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The DROID isn't likely to deliver a knock-out punch to the iPhone any time soon, but it is worthy of serious consideration by anyone shopping for an "App Phone" this holiday season. Get the full story here at Wi-Fi Planet.com.
Yurtopia makes customized ear buds called yurbuds (also known as earbud enhancers) that, as advertised, fit comfortably, stay in the ear, and greatly improve the sound of standard headphones and headsets--particularly of the iPhone and iPod persuasion. I highly recommend them to anyone look for an easy and inexpensive way to improve the audio quality and performance of their earphones.
Yurbuds come in six sizes. To get fitted simply upload or send Yurtopia a picture of your ear with a standard reference object; preferably an Apple-style ear bud in your ear, but a quarter will do, for example. In the near future, the company plans to offer an application that will size people's ears and more in the App Store.
Turns out I'm a size five by the way.
I tested out a review pair of yurbuds with both Apple's standard headphones for iPod and iPhone and Yurtopia's yuphones, which were virtually indistinguishable from Apple's earphones. In both cases the yurbuds performed admirably.
In fact, the yurbuds enhanced the sound of the headphones so much, I had to turn down the volume on my iPhone and iPod considerably. According to Yurtopia, yurbuds concentrate sound so well, users can reduce volume by as much as 50 percent, saving both their hearing and reducing power consumption.
Although the yurbuds fit snuggly in the ear, you barely notice they are there after a while. Best of all, they did not fall out constantly, as the headphones I tested them with usually do without yurbuds attached. And, unlike in-canal headphones, yurbuds don't put too much pressure on the inside of your ear and do not totally block off ambient sounds, which is essential for runners and other athletes--a key part of Yurtopia's target demographic--and others who need to stay in touch with the outside world when listening to music.
Unlike with Apple's standard iPhone and iPod earphones, some in-canal headphones may require adapters, called yurAdapters, that are available or will become available for several manufacturers. For example, an adapter for Apple's $79 (and great sounding) Apple In-Ear Headphones with Remote and Mic--whose silicon tips occasioonaly get stuck in this writer's ear, pop out, and irritate the ear canal--is due to become available shortly. I can't wait to pair the yurbuds up with the those headphones, as they'll make them sound even better, but without the irritations. Here's a video that shows you how to use the a yurAdapter with one of Apple's in-year headset.You can order yurbuds online for $19.99 each. Pick up a pair of them and the price is an even more reasonable $29.99. Yurtopia's Apple-like headphones, called yurphones, sell for $19.99. And you can buy a pair of yurphones with a set of yurbuds included for $29.99.
Forbes.com ranked the Yurtopia number nine in its list of America's Most Promising Companies. The company's co-founders include a triathelete with a background in minimally invasive surgical devices who found the headphone options on the market--particularly the ones offered by Apple--lacking and prone to falling out, and a marathoner with a background in business management and development.
See here for a list of upcoming events, mostly marathons, where Yurtopia will be showing off Yurbuds. Here you'll find a video showing you how to put yurbud onto an earphone.
The Monoprice Backup Battery Pack is an iPhone/iPod power accessory with a capacity of 2200 mAh, about twice that of the iPhone. Simply plug the dongle in to charge up a drained iPhone up to two times. The accessory, which is rated for a charge time of 3.5 hours, is compatible with the iPod touch, iPod Classic, iPod nano, iPhone, iPhone 3G, etc. It measures 62 x 68 x 16 millimeters and weighs 68 grams. At $14.50, the Backup Battery Pack's price is (perhaps) its best attribute of all, as the peripheral is considerably cheaper than other similar solutions. Check out a review of the Monoprice here at tuaw.
Apple's In-Ear Headphones with Remote and Mic deliver excellent sound and do a good job of blocking unwanted noise. So good, in fact, I'm willing to keep using them in spite of one particularly problematic issue. You see, at least once a day I'lll end up having to pull one the headphones' soft, silicone ear tips (see above) out of my ear.
That's right, the headset sometimes gets a little too close for comfort. It is, apparently, so good that my left ear (and it is almost always my left ear) occasionally doesn't want to let the headphones go.
It doesn't matter which ear tips I use--be it the small, medium or large ones--or how much time I've spent cleaning them. No matter what I do the problem still pops up (not out) every once in a while.
The next thing I know I'm digging a tip out with my fingers. Fortunately, the ear tips never become so buried that they are difficult to remove.
The picture below is a self portrait of the last time one of the tips became temporally stuck. To me, this is a minor annoyance; at least it became one once I realized a stuck tip would come out every time. Others may find having to pick a piece of plastic out of their ear every once in a while intolerable, however.
Anyone else run into this problem?
You can learn more about Apple's $79 In-Ear headphones, including fulll specs, here.
Griffin recently upgraded its TuneBuds Mobile and SmartTalk iPhone and iPod audio solutions. The former is a stereo headset, while the latter is an adapter that turns any headphone into a headset.
Both have been updated with the same new and improved in-line, noise-canceling microphone, and they're compatible with the iPhone, iPod nano 4G, iPod touch 2G and iPod classic 120GB.
A ControlMic button allows users to Play, Pause and Skip music. Press the button once to pause, twice to skip forward a track and three times to skip back a track. You can also use this button to answer calls or send them to voicemail.
Just about the only thing missing from these peripherals is a built-in volume control. You have to adjust volume on the iPhone itself, either on the screen or through the switch on the left side of the Apple smartphone. It would be nice not to have to fumble for your iPhone to increase the volume when driving, for instance.
TuneBuds (left) features washable ear cushions in a three sizes—small, medium and large. You pick the one that's most comfortable for you. We liked the middle-sized ear cushion. If you, like us, have allergies or simply build up a lot of earwax naturally, you'll find the ability to clean this rubberized buds quite convenient and useful.
