iMuffs headphones from Wi-Gear improve sound, work wirelessly with most iPods

In the world of iPod accessories—4,000-plus and counting—the ones worth the money are those that improve the listening experience. I have two for you today, one that will be great when the bugs are worked out and a pair of headphones that makes iPod portability even better.

Let’s start with the almost-there product. “Almost” because it worked with some iPods I tested, but not all. I often won’t write about a product proving unreliable, but I really like what this does and, more importantly, I believe that the people building it will soon get it right.

It’s called miShare, and the simple, rectangular gadget is smaller than a standard iPod but bigger than the redesigned Nano (affectionately dubbed the “fatty”). At both ends there is a 30-pin adapter to connect two iPods to transfer songs from one to another.

And it works, mostly.

Plug an iPod with the music to share into the source end. Let’s call this the “pitcher.” (Hey, baseball season is here!) At the other end, plug into the “catcher” iPod to receive the music.

Unfortunately, my 80-gigabyte iPod did not work as a catcher. But as a pitcher, it sent songs to my fatty. With the fatty, I was able to share music—as a pitcher and catcher—with a colleague’s iPod.

That’s why I love this little gadget. It’s designed to swap music between friends, so you can share iPod playlists and tips on new artists. This is very convenient and fast; songs move over in seconds.

There are a few reasons why I had trouble with some iPods.

First, it will not work with the Touch and the iPhone, yet.

Second, the catcher iPod must be in “manual” update mode. When you plug your iPod into a computer to sync it, the default setting is for automatic updates, but it is easy to switch to manual. In manual, whenever you add music, movies or photos to your computer and want it on the iPod, you instruct the iPod to pick up that content.

But changing this setting on my 80 gb iPod didn’t fix my problem.

Third, the miShare developers—two guys working from a Brooklyn, N.Y., apartment—are working out some bugs. My big iPod, for instance, has too much data on it, causing transfer problems. But the fatty, which can hold up to 8 gb worth of content, did not have that issue.

This issue and some others—you can share video and photos too, but not seamlessly—will be addressed in a software upgrade set for release in a few weeks, said co-founder Nathaniel Wice. He called my issue an “intermittent problem” related to the iTunes database.

Another update will follow to address compatibility issues with the Touch and iPhone.

Wice called the development of miShare, which runs on the open-source Linux platform, a “constant” work in progress. “Designing something that’s easy to use is a process.”

When it works, it is easy to use. The device has one function button. Just make an “on-the-go” music playlist on the iPod and press the function button. The songs move over.

But not all songs. To address the obvious legal issues of sharing music between iPods, songs protected by digital rights management software—primarily those bought at Apple’s iTunes store—won’t play on the catcher iPod.

Some people might question the ability to share music so freely, but this is a legal device designed for one-to-one sharing. It’s not a piece of file-sharing software where thousands of people can get a copy of a song.

Despite the early flaws, I recommend miShare. It will only improve, and the software on the device can be upgraded so you won’t have to buy another. It is sold for $100 at www.miShare.com, and discussions are under way with a major brick-and-mortar retailer, Wice said.

A sound enhancement

Regular readers know I often recommend iPod buyers improve the sound with new headphones.

The iMuffs do that plus provide a great wireless connection via Bluetooth. They are made by Wi-Gear and can be bought on the firm’s site, Wi-Gear.com.

The model I tested sold for $150 and paired easily and quickly with each iPod I tested, except one, the iPod Touch. Wi-Gear has introduced a new model, the $180 MB210, which works with the Touch.

I also tested the iMuffs on a TV-playing phone, the Verizon Voyager, and was quite pleased that I could watch live games from the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament while listening with the iMuffs. Beautiful.

So, yes, these work with music-playing phones, except the iPhone. That’s Apple’s fault because it didn’t include a profile in that music phone for stereo Bluetooth headphones.

You might think the price for these headphones is high, but the iMuffs ship with a Bluetooth adapter for the iPod. That’s usually a $40 item sold separately.

Via  http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-mon-tech-buzz-ipod-mishare-imar31,0,7036862.story

The iPod video is one sexy player, but let’s face it: that tiny display is hardly suitable for any real video playback.

The Portable iPod Video Enlarger and DVD Player solves this problem by allowing you to integrate your 5th generation iPod and watch the movie on a 8 1/2-inch 16:9 widescreen LCD screen. That’s about 2.75 times bigger than the iPod’s screen.

According to the manufacturer, due to the use of active matrix technology, the LCD can redraw images faster than typical LCD monitors, resulting in a sharper, more detailed resolution.

