Crave

(Credit: JayBird)

JayBird Bear focuses on one thing and one thing only: stereo Bluetooth solutions for portable audio devices. The company debuted this year with three complementing products for music phones, iPods, and other MP3 players. The headliner is the JayBird JB-100, a stereo Bluetooth headset with an ultracompact form factor. This product makes a fine companion for any cell phones using A2DP Bluetooth, or for the small handful of MP3 players with that wireless capability (the Samsung T10 and Insignia Pilot, for example). However, for most other MP3 players--including the iPod--you'll need a little more help with cutting the headphone cord. Enter the JayBird Bluetooth Adapters. The company offers two different $50 models: the JBA-100m offers a standard 3.5mm plug for connecting to any audio device, while the JBA100i comes with a 30-pin connector that allows it to be snapped onto the bottom of any docking iPod. The iPod version is about half the size of the standard MP3 version, so it's quite a bit more compact, but neither one will add a ridiculous amount of bulk.

Belkin TuneCast 3

In brief: The Belkin TuneCast 3 is a simple, attractive FM transmitter that may be suitable for rural users and long, desolate road trips, but it just doesn't quite cut it in a big city.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit disappointed. In general, I shun the use of FM transmitters: The audio quality is not up to par with direct line-in or cassette adapters, and searching for an open signal is often a crap shoot. I was one of the fortunate MP3-player users to have both a CD changer and an "old-school" tape deck in my car (in case you were wondering, that's the reward you get for driving a 15-year-old vehicle). However, the cassette player started making this obnoxious clicking noise when presented with any tape, so I found myself on the hunt for a decent, not made for iPod FM transmitter for use with my Creative Zen V Plus. In fact, many of the iPod-ready devices offer auxiliary inputs for use with other MP3 players. I was considering the best-in-class DLO TransPod FM, but do you see how bulky that thing is? It dwarfs the poor Zen V, which would no doubt bounce around precariously in the iPod slot (damaging the dock adapter while it's at it).

Enter the Belkin TuneCast 3. It's compact, it's understated, and it has an ample, tactile control pad (with up/down tuner keys and two preset buttons) and a crisp, illuminated digital display. Nifty. The TuneCast 3's design is what initially attracted me to the device. The body is black and charcoal gray (matches my car's interior quite nicely), and at 2.8x1.7x0.8 inches, the transmitter--along with the Zen V--fit perfectly in my ashtray (which, naturally, is not a place for cigarette butts). Of course, if your ashtray is otherwise engaged, Belkin includes a handy mounting clip that you can affix to your dash. The TuneCast 3 attaches to your MP3 player's headphone jack via a 20-inch 3.5mm cable that can be wrapped around an indentation in the device for shortening or storage. Another plus is that the transmitter doesn't pull juice from your player: It can be powered from two AA batteries or a cigarette lighter adapter (both included). And all this for a street price of about $40. So what's the catch?

Unfortunately, it's a big one--or it is if you live in an urban area, at least. I took the TuneCast 3 out to my car, fired it up, and began searching (with a note of desperation) for an open station. In fact, we have a couple of unused frequencies in San Francisco, and I was able to tune into one with moderate success. The static stopped, the music began, and I was happy--until I started moving. Some spurts of static began to invade my tune. Hmm. As I made my first turn, my music dropped out entirely and was interrupted by some very loud static (you have to turn your volume up a lot when using the TuneCast, which is common for FM transmitters). I frantically tuned my stereo and the TuneCast in alternating movements, all the while trying to keep my eyes on the road and my hands on the wheel.* Alas, my attempts were in vain--attempts at tuning, that is. (Neither autos nor humans were harmed in the making of this blog, which isn't a stretch when you're going 5mph.)

Although I found several clear stations that would pick up the music from the transmitter, my songs were interspersed with persistent static, usually keeping time with the bass. Then, of course, there is the "dangerous driver" factor--if your FM transmitter cannot pick a station and stay with it for the majority of the drive, you shouldn't be using it. (At least, not without a passenger in the car to do the tuning.) It's possible that the TuneCast 3 will perform significantly better when taken outside the city limits (test to come), so it could be a decent option for rural users and road trippers. City dwellers, however, should steer clear.

*Note: Do not attempt

Challenging the Keyspan TuneView is iJet's black two-way RF iPod remote (available in March for $129.95), which lets you view your tracks and control your player from up to 500 feet away. (This was measured in an open space, always a popular RF-range caveat; since there are walls in the real world, your results may vary.)

The iJet is a fraction of TuneView's size, just a bit smaller than a Nano. Both your iPod and the remote charge in a dock, which transmits the contents and EQ settings menus to the remote for viewing and choosing in its 4-line OLED.

The iJet, which is likely to be marketed by DLO through a new partnership between the two companies, also can control Apple's Jukebox function. ABT was showing an all-black version; there may or may not be a white version.

A full charge of iJet's rechargeable battery supplies enough juice for six hours of constant use and weeks of just lying around not being used. But since it's small enough to lose, we'd keep it in its dock.

Would you believe that the Girls Gone Wild trailer is a mere 25 yards from CNET's CES 2007 edit trailer?

Zune Car Pack

Zune Travel Pack

Zune Home A/V Pack

The DLO TransDock for the (hopefully) newly announced full-screen iPod

If Steve Jobs pulls the trigger today at Macworld on Apple's long-rumored new video iPod, said to feature a color touch screen covering its entire front surface for PMP-like video viewing, DLO will be ready with a new TransDock car FM transmitter/charger cradle combo.

This new TransDock, which jacks into a cigarette lighter, has a cradle that completely exposes the front of the video iPod, on the current or the rumored model. The cradle also swivels 90 degrees horizontally for viewing wide-screen video on this maybe-maybe not iPod. Versions are available in black or white.

Even if Jobs decides that announcing iTV and iPhone and Leopard are enough for one droolerfest, the TransDock still offers plenty of new features for current video iPods, including an integrated antenna that ratchets up the FM transmission for smoother play through your car stereo system, a video-out to connect to other mobile video screens in your car, a USB pass-through power connector to charge other devices, and removable faceplates to match the dock to your iPod.

DLO also adds to the growing list of just-add-iPod AM/FM clock radios, with its iBoom Travel ($79.99), which you can use with any iPod. It's available in either black or white to match the iPod you have, and it runs on AAs or AC. It went on sale nationwide yesterday.

(Credit: Atavistic Applause)

We've grown somewhat weary of iPod and MP3 accessories, as should be abundantly clear to anyone who reads this space regularly (all two of you). But everytime we're tempted to impose a moratorium, one comes along that we just can't resist. Today's example: the "i-Snake."

We don't know where to begin, but let's start with what we like: its name. Things start to go south in a hurry after that. One immediate question is its use--if there's an obvious one, we plead blind ignorance. Another point is its design, if it can be called that. That clamp looks like something right out of high school woodshop.

The i-Snake site says it's "very helpful if you've ever tried to watch Dane Cook's routine while working on a spreadsheet." At least you've got to hand it to them for knowing their market.