Category: Portable Audio

Blue Microphones Mikey (Creative, Under $100) For those who like to get creative with sound, Blue Mikey ($79.99) is an excellent addition to your potable digital tool belt. Essentially a mic that plugs into the bottom of your iPhone or iPod, Mikey lets you capture anything from live music to lectures. You interface with the hardware as you would the iPhone's built-in mic; you can either use ...

Grado iGi Earphones (Media Hound, Under $100) To the audio obsessives who consider the quality of their sound gear a way of life, the mere mention of the name Grado elicits the kind of response usually reserved for Santa or, well, Steve Jobs . Since most Grado headphones are priced in the relative stratosphere, its new iGi model ($89) is a welcome entry-level sampler for the iPod generation. ...

"High-end" and "iPod dock" are seldom combined, but Wadia Digital has made it so with its 170iTransport, a squat little component that can turn Apple's portable audio and video capabilities into a stellar home media server. The first product to offer iPod's native digital audio output--over SP/DIF coaxial cable, included--the 170i enables your compressed music collection sound purer than it ...

Hype Check: Zune HD What it is: You've no doubt heard of Zune -- Microsoft's much-hyped personal media player (PMP) -- but you may not have seen much of it. Unfortunately for Microsoft, the device hasn't exactly caught on with the mainstream, with Apple's iPod (not to mention iPhone) still dominating the space. Zune HD is the Zune's third iteration and it comes in 16 -gigabyte (GB) and 32GB ...

A reader asks: I travel and commute a lot, and I need a set of headphones for my iPod and laptop. Those white earbuds just don't cut it on a plane or subway – especially for blocking out noise. I like to watch action movies, so they need to have good bass for those Hollywood explosions. But I'm also a jazz fan. Hey Reader: We're not crazy about stock earbuds, either, and we've tried ...

A reader writes: I want a decent-sounding audiophile table radio that can not only handle my iPod, but also wake me up in the morning! The Bose Wave radio II looks nice, but I'm not sure I want to spend more than $300 on this. Just tell me what to get! Sure, Bose's Wave radio II sounds great, but do you really want to shell out $350 for a high-end clock radio that doesn't interface directly ...

The micro-blogging site Twitter, along with its 140-character-or-less messages known as "tweets," is continuing to earn daily references from media outlets, but to the uninitiated it can seem confusing, narcissistic and creepily voyeuristic. In reality, it serves as an instant and simple method of keeping in contact with family and friends, or for reading the latest news from favored ...

While certainly not the most expensive iPod we've ever seen, the limited edition Prince Opus iPod touch is definitely amongst the priciest. Sold only as part of an ultra rare kit that includes a luxurious book of Prince photographs from Kraken Opus, this touch (of unknown capacity) comes preloaded with 40 minutes of "exclusive" footage along with a live soundtrack from 'Indigo Nights.' Of ...

Oh Snoop, is there anything you can't do? The man that has conquered music, television, adult film, pee-wee football, and Martha Stewart is now setting his sights on the high-end headphone market, we just learned from Stuff.tv. The headphone makers at Skullcandy have now redesigned their Skullcrusher line of headphones in honor of Sir Snoopnizzle. The Snoop Crusher (seen above) features two ...

The wait is over! Well, the wait to know what we're waiting for is over. The iPhone 3.0 update is coming, and honestly, it's not coming soon enough. We'll have to wait until this June, when the iPhone will get a major software update that will bring boatloads of new features to everyone's favorite multi-touch cell phone. Of course, many of these features, such as support for ...

var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/Apple_s_redesigned_iPod_shuffle_hits_4GB'; Bam, another Apple rumor vindicated. Apple just doubled the capacity of its iPod shuffle to 4GB while ditching the control wheel entirely. The new design keeps the clip and adds VoiceOver -- a new feature that gets around the lack of display by telling you which song is playing and who performs it at the touch ...

The folks over at TechDealDigger are letting us know about some of the best deals they find on gadgets every day, so we're going to pass that information on to you. After all, in these tough economic times, every little bit counts. We may not be buying Swarovski-covered iPods any time soon, but everyone needs essentials like a computer, so take a look at what the online deals site sent us ...

As if a giant billboard wasn't enough of an unveiling, Samsung has released some official shots of its M7600 "Beat DJ" touchscreen handset. Like we knew already, the Quadband GSM / HSDPA music phone sports a 2.8-inch AMOLED touchscreen display, GPS, 3 megapixel camera, and Bang & Olufsen amplifier. It's also got codec support for DivX and XviD, microSDHC card slot for up to 16GB, Bluetooth ...

This isn't the first time we've seen a Barbie-branded MP3 player -- and this form factor does seem awfully familiar -- but the whole thing really is a no-brainer. If you're looking to reinforce young girls' unrealistic body image expectations (or if you're the post-modern / post-feminist / ironic type, or if you just really like the color pink) this is definitely one for you. Shaped like a ...

Sirius XM is preparing to file for bankruptcy and could do so within days, the New York Times reports. According to the article, the move might be a calculated act to pressure Dish Network and EchoStar owner Charles Ergen into making an offer for acquisition. The Wall Street Journal says he offered to purchase the merged satellite radio group late last year and was then brushed off. Despite ...