In a world full of iPods, CD Players, handheld video games, MP3 players, Portable Media Players, music / video capable Mobile Phones, and a wide range of other mobile audio technologies, there is one thing that always amazes me.  No matter how much you pay for that product, $30 or $800, you will find included with the instruction manual and AC Adapter, a pair of earphones that probably cost the manufacturer $5 or less.

While the quality of the sound output will vary depending on the source material and the device used to play it, the most critical part of the listening experience is where the audio comes out to your ears.  The earphone, headphone, or speaker is also where the listener has the greatest level of choice when it comes to deciding on the quality of the audio reproduction.  So if you are interested in getting more than $5 of quality from your $300 iPod, then you should consider upgrading your “stock” earphones.

In this series of reviews, I will be taking a look at a few mid to high range earphones and headphones from some of the most popular and respected headphone manufacturers.  With a focus on mobile use, all of the models reviewed are small, compact, and portable.

Read our full review of the Sennheiser MX500, PX200, and PXC250 Headphones

So you have an Apple iPod and if you spent $299 or $399 for it, you are most likely very protective of it. Many people go to extremes to keep it shiny and scratch free. So what if you want to take it with you while jogging, fishing, boating, or even just outdoors on a humid or rainy day? The chance of exposing the precious iPod to moisture and harsh conditions is enough to get most people to leave it at home. While there are many cases and protective gear that can prevent scratches and minor bumps, moisture and hard bumps are very different things.

Now Otterbox comes to the rescue. Otterbox makes a wide range of waterproof, protective cases for different devices and needs. There are Otterboxes for all model iPods, but let’s take a look at the Otterbox for iPod Video.

Read our full review of the Otterbox for iPod Video

If you have an Apple iPod, and who doesn’t these days, you will eventually want to improve it’s functionality by adding an accessory.  As the leading portable digital audio player on the market, there are an incredible number of accessories available for the Apple iPod and Griffin Technology is one of the leading companies in the iPod accessory market.  This article will take a look at a few of the products available from Griffin.

Read our full review of the Griffin Technology iPod Accessories: RoadTrip, AirClick, iTrip for iPod nano, PowerBlock, EarThumps

NOMAD Media Hub BETA empowers Windows Mobile Pocket PC users from around the world to create personalized media channels to go.

Entirely multimedia-enabled, NOMAD Media Hub allows web feed aggregation, multiple channel subscription, channel creation by keyword or topic watch, playback and support for rich contents formats such as Podcasts, Videocasts and aggregate feed channels powered by Google News, Flickr, Webjay, Podzinger, Fotolia, Blinkx and many other popular social media providers.

NOMAD Media Hub Free BETA includes My NOMAD Channel Manager, free upgrades plus an entire pre-packaged Interest Channel line-up available on a fully customizable subscription mode.

PDAToday Atom Feed is here: http://www.pdatoday.com/index.php/weblog/rss_atom/
PDAToday RSS 2.0: http://www.pdatoday.com/index.php/weblog/rss_2.0/

Armor Case is a form-fitting, trendy aluminum case that is designed to fit your BlackBerry 8700c/g/r. It’s exterior is made of anodized aluminum that is strong yet lightweight while the interior is padded with a layer of foam for optimal security.

No it’s not ribbed for your pleasure.  However the Armor Case works to protect your BlackBerry 8700c/g/r from everyday wear and tear, its accessible openings give quick access to button functions, trackwheel, and headphone jack. 

Armor Case is also designed with a clear plexiglass window that works to protect your BlackBerry 8700c/g/r screen and allows you to easily read your display. So basically bringing some splash guard for those “messy” enviroments. Nice.

Go ahead and check it out here:
Armor Case for BlackBerry 8700c
Armor Case for BlackBerry 8700g
Armor Case for BlackBerry 8700r

MobileTechReview has published a review of the E-TEN Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC Phone with built-in GPS.

“It was a dark and stormy night. . . you’re driving in a unknown place. Looking for that hotel where you’ll check in for a good night’s sleep before an important morning meeting. Who you gonna call and how? With E-TEN’s G500 Windows Mobile Pocket PC phone with integrated GPS, you could call for directions, or if you’re a guy, use its SiRF Star III GPS with your favorite mapping software to find your way to a cozy bed.”

