Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

Besides the sleek aluminum finish, the LINX B-Tube speaker should appeal to the design conscious because you can place it anywhere in your home and not have to worry about unsightly wires. That’s because the speaker uses Bluetooth A2DP to stream stereo music from a cellphone, MP3 player or even your computer. It has a range of about 32 feet and can even be used to receive calls from a Bluetooth equipped phone thanks to a built-in microphone.

As for power, the B-Tube uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that provides about 6 hours of playback time, so you will occasionally need to connect the included AC adapter. And if you none of your devices have bluetooth, the speaker also includes a standard 3.5mm jack for connecting your equipment the old fashioned way.

You can get it from Amazon.co.uk for about $80.

[ LINX B-Tube Speaker ] VIA [ Shiny Shiny ]

By Evan Ackerman

If you demand on the best from your portable sound system, and you don’t mind looking (and sounding) like an absolute tool, you may want to consider blowing $500 on Sony’s PFR-V1 headphones personal field speakers. Although you wear them on your head, the PFR-V1s don’t actually go in, on, or around your ears. Instead, the 21mm aluminum drivers sit about half an inch away from your ears, projecting sound directly toward them, which is supposed to somehow improve high frequencies and enhance depth and richness by keeping things separate. Bass frequencies are injected directly into your ear canal with a separate set of “extended bass reflex ducts.” The headphones (they’re headphones, get over it Sony) are powered by 2 AAA batteries and should last for 200 hours, or until the angry guy sitting next to you on the bus throws the whole shebang out the window because he’s not a fan of Devo.

[ Audiocubes ] VIA [ Crave ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I usually prefer peace and quiet when I’m trying to fall asleep, but for some people a little bit of background noise helps. However, since those amazing offers on late night infomercials can be kind of distracting, instead of leaving the TV on you might want to consider a device specifically designed to produce white noise. The Sound Screen from Marpan does just that, and is recommended for restless sleepers, infants and even people working in an office environment who are easily distracted by their co-workers. (When trying to work, not sleep.)

The tone and volume of the white noise can be adjusted by rotating the cap and collar of the Sound Screen’s housing, depending on if you just need some background accompaniment, or a way to drown out the world around you. You can find it at Edmund Scientific’s for $59.95.

[ Marpac Sound Screen ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If those professional DJ mixers from Vestax or Stanton seem too complicated for you what with all those knobs and sliders, you might want to look into the Micro Mixer DJ-4. It’s a simple stainless steel box that has just two volume knobs for controlling the mix between two devices. Whether it be a couple of iPods, a NintendoDS or anything you connect to the 3.5mm stereo mini jacks on the back.

The output is also a 3.5mm mini jack, which isn’t exactly the best choice if you’re connecting it to a large sound system, but at least the Micro Mixer doesn’t require an external power source or even batteries.

You can find it at GeekStuff4U for $133.35, which means that someone, somewhere is pocketing $130 of pure profit.

[ Micro Mixer DJ-4 ] VIA [ Switched On Set ]

By Andrew Liszewski

First off, let me say I really hate this trend of including 2.5mm headphone jacks in phones. I know it’s smaller and makes for a thinner device, but having to carry an adapter so you can use a standard pair of headphones is a pain. And I won’t even get into having to use proprietary connections like Nokia’s Pop port either. So as an alternative I’ve been hunting for a simple bluetooth A2DP adapter that would allow me to use a standard pair of headphones and keep my phone buried in my pocket.

Unfortunately finding such a device hasn’t been easy. I’ve managed to stumble across a few, but the headphones are usually built-in meaning I can’t just plug in my own pair. However the JAYS BlueStreamer2 looks to be exactly what I’m after. Not only is it small (it weights just 12g) but the rechargeable battery works for up to 5 hours while listening to music. It’s also able to remotely control your phone’s music player including volume, next track, skip forward etc. as long as the phone supports that functionality. It can even be used to answer those annoying phone calls that come in when you’re trying to enjoy your music.

At around $80 the BlueStreamer2 is far more expensive than a 2.5mm to 3.5mm headphone adapter, but the added functionality and convenience might be worth the cost.

[ JAYS BlueStreamer2 ] VIA [ Crave ]

By Evan Ackerman

Making small things big is always looks cool, so why not try a different sensory profile and make quiet things loud? That’s the idea behind OTTO, which is a speaker system of sorts that takes things that are normally inaudible and amplifies them into ambient sound. A glass of ice water? A goldfish bowl? Just stick OTTO’s polymer piezoelectric contact mic on any surface and listen in. The speaker module looks to be battery powered, and can be attached to just about any surface with a combination of suction cups and magnets. It also looks like there are separate adjustments for both mic sensitivity and speaker output… But, it’s not yet being produced. We’ve admired designer Duncan Wilson’s work before, in the form of Pixelnotes, which are also (as far as I know) not yet being produced. I, for one, hope that some of his stuff actually hits the market.

[ Madsounds OTTO ] VIA [ RGS ]

By Evan Ackerman

I’ve never thought that the iPod earbuds were that great, but I guess they’ve become something of a tech fashion statement. If you’d like to leave people in absolutely no doubt that you’re cool enough to be listening to an Apple product, consider getting yourself a pair of these desktop size iPod earbud speakers, which are supposed to be 500 times larger than the originals. They have a built-in amp and they’ll run on USB, AC, or battery power, so you can in fact attach them to your iPod and wander around, trying to stuff them into your ears. They’ll be available soon from Perpetual Kid for $40.

[ Fred 500XL Speakers ] VIA [ Uberreview ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The ability to ‘zoom in’ when it comes to cameras is pretty much a standard feature these days, but this is the first voice recorder I’ve come across that actually has a microphone with zoom capabilities. The RR-US950 and RR-US750 from Panasonic run on a single AAA battery, come with 1GB or 2GB of memory and are able to record directly to the MP3 format to maximize the amount of audio you can store. They also feature a dual microphone system that can be used to record all the sounds surrounding the recorder, or focus only in one direction, improving its ability to capture sounds that are farther away.

[ Boost your dictaphone with a 4x Zoom Mic ]

By Evan Ackerman

This is what we need more of: electronics that look like animals. Why? Because they’re cute and non-threatening. The I-Jerry, for example, is “lovely, cute, smart, and brave,” according to his press release. He’s got 1 gig of onboard memory for MP3s and ear controls, but instead of a speaker, his butt causes whatever surface he is placed on to vibrate, transforming it into a speaker. I-mu also has a few other audio systems that work on the same principle, including a piggy, an i-bird, and something that looks vaguely NSFW. I-Jerry will be available for about $99 sometime this year.

[ I-mu ]

By Evan Ackerman

iPod docks were a dime a dozen at CES, but this cute little guy was one of the more distinctive ones, letting your iPod (or iPhone) literally ride the pig. Touching his ears changes volume and tracks, or he comes with a remote. Otherwise he doesn’t seem to be anything special, besides having “Nature Sound Field Expansion Technology” (whatever that is). The really sketchy part about him, though, is that his tagline is “touching makes me higher.” Um, yeah, I’m not even gonna touch you like that, thanks.

[ Amethyst ]