Bluetooth headset specialist Jabra has just unveiled a nice new Bluetooth kit at the Mobile World Congress called the Clipper. What makes it good? It’s a pair of good-quality in-ears with a Bluetooth connection at the end (at the “clip” part) that lets you listen to stereo-quality audio and talk hands-free on a phone without making you look like a workaholic if you wear it all day.
Rusty North America is an apparel brand that caters to the surfing crowd. Green Day is a punk rock band. Rusty has just announced that they’ll be collaborating with Green Day on a new collection of hooded apparel with built-in machine-washable headphones—something that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with surfing, punk rock, or Green Day (unless you wear the hoodies after you surf and listen to Green Day), which pretty much leaves us with an intro that goes nowhere.
Weeks after announcing the Lady Gaga-influenced Heartbeats in-ears, Monster Cable pulled Sean “used-to-be-called-“Puff-Daddy-but-decided-to-stick-with-just-Diddy” Combs from out of a hat and designed new in-ears called the Diddybeats around him under the Beats by Dr.Dre brand.
We’re not sure when or how this started, but ever since portable audio players have been out, accessory makers have been trying to out-crazy each other by trying to come out with “unique” designs that range from downright cool and stylish to questionably fashionable and just plain tacky. But where do you rate these? In case it wasn’t obvious enough, this set is the Brick Earphone, a $10 earphone set that’s designed to look like Lego bricks.
Korean electronics brand iRiver has come out with a new touchscreen media player called the Smart HD, which predictably supports high-def video playback. Aside from the ability to handle most common audio and video files, this slim device also comes with support for the Matroska MKV file container, which gives this portable player the power to play digital video files with extras… like compressed movies with subtitles that you may or may not have somehow downloaded for free off the net.
Samsung recently unveiled a pair of unique players (at least unique compared to the hundreds of iPod clones currently flooding the market): the YP-H1 IceTouch that features a transparent AMOLED screen, and the YP-W1 MyFit that features “wellness-promoting technology.”
Like everyone else during the holidays, you probably gained a few pounds. Yes, it’s normal, but it’s time to shed it off. Philips is looking to help you by offering the Activa, a portable audio player that’s designed to “motivate people to improve their fitness.”
JVC has released a new personal speaker kit along their Made for iPod line called the XS-SR3. The new kit distinguishes itself among thousands of other iPod dock-speakers with a tubular design, Dolby Virtual Surround quality audio, and a cradle that rotates—for a nice, widescreen view of videos playing on an iPod touch or iPhone.
Belkin has just released a handy new add-on that allows users to wirelessly stream music from a Bluetooth-enabled device—such as a mobile phone or portable media player—to home entertainment systems and speaker kits. Simply called the Bluetooth Music Receiver, the $50 accessory plugs in via a 3.5mm audio jack or RCA connection, and pairs with mobile devices through Bluetooth v2.0. The receiver can pick up a BT signal up to 33 feet away, and can remember up to 6 paired devices.
Chinon has just released the AVi, an iPod dock that comes with stereo speakers, a 7-inch LCD screen, and a digital TV and FM Radio tuner. The LCD screen on the front sports a 480 x 234 resolution displays videos and photo slideshows stored on the connected iPod (at least for the models that support the TV out feature), as well as for showing digital TV broadcasts.