The much-talked-about (by yours truly and curiously nobody else in the tech racket) Sony Xperia Ear has now launched globally. From Sony:

 Consider yourself reminded that Xperia Ear – Sony Mobile’s intelligent personal assistant – is going to be landing in stores across the world from this week.

First unveiled back at MWC in February, Xperia Ear is a whole new way to get the info you need, when you need it, all via an oh-so-small and surprisingly comfortable earpiece.

Not only does it handle the usual phone functions using voice control (make and receive calls, listen to and compose text messages), Xperia Ear comes into its own as a nifty personal assistant. It can deliver a heads-up on your schedule, give you directions, inform you of the weather and plenty more. 

One problem I have with Xperia Ear has been the lack of information surrounding the product. It’s as if Sony isn’t even acknowledging it, which is quite different from when Apple launches AirPods, and that’s unfortunate. First, this leaves those interested in a state of flux as they’re unsure what exactly they’re getting themselves into – and second, if this is ushering in a new era of technology where we begin to inject AI into devices that we wear, shouldn’t Sony be banging on every drum they can to bring attention to it?

For example, some questions I’ve always had about Xperia Ear is the extent of its functionality. I’d previously put together a list of commands provided by Sony, but the Xperia Ear can do more.

 It will read out incoming texts, WhatsApp or Facebook messages and allow you to initiate a response with a simple nod and then reply instantly with your voice. 

But I’ll be damned if there is any clear portal from Sony that gets into details about the list of app compatibility. Another piece of information that had eluded me till now is exactly which devices would work with Xperia Ear. We now know:

 Host application compatibility: Android version 4.4 KitKat or later. Bluetooth profile: A2DP, AVRCP, HFP 

And finally, I sure as hell would love to know what the personal assistant that’s about to be strapped onto my head for countless hours throughout the day (if Sony had it their way) sounds when you interact with it, but I’ve yet to see a single video in which we hear it talk. Some highlights from its listing:

• Lightweight and comfortable (6.6 grams). soft silicone inner earpiece with several customizable gel caps. Metallic finish on the outer part of the earpiece and IPX2 rating water protection.
• Voice command technology with Dual microphones, noise suppression, and echo cancellation.
• Accelerometer, gyroscope, and proximity sensors that turn the ear on automatically once inserted and allow you to use head gesture commands.
• Storage case that doubles as a portable charging unit with 300Mah lithium-ion battery provides up to 16 hours of Talk time and up to 80 hours of use on standby with standard USB charging.

If none of the unknown is a deal breaker for you or you’d like to give one a try anyway, the Xperia Ear is now available worldwide, including in the US through Amazon with a near $200 price tag. Think you’ll give it a shot?