Oh! Gizmo

By Shane McGlaun

JBL has been making headphones and speakers for a long time. The company makes some of the most popular car and home theater speakers around. JBL and Roxy have teamed up to offer more audio products on the cheap.

The line includes the Reference 230, Reference 250, and Reference 430. The 230 and 250 are both in-ear designs that offer different features. The 230 are closed back earphones that block out noise. The 250 are semi-open in the back and includes mic for placing phone calls.

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By Andrew Liszewski

Because there’s nothing more embarrassing than heading out on the slopes with a pair of headphones that don’t match your goggles, Dragon Alliance and Skullcandy have teamed up for the DX Skullcandy/Ionized snow goggles. They’re helmet compatible, feature an anti-fog lens, micro fleece lining and 100% UV protection, and from what I can tell may or may not come in 3 different designs. And even though it may not be snowing where you live, you can still order a pair from Zappos for $132 and be prepared for when the white stuff eventually starts to fall again.

[ DX Skullcandy/Ionized Snow Goggles ] VIA [ Chip Chick ]

By Shane McGlaun

Turtle Beach has been making nice gaming headphones for the PC and the Xbox for a while. The line has been a bit scant on headphones for the PS3 though. I have used several of Turtle Beach’s PC surround sound headphones and they work pretty well.

The company has now announced a new set of gaming headphones called the P21 for the Sony PS3 console. The P21’s feature a USB powered inline amp to provide deep bass. A mic boom allows players to take advantage of in game chat functions. Read the rest of this entry »

By Andrew Liszewski

And speaking of the newest iPod Shuffle, it looks like Scosche Industries will be one of the first accessory makers to sell a headphone adapter for Apple’s tiniest player to date. The IRM35 tapLINE Control Adapter lets you use any pair of headphones with the 3rd generation iPod Shuffle, while still being able to control playback, adjust volume and activate the VoiceOver feature. Unfortunately the adapter also means the inline controls are situated just a few inches from the Shuffle itself, limiting where you can stash it, and at $29.99 it makes the cheapest iPod on the market a bit less so.

[ Scosche Industries' tapLINE Control Adapter ] VIA [ Gear Diary ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The last moment announcement that the iPhone 3.0 firmware update will finally add A2DP bluetooth support means I can start looking at wireless BT headphones again. At the moment there’s a few contenders on the market, but as of today there’s now one more thanks to Sony announcing their new DR-BT100CX in-ear headphones. While the wires aren’t completely gone, you at least won’t be tethered to your cellphone while listening to music, and the small dongle hanging off the earbuds lets you control playback, volume and even answer calls. It’s also recharged via USB instead of some proprietary cable, and you can expect to get about 8 hours of use between charges.

According to the Sony press release, the DR-BT100CX headphones are available for order on the Sony Style Europe site, but I can’t seem to find them at the moment.

[ PR - New Sony noise cancelling Bluetooth® headphones produce flawless wire free audio ] VIA [ Tech Digest ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I know they’re just a concept design, which I usually try to avoid like the plague, but I’m really hoping that someone makes these a reality. Instead of mashing your earbuds into a ball of tangled cable when you’re done using them, the YI Zipper earphones (designed by Ji Woong) feature a… wait for it… zipper design that you can… yep you guessed it… zip up, keeping them considerably tidier when crammed in your pocket. And as an added bonus, the zipper pull also features volume and hold controls, though I’m not going to hold my breath for that to happen.

[ Yanko Design - Zip Up Tangles ] VIA [ Toxel ]

By Evan Ackerman

It’s been possible for a while now to set up your sound card to output fake 5.1 channel surround sound to your headphones. Theoretically, since you only use two ears, you should be able to do some fancy soundwave stuff and replicate 6 channel (or 5.1 or whatever) sound using only 2 channels of audio. I’ve tried a couple ways of doing this with software, and so far, it’s sucked.

These headphones from Zalman (the Zalman ZM-RS6F+M, to be specific) are also able to produce 6 channel sound. But, they do it using 6 separate drivers, which means that (I can only assume) it sounds a heck of a lot better than the fake stuff. You’ll need a sound card able to output discrete front, center, and rear channels, so it’s not like you can just jack these right into your iPod or something.

I can’t tell whether the drivers are that great, but you probably shouldn’t expect to be blown away by the sound quality. For movies or computer games, though, it might be a cool effect. The Zalman 6 channel ZM-RS6whateveritis headphones are $57 from Brando.

[ Brando ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]

By Andrew Liszewski

While they’re far from being the smallest earbuds on the market, the Philips Tapster stereo headset takes advantage of bluetooth to cut the cord between your earbuds and your MP3 player or smartphone. It supports Bluetooth HSP and HFP profiles for making calls and is A2DP compliant for streaming stereo music. Their overall size is no doubt a by-product of the Tapster’s batteries, but on the plus side the large surface is touch sensitive, and doing things like adjusting the volume or answering calls is accomplished with simple taps or swipe gestures.

And while the Philips website makes it look like the Tapster headset is a shipping product (there’s even a ‘Buy’ button on the page), from what I can tell that’s not the case just yet.

[ Philips Tapster Bluetooth Headset ] VIA [ DVICE ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Despite the product name, iMuffs are unfortunately not designed to keep your ears warm, which is unfortunate given that many of us have already seen the thermometer drop well before the freezing mark. They will however allow you to listen to your iPod Nano, iPod Classic, iPod Photo, iPod Touch, iPod Mini and all 3rd generation iPods without having an annoying headphone cable dangling from your head. You will need to attach the iMuffs Bluetooth transmitter to your iPod since they lack that connectivity by default, but once paired you’ll be able to stash your MP3 player in your pocket while still controlling volume and playback via the headphones themselves.

The iMuffs can also be paired with a Bluetooth equipped smartphone, and include a built-in echo and noise canceling mic allowing you to make calls in-between listening to your music. Their built-in battery can be recharged via USB, and provides a decent play time of about 16 hours. The iMuffs MB210 are available in black or white, and can be bought directly from the Wi-Gear online store for $129.99.

[ Wi-Gear iMuffs MB210 ]