Nuggets: Bad typists with oddly shaped heads wanted
If you'd much rather speak than type, but have a very odd shaped head, then you'll love Labtec's latest offering.
The LVA-7280 ClearVoice Digital Microphone is the world's first, says Labec, headset-free computer microphone. Labtec is keen to stress that although it's been optimised for speech recognition, it'll support any kind of speech-enabled application, such as voice over the Internet and videoconferencing.
The reason you don't need a headset is down to Labtec's proprietary technology called SMART (Signal Matching Array Technology). This means that the microphone can sit on your desk and give the same level of accuracy as a mike mounted on a headset.
Apparently, SMART does this by using four logarithmically spaced microphone elements linked through a digital signal process to detect and cancel background noise.
Another clever little feature is the microphone's Adaptive Beaming feature, which tracks a user's movement in front of it. Which means that you don't have to keep your head fixed in one position, which could be rather painful.
It'll be out early next year for £99.99.
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