Okay, so there are about a gazillion iPod speaker docks out there these days. And to be honest, most of them aren’t worth your time or money. Sure they allow easy playback of your iPod’s music over speakers, but most are ugly (or poor knock offs of other designs) and they rarely sound good. Of course there are exceptions. B&W’s Zeppelin is one good example of a great dock. Its styling isn’t for everyone, but I think it’s a great looker, and definitely a great sounder. Unfortunately that’ll set you back $600! Enter the Vestalife Lady bug.

Continue reading Cute as a bug, and sounds great to boot: Vestalife Ladybug

Filed under: Gadgets | Technology, Home Audio, Portable Audio — Santi @ 9:04 am

If you’re not familiar with Etón, they make cool portable radios that are powered via battery, crank, and solar power. Radios have FM, AM, and NOAA (weather) tuners. They also include cables to attach your phone to the device, so you can use the solar cells or hand crank to charge up. Some of the fancier models have flashlights, sirens, and two-way walkie-talkies built in as well.

They have found maybe the best possible partner: The American Red Cross. Red Cross provides help to those in need after natural disasters. Etón radios provide the ability to keep up to date on news and announcements even if you have no access to batteries or wall-power.

I played with some of the Etón products when I was at CES, and I think these are solid products. They may be a bit pricey, but they are well constructed and provide features that others simply just don’t have. In addition, when you buy an American Red Cross by Etón product, a portion of your purchase goes to help rebuild communities that have been hit by natural disasters.

You can check out the Etón line at Amazon.com.

Filed under: Gadgets | Technology, Portable Audio — Santi @ 8:06 am

While its profile reminds me of something I might see in a hair salon back in the 70s, this zeppelin shaped desk ornament is actually a speaker designed specifically for iPod use. I know football shapes are cool and all, but I’m not sure I’m onboard with this shape and it’s popularity with iPod speakers (B&W Zeppelin). It’s hard to tell from the pictures if this new unit has a nice classy glossy feel, or a cheap plasticy glossy feel. At $349.99, one would hope that it’s the former. One would also hope that this speaker can give out some decent sound. With two 44mm drivers and 5W per channel, I bet this baby can get pretty loud. However, the speaker shape and orientation is something I’ve never encountered before. I’m assuming from the price (dangerous–I know not the most reliable source), that it is capable of at least tolerable sound reproduction, but I’d really love to hear one for myself to confirm this.

If you’ve got the cash, and want something that most guests will likely confuse for a desk lamp, you can swing by Audio Cubes to pick up the Maxell MXSP-4000.TD Time Domain Speaker for $349.99.

Filed under: Art | Design, Gadgets | Technology, Home Audio, Portable Audio — Santi @ 9:12 am

Does your car have a cassette tape player but no MP3 jack? Want to listen to MP3s in the car, but don’t like seeing all those wires associated with having an MP3 player + charger + cassette tape adapter?

Well, why don’t you give this little device a try. It’s an MP3 player that functions both as a standalone unit or as a MP3 player for your cassette deck.

Continue reading Put that old cassette player to use and play MP3s!

Filed under: Cars | Transportation, Gadgets | Technology, Portable Audio — Santi @ 7:35 am

Been hurtin for a decent little PMP, but didn’t feel like coughing up the dough? Well Buy.com is now selling the refurbished Archos 404 portable media players for $110 with free shipping! That $110 gets you a 3.5″ (320×240) screen and 30GB of storage. You can even use it to record video, or playback video on a television. It displays and plays nearly every common format (even PDFs), although unfortunately I don’t think it supports any lossless audio formats. Still, pretty sweet deal if you ask me. I haven’t personally had a chance to play with this device, however it seems to get pretty decent reviews (cnet review).