As Griffin points out, the buds conform to the ear and isolate sound; they do it quite well, actually. It's like you're listening to music while surrounded by a layer of water filtering out the sounds of the outside world. Not bad.
Our one concern regarding the buds is how they muffle sounds a little too well sometimes. This is fine when listening to music but could prove a little dangerous when driving.
The revised and updated iPod touch offers a slimmed down profile and bulked up features. While the change is more evolutionary than revolutionary, it makes using the player a lot more pleasant.
It's odd that Apple's marketing has dubbed this version the "funnest iPod ever" in ads, since all the fun features it's showcasing—the ability to download games, a built-in accelerometer, multi-touch controls—aren't new with this version. Still, there are plenty of new features to get excited about.
The Outside
Pick up the iPod Touch and you'll notice immediately that it's thinner than its predecessor. All versions are just 0.33-inches deep (as well as 4.3-inches tall and 2.4-inches wide, with a weight of 4.05 ounces). The back is now gracefully rounded, so it feels better in the hand.
The iPod touch has gained a few worthwhile physical features already found on the iPhone. It now has external volume buttons on the top left, so users can nudge the volume up or down without unlocking the screen. The touch also now has a speaker—an iPod first—so users can listen without headphones or earbuds. It doesn't provide the fullest, richest sound, naturally, but it's a helpful addition for those times when you want to share a song with some friends.
The Inside
The iPod touch comes with iPod software version 2.1.1, so you won't need to upgrade the software to get access to the online App Store. (Older iPod touch owners had to pay for the upgrade.)
That means this iPod touch also supports the new Genius feature, which enables the iPod to create playlists based off one starter song. In our testing, the Genius feature performed amazingly well, creating playlists that captured the mood and style of the original song, while still offering some variety. We spoke to an Apple representative who said that the algorithms behind the Genius feature analyze the playlists of millions of iTunes users, examining how they combine songs. They also consider iTunes Store purchases, seeing which songs are bought together. Contrary to what we expected, it doesn't create playlists by matching genres or beats-per-minute.
It's not just hype that's made the iPhone the hottest smartphone around. If you're due for an upgrade, take a good look at the iPhone 3G.
Author: Troy Dreier
A few early adopters probably regretted their decision when the iPhone 3G was released. While the original iPhone was a game-changer that spurred forward a category often lacking in innovation, the iPhone 3G delivers several features that were much-needed (such as 3G connectivity) and some that were pleasant surprises (such as GPS mapping).
So it's sad that the people who couldn't wait to get their hands on the original are still locked into their two-year contracts. Maybe for its next trick, Apple could do something about cell phone pricing models.
The iPhone's new features
The biggest omission in the original iPhone, and the biggest improvement this time, is 3G connectivity. That means you can load Web pages, download e-mails, and load maps much faster that with the original model. During weeks of testing the New York City area, we typically saw pages load as quickly as over our broadband network at home.
Apple's official reason for not including 3G on the original iPhone was that it took too great a toll on battery life, and it's true that this model has worse battery performance. It's rated for five hours of talk and 300 hours of standby. Plan on charging it every evening, especially if you watch video or play games. While someone who only makes occasional calls or listens to music can go two or more days between charges, people who use the 3.5-inch, 480 by 320 pixel screen often will find the battery draining much more quickly.
The iPhone is also making inroads to the workplace with this version, which includes support for Microsoft ActiveSync for push support of e-mail, contacts, and calendars. It also includes Cisco iPsec VPN support. We weren't able to test the workplace features, but we did test the iPhone with MobileMe, the successor to Apple's .Mac suite of online tools. [Click here for a full review of MobileMe.]
When used with a MobileMe account ($99 per year), the iPhone sends and receives e-mail, contact, and calendar changes to and from the desktop. Add a contact in Apple Address Book on your desktop and it will show up on your iPhone in minutes, using over-the-air syncing. While it doesn't offer true push functionality, as Apple originally claimed, it's proven itself nearly as fast in our testing, syncing typically just a minute after a change.
The phone's GPS mapping won't replace a dashboard GPS navigation unit (it doesn’t offer real-time turn-by-turn directions or 3D maps) but it does make it simple to find out your current location and get directions to wherever you want to go. It's always been accurate in our testing, showing our position to a half-block. Just as handy is how it works with other iPhone applications, showing, for example, a contact's location with just a tap. [For more on iPhone’s location-based technology, click here.]
Author: Gerry Blackwell
Apple's iconic iPhone 3G may be the only mobile device you'll ever need - heck, the only device, period. (Until Apple comes out with a 4G version, of course.)
Author: Philip L. Graitcer
In June, I reviewed the Case Mate Naked Case ($34.99) for the iPhone. I liked it - a lot. Here's an update.
Since the acrylic is clear, your phone keeps its cool look. It looks like it isn't in a case at all.
The acrylic completely covers the iPhone - back, sides, and front. And you don't have to use a separate film over the touch screen, like the leather or rubber cases. Over the touch screen the case is a special type of plastic so you can use the touch screen without removing it from the case.
I haven't tried dropping the phone in the case, but my guess is that the naked case will offer some protection to both the phone and the glass touch screen.
I had one issue with the case in June - it seems to trap moisture - humidity from the air - between the touch screen and the case. This isn't a big deal, but it seems like there is a "blob" of something on the screen, and that blob sometimes moves around. Whether or not this moisture blob is present depends on your environment. In the humid South, it is often present, but in air conditioning, or when I was in the Northeast on vacation, it wasn't. Not a real problem.
My other concern was whether the acrylic case would scratch. But after 4 months carrying my phone in my pocket the touch screen surface has not, however, the plastic on the back and the sides do. The original beauty of the case is still there, just a few scratches. Lint from my pocket does seem to build up inside the case.
