Monster is a brand that says two things to me when I hear the name — sound quality and expensive. The company has unveiled a new set of headphones called the Monster Turbine Pro that promises professional level sound, but that promise comes at a steep price.
Monster is asking $299.95 for a set of the turbine Pro headphones alone and $329.95 for the headphones with the Monster ControlTalk headphone cable. For that much loot, you get a set of headphones that are tuned to offer the kind of reference quality professional musician’s demand.

Monster is also shipping the new headphones with a new type of ear cushion called SuperTips that offer superior noise cancellation properties. The new SuperTips are offered in small and large sizes. In case the wearer doesn’t like the new tips, Monster is including the standard tips as well.

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Thanko is well known for it’s crap gadgets, but every now and then they surprise us with something a bit more original and different. Thanko has now shrunk the MP3 player into a form as small as 16mm x 25mm x 22mm, weighing just 8 grams. And you wear it in your ear adding some extra douche to your personality. A very thin cable will allow you to enjoy your tunes. The 2GB and 4GB models will cost you about $55 and $76, respectively. It could sport better looks, but some users are bound to appreciate it’s tiny size.

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Sony has unveiled their latest update to the A-Series Walkman line and it packs some serious features in a sexy exterior. The new NW-A840 series is available in black and brown and has to be the most stylish version to date.

The new model sports a 2.8 inch WQVGA OLED screen and is the thinnest Walkman ever, at only 7.2mm. The NW-A845 (16GB, Y24,000), NW-A846 (32GB, Y30,000), and NW-A847 (64GB, Y40,000) are all due on October 31st. There’s also a TV-out function, that can output at 720×480 quality.

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Apple has announced new 5th gen iPod nano with a built-in video camera and features a larger screen- 2.2-inch display (376 x 240), a FM tuner with Live Pause & iTunes Tagging and a pedometer can work with Nike+. About new Apple iPod nano 5G’s camera specs: H.264 VGA video, 640 by 480 pixels, up to 30 frames per second with AAC audio; 15 real-time special effects: Sepia, Black and White, X-Ray, Film Grain, Thermal, Security Cam, Bulge, Cyborg, Kaleido, Motion Blur, Light Tunnel, Mirror, Dent, Stretch, and Twirl.

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Solar power has come a long way. They used to be something you only saw on hippie communes and Sci-fi movies. Solar panels are on everything now, especially our charging gadgets. The latest to sport a solar panel is the Surge iPod Touch charger, which allows you to recharge your iPod Touch anywhere, as long as you have sunlight. The case features a 3.7 V lithium-ion battery that can be charged via the sun or by USB should it be cloudy. It comes in a bunch of colors. We aren’t sure if they have chargers for the other iPods, but at least your Touch is covered.

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Since sales of physical music formats have declined dramatically with the massive adoption of digital music, record companies have been struggling to find a new format that music fans will buy. For instance, SanDisk launched its slotMusic format to try and boost physical music sales. Gemalto and Universal Music have announced another new music format called the Smart Video Card. The rectangular card has a hole for a DVD player spindle and a SIM card with up to 120MB of content stored. The card can play video files back from any standard DVD player and the SIM can be interested into mobile phones to play music. I’m not sure about this format. It looks like the strange design of the optical disc portion will be off balance in a DVD player causing vibration and there are only a few dual SIM phones on the market. I don’t see many removing their SIM card to listen to music and then swapping again to make calls

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There are a number of noise cancelling headphones and earphones on the market that remove noise from an environment by active or passive means. The headphones come in especially handy when trying to work or rest in noisy environments like on an airline flight. Audio-Technica has announced an improved set of active noise-canceling headphones called the ATH-ANC7b headphones that promise to eliminate 85% of external sound from your environment. The headphones also feature removable cables in two lengths — 1.6 meter and 1.0 meter. The headphones will work with the iPhone, iPod, and other portable music and DVD players. In-flight entertainment systems are also supported by the headphones. A folding design makes storage and transport easy and the headphones will ship in August for $219.95.

