Gizmodude

For all those moments that you wish to record someone’s speech, a song or any possible audible sound, here’s the Olympus Voice Trek V-41 sound recorder. It has a USB connector so that you can back up all your recorded sounds on a PC or a laptop. It comes with a specialized design for a superior grip. A slight drawback might be the ‘mere’ 512 MB of memory that comes in it. However, it performs its main task pretty well. Stereo recording modes include support for XQ/HQ/SP formats, while mono recording formats include HQ/SP/LP. It plays back audio in MP3 and WMA formats.

The YP-U3 MP3 Flash Player by Samsung is small and compact and also pretty handy for music freaks to carry along, no matter where they go. It provides support for MP3, WAV and WMA formats and comes with a 1 GB and a 2 GB option. Along with the typical voice recording facility that comes in most players of its kind, the Samsung YP-U3 MP3 also has a very good FM receiver. The 1.8” screen seems pretty well housed in the 3.15 x 1.0 x 0.8 inches body frame. The player no doubt is small, but also provides rather bulky specs. And that’s just what anyone seeking a flash player needs, a good 0.8 oz music machine.

Well, this is another means of filling poor Matt Groening’s pocket. We have this brilliant radio shaped just like the head of the father of all stupidities: Homer Simpson. It does portray his face as if on a happier day, but well, the urge to give it a nasty bow, or to pluck out those protruding eyeballs is as tempting as can be. It measures 24.5 cm X 15 cm X 14 cm. 2 AA batteries can get it started. After all he’s someone who’s made his way into everyone’s heart via their television screens.

For all those customized radio stations that offer everything from jazz to blues to advice on the silliest topics ever, simply tune into internet radio and find the answers. Along with 802.11b/g Wi-Fi it supports 6500 Internet radio channels (80 Hz - 20 kHz) and can keep your ears busy all night when everyone’s asleep. It also incorporates an alarm clock with snooze. Supported media formats include Real Media, Windows Media Streams, OGG, AAC, WAV, AIFF and MP3. With 5 watts RMS, you can expect pretty good sound for a device of its size.

PS3 and X-Box have been blessed by a piece of ingenious gaming by Electronic Arts and Harmonix. The Rock Band Special Edition is a band music game that has three accessories that go with it. There’s a pretty cool drums set with four skins (hard to tell from the images which of these are snares and which are toms). Then comes a Stratocaster simile, in the form of a wireless guitar. And of course, last of all we have a mic for the hearty crooners. The microphone comes for $30 (Xbox and PS3), the electric guitar costs $80 for Xbox 360 and just $60 for PS3 and the drum kit for both gaming portals comes for $80.

Wow! That’s all I was able to say once I went through the specs of this Monster Machine. It is powered by an AMD Turion 64 X2 processor. Not that’s one crazy bit of chip out there. To go with this you have a couple of Nvidia GeForce Go 7950GTX GPU graphic adapters (isn’t it too much already?). To prop up high speeds a bit more we have 4 GB of DDR2 RAM. You can have your pick between two 160GB SATA drives or a single 600GB hard drives. Other features include EV-DO, a Blue-ray RW drive, a built-in TV tuner, a 20 inch LCD display screen and GPS. What more could a man ask for?

The iRiver NV is a GPS and PMP system. It has been much sought out and highly anticipated. The NV has a much needed 7” LED TFT screen (800x480) since it provides with DMB TV and SiRF III GPS Navigation. The greater the size of the screen, the better the details one can take it. An additional advantage of owning this is that you are blessed with 1.3 megapixel camera. Supported media formats for playback include MP3, WMA, OGG, MP1, MP2, MP2.5, WMA7, WMA8 and WMA9. It also has FM radio and 2 SD Card slots.

The Freestyle Audio Fusion DMP 512 is made for the tough ones who find most gizmos delicate and fragile. It is both waterproof (up to 10 feet, submerged) and shockproof and has a style of its own. With 512 MB memory (as the name suggests and it also comes with a 1GB option) and 30 hours of playtime, this one is indeed an adventurer’s carry along. It can float when place on water surface and weighs less than 35 grams. You can connect it to your PC via USB and it supports standard 3.5 mm audio jack inputs. It has easy operability and seems pretty compact and sure to make a great PMP.

