Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

Music can be a great motivator when exercising, but some songs are better suited for it than others. So while you can use any MP3 player when you head out for a jog, the BODiBEAT from Yamaha is designed to automatically select songs that best match your current activity using both a built-in accelerometer to keep track of your footsteps, as well as a heart-rate monitor that clips onto your ear.

It has 4 different operating modes you can choose depending on what your goal or routine is. The Free Workout Mode will automatically choose songs that have a similar tempo to your walking or jogging speed. As you speed up or slow down, the player will select a different song that better matches your new pace. The Fitness Mode will try to provide the most appropriate music for an optimal aerobic exercise based on your heart rate. It will play faster songs if you’re moving too slowly or slower songs if you’re moving too quickly. The Training Mode is apparently designed for serious athletes, and it allows you to create structured exercise sessions with preset time intervals and specific targets for heart rate, running pace or song tempo. Finally there’s the standard Music Mode which will make the BODiBEAT function like any other MP3 player, playing music by artist, album or whatever you choose.

The BODiBEAT is expected to be available in Winter 2008, but I’m not sure if that means the beginning of the year, or the end of the year.

[ Yamaha BodiBeat ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

By Luke Anderson

I would be willing to venture that more than a few people reading this have downloaded music illegally. I’ll admit that I used to do my fair share back in the day, but being a little older and wiser, have been legally purchasing my music from iTunes for some time. Recently I heard about Qtrax, which is a legal site that will let you download as much music as you want, for free. The only catch is that it is DRM protected, and you have to watch some ads. Seems like a small price to pay for unlimited music downloads, right?

I’m sure that it would work out just fine, if they actually have any music to download. Unfortunately, the service went live yesterday, sans downloads. They had been talking big about the deals they had with the big four labels for over 25 million tracks, the only problem was that they didn’t have anything signed with even a single one of them.

You know what they say, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

[ Qtrax ] VIA [ p2pnet ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Whoever said “It doesn’t matter if you win or lose, but how you played the game” clearly never experienced how much fun it is to win. And while most of us will never have the chance to enjoy a victory in front of thousands of fans in a stadium, the Versus Scoreboard can at least bring some of that experience home. The Versus was created by Filip Ivanoski (a lifelong athlete and professional tennis instructor) who feels that listening to music can not only enhance an athlete’s ability, but also make the sport more fun.

So besides serving as a portable scoreboard and timer, the Versus also has an analog line-in connection and 10W speakers allowing you to connect an iPod or other audio device. And while your favorite music is playing in the background, the Versus also has a series of stadium and crowd sound effects that can be used to enhance the action in the game. It even includes a microphone allowing the non-athletes to serve as play-by-play or color commentators on the sideline.

[ Versus Scoreboard ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I think I’d be pretty good as a professional alarm clock tester. (I’m sure such a job exists.) Not only would I get plenty of satisfaction from a job that requires me to sleep, but it also puts my uncanny gift of ignoring even the loudest of alarm clocks to good use. And first on the testing block would be this supposed Neverlate Executive Alarm Clock, which includes a bunch of features designed to get you out of bed on time.

The clock has two separate 7-day alarm schedules, which is supposed to allow two people to wake up at different times every day. In reality though, it means one person will always be woken up before they need to. And if you find all 4 of the buzzers to be too annoying, you can choose to wake up to one of 20 preset radio stations instead. On top of that there’s another set of 7 ‘every day’ alarms bringing the total to 21. On the back of the alarm you’ll find a powered USB port, allowing to plug in and listen to a flash drive full of MP3s, or recharge a USB connected device like a cellphone. Most importantly though the alarm clock even allows you to disable the snooze button, for those who’ve become too addicted to “just another 5 minutes.”

You can find the Neverlate Executive Alarm Clock at ThinkGeek for $59.99.

[ Neverlate Executive Alarm Clock ] VIA [ Gizmos For Geeks ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Ultra small MP3 players are almost to the point where they’re a dime a dozen, but few of them stand out in the relatively crowded market. While the Apple Shuffle remains at the top of the heap, other manufacturers have been trying to find ways to make their own players unique enough to grab a sizable chunk of the market share.

The Avox NF-101 from a Korean company called Plezo isn’t quite as small as the Shuffle (52 x 33 x 12mm), but it makes up for that in terms of features. Besides a small screen, the NF-101 also has an FM radio, a voice recorder, a pointless e-book reader and the ability to adjust the playing speed of tracks which is great for people who enjoy audiobooks. But the feature that will probably attract the most attention is a 500mW built-in speaker for those times you don’t feel like wearing headphones, or want to share a song with a friend without them using your earbuds.

