With about 6 hours of talk time using two AA batteries and with a range of 150 feet, the 900MHz wireless headset communicates to the Base Station, which attaches to the computer via a standard USB cable, and to a telephone through a standard jack. The Base Station has two battery charging slots so there will always be a fully charged battery available. If the battery runs low during a phone conversation, the earset will generate an alert. The phone connection will be held while the user replaces the battery. The ArialPhone has a battery standby time of four to five days.
ArialPhone's software will only work on PCs running Windows98 Second Edition, Windows2000, or WindowsME operating systems. ArialPhone will not work on Windows95, and there is no plan to offer a Mac version at this time.
ArialPhone Corp.; 847-949-3173; www.arialphone.com; $399
--Jamie McAfee
This article was originally published on December 10, 2001