Gearfuse

So this isn’t really anything extravagant, but sometimes the best gadgets are the ones that operate in a simple fashion. This AM/FM radio has a bit of a DIY look with the old-school silver button on the top and the solar panel feeding it energy. There’s also a hand crank in case you live in Seattle or Alaska. It can’t do anything special, it just cranks out some classic tunes from the radio. Perfect for listening to WHYY whilst working at your desk. At $25, it’s a nice little bargain and a fantastic gift idea.

Link [via]

There’s no better place to sing than in the shower. The problem lies in bringing your stereo into the bathtub without shocking the life out of you. Electronics and water usually don’t mix, unless it’s some sort of fish robot.  That’s why a shampoo shaped FM Radio is a clutch utility to have when in the shower.

OK, so it’s not the satellite radio you were hoping for, but it’ll still blast some tunes for you to sing along with while you clean yourself of the grime you attracted during last night’s mud wrestling match. No price listed on it, however it does take three AAA batteries to operate. The most disappointing factor of all is that it doesn’t store real shampoo in it. It’s all radio, like WHYY.

Link (via)

This is so 1960s mentality but wouldn’t it be great to record all your radio programs on to a huge harddisk? Olympus might have the answer for you, their new Radio Server VJ-10 tunes AM/FM radios and have a reasonably good pair of 28mm unit stereo speakers with SRS WOW XT technologies, the most important part is the built-in 37GB harddisk that can save up to 2500 hours of radio programs in WMA format. Line-in voice recording and standard 3.5mm headphone jack are all there. The USB 2.0 port makes it possible for you to transfer music (MP3/WMA) from your computer and have them played on the VJ-10, so it’s not a bad deal afterall. The version with 6-month worth of NHK English language program pre-install will be priced at 400USD, and the one without would be 350USD. –Sam Chan

Product Page [Olympus]

We’ve all seen Bluetooth headsets for cellphones, we’ve also seen in-car speaker phone, a lot of us may also own an iTrip, now imagine putting all 3 together; you’ll end up listening to your own voice over the FM radio. Princeton Japan has announced this new in-car hands-free that borrows your car’s HiFi system as speaker for speaker phone, it can also act as an iTrip to have the music in your music players transmitted via FM and be played over the sound system on board. All you have to do is to hook up any mp3 player with this device over the analogue cable (3.5mm jack) and you’re good to go. Similarly, switch the end to the headset jack of your cellphone if you want it to act as a headset. The good thing about not supporting bluetooth will be its price: 45USD, which is about half that of bluetooth speaker phone systems. –Sam Chan
Press release [Princeton Japan]

Just when we think the digital audio player (DAP) market is saturated, Victor updated their Alneo C-series audio players. They added in the K2 Technology which is supposed to extrapolate digital data to increase sound quality lost during compression. What’s unusual is that they can record sounds with 2 channels (stereo) in PCM and WMA formats; however we really doubt the difference as the 2 microphones are placed so closely together. On top of stereo recording, these DAPs also support USB streaming of WMA-DRM music, this is different from the usual iTrip or bluetooth because USB streaming will be of a much higher quality (digital vs analogue and digital vs digital recompressed). With these new features, their sizes are still kept small (86×44x11.7mm 49g). These players will support MP3, WAV and AAC files, a FM tuner is also built in. Victor claims that the battery can last for 19.5 hours, charging can be done via USB or AC. The new C-series will come in 2GB, 1GB and 512Mb (white, black, silver) models priced between $200 to $300, expect to find them in Japan early February. — Sam Chan

Press release [Victor/JVC Japan]

Pure’s new Move is a palm-sized DAB digital and FM radio that is only 15cm x 8.5cm x 2.7cm. This baby will last a long time — 40 hours — before you are required to recharge it, and then once it needs recharging, you can use the built-in ChargePAK battery pack. Now that right there is a nice little invention; maybe Apple should take note. If you’re not holding the Move (not THE moves, just the Move) you can stand it up with its stand and rock out all day. This isn’t just a basic DAB/FM radio, for you can control DAB scrolling text. Not only that, but you also get 20 presets, an mp3 player input, and a mini USB connection (Pure is thinking ahead). One more cool feature they brag about is that you can hook your heaphone out to a hi-fi system and use that as a DAB tuner; great success! At around $120, it would probably just be better keeping your iPod. — Nick Rice

Pure Move [via Tech Digest]

This new pedometer from Maplin Electronics is coming out at the perfect time of year for all of you who “vow� to start exercising this year. The pedometer not only acts as a pedometer, but also as a panic alarm and an FM radio. First off, the FM radio is a nice little add-on to the pedometer, so you don’t have to carry another device when you’re running. Now the panic alarm, on the other hand, is a little strange; they say you can use it when you feel threatened while you’re running; if it’s so scary out there in the big world, why don’t you just run home? Just a thought.

Anyways, the part that you care about most, the pedometer part (go figure), has many features to keep you running (no pun intended) with your New Year’s Resolution. These features include a step counter, distance traveled display, a calories-burnt indicator, a stopwatch, and a lap counter. At $20, this might be the perfect after-Christmas gift to remind you of your New Year’s resolution in a week when you get it; oh yeah, and once you start using too of course. Too bad it doesn’t have an annoying voice that yells “you need to run!â€? when you haven’t run for a few days. — Nick Rice

Maplin Electronics Pedometer [via TechDigest]

With so many iPod FM transmitters out there already, it must be really hard for companies to come out with new features; Trinity managed to pull it off with the Cup Holder FM transmitter. This transmitter is different from the others in that it holds your iPod in place in your cup holder while the others are letting your iPod slide around your car, scratching up that silver finish you paid so much to have. This transmitter fits snugly in your cup holder, so you’ll either have to hold your Big Gulp or throw it out. There are big function buttons next to the iPod so you won’t have to take your eyes off the road to change the song. The Cup Holder FM transmitter comes in either black or white, just so you can fulfill your fantasy of making everything you own the same color as your iPod.  For $70, you can buy the Cup Holder FM transmitter and save your iPod from scratches; however, you will lose the use of your cup holder, which could be a problem on a road trip. The only question now is: deal or no deal? — Nick Rice

Cup Holder FM Transmitter [aving.net]