footwear

The next Air Jordan 2011 sneaker drops in stores tomorrow, but Californians lucky enough to live near the Culver City Footaction store in the Westfield Mall, you'll have a chance to pick up the latest Skullcandy/Jordan Brand collaboration featuring the Jordan 2011 and the Air Jordan 3.

The pack isn't cheap, but it's definitely rare. Priced at $500 per pack, the headphones are based on Skullcandy's "Aviator" model with an exclusive alternating blue-and-red earcup colorway to match the sneakers' interchangeable "quick" and "explosive" insoles.

The package will include one pair of the new MJ signature shoes and a set of headphones, but the Culver City Footaction also pays tribute to the recently released Air Jordan 3 cement gray with an elephant-print headphone that goes with the pattern on the toe and heel rands of the shoe.

Both $500 sets will go on sale tomorrow at 10 a.m. PT, so get there early and get in line!

More images after the jump.… Read more

Whether it's tacking your 10 meter off Tahiti or slipping over the gunwale of a super tanker in the Gulf of Aden, this stylish line of footwear is sure to keep you high and dry.

The OTB line of boots and topsiders uses footwear technology developed for high-performance boat shoes worn by U.S. Navy SEALs, according to OTB Footwear, of Scituate, Mass. OTB stands for "over the beach," navy parlance for sandy delivery.

The company says it designs products for "specific adventures" rather than fashion. The shoes are made from "water friendly synthetics&… Read more

The gadget world is filled with concepts and prototypes that never come close to going into production. So it's particularly encouraging to see one finally make it that far, especially one as whacky as the "iShoes."

These personal conveyances went through two versions before brother-partners Ilya and Borish Kaganovich were apparently satisfied. Now GizmoWatch says the powered footwear, which we still think are best described as a cross between the Segway and a motorized skateboard, are actually for sale.

That's the good news. The bad news is the price--$599 plus $20 shipping--which is significantly more … Read more

Having experienced podiatric problems ranging from fractured toes to the gout, we feel particularly well qualified to address this next piece of athletic technology (apologies for too much information). The item in question comes from a company called eSoles, which says it has developed a technology that can digitally analyze a foot in less than 5 minutes to help create the perfect-fitting shoe.

Its "Foot Imaging Kiosk System" is a one-stop diagnostic center that includes a touch-screen computer, digital scanner, pressure mat and even a printer. The company says a customer need only step on the mat and … Read more

Does the curse of the mummy begin with bunions?

Jacky Finch, a researcher at the University of Manchester's KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology, is testing to see whether two large wooden toes from the era of the Pharaohs were ornamental or actual medical devices.

If the wooden toes turn out to be prosthetics, this will mean that the art of making fake body parts for practical is centuries older than believed. The oldest prosthesis yet discovered is an artificial leg dating from 300 B.C. The toes are from between 1,000 B.C. and 600 B.C.

One … Read more

Maxwell Smart would be so proud. While we've seen other high-tech uses for footwear, most notably GPS devices, what we've really craved is an authentic shoe phone.

So even though we'd prefer that it come in the form of an oxford or loafer, we'd be happy to have a tennis shoe version like this Sports Illustrated collectible found by Red Ferret. Unfortunately, it's corded, which would definitely put a crimp in our sit-com spying missions. But for top-secret conversations in person, we at least have the "Cone of Silence."

A couple of weeks ago we might well have assumed this was a hoax. But with PS3 prices exceeding $10,000 since then on eBay, we're prepared to believe anything.

Case in point: These shoes, a pair of "PlayStation 3 Air Max 90 Hybrid Nike Kicks," are going for more than $5,000 on charity auction site Blue Sole. (That's right, an auction site for shoes.) As Joystiq notes, these sneakers aren't really working PlayStations--but you do get some special PS3 logos, drawings and stitching that denotes the console's launch date. And two pairs … Read more