Generally, when we think of advancements in the headphone space, we think of better noise cancellation, improved sound depth, and the like. Well, a new company called MUZIK is aiming to push the market forward, but not in the traditional way. Instead, it's launching a line of connected headphones that allows users to share what they are listening to with the touch of a button.
The headphones feature four touch buttons on the ear, each of which coincides to a different function. Pressing the front one posts the song to Facebook, the rear shares with Twitter, the bottom shares with MUZIK's own network and the top saves songs to a playlist. It's actually quite similar to the way we use smartphones to share photos through services like Instagram, but with music as the medium.
The device connects to a smartphone through Bluetooth, which is how it is able to wirelessly play music from services like Spotify and Rdio. This is also how it's able to share, since it requires the internet capabilities of the smartphone to connect to social networking websites.
While sharing on Facebook and Twitter is what might attract buyers initially, the company is hoping to turn MUZIK into a platform. It is reaching out to developers to make creative use of the connected functions, which could lead to some pretty slick advancements.
The headphones also come with an onboard accelerometer, which could come in handy for features like automatically pausing music when a user removes them from his or her ears.
The company is certainly promoting the social features of the earphones, but it hasn't provided much information about the actually sound quality. It did say that they boast "high-fidelity audio" and that they feature noise cancellation, though it didn't specify if it's active or passive.
MUZIK's new headphones will ship in the fourth quarter of 2013. The company did not reveal final pricing, but reports indicate that they will sell for US$299 for the flagship model. Presales are expected to begin in coming weeks.
