Oh! Gizmo

By David Ponce

You can bet that the iPod Shuffle (2G) is feeling a little left out. Not having the same connector as all the other iPods seriously crimps its ability to use all those nice docks on the market. You know, all the ones with a lowercase “i” that sell ten times faster than the ones without the “i”. Right. But with this Dock Adapter for the iPod Shuffle from Griffin, the little boy can play with the big guys. Its use is pretty self-evident, but we’ll indulge you all the same: you plug the Shuffle on one end, and the other goes into whatever Universal Dock you might have put a regular iPod into.

We don’t know how much it is, nor when exactly it will be released, but it’s nice to know that the iPod HiFi is now compatible with a bunch more player. It’s great, really, because maybe now Apple will be able to sell at least a dozen of them overpriced music boxes.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ Gizmologia ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Like most MP3 accessories these digital drumsticks can easily be used with any player on the market but by slapping the word ‘iPod’ in the name the company who makes them is probably guaranteed a healthy number of sales. Designed for people who really get into their music these motion activated drumsticks allow you to play along with any song on your MP3 player or with six built-in background rhythms.

They can be used on their own, with a pair of headphones or even connected to a stereo if thrashing the sticks around isn’t already annoying enough for everyone around you. They also have buttons that allow you to play combinations of different drum or cymbal effects like a snare drum, bass drum, hi-hat and crash cymbal. A belt clip control module is also included but from what I can tell it doesn’t have any iPod controlling capabilities.

The iPod Digital Drumsticks are currently available from Hammacher Schlemmer for $29.95.

[ iPod Digital Drumsticks ] VIA [ bookofjoe ]

By Evan Ackerman

This is a fine example of one of those USB devices that sounds vaguely cool until you realize that it only uses USB as a more-trendy-sounding power outlet. This USB radio is completely nondescript (picks up radio signals, has headphones, has a small antenna, has a LED, is black and plastic) except that you adjust the tuning by bending the egg-shaped top right and left, and adjust the volume by bending it forward and back. It’s almost, but not quite, 10 euros ($13) worth of interestingness.

[ USB Radio ] VIA [ Uber-Review ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Most companies producing MP3 players these days assume you’re going to be using headphones so they leave out any kind of built-in speakers. Not Maycom though, it seems they’re intent on monopolizing the pocket-sized boombox market with their M-Bird MP3 player. It includes a pair of particularly small speakers sitting on either side of the screen and while the website selling the player claims they’re loud enough given their size, they’re also lacking in the bass department. No surprises there.

Of course for those times when you don’t want to annoy the people around you the M-Bird also has a standard headphone jack and a 5-band custom EQ complete with presets. Besides MP3 it will also play WMA and OGG music files as well as AVI, MPEG, WMV and ASF videos which no doubt look fantastic on its 1-inch LCD screen. The 512MB of included memory isn’t terrible but the lack of a memory slot will probably be a deal killer for most people. (Especially those who intend to use this for watching videos.)

The M-Bird is currently available from Calibryze for $189.

[ Maycom M-Bird MP3 Player ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

By Evan Ackerman

If you’re the type to work out with a headband on, you’re probably also the type who likes glam rock and power ballads… It’s all about the hair, man. Mercifully, the Thanko Vonia headband uses bone conduction to project Bon Jovi directly into your skull, sparing those around you. The Vonia is sweatproof and has a handy little iPod Shuffle-sized pocket in the front. I’ll admit to having never used bone conduction headphones, but I can’t imagine that it’s much different than the music that I hear inside my head anyway… Weaker bass, I’m sure. And probably less mutterings about how I should sell my roommate’s car on eBay and buy that DSLR I’ve always wanted.

Available now in Japan for about $85.

[ Thanko Vonia (Japanese) ] VIA [ Newlaunches ]

By Evan Ackerman

So, I have a bunch of digital music. Never you mind where most of it came from, but I’ll tell you were it definitely did NOT come from: an online music store. I don’t like the idea of software/music companies restricting where I’m allowed to play music that I’ve paid for, especially since I can always just go out and (legally) buy and rip a CD. Not that I would go out and buy a CD, but still. Turns out that Steve Jobs (you know, the guy behind the iPod and iTunes) agrees with me, and according to his statistics, most of you do too.

In a letter posted today on the Apple website, Jobs talks about why DRM is such a pain in the ass for everybody, including Apple. And since only about 3% of the music on a given iPod is protected by DRM (or in other words, is from the iTunes store), DRM is not really protecting the commercial interests of Apple or the major music companies. The fact is, as Jobs states, “DRMs haven?t worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy. Though the big four music companies require that all their music sold online be protected with DRMs, these same music companies continue to sell billions of CDs a year which contain completely unprotected music.”

