Cellphone Accessories For Our Mobile Overlords

by Pam Mandel on

There’s no device I love to hate as much as I hate to love my iPhone. (You read that right.) Your mileage may vary; you may not feel like both a chump and a devotee while caressing your mobile whatever. Until I attain your Zen-like state, I feel annoyed whenever I find myself buying presents for my phone, even if they are practical and make using my phone a better experience. Here’s the drill on three extras I’ve been using lately.

G-Form Extreme Grid iPhone Case: Drop your phone one time ONLY on the bus and you’ll wish you’d shelled out for a case. It’s like Apple is intentionally propping up the case market by using that slippery exterior. I used an Otter Box on my iPhone 3, but I’ve come to prefer the weird grippy exterior of the G-Form on my iPhone 4. People keep making fun of the almost tire tread like bumpy black box I wrap my phone in, but the fact is, it stays put in my hand and has enough padding and bounce that my phone didn’t shatter into tiny expensive bits when I dropped it on the 54. There was an audible gasp from the people around me, but I just picked up my phone and went back to listening to vintage sci-fi radio theater and posting pictures to Instagram.

The case comes in black or black and yellow. I kind of wish I’d got the yellow just because it would make the phone easier to find when it’s lost in my backpack. Cost: about $40. That might seem expensive, but it’s going to cost you more than that to buy a new phone.

Mophie Juice Pack Plus: With great addiction comes the endless search for outlets and places to recharge the phone, right? You can buy yourself a lot more time with a spare battery. Mophie builds theirs into an attractive case that allows you to double the use time of your phone. I think this case/battery combo is pretty freaking great. It serves to protect your phone, and gives you all that extra use time, and it comes in a bunch of happy colors. I dropped my phone in this case, too, because apparently, that’s how I roll. The case is a little scratched up, but it still works just fine and my phone is still totally intact. It’s charged via a mini-USB cable. You leave it off until you need the extra juice, then it charges your phone while you use it. It’s great for long-haul flights, especially if, like me, you spend your airtime with audio entertainment.

The Juice Pack is pricey – it’s about $100. Here’s the truth: I like this thing and bring it everywhere.

Able Planet Clear Harmony Sound Isolation Earphones: I’ve gone through half a dozen pairs of iPhone compatible earbuds. On my last trip I lost my isolation Sennheisers. The sound was top notch, but I was on my third pair because they kept breaking (while still under warranty, thankfully). I replaced them with a really cheap pair of JVC iPhone compatible headphones, and they broke too.

I like the isolation earbuds because they don’t take up the space of headphones, but I’ve yet to find a pair that reduces external noise the way active cancelling headphones do. I like the Able Planet brand just fine; they’re far superior to the standard Apple earbuds and they stay put, but I’m not totally sold. They sound great, don’t get me wrong, and they do help with noise reduction on the plane or the bus, but that crying baby still found his way into my head while I was trying to doze on the plane. Even with the white noise app I use, ambient sound leaked in through everywhere. Able Planet makes active noise cancelling headsets too, I own a pair, and I wish I’d packed them instead. I await perfect, affordable, noise blocking earbuds.

Able Planet Earbuds run about $170. They’re fine for daily use, but if you’re really looking for noise reduction and you’re going to spend that kind of money, go with active noise cancelling instead.

Altec Lansing Orbit USB Stereo speakers deliver audio on the go

by Scott Carmichael on

If you don’t want to settle for the speakers in your laptop, but do want something that is easy to pack, then a new speaker product from Altec Lansing may be just what you need. The Orbit USB Stereo builds off the success of their Orbit MP3 speaker (my first ever review on Gadling) but moves up from a single speaker to stereo speakers.

The design is pretty slick – the speakers attach to each other, and the USB and audio cord stores inside the rear end of each speaker.

Sound from the Orbit USB Stereo is actually quite impressive — and certainly much better than you’d expect from something this compact. Because the speakers use a generic USB audio system, you don’t need any drivers either, simply plug them in and you are good to go.

While they are noticeably larger than a pair of headphones, once combined, the package really isn’t that big – and I had no problem finding a spot for them in my laptop backpack. Since they are USB powered, you don’t need to carry a power adapter or batteries.

The new Altec Lansing Orbit MP3 Stereo is available (and in stock) today for just $49.95.

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Dreaming of Bali – The sounds of Indonesia

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Welcome back to Gadling’s newest series, Dreaming of Bali. Visiting the exotic Indonesian island of Bali is truly a feast for the senses. First time visitors and expats alike frequently remark on this island’s rich tapestry of exotic stimuli: the brilliant orange glow of a sunset as it slides gently into the sea; the wafting scent of kerosene and crushed chilis at a roadside food stall; the soft vibration of a gong as it’s struck in a temple. These are sensory experiences that bury themselves in your subconscious, sticking in your mind long after your return from a journey – they are ultimately the impressions that help to crystallize our understanding of our travels.