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ifrogz has just launched their EarPollution Plugz with Mic, offering an affordable alternative for iPhone 3G, iPhone 3G S, and Blackberry users. It features a trendy design of the radiation warning symbol and comes in several different colors that should compliment any color case or skin you may already have. The iFrogz headphones are a good investment for budget minded buyers. The EarPollution Plugz with Mic retails for $19.99. As you know you can do a lot worse than that price for iPhone earbuds.

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Accessories aimed at the iPod nano 4G crowd are always a curious affair. Isn't the whole point to have your tunes on-the-go, with a minimal of fuss? And aren't costly (and bulky) add-ons the definition of "fuss?" We seriously doubted there was much of a market for the portable speaker attachment we saw a few weeks back, and now it's Radiopaq's turn to get us scratchin' our heads. The iPod Sound Jacket claims to do away with "the distortion that can sometimes result from a static EQ setting" and reveal the "hidden detail in the music that is lost during MP3 compression." In other words, it seems to be a graphic equalizer. One that you have no control over, to boot. Sound familiar? But then again, according to the product literature the device boosts sound quality "up to 60 percent." If only it were able to boost our self esteem by, say, 40 percent or more. Now that would be well worth the £69.99 (roughly $115).

read more "Radiopaq's Sound Jacket improves nano sound quality, according to this handy chart"

Looks like iLive has updated its iPod Boombox from its earlier version from a few years ago. The latest generation keeps the same similar design intact, but with a little more of a purse feeling. Will the ladies love these? Somehow I doubt it.

The design is curvier and compliments the latest iPod Nano pretty nice if you like this sort of thing. The iLive Portable Dock for iPod with Radio IB109P will play all iPod generations and will let you connect just about any external music source via the AUX jack. The AM/FM radio gives you an option aside from what’s on your device. It comes in various colors and retails for about $29.99 at Amazon.

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Netbooks are wildly popular today and odds are many of your friends have them. If you want to be different and stand out from the pack, albeit in a less functional way, a MID might be for you. Sure, they lack a real keyboard, but with Bluetooth, you can carry and external with you.

Dynamism has unveiled a new MID with a tablet form factor called the Viliv X70 series. The device is a touchscreen tablet that runs on netbook internals with an Intel Atom CPU running at 1.33GHz. The MID has a 7-inch WSVGA LCD with a resolution of 1024 x 600 and haptics touch feedback technology.

Storage is to a 32GB SSD and the machine runs Windows XP with a custom Cube UI overlaid on XP. Other features of the machine include GPS, optional 3G HSPA modem, mic and webcam, and a SDHC card slot. The machine has a special Just On feature that boots Windows XP in 5 seconds. An exact availability date is unknown but the machine will sell at a starting price of $599.

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Digital Cowboy announced their Media Cowboy DC-MC35ULI set-top box that acts as media hub and a lot more. It may look like it was endorsed by DC comics, but nope. It’s not the set-top-box of choice for Batman and Superman. It works with many media sources and is capable of playing most audio and video formats in 720p.

It will work with a 3.5 SATA hard drive and can also work as an iPod dock. It’s an easy way to directly connect your media. The built-in Ethernet will make it easy to share all your files with others over a network. The included remote allows you to control the media stored on the drive or on connected Apple devices. Supported formats include MP3, WMA, AAC, AC3, DTS, DivX, RMVB, WMV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and XViD. Inputs include RCA, USB and outputs are TCA, optical audio and HDMI. The Media Cowboy MC35ULI will be available in Japan next month for about $255.

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I talked about the Logitech Harmony 1100 universal remote control back in February when we learned that the slick tablet style remote would sell for about $500. Today we are going to take a hands on look at the Harmony 1100 and see if the touchscreen beauty is worth all that cash. If you are in need of a universal remote for your complex home theater and those cheap, checkout line remotes can’t handle your gear, this may be just the product you need. Read on for all of the details on the Logitech Harmony 1100.

Features & Specifications

The Logitech Harmony 1100 is a rectangular remote with a 3.5-inch touchscreen and a backlit screen and keys. Dedicated keys for channel and volume along with other functions are integrated and the remote supports RF devices with an optional RF Extender. Power for the remote comes from a rechargeable lithium ion battery and a charge station is included. The Logitech Harmony 1100 can control up to 15 devices, including home automation gear and programs via a USB connection to your PC.

