We did talk about how Kyocera explored the possibility of bone conduction technology being used in smartphones recently after CTIA 2012 concluded, and it did not take too long for Kyocera to make an announcement concerning the first slew of devices which will be relying on this unique form of audio technology – first off with the Kyocera Urbano Progresso and the Kyocera K012 Simple Mobile Phone. These two devices will feature Kyocera’s Smart Sonic Receiver technology, doing away with the traditional earpiece speaker.
Just what does Kyocera Urbano Progresso do? For starters, it will come in a slab-style form factor, where you will get the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system right out of the box, coupled with a 4″ WVGA (480 x 800 pixel) OLED display. This is the complete product, and not the prototype that was spotted at CTIA 2012. Since there is no earpiece speaker, it will employ Kyocera’s tissue conduction technology instead in order to send sound picked up to the user. This technology will vibrate the whole front of the device, which in turn emits sound waves. Whenever the handset touches the users ear, the sound waves will be transmitted straight to the user’s eardrum, making it a snap to hear what is being said on the other end even if you are in the midst of a rave party.
As for the K012 Simple Mobile Phone, it certainly lives up to its name, offering similar technology that has been crammed into a simpler, flip phone with a traditional keypad. Expect both models to arrive in Japan via KDDI.
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