The Jawbone Era is a Bluetooth headset. But, it's not the Bluetooth headset you're thinking about. This one lets you talk to Siri, make phone calls, listen to music, and do anything you would normally do while starting at your phone screen - only, you don't have to stare at your screen in order to use the Era.

How It Works

The Era sits, comfortably, in your ear and looks every bit the Bluetooth headset part. It has one button that you can push to talk to Siri or to do pretty much anything else. The beauty of this earpiece is that you don't have to unlock your phone or really even look at it. You do have to wear the Bluetooth earpiece, though.

Jawbone's Era landing page shows a bunch of young and hip people using the Era. One has to wonder, though, if the stigma of the Bluetooth piece can be shaken. In so many ways, the Bluetooth earpiece looks like old technology. With headphone cords that allow you to make calls, earpieces are often considered a thing of the past. How will Jawbone break past this image?

Through Usefulness

One way to bust the image of the ancient Bluetooth earpiece is to make a product that's truly useful. If the Era proves to be something that people want because it's needed, Jawbone might have something to work with. The question is: would you pay to have this earpiece?

I can see a lot of usefulness here. It's a pain to unlock a phone every time you want to use Siri or to do anything else. Speaking directly to your earpiece would be a much faster and simpler way to accomplish tasks. Jawbone's site shows a woman cooking and asking her earpiece cooking tips. Siri then responds through the earpiece, and that's how the woman continues to cook. From this perspective the Era makes a good deal of sense.

Design

The Era includes a sleek enough design that's a lot compacter and lighter than previous Bluetooth earpieces. It comes in various colors, and Jawbone claims that the earbud part of the earpiece fits very well into any ear (which is a problem with most earpieces). From the looks of the device, it seems as though Jawbone's claims are certainly true.

Jawbone's Era retails for $129, which is a high price to pay considering the stigma still attached to Bluetooth earpieces. Then again, it all goes back to the point of whether or not you'd use one. If the Era is what you've been missing, coughing up that $129 for the earpiece might make a lot of sense (though you may get some stares and giggles for wearing a Bluetooth earpiece).

Can you see yourself using the Era? Is this the earpiece that you've been waiting for? Have you tried it? even though the Era is a great idea, I'm not sure that many people will want to regress to Bluetooth earpiece days. What do you think?