Pioneer have introduced a new line of Lightning powered products for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch : Rayz and Rayz Plus earphones, and the the Rayz Rally conference speaker. 

All three of these brand new appcessories use Apple’s Lightning connector, the Avnera Corporation’s LightX platform, and a dedicated iOS app to provide functions which where impossible when using a standard 3.5mm jack. These function include :

Talk and Charge : All of these appcessories are powered thanks to the lightning connector, meaning you won’t need additional batteries. Also, the Rayz Plus earphones and Rayz Rally allow for pass-through charging of your Apple device.

Smart Noise Cancellation : A patented technology that scans your ear and optimises the noise-cancelling performance uniquely to your ear and environment. In addition, while other noise cancelling products focus on noise for frequent flyers, Rayz earphones deliver noise cancellation across the entire noise spectrum of everyday life – from commuting, to work, or play and school environments. Rayz also has HearThru mode, designed to let in just the right amount of outside noise so you can stay in touch with your surroundings without taking your earphones off.

On-Ear Detection : The Rayz and Rayz Plus earphones use embedded microphones to implement sensor-less on-ear detection where the earphones know when they are in or out of your ear and automatically pause and restart your content so you don’t miss a moment of music or video. Rayz smartly enters a low power mode and saves you from accidental battery use if you do not put the earphones back on.

High Quality Sound : Munenori Otsuki, CEO Onkyo & Pioneer Corporation, had this to say : “Rayz Rally delivers a surprising level of audio volume and call clarity, a level typically experienced from larger conference phone systems, despite its small size. Rally gives consumers the ability to instantly create a conference call for one person or a whole team by simply plugging Rally into the Lightning port of your iPhone. This performance is made possible by Avnera’s patent-pending analog and acoustic audio technology.  In addition to great voice quality, Rally sounds great for music listening too.” Rally also automatically knows what mode its being used in – for conference calling or listening to music.  Rally will optimise the audio for crystal clear phone calls or engaging music playback

Plug and Play : All of the Rayz products are plug and play, allowing for hassle free use.

Rayz Companion App : Available on the App Store, the Rayz by Pioneer app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch enables you to personalise the settings like adjusting audio EQ and programming the smart button.  Most importantly, the app creates the ability for Rayz products to continually improve with the delivery of new features via the software update interface.

“We worked closely with Pioneer on Rally to address the needs of today’s mobile consumers without compromising battery life, product size or performance,” said Manpreet Khaira, CEO of Avnera Corporation. “This is made possible by the breakthrough innovations in audio, voice, speech and sensor circuits in Avnera’s new LightX Platform that is the basis of Apple’s second generation Lightning audio module technology.”