So what’s the solution? Here’s Jobs’ take:

Abolish DRMs entirely. Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat. If the big four music companies would license Apple their music without the requirement that it be protected with a DRM, we would switch to selling only DRM-free music on our iTunes store.

Wow. Almost makes me want to go out and buy a Mac. Almost.

[ Your cynical editor would like to point out that it just seems so easy for Steve to wash his hands of it all, placing the blame squarely on the Big 4. As if Apple's wishes can so easily be twisted around. Anyone remember when the Big 4 wanted to increase the price of songs on iTunes? Didn't happen. Cisco wanted to twist Apple's arm on the iPhone name... Didn't happen. -Ed. ]

[Thoughts on Music] VIA [Apple]

By Andrew Liszewski

With Aquapac’s latest set of headphones we’re not just talking splashproof or water resistant, no these things are 100% waterproof and are guaranteed to work even while submersed to a depth of about 33 feet which is pretty impressive.

The company claims that even though it took them a while to get the headphone sound quality up to an acceptable level they feel their waterproof versions now sound better than anything else on the market, even when used out of the water. Now while I don’t question the fact that these are probably the best sounding underwater earbuds on the market, I personally won’t be replacing my current pair with them anytime soon. However I do like the fact that they come with an EVA foam buoy which can be used to store the earbuds and wrap the cord when not in use. Of course it also prevents them from sinking to the bottom of your pool.

I do want to point out that even though the headphones themselves can be used up to a depth of 33 feet the Aquapac website actually includes a warning to not use them deeper than 10 feet since some medical research has shown that the extra pressure combined with strong sound waves can cause hearing damage with prolonged use.

The Aquapac waterproof headphones are available on the their website for $40.

[ Aquapac 100% Waterproof Headphones ] VIA [ Coolest Gadgets ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Now that Apple has recently “upgraded” the iPod Shuffle in their traditional way of just re-releasing something in different colors (what innovation!) the diminutive MP3 player has been pushed back into the spotlight for at least a few more days.

So if you’ve just ran out and bought yourself one of their multi-color wonders you’re probably aware that since it’s so small it doesn’t have room for any extra ports besides the headphone jack which it has to use for charging. The provided cradle works well enough for charging off a computer’s USB port but for those times when you need to travel light you’re not going to find a smaller AC adapter than the PowerBug from DLO. It’s dead simple to use with a single green LED indicating the charging status and a convenient fold flat design. It also includes a USB to stereo mini cable for those times when you don’t want to carry the Shuffle’s cradle.

The PowerBug is compatible with both the 1st and 2nd generation Shuffles and is available on the DLO website for $22.99.

[ DLO PowerBug ] VIA [ Newlaunches ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The iPod’s touchwheel is a great way to navigate your music collection but this time of year (depending on where you live) it becomes unusable while wearing gloves, mittens or with your hands crammed in your pockets. But why let the cold stop you from enjoying all those torrented legally purchased songs? Nike has just released the Hatphone which is a microfiber fleece toque that can hold an iPod Nano with the Nike sports adapter and allows the controls to be accessed via a “power mesh window” on the back of the cap.

I’m not 100% certain on how this power mesh window works but I will say for a marketing and advertising powerhouse like Nike I think they could have come up with a far better name than ‘Hatphones’ for this one.

So if you’re interested in staving off hypothermia while enjoying your tunes you can find the Hatphones on Nike’s website in black, grey, blue or red for $60.

[ Nike Hatphones ] VIA [ iLounge ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Well here’s an iPod accessory I’ve definitely never seen at my local Apple store. Thinklabs makes this stethoscope recording package that uses a 2Gb iPod Nano in conjunction with the XtremeMac MicroMemo iPod recording unit and of course a ds32a Digital Stethoscope. All together the package allows a physician to record and playback heart sounds even in noisy environments or when the sounds are faint thanks to built-in audio amplification and noise reduction. Without the stethoscope attached it can also be used for general dictation or recording lectures.

The ds32a is a diagnostic stethoscope with unsurpassed natural sound quality. User-friendly design and 50X Amplification provides the power to adjust for faint heart sounds, obese patients, or noisy environments. Outstanding performance and ease-of-use for every clinician, with uncompromised features for advanced users. From BP to ED to ICU, from heart and lung exams to iPod recording, the ds32a does it all.

As for the price since the unit is designed for hospital use which I can only assume means it has to be of a certain level of quality and reliability the whole kit will set you back $495.

[ Stethoscope Recording Package ] VIA [ MAKE: Blog ]