Unfortunately I have no idea when the Avox NF-101 will be released, but when it is I have to assume the price will be competitive with the Shuffle.

[ Avox NF-101 ] VIA [ Ubergizmo ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Are you tired of the rather limited choice of color when it comes to home theater components? Basically it’s black, silver, or go out and buy a can of spray paint. And while I actually prefer black so everything disappears when the lights go off, I can appreciate the desire for something more original like the Karim Rashid Spring ‘08 Editions of Olive’s OPUS Nº5 digital audio server.

I’ve never heard of the guy, and while he looks like just another designer with a shaved head and thick-framed glasses, I do like some of these designs. They were apparently created “with a repeated element symbolic of binary notation for a perfect container of sound.” As for the OPUS Nº5 itself, it’s another digital audio server that’s aimed towards the audiophile crowd in terms of sound quality and price. It includes a 400, 500 or 750GB hard drive and converting a CD is as easy as sticking it in the slot and hitting a button. The OPUS Nº5 even has a built-in database of more than 2,400,000 albums which means if you don’t have internet access, there’s a good chance it already has the data for the CD you’ve just ripped.

The OPUS Nº5 starts at $2,999 for the 400GB version in Silver and goes up to $3,999 for the 750GB version in black. The Karim Rashid editions only come in 750GB versions for $3,999 each.

[ Olive OPUS Nº5 Karim Edition ] VIA [ Crave ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Even with the benefit of the force, I still don’t see how Luke Skywalker could understand a single thing R2D2 was saying. But somehow they managed to not only carry on many conversations, but provide us with enough expository dialogue so we could follow along too.

Apparently though, it’s taken 30 years from when Star Wars was first released for someone to finally decipher the R2-unit dialect, and provide us with a handy online translator. The 30 character limit is kind of lame, and I don’t recommend using headphones to listen to the translations because some of them are particularly high-pitched and shrill. But once your phrase is translated you do have the option to download the sound file as an MP3 and use it as a cellphone ringtone or an annoying voicemail message.

[ R2D2 Translator ] VIA [ TheForce.Net ]

Are you a huge J. Lo (wait, I think she’s back to calling herself Jennifer Lopez now) fan? If you are, then you’ve probably purchased her latest CD already. However, if you’ve not rushed out to buy it and have some extra cash burning a hole in your pocket, you can pick up her latest album on a slightly different medium.

The Jennifer Lopez Flash Drives are crafted out of African Mahogany and come complete with a copy of the new album Brave. I think it’s cool that some artists are looking to alternative forms of content delivery, however, it baffles me how they want to charge an outrageous fee for their product. Sure, the drive might not look half bad, but there’s no way it’s worth the $70 price tag that’s been placed on it. They don’t even bother telling us what the capacity of the drive is.

[Gresso] VIA [Boy Genius]

By Andrew Liszewski

Given my earlier post I guess I should declare this ‘retro audio cassette day‘ here on OhGizmo! And in keeping with that theme here’s a new way to enjoy audio cassettes, without having to deal with their craptastic sound quality.

The MIXA is basically a 1GB flash drive that’s been integrated into an audio cassette shell. The real appeal though comes with the MIXA website which allows you to interactively design a custom label for the tape. You can choose from a collection of pre-existing designs, which still offer a bit of customization, or upload your own images and graphics. Once the design is completed and the finished USB cassette arrives you can then load it up with your own ‘mix tape’ of MP3s.

The MIXA costs about $40 but includes worldwide shipping as well as a unique sleeve (also designed by you), a set of MIXA stickers and a USB extension cable.

[ Make A Mixa ] VIA [ Retro To Go ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I can understand why analog audio fans still embrace vinyl records since they can last a remarkably long time with a little TLC. Consumer-grade audio cassettes however, I just don’t get. The tape is easy to damage and since it’s a magnetic medium it will degrade over time, there’s no stopping it. So if for some reason you want to preserve that crappy mix tape you recorded off the radio I suggest getting it converted to a digital format as soon as possible.

The plusdeckEX is designed to do just that. It connects to a PC via USB and includes a 7.1 channel built-in sound card for converting the analog signal from a cassette tape into a digital file format like MP3. The downside of course is that the process can only be done in real-time (unlike ripping an audio CD) but it ensures your analog tunes will be preserved for an eternity. (As long as you properly backup the files.)

And for those who are still living with just a cassette player in their cars the plusdeckEX works the other way as well, allowing you to transfer your MP3s to an audio cassette and enjoy them on the road. There doesn’t appear to be any pricing info on the plusdeckEX as of yet, but it’s expected to go on sale sometime in 2008.

[ plusdeckEX ] VIA [ Freshpilot ]