I liked this invention. The time I resort to hearing radio is often when I have just about nothing else to lean on. It was different in those days when I had all but a radio. However, if I forget to carry some of my favorite Elvis CDs along, I just have to turn on the radio to keep myself entertained. Given the notoriety of boredom, if the batteries of your radio run out, it can really drive you nuts. So we have the Solar Palm Radio to the rescue that has three power sources. A solar cell, a rechargeable built-in battery or/and 1 piece of AAA battery. It supports frequencies of up to 530-1600 KHz on AM stations and can catch FM signals from 88-108 MHz. It also works well as a torch and needs three LR44/AG13 cell batteries.

Any gizmo that offers heavy specs in spite of sticking to a smaller profile is a success these days. So we have the Thomson A1 PMP player that comes with a 3" widescreen TFT display screen and a little more for the frame. That’s all that there is to this one. it is modestly decked up inside with a FM tuner. It can play most of the popular audio and video formats. It will be available in two renditions, 4GB and 8GB. It makes sense having something this small in your pocket and well, the features don’t seem to lack anything. However, Uncle Sam will need some waiting to do if he is too eager to try this one out.

Here’s something for those who love pockets and all around their garb. How about just 40 pockets all over your jacket? The G-Man’s Convertible Travel Jacket has that plus more. The pockets can accommodate PDA, MP3 player, cellular phone, water bottle, wallet, keys, sunglasses, pens, a protective badge holder, a magnetic wind flap, and a zipped pocket-in-pocket and that too not uncomfortably since these pockets are customized to house these gizmos. It even takes care of hiding the wires dangling from your gizmos without making it look too ugly. It is waterproof and completely reliable to wear on a rough trip or adventure. The sleeves and hood can be detached so that it fulfills its all season purpose. However there’s a warning going with it that just incase you use a pace maker, then give this one a miss since it has magnets that can create havoc in there (you know where).

Just as I read the Commodore Gravel C200 specs I wonder how close they can get to sniffing the heels of the iPod and the Zune. Well, I believe it isn’t long before the three get abreast but for now, the C200 has its own definition. It comes in with a pretty cool a 1.8-inch OLED screen and a design that’s, well, very pebble-like. I was impressed by the fact that the C200 can digest MP3, WAV, WMA, MPEG2, MPEG4, DivX, XviD and WMV format files without a hiccup. The battery is packed with enough juice to provide with 18 hours of music and 2 hours of video playback.

You can well imagine what a boom box with attitude could possibly be. Here’s a cardboard boom box all set to make a fashion statement. No, I’m not kidding. The cardboard boom box actually comes folded and has to be assembled. A couple of AA batteries can get it working and it provides compatibility to connect to any MP3 via a 3.5mm stereo jack. And hey! You can also house you iPod on this one. Remember, it’s cardboard. I wonder what the result of a little contact with liquid can do to this one. I remember what happened to my cardboard replica of New York City many decades ago when I decided to play God and spring a little water on it.

Here’s something you really can’t miss. The amazing Toshiba Gigabeat comes with 2GB of NAND flash memory. Along with a very impressive (yet simple) 1.1 OLED display screen it also comes with capability to plug into your CD player and easy ripping of MP3. it also provides support for MP3, WAV and WMA and can also handle JPG images. The battery is pretty cool too with a whole 20 hours of entertainment and needs just about two to four hours of charging via USB or AC adapter. Like most flash memory cum player devices this one too has the handy capability of recording void via an external mic.

Oh how I remember the rock and roll days with my band in the barn. We would plug in our Fenders and Samicks into the even more expensive Marshall Amps and plunge into hysteria of brilliant classics by Guns ‘N Roses and Aerosmith. Oh, those days seem so distant. The guitars have all gone missing, but that’s not all. Even the classic Marshall amps are now looking a lot cooler and have radios in them. The amp we have here has a scrolling LCD text display and can receive up to 55 DAB stations. Well, just in case you are tired of all the strenuous jam session, then simply plug this one in and have a blast. You can now enjoy some pretty crystal clear radio from the very amp that amplifies your music.