Music

When we posted the briefest items about a T-shirt with a built-in equalizer last summer, little did we know what a hit it would become. The concept has since been extended to all manner of clothing, and now we find that it's found its way into the home furnishings department as well.

Newlaunches reports that the iCushion works much the same way, with a panel that flashes to the beat of your disco grooves. But inside are four AAA batteries, so be careful with that Bud Light.

With a name like the "Transrotor Artus," this contraption sounds like a piece of heavy machinery that might be found in an assembly plant. And by the looks of this photo, it almost could be.

But closer inspection of the top reveals the real purpose of this erstwhile bucket of bolts: a turntable. And not just any old record record player, but an "LP player/phonograph/grammophone" that goes for $150,000, according to Hiendfi, and weighs nearly a quarter-ton. Maybe it's priced by the pound.

Okay not very nice, though I do give props to the company that came out with a decent sub-$100 PVP way before "sub-$100" was even standard jargon for plain old MP3 players (that was about three years ago). Now HandHeld Entertainment presents its first MP3 player--the ZVUE ZP3--yes, zat's right, ZP3.

The standard thumbdrive-style player features a whopping 512MB and supports MP3, WMA, and WAV files. Additionally, the ZP3 has a voice recorder and eight hours of battery life per AA battery. Charmed yet?

The ZP3 differentiates itself by coming preloaded with 30 "great … Read more

Ever since Engadget posted some not-so-pretty FCC photos of Etymotic's funky-looking, new, Bluetooth stereo headphones, the ety8s have been getting a bad rap. Engadget called them "the wireless abomination whose name shall not be spoke."

Well, the folks from Etymotic dropped by to show us the real McCoy, which should be shipping in a couple of weeks. The fact is the ety8's offer one of the most distinct headphone designs ever created, and when you see them you realize there's a fine line between really cool and wireless abomination. They surely lend new meaning to … Read more

You say you want an all-in-one device? Be careful what you ask for. Samsung has created something that looks like it would have been created by Dr. Frankenstein if he were a computing engineer instead of a nut job with a lab.

Where to begin: The SPH-P9000 is part PC (Windows XP, 1GHz Transmeta processor, 30GB hard drive), part multimedia player (5-inch screen, MP3, video on demand), part PDA (QWERTY keyboard, WiMax) and part smart phone, without the phone part (1.3-megapixel camera, CDMA, Bluetooth). And it all folds up into a 5.6- by 3.7-inch case that's … Read more

Is that a cell phone in your garter or you just happy to see us? Sorry, we couldn't resist.

Put on this black velvet cell phone garter and you'll feel ready for anything, says the blurb on A Little Lingerie Company, which sells the holder for $34. It's "ultra sexy with slit skirts or minis, or wear it over jeans," suggests the site. OK, the jeans look might be a little too Madonna in 1986 for our taste, but we can see some appeal in the whole accessorizing-like-Lara-Croft thing.

The elasticized band can hold most … Read more

We've officially crossed the line from mild obsession to full-blown paranoia over egg-shaped speakers. We're fully convinced that, one by one (or two by two), they're populating themselves in preparation for world domination.

The latest are Evergreen's pair of oval speakers, which Shiny Shiny wryly noted are offered on AudioCubes of all places. The proliferation of this USB line is apparently limited to Windows, so we're relieved to say that we may have eluded a full ovo-revolution--for now.

(Photo: AudioCubes)

They're baaa-aack. Actually, they never left. In recent years the mainstream media has often dismissed Microsoft as old news, offering headlines about its decline that have focused on Bill Gates' departure, Vista delays, Internet Explorer bugs and Google, Google, Google.

Yet if there's one thing we've learned about the battle-hardened veterans of Redmond--declining or otherwise--it's never count them out. Witness the news about TV and movie downloads through Xbox Live, including high-definition shows. Microsoft has long understood the potential for an uber-device to take over all digital home entertainment, from games and Web browsing to television … Read more

I think the headline and pictures say it all, but here's a few more details on Belkin's new line of accessories, due out soon for the Microsoft Zune portable media player. According to Belkin, the cases will be available in North America in mid-November, while the TuneBase FM and TunePower will be available in late November. Click here for the full press release (yes, I'm being lazy, but Belkin does such a good job of describing its gear, I really don't think I could add anything substantive).