Not content with only Apple Watch pre-orders and a slim new MacBook, Apple has quietly classed up the Beats Solo 2 wireless headphone line with some fairly familiar colors: Silver, Gold, and Space Gray.
You know it’s an Apple joint when Space Gray shows up.
BlueAnt’s Pump wireless headphones caught my eye at Mobile World Congress. Sports gear that also looks cool? Count me in!
I’ve been giving theses waterproof Bluetooth headphones a workout since they arrived last week, and I love them. That’s not to say they’re perfect – they’re not. But they have a job to do, and they get on and do it.
Degauss Labs’ new Pocket earbuds cost $35, which puts them on the cusp of “quality possibility” (a term I just made up) – they might sound good, or they may just use the same crappy old internals of every other cheap earbud under $50.
But what this Swedish-designed gadget does have is style, and that’s probably the most important spec in this price range.
Urban Outfitters, everyone’s favorite copyright-infringing chain store, is at it again with the Happy Plugs, earbuds from a “Swedish fashion and lifestyle brand that brings color to the world.”
Can you imagine a pair of Apple’s old Earbuds, only in color? Congratulations, because you just imagined the Happy Plugs, in a uncannily accurate piece of mind theater.
The Snap Strap does away with the annoying problem of your earbud cables ending up in your mouth when you’re just trying to enjoy a delicious hamburger and listen to some music at the same time. It’s a clever little strap that clips to the left and right cables of your ’buds and then sits across the back of your neck, keeping the cables away from your gnashing maw.
I love wireless gadgets, but sometimes they’re more trouble than they’re worth. For instance, I’m forever getting dropped connections on my AirPlay speakers, making them more annoying to use than wired speakers, despite the promised convenience. And wireless earbuds seem like an exercise in frustration. I regularly lose even my white Apple EarPods, so imagine how bad it’d be with two separate (and tiny) buds.
Jabra’s new Rox wireless earbuds at least address the last question. How? By adding a wire.
Apple EarPods are sleek and gorgeous. For most people like me though, they fallout all the time. Moshi has released its new Mythro earbuds that promise to stay in-place while still sounding good at an affordable price, so we’ve decided to put them through the ringer to see if they’re a suitable cheap earbud alternative. While we’re at it, we also take a look at Moshi’s first ever iPad charger, the IonBank 10k. It’s light, white, and sleek all over, but does it have enough juice to make it worth carrying around? Check out our findings below:
Halloween is coming soon, which means you need a costume to show off how incredibly awesome you are. Maybe you’re still undecided and need a little bit of inspiration. When it comes to Apple-themed costumes there are a lot of great ideas out there and you don’t have to spend a lot of money to make them.
We’ve rounded up some of the best Apple Halloween costumes from the past few years to help you decide what you should be. Check them out:
When our own Rob LeFevre reviewed the Earskins, he was surprised to find them to be an “essential accessory” for his EarPods. I decided to give them a go too. And guess what? They really are essential: I actually have a spare set, because now I can’t imagine using my EarPods without them.
Jabra made a big show of introducing their Sport Bluetooth music/phone earbuds at CES this year, even bringing in triathlete celeb and Ironman champ Craig Alexander to flaunt the buds while he sweat away the miles on a stationary bike. Unfortunately, the Sport has been plagued by reports of abysmal Bluetooth connectivity (possibly due to range) and poor fit ever since it shipped.
Jabra’s response is their new Sport Wireless+, the successor to the Sport, which Jabra says has made everything better.
When I opened the mailing box to find three pairs of EarSkinz, I wasn’t super impressed. Especially as this model, the ES2, so closely matched the shape of the EarPods it’s designed for use with, I figured it was just another throwaway product.
My apologies for even writing the above, but imagine my surprise when EarSkinz turned out to be an essential accessory for my set of EarPods. I’m even thinking about buying a pair of ES1s for my older Apple earbuds.
The EarSkinz marketing material claims that the little ES2 silicone earbud coverings will improve the comfort, fit, and sound of a pair of EarPods. I found that they indeed improved the comfort and fit, but I’m not so sure about improving the sound, though of course your mileage may vary.
Apple’s Earbuds and EarPods mightn’t be the best-sounding headphones around, but they come with every iPhone, and they’re tough enough to wrap up and keep conveniently in your back, unnoticed until you need them. And I would do exactly that, if the ’pods didn’t just drop out of my giant ears no matter how hard I jam them in.
What I need are some EarSkinz. Yes, that’s with a “Z.”
You just have to love the TurtleCell. First there’s the name, which conjures up images of hard-to-empty bowels. Then there’s the website, which manages to pack in plenty of Standard Infomercial Tropes: the cheesy, grinning model (usually either a family member or just the most photogenic person on the team, but never, ever a professional model), the overplayed example of the problem the product solves (in this case, an absurdly-tangled pair of earbuds) and even – yes, really – a sunglasses-wearing animal mascot in the product video.