[source Buy.com via Audiojunkies]

Filed under: Gadgets | Technology, Portable Audio — Santi @ 10:12 pm

Have you heard about Zune Originals? It’s a service that allows you to customize a Zune for Valentines day. Unfortunately, a lot of folks who ordered Zune Originals might not get their orders in time for the 14th. Microsoft not only told these unlucky people that they might need an alternate gift, but also refunded their money and let them keep the Zune:

We wanted to provide you with an update on your order status. Due to some issues in our fulfillment center there remains a chance we will miss getting your Zune to you by February 14th. We are working hard to get your order to you as quickly as possible and we currently plan to ship your Zune within the next 3-4 days. Once your order is in transit, we will send you a shipping confirmation with a link for tracking.

Our goal is to provide a smooth customer experience for ordering, customization, and delivery. We sincerely apologize for not meeting that goal in this specific case. We will be refunding the entire amount of your order, which you should be able to see on your credit/debit card within 7-10 days. We hope you love your Zune and that you will accept our sincere apology.

If you have additional questions, please call 1.877.GET.ZUNE. For fastest service, press 5 then press 1 and have your order information ready.

The Zune Originals Team

I can’t convey how correctly I think they’ve handled this. This story has been all over the place, and the publicity that Microsoft and Zune Originals will get is doubtless worth the cost of the Zunes, which couldn’t be re-sold anyway because they were customized. And the people who get free Zunes will always remember Microsoft as a company that admitted it’s error, and went the extra mile to say they were sorry. Color me impressed.

Source: Ars Technica
Image: Zune Originals

Filed under: Art | Design, Gadgets | Technology, Portable Audio — Max @ 3:18 pm

Finally a cheap, non-destructive way of using different Headphones with the iPhone. $5.43 ($2.45 + $2.98 shipping) gets you the freedom to pick the headphones YOU want to use (because personally, i can’t stand the apple ear buds)

One downside. Reading some of the reviews, it seems like the construction/quality might be a little shoddy. Maybe you’ll want to pick up a couple of them.

[source amazon.com]

Filed under: Gadgets | Technology, Phones, Portable Audio — Santi @ 10:15 pm

In a fairly clandestine release (by Apple’s standards, anyway) the iPhone was updated today with a new 16GB model. The Touch also saw a refresh with a new, capacious 32GB SKU.

Continue reading Apple Doubles Down on iPhone, Now 16 Gigs of Fun

Filed under: Gadgets | Technology, Phones, Portable Audio — Roy @ 9:08 pm

Designed by Singgih Kartono, I found this wooden radio to be quite the eye catcher. His previous design was also quite impressive, but not available in the US. This very cool looking retro radio is made from sustainably grown woods and includes the “most current mp3 player compatible electronics”… hmmm, not exactly sure what the latter means. It also has FM, AM, and even two short wave band receivers.

While I think aesthetically Singgih Kartono has really hit something here, it may be missing something in the technology department. I’m assuming their “mp3 player electronics” is simply a line in jack on the back, but i haven’t seen any photos of the rear to confirm this. I also didn’t notice any mention of HD radio. However, I suspect this was designed for Japanese domestic market sale, and I guess that they can’t be faulted as I’m not aware that the Japanese have implemented the same digital radio format. I haven’t had a chance to hear or play with this device, but I hope it at least has a very nice radio receiver. I love the focus on design, but as an audio nut, I’d hope it performs on par with it’s looks.

I’d also like to hear more details about where/how the electronics are made. It’s nice that the wood is sustainably grown, but it would also be nice if the electronics were made with thought into reducing certain hazardous substances.

Overall though, it is a pretty radio.

[source: TreeHugger]
[source: areaware]

Filed under: Art | Design, Gadgets | Technology, Green | Sustainable, Home Audio, Portable Audio — Santi @ 10:10 am

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Koss KSC-75 Headphone is not a particularly glamorous set of headphones. These little clip on headphones reside near the bottom end of the headphone price spectrum. However, with a mere list price of $19.99, I think these headphones represent a huge value to anyone out there wanting to upgrade the headphones that came with their iPod or other portable media player.

Continue reading Koss KSC-75: a great way to upgrade iPod headphones

Filed under: Gadgets | Technology, Portable Audio, Reviews | Guides — Santi @ 7:19 pm