In Use

The first thing most people notice about the Logitech Harmony 1100 is the price. At $499.99 MSRP, it is not cheap and is not something that the average person with a DVD player and a cable box will want to buy. The Logitech Harmony 1100 is a remote for the home theater and home automation enthusiast that needs a remote that is easy to program for lots of components and makes using a complex home theater easier — something the Logitech Harmony 1100 offers in spades.

Programming the remote is very easy and requires software to be installed on your computer and a USB connection to the computer. The software works with Windows and Mac computers. To program the remote all you need to know are the brand and model number of your components. You enter the brand name and model into the software and the software programs the remote for the device; you don’t have to enter any numerical codes.

Once you program your devices (up to 15 of them) into the Logitech Harmony 1100, the real beauty of the remote is ready to happen. Where the remote really pays you back for the hefty investment is in the activities that you can set up. Anyone with a home theater using multiple components that require several inputs to be changed on the TV, receiver, and cable box knows that while you might be able to run the system, your spouse or a visitor is hopelessly lost.

The activities set up of the 1100 lets you set up simply one-button macros to do everything for activities you would do with your home theater like watch TV, listen to music on the radio, listen to a CD, play a game and any other task your home theater will do. You go through an easy to follow set up process where the software asks you what components your activity uses, what inputs need to be used, and what components will control the volume. Once programmed all you (or a visitor) needs to do is point the remote at the home theater and press one button for the activity. The inputs will be changed automatically and in a short time, you are ready to do whatever you wanted without having to use more than one remote or change anything manually.

One thing you will quickly notice if your wife and kids are like mine is that they often stand right in front of my home theater while the remote is doing its thing. This results in the remote thinking that you are on the right input, but you may not be. This is easy to fix with a help button on the remote. You press it and the remote walks you through a set of questions that will find what exactly is wrong. Once you find the problem, for instance the TV is on the wrong input, you hit the button telling the remote that the input is wrong and it will change the inputs until the right one is selected then you press yes the problem is fixed and you are golden.

You may find that some of the functions for your components are not automatically installed on the Logitech Harmony 1100. This can be fixed easy enough if you have the stock remote thanks the ability for the 1100 to learn commands simply by aiming the stock remote at the 1100 and pressing the appropriate button.

The large touchscreen of the remote is customizable with icons for specific channels and a customizable layout. The rectangular form factor can take a bit of getting used to and thanks to most functions being controlled by touchscreen buttons you will always be looking at the remote when you are using it. Most users learn the placement of buttons on normal remotes and can operate components without looking at the remote, this won’t happen with the 1100.

Pros

• Looks cool
• Automates tasks common to your home theater
• Easy to program

Cons

• Expensive

Verdict

Overall, the Logitech Harmony 1100 is fantastic for users with complex home theaters and home automation gear. The remote is expensive, but it’s cheaper than most other remotes in the same capability class from other manufacturers. If you want an easy to use remote that makes using a complex home theater easy for the non-enthusiast, it’s easy to justify the asking price for the Harmony 1100.

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AKG K100 AKG K100 headphones just blew you out of the water in terms of size! Along with looking freakishly big, the AKG K100 looks like electronic ear muffs. They are claimed to be high perfomance headphones which creat an incredible sound, but is it really worth risking your sense of fashion? Fatman FatPhones The main feature of the FatFones is that for the sound, make sure there is no sound leakage, if you listen to your favorite music. But the functionality comes at a price, and Ii don’t mean money. It is designed to fit perfectly in your ear,but the slug-like tip of the headphones is hideous. There is the option of taking off the tip, but it would be all to avoid the defeat that “Sound Leakage. Logitech Curve Although they are for young people, these headphones look to much like plastic rubber. they also wrap around the back of your head which can take timeo get use too.. Fatman FatPhones The main feature of the FatFones is that for the sound, make sure there is no sound leakage, if you listen to your favorite music. But the functionality comes at a price, and Ii don’t mean money. It is designed to fit perfectly in your ear,but the slug-like tip of the headphones is hideous. There is the option of taking off the tip, but it would be all to avoid the defeat that “Sound Leakage. One pair of headphones seems to rule us all in todays society. As the white iPod earphones are clearly the number one choice to accompany an MP3 player; because of the brand name behind it. By creating weird designs, few companies have dared to be different. Takara Tomys Transformers Headphones At first, they look like miniature white hockey pucks, but these headphones are anything but ordinary, as they evolve. Yes, it’s true. The strange headphones turned into a transformer! The concept is nice, but for some reason, it seems that Megatron hastily trying to get out of the evil device known as the “ear” AKG K100 AKG K100 headphones just blew you out of the water in terms of size! Along with looking freakishly big, the AKG K100 looks like electronic ear muffs. They are claimed to be high perfomance headphones which creat an incredible sound, but is it really worth risking your sense of fashion? Almost at the final product design is perfect, if you work in a factory or on a construction site. That you do not have an Old-School-look, but is it something that hipsters today accept with open arms?

