After experimenting with almost every Bluetooth headset, I'm back where I started with the Aliph Jawbone, but with a shiny new one, which is 50% smaller than the original, with improved noise elimination technology ( amusingly called "NoiseAssassin" technology).

"Military-grade" NoiseAssassin technology - Aliph develops technology for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, you see - means the Jawbone literally feels your speech with its patented Voice Activity Sensor (VAS) and distinguishes the sound of your voice from ambient real-life noise. (I couldn't test it with Cluster bombs going off in the background, but found the closest comparison - a car filled with raucous teenage girls, all talking at the same time.)

Just like the old model, the Jawbone II is simple to use. Two streamlined buttons are operated by touching the outside shield, and they control all the functions of the headset, which is extremely lightweight at just 10 grams.

A nice touch is the customizable feature so it even fits my petite ears by providing three sizes of earbuds and four earloops that can be worn on either ear - two sizes of soft, stitched leather earloops and two sizes of slim earloops, ideal for use with eyeglasses.

Compatible with all Bluetooth-enabled phones, the new Jawbone supports more than four hours of talk time and eight days of standby time. Featuring a new fast-charge battery that charges up to 80% of capacity in just over half an hour, the new Jawbone can be charged with the included USB cable on a computer, or with the wall-charger.

Available in black, silver and the new "rose gold" (more like a dull yellow actually), it's $129 at the Jawbone store, and is also available from Amazon.

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