Deveillance's new gadget wants to jam eavesdropping smart devices

Every smart device in your room is listening for a wake word, and in the age of AI, those passive audio feeds make prime training data. Hardware startup Deveillance just revealed the Spectre I, a portable gadget purpose-built to stop nearby microphones from eavesdropping on your sensitive chats.

Traditional audio jammers usually blast white noise or heavy static, which ruins normal face-to-face conversation. Deveillance founder Aida Baradari says the Spectre I takes a completely different route. The portable box first scans the room to detect microphones embedded in phones, laptops, and speakers. It then emits targeted signals calibrated to confuse how mic hardware captures human speech, turning any recorded audio into a garbled, unintelligible mess while humans in the room talk completely unimpeded.

There is, however, a massive catch. The product is still in active development, meaning zero independent benchmarks exist yet to verify if it actually works across various phone and speaker models. Deveillance expects initial shipments in the second half of 2026. While the company has not revealed the final retail price, pre-orders are open right now for a hefty, refundable $1,199 deposit.

Why it matters

We think the Spectre I zeroes in on a genuine modern anxiety. As tech giants stuff conversational AI into everything from watches to conference speakers, sensitive business negotiations and private legal meetings face constant surveillance risks. A hardware tool that disables recording without forcing participants to scream over static sounds like a dream for high-profile execs and lawyers.

Should you pre-order it today? Absolutely not. Tying up $1,199 on a refundable deposit for an unverified device slated for late 2026 is an enormous gamble. The concept is undeniably clever, but microphones vary drastically across different phone vendors and MEMS suppliers. Pulling off reliable, universal interference without hurting humans will be a serious engineering hurdle, and until we see real-world tear-downs, this remains an expensive promise.