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uffalo Japan has introduced a dice shaped portable speaker for iPod, Buffalo BSSP05I. according to your choice colorful range is available. Buffalo BSSP05I is power from the iPod and delivers an output of 1W and best thing it features volume control. This Buffalo BSSP05I dice is well-suitable with all iPods excluding iPod Shuffle. Buffalo BSSP05I dice is going on sale next month in Japan priced at 2814 Yen, around $33 USD.

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It seems counterproductive to be buying a portable DVD player, what with Blu-Ray and all of the other options available to you, but if you are eyeing a new DVD player, check this out. The most interesting feature of the DCP951/37 from Philips is the retractable iPod dock.

Its compatible with the iPod Touch, iPod Nano and the iPod Classic. The DCP951/37 will give you only a 640×220 resolution, but on the other hand it can play almost all standard video discs and also has an SD card slot. You’ll also get MP3 support, 2 x 3.5mm stereo headphone jacks and a built-in battery that will give you almost 3 hours of playback. The price is fairly reasonable at just $139.98.

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Teac has announced its first HD radio device, in the form of the TEAC HD-1. The iPod docking system comes equipped with HD Radio technology for a superior audio experience and compelling new content through HD Radio programming. You can use the TEAC HD-1 with your iTunes collection via its iTunes Tagging capability. Some other features include a remote control, dual alarm clock with snooze button, five equalizer presets, and an iPod/iPhone charger. You can purchase the Teac HD-1 HD Radio at select Costco stores around the US for $129.99 each.

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Apple’s new iPod Shuffle is the Worlds Smallest Music Player that talks to you.It is even smaller to be exact: 1.8″ tall x 0.3″ than the previous version which is already small.

More:

• Controls are located on the right ear bud cord.
• With command central placed in more convenient location, you can navigate your music and activate the Voice Over feature
• With the press of a button, VoiceOver will tell you the song that its playing and tell you whos performing it and also the names of your playlists.

The new iPod Shuffle is available in 4GB and you can choose from silver or black color. Priced at $79.

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If you love music, but aren’t picky about what you specifically listen to, this one may be a good bet for your ears. It comes with 1,000 “hand picked” songs. Yeah I know this could spell disaster. Hopefully the songs were handpicked by someone in your age group, so you don’t end up with Britney Spears or Hannah Montana.

It comes with 1,000 songs “handpicked from the Billboard charts” coming on a microSD card for use with the player. If you get bored with those, you can get genre-specific 1,000 song bundles for $40 more. It’s a cool idea, which brings the cost of music down to 4 cents per song and it also cuts downloading out of the equation. The problem is most of the songs will probably be garbage. There’s also an FM radio integrated in there too. Here’s the catch. You knew there was one right? Those $0.04 cent songs are locked to the card. The Sansa slotRadio will be available in “early 2009″ for $100 at RadioShack.

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Aigo Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP5 player (PMP) has been released by Aigo its known as MP5-MK3510 as well. MP5-MK3510 comes with 4.3-inch display with 480 x 272 pixel, image viewer, integrated ebook supports , FM tuner and supports AVI, FLV, RM, RMVB, MPG, MPEG, FLV, DAT video files and MP3, FLAC, WMA, APE with BBE and SRS file formats.

Its battery will give you 10 hours of continuous audio playback and 4 hours for video. It weighs 185gram and measures 133mm x 87mm x 154 mm.

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