Matts iPod News: May 2006

MyVu LCD goggles for iPod Video

MyVu LCD goggles. 320x240 resolution, US$270. You know you want to look like that Star Trek guy.

Football iPod cases

Get your Football (aka Soccer) iPod Cases that are in the colours of your favourite country. US$15.

Mitsubishi's "i" car

Mitsubishi are selling their "i" car (only in Japan currently) that comes with an in-dash iPod Nano dock allowing your iPod to be controlled with the stereo. We need more of these kind of devices!

Gizmodo
Engadget

Tunewear iPod Hi-Fi

Now you can wear your iPod HiFi around your neck with a custom leather strap. Buggered if I know who'd want to do so...

Gizmodo
Engadget

Learn foreign languages with iLingo

Now you can Learn Foreign Languages on Your iPod. iLingo comes in a European (French, German, Italian, Portugese, Russian and Spanish) and Asian (Cantonese, Japanese, Korean and Mandarin Chinese) packs, contain recordings by native speakers and costs US$40-50.

Incidentally, I love Gizmodo's opening paragraph here:

"To be American means that it’s your inalienable right to visit a foreign country and get upset at the locals for not knowing English."

Hehe!

Super Mini Sound Box

A tiny USB powered mini speaker. 2 Watts ain't going to shake the walls but if portability is your prime consideration it'll be a winner. US$15.

Thomas Pink's iPod-concealing Commuter Shirt

Sick and tired of having your iPod stolen? Common thievery isn't a major problem in Melbourne but if you're paranoid or live in LA then this iPod-concealing shirt may be the ticket.

Audio iThunder iPod iBoom iBox

Another Boom Box for the iPod. The Audio iThunder has a dock surrounded by a couple of four inch speakers, is available in white or black and costs US$200.

JBL Radial iPod Speaker System

JBL have released the Radial iPod Speaker System. A circular speaker surrounds your iPod - and it packs quite a punch too with 60W of power. Looks pretty too. Costs US$300 though.

iPod cassette case hack

Simple hack to use an old cassette case as an iPod holder. Cheap and svelte!

Griffin PowerDuo iPod Charger

Griffin finally got around to making an iPod Charger that comes with both a powerpoint and cigarette lighter adaptor. USB only. US$40.

H2OAudio Case for Nano

If you're keen to do a bit of splashing about in the water you need to make sure your iPod stays dry. The H20Audio Case promises to do that for US$80.

iTrip mini universal mod

Modify your iTrip mini so it works with any device.

PortalPlayer still an iPod playa?

Engadget reports that PortalPlayer, after being dissed by Apple, may by vying to win back some business - they now have a chip that can help with video playback. Bring on a true Video iPod I say.

Apple wins on two fronts

Breaking news [err, well it was when I read it a few days ago!]: France folds on their DRM stance (remember the fuss from last week?) and Apple renew their contracts with the big four music companies and maintain their 99c pricing structure (in the US).

iHome iH36W

The iHome iH36W is one crazy dock/speaker set/FM radio/TV audio decive that's designed to be installed beneath a cabinet. Cost is US$199.99 which puts it at the pricey end of the spectrum but it's pretty feature packed...

Dock breakout

Another DIY dock breakout design - access every pin in the iPod dock.

The iBoom

Turn an old skool boom box into a classy (depending how you define 'class') iPod speaker set - and remember to use the cassette holder to store the iPod. Dubbed the iBoom this is one kit that Napolean Dynamite would think was "sweet".

Foldable Apple speakers

A cute set of speakers that folds into the shape of an Apple and contains a dock. For the Apple loyalists among you.

DIY Switch mode iPod charger

Hack a Day is trying to get the community to help build a Firewire iPod charger, required for 3G iPods. They also link to a USB power source which will be useful for the later models.

Samsung to replace PortalPlayer

There was some big news a week or two ago that Apple were dropping PortalPlayer as their supplier-of-choice for some of the chips used in the iPod. Poor PortalPlayer - their stocks took a massive dive (check out around April 19th) after the announcement.

Anyway, it's been revealed that Samsung are going to be the replacement. You'll remember that Samsung also supplies the flash memory for the iPod Nano - I dare say they're doin' alright.

Bella Corporation's Catapult

Bella Corporation recently announced the Catapult, a device that uses an iPod (or, actually any USB 2.0 drive) for storage from a DV or HDV video camera. It takes a Firewire stream from a camcorder, digitizes it no the fly and stores it on the drive. Coming second-half 2006, expected to be less than US$300

Design your own iPod super dock

Engadget are running a detailed series of articles on how to create your own iPod super dock. It will allow you to breakout all of the connections of a standard dock. Awesome if you're the DIY type.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

iPod PocketDock Combo

A simple device, the iPod PocketDock Combo simply plugs into an iPod (video or Nano) dock and allows you to plug in standard USB or Firewire cables.

Griffin PowerJolt

Griffin has always had a car charger for the iPod but they've recently updated their product. Only for 4th Gen models and later (ie devices that can be charged via USB).

Ads in iTunes

Wonderful. Looks like we'll be getting ads in iTunes.

High-end iPod speaker systems review

Ars Technica recently reviewed three high-end iPod speaker systems, including the Apple Hi-Fi.

Personally I'd recommend buying a proper stereo and hooking your iPod to it.

[BTW sorry for the lack of updates, life has gotten in the way! Expect a slew of posts today.]

Matts iPod News

Monday, May 22, 2006