Wow that is one Tron looking pimped out PDA.

Read the in-depth review of this device at: http://www.mobiletechreview.com/E-TEN-G500.htm

Web Cams are great for teleconferencing, taking a quick photo or video, and adding video to your Instant Messaging.  However, if you work mostly on a notebook computer, most web cams are too big and bulky to travel with easily.  So how can a notebook user have all the features of a modern web cam without all the weight and size?

The Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks Pro is a small, light-weight web cam that can clip on the screen lid of most notebook computer and deliver a high-quality video and audio experience.  The QuickCam features:

1.3 Megapixel sensor with wide field of view
RightLight Technology for low light compensation
Built-In Microphone
RightSound Technology for Echo Cancellation
Mounting Clip for notebook lid
Carrying case and headphone included
Logitech Video Effects software
Multi-person intelligent face tracking
Software enhanced photos up to 4 Megapixels

Read our full review of the Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks Pro

Most notebook computers have a CD-ROM drive or even a DVD-ROM drive.  But if you have a sub-notebook or Tablet PC that has no optical drive or you want to upgrade the optical drive capabilities of your notebook, there are a range of choices on the market.  However, most choices are designed for use with a desktop computer and are therefore large, heavy, and require a big power supply.  So what does a mobile user do when they want to have the capabilities of a DVD burner without adding a large amount of size and weight to their travel bag?

The Targus Rewriteable DVD Slim Drive is a portable, light-weight drive that is perfect for mobile professionals who need to add a DVD burner to their notebook computer without adding a large, bulky drive and power supply to their bag.  The drive features:

Read our full review of the Targus Rewriteable DVD +/- RW Slim External Drive

OK, maybe a better title should have been “I want my iPod” since I have yet to pick one up. Don’t get wrong i like the iPod, nobody’s questioning the iPod, it’s a fine iPod.

I’ll get an iPod when I can stroll down to my local BestBuy and pick up an XBOX360 premium with no fuss or trouble. (I should be safe for a while)

One to the news:

Digital Lifestyle Outfitters (DLO), makers of the DLO TransPod and other exciting accessories for the iPod, announced they are shipping the DLO HomeDock Deluxe Home Entertainment Dock for iPod with On-Screen Navigation. The HomeDock Deluxe is the first iPod dock that lets users view and select their iPod’s music on a television screen. It comes with an 18-button remote control that navigates through the iPod’s music, videos and photos. The HomeDock Deluxe is shipping to customers today and is available online at http://www.dlo.com and at major iPod retailers nationwide for $149.99.

Looks neat, costs an arm and leg, but what iPod accessory doesn’t?

http://www.dlo.com/Products/homedoc_dx_Prod.tpl?command=showpage&cart=114487845315272132

Palm, Inc. announced that the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is using Palm Treo smartphones to increase workflow productivity by enabling employees to collect information while out in the field and share it with press, customers and colleagues on the spot. For emergency management and general business, the nation’s largest animal-protection organization relies on Treo smartphones with Bluetooth headsets, running on the nationwide Cingular Wireless EDGE network with Good Technology’s robust wireless email software and service, GoodLink.

Wow that’s quite the line up of power players.

"The Humane Society of the United States protects animals 24 hours a day, seven days a week around the globe,” said Laura Folden, director of IT for HSUS. “Without our Treo smartphones, it would have been nearly impossible to keep up the pace over the last year, especially given the scope of our disaster-response efforts. Treo smartphones created a surge in our communications and productivity."

Well, the same could have been done with Windows Smartphone as well and probably cheaper by taking GoodLink out of the picture, thatis assuming they already use Exchange Server for thier email system.

Still it’s nice to see advanced technlogy put to good use. More information about HSUS is available at http://www.hsus.org

We just got our new autocross/track camera installed on our sponsored 911 Carerra. Foresight sent us their “essentials” kit. The foresight camera system consists of a lipstick camera and custom mount to capture video.

