hearing you with the kid screaming in your ear, but the person on the other end probably can't hear you very well either; it's time to take a second and find out what's wrong with the kid before continuing w/ your conversaion.
Yes, it does require Windows. It was a business call that ArialPhone made as a Startup Company, and who is to say that down the road they won't decide to release a Linux/Mac verion of the software.
This really isn't a home phone, (unless you can shell out the cash). It's an Office tool. It's designed for helping with the day-to-day communications needed to complete whatever business process you're into. It is useful for not only automating the process, but being able to improve on the form factor, (I don't know how many times I've yanked the earpiece out of my other cordless phone while walking past the chair...). I can wear the earpiece around all day comfortably, and not have to worry about where I left the old bulky cordless.
Lastly, this isn't the end-all-be-all of Telephony. There are already phones that do much the same thing - talk to people seperated by some distance. But, why didn't we stop at the two-tin-cans-and-string? This is just a step in the evolutionary process of communication devices. This will die out in it's time, and another newer, fancier, more technilogically advanced verion will take it's place. I'm just glad to see it moving in an upwards direction.
ArialPhone doesn't include software to control X10. That's where Misterhouse comes in.
This hardware can be used to pipe sound from the ArialPhone into the Windows box to interface with the MisterHouse Voice Interface.
ArialPhone has recently release a software package that will let the ArialPhone act as a wireless headset mic to pump sound to and from the computer. Any Voice software can be used with the ArialPhone hardware.
Slashdot Mirror
I just checked with my GPS, and I could get it to 400 feet outside. I had to stand real still, and had to point the earpiece towards my house, but I could talk.
350 feet was more reliable. I got a few gaps in sound here and there, but it was ok.
250-300 feet was just fine. I would get sound gaps if I was walking towards or away from my house, (doppler effect...).
I would say the effective range is 250-300 feet, (I live in a semi-rural area, so your results may vary...)
- Noah
In case any one is wondering, this was from me before I registered.
- Noah
There, I got the Slashdot Registration thing worked out. Yes, this is me, Noah Bergevin.
(Noah Bergevin here. I finally got the whole registration thing worked out...)
To start out with, I'd like to set the record straight. I don't work for ArialPhone, and I haven't and will not receive one red cent from anyone for my opinions.
I've been using this product for about a month and a half, and I like it. It suits my needs in my home-office environment.
I think a few of the readers are missing some key points.
First off, the ArialPhone isn't all things to all people. Every situation has a different need, and a different set of solutions. This one seems to fit my needs and my situation.
It isn't a cell phone. It's a cordless phone. How often do you take a cordless phone to a noisy environment like Grand Central Station? Some cell phones do have voice dialing, but how many rely almost completely on voice commands for operating the phone?
It isn't Bluetooth. I'm a big fan of Bluetooth, and am eagerly awaiting it's acceptance into the mainstream. However, I don't think Bluetooth would make a very good cordless phone; I think it would have the range of a $15 pair of walkie-talkies. Bluetooth is meant to be the RF link in a Personal Area Network in the 2.4ghz spectrum, amongst other devices fighting for bandwidth, (802.11b, HomeRF, Microwave Lighting, etc). 900mhz digital cordless phones have proven themselves as being able to "play nice with each other" for quite some time.
Voice Recognition isn't perfect, but there are some things you can do to make it useable. First off, the Voice Recognition software that comes with the ArialPhone doesn't have the full Oxford English Dictionary to try to guess what you are trying to say. It has a very simple dictionary, composed only of the phone commands, numbers, and the names of the Contacts from your address book. Voice Recognition does a lot better on a multiple-choice test than a sort essay, (as do the rest of us). If it knows that the first word you are going to say is either "Call", "Dial", "Hang-Up", "Mute", "Hold", "Press", "Flash", or "Cancel", it has a pretty good chance of getting it right. I also have a scaled-down list of contacts in my address book instead of everyone in my Outlook Contacts; fewer choices mean it has a better chance of getting a good match, and during a normal work day you probably only call a handful of people on a regular basis. Sure, it has a hard time hearing you with the kid screaming in your ear, but the person on the other end probably can't hear you very well either; it's time to take a second and find out what's wrong with the kid before continuing w/ your conversaion.
Yes, it does require Windows. It was a business call that ArialPhone made as a Startup Company, and who is to say that down the road they won't decide to release a Linux/Mac verion of the software.
This really isn't a home phone, (unless you can shell out the cash). It's an Office tool. It's designed for helping with the day-to-day communications needed to complete whatever business process you're into. It is useful for not only automating the process, but being able to improve on the form factor, (I don't know how many times I've yanked the earpiece out of my other cordless phone while walking past the chair...). I can wear the earpiece around all day comfortably, and not have to worry about where I left the old bulky cordless.
Lastly, this isn't the end-all-be-all of Telephony. There are already phones that do much the same thing - talk to people seperated by some distance. But, why didn't we stop at the two-tin-cans-and-string? This is just a step in the evolutionary process of communication devices. This will die out in it's time, and another newer, fancier, more technilogically advanced verion will take it's place. I'm just glad to see it moving in an upwards direction.
Just my $0.02.
- Noah Bergevin
ArialPhone doesn't include software to control X10. That's where Misterhouse comes in.
This hardware can be used to pipe sound from the ArialPhone into the Windows box to interface with the MisterHouse Voice Interface.
ArialPhone has recently release a software package that will let the ArialPhone act as a wireless headset mic to pump sound to and from the computer. Any Voice software can be used with the ArialPhone hardware.
- Noah