The iMuff: Listen to your iPod and Cell Phone at the Same Time

by Neil Woodburn on

Convergence just keeps getting better and better.

Take for instance the new iMuff. This handy set of headphones does double duty. First off, the headphones act as a wireless earpiece for your iPod. Simply plug an antenna into your iPod, slip on the headphones and listen to music up to 30 feet away without a single wire connecting the two devices. This comes in handy on bike rides and other activities where you can just tuck your iPod into a daypack and not worry about it for hours.

As if this isn’t cool enough, the wireless iMuff can also connect to your Bluetooth enabled cell phone. Just drop it in the same pack as your iPod and if you get a call while grooving to your tunes rollerblading at Venice Beach, the iMuff will pause the music and give you the opportunity to answer the call directly through the headphones.

Not too shabby!

Me? I’m waiting for the cochlear implant that will do the same thing. But in the meantime, this is a pretty cool alternative.

Price: $149.99

(via Business 2.0)

Work Your iPod Scroll Wheel Even In Snot-Drippingly Cold Weather

by Willy Volk on

Anybody who uses an iPod in cold weather — from cross-country skiers, to snowshoe-ers, to reindeer herdsmen — knows that it’s a pain to operate the scroll wheel wearing gloves.

Tävo Products has heard your icy cry in the wind, and they have responded with gloves offering “playpoint technology” — which is geek-speak for special silicone-textured fingertips that grip the scroll wheel.

Allowing user to easily operate those delicate control wheels, Tävo Gloves can be worn alone or as liners. And for $20, the price is right.

City Surf’s Audio Walking Tours for the “Un-Tourist”

by Willy Volk on

According to City Surf, “Guidebooks show you which neighborhoods are cool to visit, we show what’s cool IN those neighborhoods.” Indeed, City Surf has created audible walking tours of some hip Toronto hang-outs, including Kensington Market, St. Lawrence Market, Yorkville, and The Annex.

To use the tours, you download one of the 30-40 minute tours, load it into your iPod, and hit the streets. Rather than having your nose buried in a guidebook, you slip on your earbuds and listen to what makes the area unique. Spaced out, listening to your iPod, you’ll look just like a local.

The only downside is that the tours run $9.99 CAD (about $9 US) per download. A little steep? Maybe. But the music-filled sample tracks City Surf has posted sound like they’re brimming with great insider tips that’ll let you experience the city the way the locals do. I’ve never gone on an audible walking tour of a neighborhood. I imagine I’d have to do it twice: once to learn the tips; and a second time to feel like I’ve really immersed myself in the place.

Not heading to Toronto? Montreal and Vancouver tours are in the works.

[Thanks, Ali!]

Culture Clash: Ethiopia

by Willy Volk on

The subtitle for this photo reads: “a female member of Mursi tribe in Southern Ethiopia.” I wonder what she’s listening to.

Sometimes referred to as “aggressive models,” the Mursi people are a tribe of cattle herders and sorghum-farmers in eastern Africa. Evidently, it’s common for them to carry AK-47s to protect themselves from neighbors who raid their cattle. However, it is NOT common for them to carry iPods. I’m guessing that someone paid her to take the picture, as you can see a bit of folded up cash in her left hand.

If you’re in Ethiopia, it’s possible to see the Mursi, though some people believe outsiders descending on the villagers to snap photos is eroding their way of life.

iDisguise Disguises Dis Guy’s iPod

by Willy Volk on

iDisguise wants to help you protect your MP3 player while traveling. As such, they’ve “invented” two small boxes that’ll conceal either an iPod Nano or a Shuffle, and make it look like you’re just a broke bloke with a sweet tooth.

Available in 2 different candy tin designs — Wintergreen and Peppermint — iDisguises retail for $10. From the images online, it’s impossible to tell whether the tins have a little cushioning inside to prevent your player from rattling around.

While I applaud iDesign’s initiative, Altoids retail for under $3 — and you get to eat the candy.

[Via Travel Gear Blog]