While at CES back in January I picked up at 20 gig PMP (portable media player) with video recoding that we will use on board the Porsche for viewing and capturing video from events.

Installation took about an hour and required routing the cables into the trunk (bonnet) area of the car. Nothing to difficult, I did have to drill a small hold in the back the marker housing on the car to get the cables positioned but this proved very easy.

The quality of the housing is top notch and at a glance appears complete stock on the car. The lipstick camera is well built and has a glass lens; preliminary tests show a good video quality. Over all I would say it is a great value for $295 considering the custom housing and quality.

There should be some drive events coming in a couple of weeks, I will capture some footage and post the results at that time. The foresight website does have some sample footage to view.

http://www.foresightcameras.com/

theregister has a bit of niffty news on the XDA IQ smart phone:

UK mobile phone network O2 has formally launched its XDA IQ smart phone, as exclusively revealed by Reg Hardware late last month. The IQ incorporates a quad-band (850/900/1800/1900MHz) GSM/GPRS radio with EDGE support. The phone also has Bluetooth 1.2 and 802.11b Wi-Fi wireless connectivity on board.

As expected, the handset is based on a 200MHz Texas Instruments OMAP 850 processor running Windows Mobile 5. It has 64MB of SDRAM and 64MB of ROM. The display is a 2.2in, 240 x 320, 65,536-colour job, and there’s a 1.3 megapixel camera round the back.

Looks good. I really like my Cingular 2125 that has the same basic specs, sans WiFi.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/10/o2_unveils_xda_iq/

Today’s market is full of Bluetooth Headsets.  There are many choices of size, colors, style, and features.  Even with all the variety, over 80% of the available headsets are basically the same with the same features, performance, and capabilities.  So how can a new company to the market try to differentiate itself? 

Gennum is a relatively new comer to the Wireless Bluetooth market.  The nXZEN Plus model 5500 headset is a small, light-weight unit that comes in 2 different colors and offers an impressive list of technology to create a better experience for the mobile phone user and the people they talk to.

Read our full review of the nXZEN Plus 5500 Wireless Bluetooth Headset

So here is the scoop: To enhance the battery life of a mobile device, Palm had the ingenious idea to take away the color of your screen when battery power is dwindling down. Before the technocrats among you indulge in sneers and laughter, listen to how US patent 7002569 describes it:

In one embodiment, the electronic device is a hand held computer system with a display device. When the battery level is detected as below a preselected level, a message is generated on the computer display screen. The message informs the user that the display mode of the screen can be changed to enhance the battery life. If selected, the display mode can change from color to monochrome thereby saving power because the monochrome display does not utilize a back-lighting element. In one embodiment, color sequential techniques are used to provide a flat panel color display. Within the display, a transreflective layer provides reflective light for monochrome applications. When the battery energy returns to normal levels, the color display mode can be re-entered automatically. It is appreciated that the display mode changes can also be performed automatically if the battery level falls below certain critical levels.

More “Early April” news: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=6217

Microsoft Corp. today announced the worldwide availability of Windows CE 5.0 Networked Media Device Feature Pack, an optional set of software components designed to lower the total cost of development for device-makers wanting to create next-generation networked media devices (NMDs) and Internet protocol set-top boxes (IP STBs), which will become an increasingly integral part of the digital home. The Microsoft Windows CE 5.0 Networked Media Device Feature Pack supports a broader range of video formats, PlaysForSure certification and digital video recorder (DVR) functionalities, and helps developers focus their time on device differentiation and innovation instead of middleware licensing and integration.

The Windows CE 5.0 Networked Media Device Feature Pack launch represents a new go-to-market strategy for Microsoft and confirms its continued commitment to the embedded marketplace. By creating new functionalities for an existing version of the Windows CE operating system through multiple, cumulative feature packs without affecting existing integrations, Microsoft is helping device-makers implement must-have features and plan for future high-demand devices between major new versions of Windows CE. The Windows CE 5.0 Networked Media Device Feature Pack is available for download at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsce

More: http://www.windowsfordevices.com/news/NS2466978910.html
More: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=6129