These earbuds are straight off of Spike Jonze film Her. Sony’s Xperia Ear is more than just a pair of wireless earbuds with voice capabilities; it acts as a personal assistant meant for everyday use as a companion.
With much of the same functionality as Google Assistant, Siri or Cortana, Sony has integrated a companion app with a headset designed specifically for this purpose.
Granted you cannot converse with it the same way you would with Scarlett Johansson (although hopefully Sony would have ScarJo record a voice template for the headset), the Xperia Ear updates users on their schedules and messages, and can tell them the time, the weather, give them facts, and even real-time directions when asked.
Another neat thing about it is that it has a proximity sensor, a gyroscope and an accelerometer built in so that it knows if it is in use or not, and can even read a nod as a confirmation for a command.
Hardware-wise the earbuds are splash-resistant, and have dual microphones, noise suppression and echo cancellation. They come with a charging case and can run for up to 4 hours of talk time or up to 80 hours of stand-by.
The Xperia Ear is currently shipping to Sony stores across the world and will be compatible solely with Android devices.