It features dual headphone jacks so that two people can share the video player. Perfect for sharing with a friend or spouse on a long flight or drive. It also comes with a remote control and a strap for attaching to a car headrest.

via http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/portable-ipod-video-enlarger-dvd-player

The latest version of our free multi-file video encoding is available at http://techlogg.com/rockpod.

Despite some website horrors last week, development of RockPod 08 Lite is now in full swing as new features and new device support now feature in this latest release for Linux Build 18, which follows the Windows Build 17 released yesterday.

This new version also includes five filesize encoding options – 64MB, 128Mb, 256MB, 512MB and 768MB – plus a specific encoding option for Asus’ popular Eee PC. The new Eee PC option is a compromise between the slow 900MHz Celeron, decent battery life and the 800×480-pixel screen.

The new Linux build works on any Linux distro with at least GTK+ 2.0 or better, which covers virtually all of the popular distros including Ubuntu 6.06 or later, Xubuntu 6.06 and UserOS ULTRA.

Both the Windows and Linux versions are available at http://techlogg.com/rockpod.

I absolutely fell in love with Giffin’s Evolve Wireless Speaker System after reviewing it back in December. After I returned the review unit to Griffin, I missed being able to stream music stored in my iPod throughout the house—especially when I had friends over for drinks. I’ve thought about buying the iPod-friendly system since, but I’m saving up for a high-definition video camera, so I’m reluctant to pay the $300 price tag at this time.

Monster Cable has come up with a beautiful, cheaper alternative they call iSoniCast. This simple two-piece audio bridge wirelessly integrates your iPod into your home stereo system, so you can listen to tunes stored in your music player. The iSoniCast ships with a base station that connects to your home stereo equipment, and a transmitter that plugs into the bottom of your iPod and can stream music up to 30 feet. The transmitter also gives you the ability to control the music you want to play, so no extra software or remote controls are needed. The iSoniCast wireless audio bridge is available now, and retails for $99.95. I’m expecting a review unit soon, so check back for a more detailed review.

Hybrids? Pfft. Clean diesel? Who cares. Americans want cars with iPod integration, photochromic glass and capless fueling systems - whatever the hell those are.

Give people a choice between a fuel-sipper with a map in the glove box and a gas guzzler with in-dash navigation and most of them are going home in the car that tells them how to get there, according to a “snapshot” survey by MyRide.com.

Forty percent of respondents said features like iPod connectivity and GPS navigation were a factor in choosing a car, and 16 percent said it was  a “significant ” factor. Asked whether high tech or green tech would be most important when choosing their next car, 30 percent said they’d go for the gadgets - more than twice the number who said they’d go green. And 12 percent said high-tech features like Ford’s Sync are more important than the price, performance, cargo room and fuel economy combined.

The pollsters don’t think people are dissing hybrid drivetrains and fuel-efficient cars. The way they see it, consumers take green technology for granted and place a premium on advanced communications, safety and “lifestyle” features.

“What it says is green technology has reached a consciousness level where people see it as a standard part of the automotive landscape,” said Brian Chee, editor of MyRide.com. “People see hybrids as just another car. It’s not considered new and trendy.”

So what are the hot technologies people want to see?

Photochromic glass that gets darker as the light gets brighter was by far the hottest tech. People also love Ford’s capless fueling system and want to see vehicles with hidden external lockable boxes. Most of them found temperature-controlled cup holders almost as lame as external stereo speakers, swivel-and-go seating and scented tires. Yes, Kumho makes aromatherapy tires in orange, lavender and jasmine. We have no idea why.

Just 130 people responded to the online poll, so it can hardly be called scientific. But it underscores the trend underway in the industry as automakers try to duplicate Ford’s success with Sync. Ford’s sold twice as many cars with Sync as without, and the company hopes to knock another one out of the park with its Work Solutions in-dash computers.

Yet only 9 percent of respondents considered Ford the most tech-savvy automaker. That honor went to Toyota. Microsoft is the company they’d most like to see co-design a car - an idea that, as we noted in “Microsoft Wants Sync to Control Much More Than Gadgets,” isn’t at all outlandish.

Photo by Ford.

 via http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/03/american-consum.html

A confluence of what-ifs: Envisioning a WiMax version of the iPod Touch with Skype.

(Credit: CNET)If you want an iPhone in the U.S., you’ve got two choices: use AT&T’s wireless service, or risk unlocking your phone to use T-Mobile (the only other American provider that’s compatible with the iPhone’s SIM-based GSM design). And with AT&T’s exclusivity contract in effect until 2012, we’ll be well into the next presidential election cycle before that changes. But maybe there’s a loophole in the form of the iPod Touch–and its eventual successor.

