Aliph recently released a new version of its popular Jawbone Bluetooth headset that’s smaller and lighter than the original, and Apple may be releasing new iPhone models soon. The two combined could turn out to be a great match in the ever growing sea of wireless headset options.

I was in a local Best Buy recently when I passed by a woman staring blankly at the dizzying selection of Bluetooth cellphone headsets available. I happened to be wearing my Jawbone headset and, figuring she was stumped at deciding which headset to buy I stopped and said, "If you’re looking for a good headset you can’t go wrong with the Jawbone."

She looked at me with the same blank stare until I showed my headset and explained the high points, and the few drawbacks of the device. It turns out that she wasn’t necessarily looking for a headset, but was just trying to get a idea what to get her technophobic husband for his birthday. She picked one up anyway saying, "If he doesn’t use it I will."

She thanked me for the information and headed to the cashier.

Since last year, right before the release of the iPhone, I got a chance to take Aliph’s new noise canceling Bluetooth headset, oddly called The Jawbone, for a test run. I’ve been recommending the device to anyone who’ll listen ever since; I liked the headset that much.

Aliph hasn’t been resting on its laurels, and the company has released a new version of the Jawbone which it claims is 50 percent smaller than the original, yet retained, and even improved, on the device’s stellar noise canceling ability.

From the Aliph press release:

Aliph, the established market leader in noise eliminating Bluetooth headsets, today introduced the new Jawbone Bluetooth headset. In the tradition of bringing together science and beauty, the new Jawbone design is 50 percent smaller than the original award-winning Jawbone, and features breakthrough noise elimination technology to provide even better voice quality than the original in a smaller and more ergonomic package.

The new Jawbone headset is the next step in the marriage of best in class noise elimination science with a personal design that is both humanistic and minimal. The new Jawbone features military-grade NoiseAssassin technology, which is unmatched in its ability to address real-world noise environments like busy streets, and cars and airports, and has ten times better voice clarity than competing headsets -- meaning it transmits 90 percent less noise.

Read the full press release here.

Smaller, lighter, prettier, the new Jawbone could be just the thing to go along with the much rumored new iPhone. It is available at AT&T retail stores and the Jawbone Web site for US$129.99.