Words are only one way to tell a story. Borrowing an idea from Gadling blogger Stephen Greenwood, I’ve tried to capture my impressions of Indonesia through the medium of sound. Embedded below are four “soundscapes” from my recent visit to Bali and the nearby island of Java. Click on play, close your eyes, and prepare to be transported far away to the islands of Indonesia:

Sitting on the beach at dusk, listening to waves crash on the beach – a symphony of frogs croak at the onset of dark:




A group of musicians practices their Gamelan performance at a temple in Ubud:



Walking inside Ubud’s morning produce market:






Most of Indonesia, with the exception of Bali, is muslim. Here’s the afternoon call to prayer in Yogyakarta, Indonesia:



Dreaming of your own visit to Bali? Read more about Gadling’s “visit to paradise” HERE.

[Flickr photos courtesy of ^riza^, didiz | rushdi and norhendraruslan]

SkyMall Monday: Pillow Speaker

by Mike Barish on

While some people enjoy falling asleep to the soothing sounds of music or the television, the noise can disturb others. Whether you’re at home trying to sleep next to your spouse who prefers peace and quiet or on a plane where you want some background noise to drawn out the passengers around you but also don’t want to disturb them, trying to sleep while also listening to music can be a challenge. I know that I enjoy listening to music while sleeping on planes but I also don’t want to be that guy providing a soundtrack for everyone within five rows. So, finding a way to listen to music, sleep and do it all discreetly is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an economy class seat. Thankfully, SkyMall knows that headphones can be uncomfortable when you’re sleeping and people prefer to rest their heads on their own pillows. That’s why they sell a product that combines the sleep benefits of a pillow with the audio abilities of speakers. That’s right, it’s the Pillow Speaker.It may be easy to sleep with headphones in your ears while you are seated upright on a plane, but that isn’t the case when you’re laying in bed or curled in a first class lay-flat seat. That’s where the Pillow Speaker comes in. You simply plug your iPod into the pillow, rest your head as you normally would and enjoy your music through the speaker built right inside. Who doesn’t want audio components stuffed into their pillows? You can’t spell comfortable without treble*.

Think that listening through headphones is the only polite way to enjoy your music when other people are around? Think that pillows should only be filled with feathers? Well, while you toss and turn all night, we’ll be dreaming about the product description:

No batteries or ear-buds are necessary — you can use the MP3 Pillow Speaker to enjoy music or TV without disturbing others. A great gift for teens or adults, the MP3 Pillow Speaker also helps relieve stress and tension as you drift off to sleep listening to soothing sounds from your audio source.

One must assume that the speakers maximum volume is quite low if it won’t be disturbing anyone around you. That, or since everyone else around you will have the headphones on, they won’t hear your pillow. You’ll be free to relieve stress and tension as you drift off to sleep listening to the soothing sounds of Gwar.

Don’t torture your ears with uncomfortable earbuds. Fall asleep listening to your favorite music while also enjoying your own pillow thanks to the Pillow Speaker. Just don’t turn the volume up too loud or listen to audiobooks of trashy romance novels while in public.

* Not at all true.

Check out all of the previous SkyMall Monday posts HERE.

East of Africa: Sounds from the Red Island

by Stephen Greenwood on

Belltowers can be heard from the top of a hillside on a warm Sunday morning in Antananarivo.

After returning from Tuléar, I had a few remaining days in Antananarivo to explore the city and capture some additional photo and video. I’ve started getting in the habit of keeping an ear out for interesting sounds and pulling out my audio recorder to capture the moment. Below are a few of those experiences – and I hope they’re able to transport you to the beautiful and exotic world of Madagascar, even for a split second.

If you have headphones I’d suggest using them so you can pick up the small details in the audio. Enjoy!



A classical guitarist plays a solo in a rural village outside of Antananarivo.

Two roosters spar in a local competition. Both roosters wheeze heavily with exhaustion, while the owners splash water on their feet to aggravate them.

A beautiful sunset from the balcony of the Radama hotel, accompanied by the sounds of local broadcast on a wind-up radio.

A small, roadside Malagasy cafe bustles with early morning customers eating rice, fried bread, and oatmeal out of noisy tin bowls.

Two teenagers from Tuléar, Melson & Titina, play guitar on a homemade wooden instrument.

The haunting voices of two street children (kat-mis), begging for money on a late night walk in Antananarivo.

A wildfire burns through brush outside of Ilakaka.

A youth choir performs a song in a local church to commemorate a secondary school graduation.

Catch the previous articles in the East of Africa series here!