SPLIT – Wireless Music Player that Bites

SPLIT, developed by Greenwing Audio from Florida which is currently trying to raise almost half a million dollars on Kickstarter is a completely new type of technology. It is actually not just earphones but an entire music player in your ear including a 256MB memory and a player. The reason for the small memory is the tiny size earbuds which do not have a room for a larger memory (although future models might improve on that if the project will be a success).
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So what is so special about SPLIT? actually, quite a few things. Besides being extremely tiny and wired free, the way SPLIT work is radically different than anything you are familiar with. The earbuds which also function as a player holding up to 24 songs, are controlled using your mouth – more precisely, whenever you bite (even a tiny bite should do) you can skip a track. bite twice and you change the volume. Want to eat or have a gum – no problem – tap the right earbud and the SPLIT get locked pretty cool (and a bit strange…).
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But the developers didn’t stop there. They incorporated a few other interesting features. The SPLIT are magnetic and they charge and load songs using a special USB charger cable from your computer. The SPLIT also use a special crystal clock which syncs the two earbuds without them having to send wireless signals (which would otherwise travel basically through your brain). It also has a tiny accelerometer for monitoring for bites (specific movements of the jaw).
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So who really needs the SPLIT? People doing sports should probably appreciate the tiny size and lack of wires, people who hate wires in general (we know we do) and more or less anybody who doesn’t have chronic ticks in their jaw.
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You do have to keep in mind a few things – SPLIT can’t work with your MP3 player or mobile phone (it has no BT or WIFI) and is basically a dedicated player+ earbuds in one product. Although in reality 24 songs (more or less the capacity of 256MB memory of the device) should be enough for most users for a good 1:30~ hour workout – if you tend to work out more you should get used to listening to your music more than once (the battery itself should be good for around 4 hours). Finally – since they don’t have a wire the earbuds might fall off without you noticing (especially if you pause the music).
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The SPLIT are currently up on Kickstarter for a price of $155 and with less than a month to go they have an ambitious goal of $435k to reach.
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Video showing the SPLIT on Kickstarter