Oh! Gizmo

By Chris Scott Barr

I can think of few devices that have spawned quite as many accessories as the iPod. Seriously, I could devote my entire life to talking about nothing more than iPod stuff, and I’d still only scratch the surface. Since I like a bit of variety in my life, I won’t be bringing you new iPod accessories every single day, but I do have a couple of docks that I recently got in for review. Today I’ll share my thoughts of the iPanda. Those with an eagle-eye and a keen memory might recall it’s big brother, the iPig, which Evan saw at CES earlier this year.

Cute isn’t a word that I generally use to describe my tech toys. Unfortunately after spending several hours consulting a thesaurus and an English professor, I was unable to find a better word to describe the iPanda. Yes my friends, it is cute. Okay, so it’s got enough appeal to grab you when you’re walking down the isle, but when you finally get it home and plug in your iPod, will your feelings change? Read on for my thoughts.

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By Shane McGlaun

The first Fast & Furious movie was really cool and I liked it a lot. The second and third films in the franchise were not nearly as cool and enjoyable to me. Friday marked the release of the fourth film in the franchise with the original actors, and from what I hear it is a pretty good movie.

As typically happens today, a new video game launched alongside the movie for the iPhone. The new Fast & Furious game is the sixth game in the franchise to come to the iPhone and iPod touch. The game is available now on the iTunes store for $5.99.

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By Shane McGlaun

Spring has sprung and in many parts of the country and before you know it the heat will be sweltering and many of us will be heading to the pool to hand out and have fun. One key ingredient of a pool party is music (and babes in bikinis), the catch is that water and most electronic devices don’t get along.

Grace Digital Audio has announced a new floating wireless speaker called the Aqua sounders retailing for $149.99. The speaker floats around the pool or hot tub and has a pair of mood lights integrated for nighttime fun.

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By Andrew Liszewski

Here’s something a bit more useful from Hammacher today, a dock that lets you leave your iPod but take the speakers with you. Those wireless, 2-3/4-inch 3-watt spherical speakers operate on a wide 915 MHz frequency to ensure there’s minimal interference from other wireless devices, and they’ve got a half-decent range of about 120 feet. Each speaker is powered by a rechargeable battery that’s good for about 8 hours of playback, and when used together they operate in stereo mode, or old-timey mono when separated.

The dock itself accepts most iPod models, but also has a 3.5mm audio jack for connecting pretty much any other audio source as long as you’ve got the right cabling. $149.95 on the Hammacher Schlemmer website.

[ Wireless Speakers iPod Dock ]

By Luke Anderson

By now I’m sure that everyone has seen the new iPod Shuffle. I had mixed feelings when I first saw it, mostly I was confused why Apple would go to such great lengths to make sure that everyone had to use the earbuds that came with their new Shuffle. At the same time I realized that some people might welcome the smaller device, and being able to access the controls inline, rather that having to try and press buttons on a device clipped to their waist whilst jogging. Either way, the Shuffle really isn’t my thing, but for those that are interested, but don’t want to be stuck with Apple’s earbuds, Scosche is on top of things.

I’ve already seen several different sets of earbuds crop up that cater specifically to the new Shuffle, but who wants to drop $50 on a new set of earbuds when they’re perfectly happy with the ones they already have? That’s where the inline control adapter kit comes into play. This handy little device plugs into your Shuffle and allows you to use any ordinary pair of headphones or earbuds. You can even use it to plug into the aux input in your car stereo and still control the iPod. We’re not sure when this will be available, or how much it will run, but we’re hoping for soon and cheap.

[ Scosche ]

By Luke Anderson

If you haven’t noticed, I probably couldn’t survive without my iPhone anymore. It keeps me in touch with the world, has a ton of cool apps, and provides music just about anywhere for me. The only downside is that despite the sheer number of awesome accessories for iPods, there are still only a few that it works with. Thanks to Scosche and their passPORT line, a lot more options have been opened up. However, I’ve finally gotten my hands on the iLuv Double Play, which is fully compatible with the iPhone straight out of the box. I’ve had a bit of time to put it through the works, so read on for my full review.

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By Andrew Liszewski

This morning Apple updated their popular iPod Shuffle with a new version that’s moved the playback controls from the player itself to a small inline remote on the headphone cord. As a result, the Shuffle has become considerably smaller in size, just 1.8 inches tall and 0.7 inches wide, but at the same time has received a bump in storage up to 4GB.

The other notable update is the addition of VoiceOver which allows the Shuffle to tell you the name of the current track or artist or even when it’s time to recharge the battery. And, the addition of VoiceOver finally allows the iPod Shuffle to take advantage of multiple playlists, since they now can be navigated as the player announces their names. Not too shabby at just $79.99 in your choice of silver or black. However, the fact that it seems to be completely reliant on the bundled Apple earbuds is a total dealbreaker for me. Apple, how about a headphone adapter of some sort so I can use my own?

[ iPod Shuffle with VoiceOver ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m not in the market for a portable DVD player, nor will I ever be, but were I forced to choose one I might lean towards the DCP951/37 (what’s with the slash?) from Philips. On one hand, the 640×220 resolution is pretty crappy, but on the other hand I really like the slide out dock that’s compatible with the iPod Touch, iPod Nano and the standard ‘big on storage, low on features’ iPod Classic. While the DCP951/37 has a DVD slot that can play almost every kind of standard-def video disc in existence, as well as an SD card slot for those all-important Divx files, being able to watch your iTunes video purchases on a larger 9-inch screen is a nice option.

Other features include MP3 support, 2 x 3.5mm stereo headphone jacks for sharing with a friend and a built-in LI-Polymer battery that’s rated for about 2.5 hours of playback. And you can pick one up from Amazon right now for a very reasonable $139.98.

[ Philips DCP951/37 Docking Entertainment System ] VIA [ GadgetGrid ]

By Andrew Liszewski

As if raising kids wasn’t already expensive enough, ThinkGeek now wants you to get them addicted to the gadget high-life before they can even walk with the Combi iPod Bouncer. It looks like your standard infant bouncer, albeit with a slight designer twist, but the ‘killer app’ is the input for your iPod, or presumably any MP3 player. Not only does the Combi bouncer have some manner of built-in speakers allowing junior to enjoy your playlist of choice, but there’s also a vibration unit that’s driven by the music, because I guess babies like vibration.

Other features include a 3-point padded harness, a weight capacity of 25 lbs, a removable bar with hanging toys and electronic controls in the back allowing you to make adjustments without disturbing the child. All for $79.99 from ThinkGeek.

[ Combi iPod Bouncer ] VIA [ Shiny Shiny ]