BostonPocketPC

I had the misfortune of losing my New Jawbone 2 falling out of my ear and having it run over by a car, because I was wearing it without the earloop and thought the earbud would have been good enough, but I was wrong. :(

Passing car 1 / Jawbone 0

Luckily I still have an older version of the Jawbone as a replacement, but it had a broken earloop(actually several) - after being placed in my pocket the earloop snapped off wear it slides into the pivot hole-it takes a bit of work to get the broken piece out too. I went through them all and tried to get a replacement from Aliph, but they don’t sell them anymore. I contacted them and received swift reply that they could ship me a set of earloops for free with a proof of purchase. I got it as a gift so I have no proof of purchase just a broken Jawbone. However all isn’t lost they have a New Fit Earbud that is also free and just costs $2.99 shipping and handling. I sprung on it and got it in a few days via postal mail.

It comes in a nice plastic bag with directions on the back.

Descriptions from Jawbone website:

You Ask, We listen

• Because every ear is unique, we developed a new earbud to give you more options for personal fit and comfort.
• Want to wear Jawbone without an earloop? For most users, our New Fit Earbuds make using the earloop optional.
• Our New Fit Earbud comes in 3 sizes (sm, md, lg).

The Science

• The New Fit Earbuds are a different shape, made from a US Pharmacopoeia grade material and a rear mounted integrated loop that provides a suspension-bridge effect to fit snugly into your ear.
• The body of the earbud is a suspended form that acts like a pneumatic cushion (or tire), proving to be more conforming and consequently comfortable than the traditional solid round (doughnut)-shaped earbud.
• The rear mounted integrated loop acts like a spring to help orient the headset, gently pushing the headset toward the user’s cheek so that the Voice Activity Sensor touches your face to feel when the user is speaking.

You get three different sizes in the bag and I have found it secure enough to hold my original Jawbone. I personally found the large size to work best for me and it still remains easily pocketable and can fit many makeshift storage cases, where the earloop presented many storage problems.

Many people have modified their Jawbones with Jabra Softgels, but usually required some sort of adhesive to keep them on. Most used CA - cyanoacrylate aka SuperGlue. I am not too keen on having that near or in my ear, so I passed on that mod. If you own or have used the Plantronics Discovery 925 headset, they will look pretty familiar to you because they are simply black versions of the 925 clear ear gels.

It’s enough to hold me over until the Jawbone 3 with Bluetooth 3.0 comes out. :)

I think its great when companies see a flaw and correct it and evolving their product to keep their customers happy.