JBL has always been a purveyor of fine audio, which makes total sense considering its parent company is Harmon Kardon. A few years back, I reviewed some Reference 220 earbud headphones, which were affordable and sounded great on the iPod. This time around, JBL has teamed up with Quiksilver’s surfin’ sister company Roxy on a line of headphones that are catered towards young women. Do they stand the test of time? Perhaps.
Excuse the pun, but do Apple fans really give a “hoot” about owls? Sure, I suppose this Earbud Owl, made using a Epilog Zing laser cutter, does resemble the uber-geeky “O RLY?” macro, but that’s about the furthest I can go with owl geekiness until I reach the point of obliviousness. Admittedly, this is a pretty neat idea.
The owl’s big eyes are great for multiple things. Seeing things in the dark helps it survive and being big eyed in general is one of the first rules of adorableness.
Calling all celebrities and women from Long Island!
Need a new fashion accessory to truly put you ahead of the curve? Try these diamond-encrusted earbuds that go great with your trippy iPod or Discman. Yes, Discman. Regardless of my absurd comments, a bunch of Swarovski crystals glued to some headphones will really show the other ladies who means cougar business. At $60,000 a pair, they damn well better morph into a Mercedes Benz or something equally amazing. But alas, you’ll find yourself cold, lonely and feeling very rich. All while listening to Phil Collins.
“Throwing it all awaaaaayyyyyy”
You know you love those stock iPod headphones Apple offers, so why not kick it up a notch? Score a pair of the 500 XLs, a set of speakers designed to resemble iPod headphones, just 500 times larger than the original. It includes a power adapter and can also run on batteries if you want to drag them around with you. The speakers stand up by themselves thanks to the back of each earbud. Lovely design. Get them on ThinkGeek for only $50.
The iArtifact project is a design concept that is attempting to take on the extent of Apple fandom with a twist of the extreme. The iPod earbud earrings are kinda cool looking, but whats the point? Why not just buy your own pair of earbuds for a buck, cut them, and paint them silver?
Also included in the iArtifcat project is desktop wallpaper and a bracelet. Though, the earbuds are the definite stand out piece. — Andrew Dobrow
Just when we thought we had heard the last of Lindsay Lohan, we found these Wearable Speakers by Safesound Sports. The SSPS-1 do not have any connected earbuds. They are simply half-dollar shaped speakers that latch on to your shoulder.
The SSPS-1 was made to help and control those damn “iPod Zombies” who walk around in an oblivious vegetable state, totally unconscious of the rest of the world. Resulting in car accidents and pedestrian injury. The Wearable Speakers are made to add a taste of reality to the zombies world. The downside? All of us have to deal with hearing your crap reality too. — Andrew Dobrow
SSPS-1 Product Page [SafeSound Sports, via Mobile Mag]
The Tune Tether is an invention that will probably make you sad. Why? Because it’s an invention that you could have created by yourself. It solves a problem that nearly everyone has had one time or another. When you are listening to your music through headphones and someone wants to talk to you, although your first reaction might be to ignore them, once you commit to taking your earbuds out, the Tune Tether comes into action. It is basically a piece of plastic that curves around your neck and has two notches for the wires to go into. If you just put your cords into the notches when you put the earbuds in, when you need to take them out for just a second, the Tune Tether keeps them neat and near to your ears so that you don’t have a hastle when you want to put them back in. One problem, you are certain to get made fun of if someone notices that you have something that is made to keep your wires organized. So what do you have to pay for this simple piece of plastic? $9.99 each or a three pack for $19.99. — Nik Gomez
TuneTether [via Gearlog]
Wireless, specifically Bluetooth, headphones are starting to pick up momtentum, and for good reason. No one really wants to worry about that annoying wire that allows the person next to you to rip the headphones out if they want to talk to you. Maybe you should get rid of that per son sitting next to you instead. Either way, the Bluetrak ST1 Bluetooth headphones are a nice addition to the lineup of wireless headphones. They are not specifically iPod exclusive, which is nice for those of us not willing to commit to the Apple lifestyle. It has opperational buttons right over the hinges for the earbuds, which might be nice, or might just add some extra weight (which it needs none). Unfortunately, the simple in-the-ear style plastic earbud seen here isn’t known for giving off great sound quality, so don’t expect these to replace your exisiting Bose headphones. Also, what is the huge block on the back?! It looks like all it does is at a pound to the unit size. It’s probably the reciever, but honestly, does it have to be so large? — Nik Gomez
Bluetrek’s latest ST1 Bluetooth headphones [Slashphone]
