"Motion-activated" earbuds sense when they're in, out of your ears

Want to pause your tunes? Just yank one of the earbuds out of your ear. Ready to start listening again? Plug the earbud back in. Pretty cool, as long as you've got a Sony Ericsson phone handy.

Announced early Monday morning, the MH907 headset looks like your standard pair of earbuds with an in-line microphone, except these babies come packing Sony Ericsson's "SensMe Control" technology, good for detecting whether the buds themselves are stuck in your ears.

Here's how they work: Whenever you're ready to start listening to your music, just plug the earphones into your ears and your tunes will start automatically. Need to pause? Just take one earbud out of your ear. Call coming in? Take an earbud out and put it back in.

Nice, but as usual, there's a catch: the MH907 headset won't work with just any cell phone. Instead, you'll need a Sony Ericsson phone with a "Fast Port" connector. Bah.

It's still not clear when the "motion-activated" MH907 will arrive in the U.S., although SlashGear reports that the headset will arrive in Europe this week for 39 euros (US$57).

Related:
Press release