Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Yes, mobile security is becoming more of a million-dollar-worry for corporations, but what about the hundreds of dollars’ worth of songs on your iPod? Your son’s graduation photos on your digital camera when it gets lost or stolen?

A recent Reuters story details some of the new software and hardware that allows runaway consumer electronics to “phone” home via wireless connectivity; Eye-Fi SD memory cards and GadgetTrak software are mentioned. Both send data back to the original owners, and there are now-famous stories of thieves caught taking pictures of themselves using the Eye-Fi enabled cameras they stole.

I was curious about the relationship between these new security companies and law enforcement: how are police handling the advent of technologies that help them do their jobs? 

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Nike did it with the Nano, now bicycle manufacturer is tinkering with the idea of making your iPod a cycle computer.  Bringing much of the same functionality as the Nike+ unit, Cannondale envisions a docking unit on the bike but with some surprises.

Yeah, you’ve got a rear view camera on your Escalade, but on your bike?  Cannondale’s concept puts rear view on your iPod as well as speed, distance and other basic functions.  It seems even a power base (perhaps powered by your cycling) is there as well.

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Rumors are flying fast and hard as we all gear up mentally for the big Apple party coming June 9 at 10 am.  One I really like is the idea of 2 iPhones being introduced.  Isn’t it more like Apple to whip out something they’ve undersold and surprise us?  Apple knows we love surprises and I suspect they’ll not disappoint this year.

Back in December I squawked about why an iPhone Nano makes lots of sense for Apple, AT&T and consumers.  The family line that helped make the iPod such a raving success could do the same for the iPhone and give us a more comfortable feeling about Jobs claim they’ll hit their target numbers.  A down market iPhone Nano, selling for $199 would sell off shelves faster than water jugs at the start of Hurricane Season (coming Sunday to a coastal town near you).

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Product: Kicker iK500 iPod Speaker System
Price and Availability: Currently available and retailing for $299.99
Rating: 9/10
Pros: Simple, easy to set up and use
Cons: Docked iPod sits a little “off”
Overall: Solid sound with a great overall look

While we were able to review the iK500, which is made for the iPod, Kicker also offers the ZK500 for the Microsoft Zune, which also retails for $299.99.

The iK500, after first getting it out of the box has a nice look to it. Keep reading for the rest of the review…

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Comfortable headsets are great when you can find them. If they are cordless it’s even better. Now add the ability to listen to your iPod wirelessly for up to 10 hours straight. If that is not enough – what if you and three other people could share the wireless connection? Have I peaked your interest yet?

Kleer (good name when talking about headsets) and DigiFi have joined their resources to give us a cordless headset with CD quality sound known as Opera. A bit rich at $98 but an interesting concept I must say.

Opera is not your ordinary headset. It wraps from behind your head and up over your ears. Earbuds make this headset unobtrusive and as far as looks are concerned – streamlined comes to mind.

Read [Kleer] Via [Gear Live]

There are so many small MP3 players on the market today, most of which are pretty nice. This makes it hard to decide which one to choose, however, the good guys at Generation MP3 recently offered up a nice comparison chart to offer some comparison between four players that are currently on the market. The four MP3 players being compared include the iPod Shuffle, Samsung’s new S2, iriver’s MPlayer, and the Creative Zen Stone. All of these MP3 players are really good and they all come with their own unique features. Let the battle begin!

So far, the lightest music player is Samsung’s Pebble, or the S2, weighing in at 13.6 grams. The next lightest being the iPod Shuffle. In terms of battery life, Samsung’s S2 wins again, with a long battery life of 13 hours, however, the iPod Shuffle isn’t too far behind again, coming in with 12 hours of battery life. iriver’s MPlayer only offers a 9 hour battery life, and the Stone comes in the middle with 10 hours, of course these times are all under optimal use.

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While we are taking some time getting our full thoughts down, we wanted to show off the pics of the latest gadget to make its way into the Gadgetell headquarters. Its the Kicker iK500 iPod speaker system. While we have the iK500 which is made exclusively for the iPod, Kicker also has the zKick ZK500 for the Microsoft Zune.

Aside from the obvious difference that one is made for the Zune and the other for the iPod, they both offer the same features. The systems both ship with a remote control that offers a full range of options, and have two 5-inch woofers, two 3/4-inch tweeters, one 6-inch square reflex subwoofer that are powered by a 40-watt stereo amplifier. In addition they both have a 1/8-inch stereo aux-in jack and stereo RCA out. They both measure in at 8.5 x 19.2 x 8.4-inches and weigh 9.2-pounds.

The iK500 includes eight dock inserts that will allow for just about any iPod to fit snugly in place, and the ZK500 comes with three inserts to fit the various available Zune players. The iK500 and ZK500 both retail for $299.99 and are currently available. During our (so far brief) testing the system sounded great and worked well with a variety of iPods, to include the nano, Shuffle and even the iPhone, while in airplane mode. Be sure to check back for our full review and in the mean time enjoy the pics…

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As a man of twenty five I am comfortable saying that the most challenging, and truly self discovering journey of my life was the transference from CD to digital music. A process that took months of short activity spurts and endless accumulated hours of musical rediscovery from the very depths of my musical collection (talking about Morris Day & Time, and Hanson in one sitting). In the end, like Highlander, “there could be only one” device that is. My trusty iPod, filled with every song I have ever loved up until next new release Tuesday. All in all I tore through 572 CD’s, all colorful and slick, some with scratches, others with little dots indicating that they were not long for this world. 

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While I am normally not a big fan of covering my notebook or phone with lots of stickers or graphics, the latest offering from Gelaskins may convince me to change my thoughts just a little bit. Its a motherboard styled image, which was created by Derek Prospero.

Gelaskins offers vinyl decals that are made from a “premium grade 3M vinyl” for a variety of laptops, both Mac and PC as well as the iPhone and iPod. The laptop decals seem to all be $29.95, while the iPhone and iPod decals are $14.95. The artwork for the decals are all being licensed from various artists.

After all what geek would not want to have their motherboard on the outside, now I just have to decide whether I want to skin my notebook, phone or both. Of course, if they motherboard look is not for you they have a huge selection to choose from.

Product [Gelaskins] Via [CrunchGear]

Hoping to emulate the success of Paolo Coelho with his books after releasing them as free digital downloads, Wired managing editor Leander Kahney and his publisher Bill Pollock of No Starch Press have posted two Apple-oriented books on The Pirate Bay. Full electronic versions of the two books, Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod, have been seeded via torrent on Pirate Bay and are now available for download.

“We want to see if giving away copies of the books will have any effect on sales.”, says Kahney.

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