While it looks almost identical, the iPod Touch is missing a few key iPhone features. But let’s envision a second-gen Touch that changes that–call it the iPod Max. The Max would use nearly the exact same housing as the iPhone, including the built-in speaker, microphone, Bluetooth, and camera missing from the Touch. (And since we’re fantasizing here, I’ll go ahead and make sure the Max uses a flush headphone jack, not that annoying recessed version found on the iPhone.) But here’s the key: in addition to Wi-Fi, the iPod Max would have a WiMax module in place of the cellular radio found on the iPhone. And that’s where things could get interesting.

WiMax is the fledgling 4G high-speed wireless service that’s due to be rolled out by Sprint later this year. The details are still thin, but the WiMax service–sold under the “Xohm” brand–is said to be available on a much more flexible basis than cellular service. So instead of a dreaded two-year contract, you’ll pay for service on a more a la carte basis–by the hour, by the day, or by the month, presumably on a flat fee all-you-can-eat data plan.

So Apple sells its iPod Max ($499 for 64GB, $399 for 32GB) as a standalone touch-screen iPod that can also double as a wireless data device. But unlike the current Wi-Fi-only iPod Touch, the user can also use the Max to connect to the Sprint/Xohm WiMax network, when and where it’s available. That would provide access to any and all Internet-connected apps, even when outside the range of a Wi-Fi hotspot.

But why stop at e-mail, instant messaging, Web browsing, and Google Maps? Throw a Skype application on the iPod Max, and the possibilities really expand. If the free Skype-to-Skype calling isn’t enough for you, just pay up for Skype’s various upgrades–the ability to call landlines and cell phones anywhere in the world, a standard phone number so you can receive calls, voice mail, and even SMS text messaging. Granted, you’d be paying two bills–the WiMax service fee plus the Skype charges–but I’d be willing to bet that even that combined rate would be less than what some people are currently paying for a cell phone bill that includes a good data plan. Meanwhile, Apple gets to sell another “iPhone” that works outside of AT&T’s network–but because Skype telephony is technically a “data” service, Apple’s not violating the letter of its exclusivity contract with the wireless carrier.

Now, let’s refresh a key point in case you’re just skimming this: I’m making all of this up. There is no such thing as an iPod Max, there’s no announced plans for an WiMax-enabled iPod, and there’s not even a Skype application available on the iPhone/iPod Touch platform, and even if one were to appear, the apparent inability of third-party applications to run in the background (multitask) seems to be a huge stumbling block. And even if all of that were to be resolved, there are still a lot of variables, not the least of which is Sprint’s WiMax network: it hasn’t yet been launched, and until it is, its pricing, coverage, and reliability remains completely theoretical. (Though it looks as if we’ll be getting details sooner rather than later.)

By the same token, however, none of this is completely outside the realm of possibility, either.

So what do you think? Would you like to see a Skype-friendly version of the iPod Touch? Or are you and your iPhone happily married to AT&T until 2012?

via http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9895547-1.html

Requirements:

PQ DVD to iPod video converter software runs on PC (Microsoft Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP). (No Mac OS version has been planed yet) A standard DVD-ROM drive is required to rip/transfer DVD to iPod movie. iTunes software is required to copy/sync iPod movies. Supported iPod: iPod Touch (8GB/16GB), iPod Video (30GB/60GB/80GB), iPod Classic (80GB/160GB), iPod Nano (4GB/8GB)

via http://video.yahoo.com/watch/2176423/6887378

If you thought there wasn’t anything else to shove on the end of your iPod, [Alex] is here to set you straight. He used the DC power that’s available on the iPod’s dock to drive a cheap laser pointer. It’s pretty easy to do - just get a dock connector (sparkfun has em) and add a laser pointer module. If you’d rather access everything else, check out the super dock I put together a while back. Hit the read link if you’d rather see the picture in color.

via http://www.hackaday.com/2008/03/09/ipod-laser-pointer/

Warning! This is just a joke, do NOT attempt. You will impart Serious Damage to your iPod

Tired
of your old iPod? Want to upgrade to something with a GPS navigation
system? Don’t spend all that money, just hack your iPod!

Step 1: Fill a small basin with water, get your iPod and a STRONG magnet

Step 2: Stroke the iPod lengthwise with the magnet in one direction

Step 3: Place the iPod in the water basin, whichever way it’s headphone jack points is north!

How it works: By stroking the iPod with the magnet, you polarize the
iPod so that it responds to the earths magnetizm. Whichever way the
iPod points is Magnetic north!

via http://00110111×3.net/blog/JoshuaB86/Turn-your-iPod-Navigation-System