GadgetReview

Several months back, we introduced you to the Philips Tapster headphones.  But there’s some bad news here for everyone who was looking forward to them–there’s now pretty much no way they’ll hit store shelves.

The folks out at Crave on Cnet’s Asian subsidiary believe they know why, too–they don’t work.

It’s a strange theme these days, gadgets that don’t work, but the beat goes on (or rather doesn’t) from these headphones.  They were supposed to be a major innovation in playback and volume controls, which are supposedly controlled by tapping and swiping the ear modules.  Under normal circumstances, this would dislodge them from the ear, but with these, they didn’t dislodge.  Something of an accomplishment there, but the problem was, the purported tap-and-swipe system of volume and playback control never materialized.

So a little bit of vaporware for you, folks…and that’s always at least a little sad.

Read

Many people live with discomfort.  Many people wear shitty earphones that don’t fit.  YurBuds are out to change that.  Their not saying ditch your crappy earphones, but instead send them pictures of your ears and they’ll make you a pair of custom adapters to fit over your poorly designed white ones.

For only $20, YurBuds will scan the pictures of your ears and give you the most approximate custom molding that type of money can by assuring you a better fit.

For most people, the earphones that come with the gadget are usually good enough and they are often too ignorant to know any better.  Let’s hope they care about this specialty service as anybody in the know has already ditched the white ones completely.

[via TheGadgeteer]

Read

Bone conduction seems to be of all the rage these days when talking about submersible earphones.  I had a bland experience with the Finis SwiMP3’s and feel that music underwater has yet to be truly conquered.

Thanko of Japan has just announced the new EMP-708LITE Vonia earphones that use bone conduction to transmit the music to your brain in up to 5 meters of depth.  This product is only available in Japan but you can order a pair for around $45.  Any opinions on this technology??

[via NewLaunches]

Read

Damn these things look tight!  Having being totally snubbed by Monster Cable for past review inquiries (Dr. Dre HeadPhones), it’s unlikely that I’ll get to review these either.  Whimper…

To celebrate the 50 anniversary of Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue album, Monster Cable is releasing a pair of limited edition high-performance in-ear headphones in his honor.  Each pair will be numbered and accompanied with the box set of Kind of Blue, which will contain 2 CD’s, a DVD, and a 24-page booklet.

No word yet on pricing or availability but I’m sure we can all surmise that they ain’t gonna be cheap. …Continue reading: Monster Cable Intros New Miles Davis EarBuds

Just when you thought your Blackberry couldn’t get more addictive, along comes the crew out at Research In Motion to give you one MORE toy–the RIM Blackberry HS-500 Wireless Headset.

Targeted toward Blackberry purists who absolutely must own everything Research In Motion can put out, as well as anybody needing a headset for any device that runs Bluetooth (iPhone users take note–your Blackberry headset can also be your iPhone headset if you have both devices!)

Early remarks say that the HS-500 is an item of understated grace that does the job solidly well, but anyone who wants a really flashy headset should look elsewhere. There are some problems with it, apparently, like a lack of dedicated volume keys, but that’s not too much trouble alongside the benefits it offers.  The device costs a whopping $80 or less, so anyone out for a great utilitarian headset should look here.

Read

Over the last couple days, I’ve seen cameras and camcorders made out of Legos, so it really doesn’t surprise me to note the new addition to the Lego electronics family, the Lego earphones.

No, seriously.  They’re called the “Sundries PLAYBRICK”, and with a name like that and a design like that you can probably already guess where they’re from.  I’ll give you a moment to let the collective facepalm die down and tell you that they’re from Japan.  That and I’ll give good odds that the name comes from some frantic lawyer’s cries of “we’re gonna get SUED if we don’t call them something different!”

You have your choice of six designer colors, and they’ll cost the equivalent of $23.  If you want nothing so much out of life as to have Lego earphones, just make your way over to Rinkya, the link to which is below.

Via [Crunchgear]

Read

During my quest for the ultimate earphone I have had the chance to review several pairs from companies I had not previously heard of.  Being pleasantly surprised on many an occasion, The Cresyn C750E’s are just that. Having a solid sound and a comfortable fit, I am compelled to recommend these earphones to anyone looking for a great package at the $100 price range.

Judging today’s current batch of earphones you are not only looking at sound but you are also grading how they fit and what features they flaunt.  I can say right off the bat that the Cresyn C750E’s possess all of the above.  Embracing a sturdy fit and competent sound reproduction in a lightweight and compact package, the Cresyn C750E’s easily rank as some of the better earphones I’ve used all year.

In comparison to other earphones I’ve unboxed, the Cresyn C750E’s was pretty basic.  Three sizes of inserts and a nice feeling carrying case.  That’s it.  Not that the Cresyn C750E’s needed anything else anyway. …Continue reading: Cresyn C750E In-Ear Stereo Earphones Review

Look at this cute little guy.  The Mini Bot might look like another crap key chain accessory, but it is in fact a headphone splitter.  Just pop off his head to reveal the headphone jack, plug in your headphones to his eye sockets and you’ll be sharing your iPods audio with your BFF.

[via Unpluggd]

Read

This is the first I’ve heard of Acronym clothing, but I’m picking up what they’re laying down, style wise that is.  They’ve got a ton of jackets for the soggy winter months ahead and one jacket in particular that has caught my eye is the GT-J14, a hardshell, Gortex infused jacket.  Style wise it’s very palatable to say the least and something that had me doing a double take was the floating ear buds on the model’s neck.  They don’t come out right and say it, but from the looks of it the jacket’s neck piece has a removable magnetic strip that magically holds a set of ear buds within ears reach.  After all, how many times have you removed your buds only to found the cord tangled or them dragging in the wet snow.

I have no clue on where, when and for how much you can buy this jacket but if you’ve got any ideas please drop us a comment.

Read

Still can’t decide on the right pair of Bluetoth headphones?  Stop pondering, because Sony is about to introduce the DRC-BT30P, a Bluetooth dongle that let’s you use any pair of headphones with your Bluetooth compatible devices.  It includes volume and track controls and even a call answer button and mic.

There’s no word on a launch date or price, but this thing stinks of ‘Japan only’.

Read