Stylish earphones that can take a beating

(Credit: Technabob)

If keyboards and USB drives can be built to survive everything from Mack Trucks to nuclear blasts, why can't earphones get a little reinforcement too? After all, unlike a lot of these other devices, it's actually understandable if they're dropped or otherwise put in harm's way by accident.

Denmark-based Kilo Design understands this well and has come up with a pair of $75 buds designed to withstand a good measure of abuse, with a thick coiled cord that looks like it should be attached to a phone, not your head. Our favorite thing about them, however, is their irresistible name: "AiAiAi."

Technabob also says Kilo has added a dash of European flair with colors in bright orange and olive drab. Maybe that's because a black version, with its coiled cord, might be mistaken for a Secret Service headset.