It’s almost deliberately ridiculous. Oh, and the product is an iPhone case with built-in headphones.
Probably the biggest problem you have in your modern life is finding a place to store your earbuds when you’re not using them. Unless, of course, your life isn’t a shallow, empty parody of existence used by a gadget blogger to make a lame point.
That said, tangled cables are a pain. Probably not enough of a pain for me to stick a special case to the back of my iPhone and actually use it, but I’m just plain lazy. For those of you who care, there’s the Sound Pocket, a rear shell with a small compartment on the back for your Apple EarPods.
Don’t you hate it when your earbud cable gets tangled? I know I do (but not as much as I hate Apple’s stupid earbuds themselves). Luckily, Dotan Saguy has come up with the Smarter Stand for the iPhone, a pliable plastic widget which not only acts as a place to wrap your earbud cable, but also as a handy-dandy stand for the iPhone.
I have been using one for a little while now and it turns out to be a pretty useful little gadget.
The db on these headphones stands not for douche-bag but for Duobuds. And now you’ll have no excuse not to share your music when somebody asks — unless you’re the d-bag, that is.
Klingg! That’s the sound of a grown man still unable to sever the maternal ties forged early in his life by a smothering mother. Just kidding. It is in fact the sound of my artisanal iPhone ringtones, recorded from the prayer bells of real Tibetan monks. Kidding again! Klingg is actually an iPhone accessory designed by the fictional Star Trek race… [Enough! -Ed].
Klingg is — truly this time — an earbud holder that clamps onto your clothes using magnets.
BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS –
RadBlocker might sound like some lame anti-skateboarding device from the 1980s, but it is in fact an Israeli company dedicated to keeping your brains unscrambled. And nestled amongst its RF-denying belt holsters (for Dad!) and laptop trays is this amazing pair of headphones: Echo Tubez.
SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD/iWORLD 2013 – I’m not exaggerating — these headphones I found exhibiting at Macworld are just about the best iPod headphones I’ve heard. Full bass, beautiful high-end, loud, little incoming leakage from the outside world, really comfy and adjustable and look great in several bright color options. They are really well made. And the price! Guess how much they are?
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – Moshi’s bag is pretty simple. They aren’t the first accessory makers to enter a space, but when they do enter it, they try to do it with a certain degree of zen-like style. So we were interested in what Moshi had cooking when we stopped by their booth at Showstoppers. After an aborted attempt to try to get us to write up a really long HDMI cable, the cream bubbled up to the surface: the entry-level Mythro aluminum earbuds and the Ionbank 10K. And we were also, shallow as it is to say, pretty impressed with their aluminum Lightning cable.
Look, it’s the day before Thanksgiving, it’s a slow news day, whatever. Here’s a baby squirrel eating a pair of Apple earbuds in the cutest way possible. You’re welcome.
Via: TUAW
These clip-on headphones probably sound truly awful, but the paperclip that lets you secure them to your clothes or bag is genius, and probably worth the price-tag alone. Then again, they probably won’t be much worse than Apple’s old pre-EarPod earbuds, either, and we all got by with those for years.
Earbuds and sunglasses, two things that sit up on your head and hang from your ears. If only there was some way to combine the two…
Oakley tried it some years ago with the Thump, which resulted in one of the most hideous product designs ever conceived — if H.R Giger had re-imagined between-toe fungus as an alien growth across your eyes and temples, it would have looked like the Thump.
Luckily, Sanpei Optics has come to the rescue with this gadget, which takes a normal-looking pair of shades and a normal-looking set of earbuds and simply sticks them together.
We have another pair of BodyGuardz earbuds for you check out today—Premium Lyrics Earbuds From BodyGuardz (Black): The Precision-Crafted Surfaces Will Make You Forget They Are Even in Your Ears—I mean it's not like there is any other news or anything, right?
These earbuds are supposed to be so light and comfortable that you will either a) forget you have them on (I've done that, which is why my MacBook Pro headphone jack is skewed) or b) just want to wear them all the time. Now I can believe “a”, but “b” might just look strange. Regardless…
“I’d probably like a pair of those.” That’s what my wife said when she saw this deal. My wife has taken up running and doing quite well at it. She is, however, going through ear buds on a regular basis. Other runners I know have the same problem. Earbuds that fall out, wear out, aren’t comfortable, all that.
Well, looks like these earbuds might just fix that—The Active Lifestyle Earphone Package From MEElectronics: Stay Locked-in for Every Beat With The Sport-Fi S6 Earphone Set.