For the iPod shufflers who hate dangling cables from their ears, give the Monster iFreePlay (seriously did they have to do use the ‘i’ prefix?) a looksee. You simple jack your Shuffle into the side dock of the headphones which are those wrap around the head types. The headphones have a recessed cutout so you’ll still have access to all controls. Priced at $50 which is a little steep in my opinion but then again, this is Monster we’re talking about.

Of course if you even consider yourself a man and own a Shuffle, you might want to do some serious looking into what else makes you so damn rugged. Unprotected Shuffle owners looking for a sleek and easy case can take a look at the Bevy, a new product that just happens to be “Representing a remarkable combination of function for the thirsty music lover.” Thirsty music lover? Come on, that’s just reaching.

The Bevy retails for $15.00 USD, comes in every Shuffle color and will even show up at (gasp!) Apple Stores nationwide. Check out more on morphie’s product page.

It’s called the AirDock brought to you by the company that sounds like a mythical creature - Griffin. Yes it’s yet ANOTHER docking station for the iPod but Griffin has managed to price it with two numbers we all love for more reasons than one; $69.

It’s a place for put your iPod. A place to recharge its battery. A place to sync with your computer. A place to plug in your iPod while you enjoy its music.

That sounds real snazzy but they forgot to mention the RF remote and video playback which uses a proprietary port but Griffin was nice enough to include that cable in as well. My only question is where does the “Air” part come in? I was hoping somebody had finally created a hovering iPod docking station.

The folks over at iPodMods.com are now helping those that bought a 5th Generation Video iPod or a Zune upgrade to a larger internal hard drive. $299 gets your portable media device 100GB, which seems like a steep price, unless you consider that there is no easier way to have this much space on your iPod or Zune (unless you do it yourself).

With in-depth installation guides that include a step-by-step procedure and pictures, this kit seems like the easiest method of expanding storage size on iPods and Zunes. If your interested, here is a list of all models from Microsoft and Apple that are supported:

To check and see which revision you have, simply browse to the settings on your iPod and click on “About”. If your model number matches any of the ones below then you can upgrade your iPod Video/Zune to a 100GB drive:

Fifth-Enhanced (5.5G) Generation (Video)

* 30GB white: MA444LL/A

* 30GB black: MA446LL/A

* 80GB white: MA448LL/A

* 80GB black: MA450LL/A

Fifth (5.0G) Generation (Video)

* 30GB white: MA002LL/A

* 30GB black: MA146LL/A

* 60GB white: MA003LL/A

* 60GB black: MA147LL/A

* 30GB U2: MA452LL/A

Microsoft Zune Digital Media Player

* 30GB Brown JS8-00003

* 30GB Black JS8-00001

* 30GB White JS8-00002

A brief passage from the best-selling Italian novel “Romanzo Ritardato di Amore” by Asino Soave:

The night is perfect, the candles are lit, the scent of bitter-sweet whine fills the air. “May I have this dance?” he asks with a smile, a smile that had long forgotten the serenity of a woman so captivating. She replies softly, “Of course,” her voice trails off, thoughts of what the night awaits escalating, driving her mad. The lovers leave the table hand in hand, each one trying to grip the other harder than the other. He approaches his iPod Hi-Fi stero, his iPod Shuffle in hand, it’s sleek design which allowed for concealment throughout the night holds the key to pure bliss. “Ugh”, he flusters, eyes widening in desperation. She’s curious, waiting in anticipation, “What is it dear?” “My auxiliary cable, I can’t find it,” he replies, his tone no longer full of the love and compassion that had previously driven the night. “Your what-cable?” she asks. “My auxiliary cable you dumb whore, I need it to hook up my shuffle up. It’s got a really hot f#@k mix on it.”

The night is over and now as bitter as the whine that had once filled the air.

Alright yes, a little dramatic but who wouldn’t want to plug in a $80 MP3 player into a easy to use audio system like an iHome or Hi-Fi without the use of an auxiliary cable? Handheld accessory manufacturer Griffin Tech, has made one such device that takes all the pain and frustration out of Shuffle connectivity and gives you a device that is:

- Lightweight and compact for travel in accessory bags
- Gives 30-pin dock connector capability to 2nd generation iPod shuffle
- Shaped to fit Apple Universal Dock bays
- Great for use with powered dock speakers
- Designed for 2nd generation iPod shuffle

No ship date has been officially announced yet but you can probably expect to see it before the year’s end or before the next iteration of the Shuffle. But if you just can’t wait, you can get all of your pre-order info at the official website.
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Boomwave’s Bearaphim iPod Nano case is just too cute for words. Who doesn’t like bears with angel wings? Especially when those wings double as a spool to keep your earbud cables neat and tidy. Even though they’ve been out for awhile, it “bears” reiterating just how cute they are. Fortunately they’re also functional; each one molded from high grade silicon. The only improvement they could possibly make is to mechanize those wings so it can fly back into my hand should I drop my Nano.

Gotta catch ‘em all now for just $19.90.

Not everyone can afford a full 5 piece drum set so we have to make do with any and every surface available in the house. The next best thing is the mi Jam Drummer. It’s a unique set of motion activated drumsticks that function with any iPod or if you so choose, any MP3 player. Before I can go on, I must preface with this;

WARNING: NextLust is not responsible for you looking like a dork or for any ridicule from family, friends and coworkers. You use this at the expense of your own social life and accept full responsibility for your own air-drumming actions.

The mi Jam Drummer comes in two modes. The first of which is standalone. Plug them into speakers or use headphones and drum away to your heart’s content with pre-programmed rhythm backgrounds. Snares, tom toms, bass drums, hit-hats and cymbals are all there. The second mode lets you play along with any song and that’s where the iPod comes in. Recored your jam sessions and post them online for all of us to hear (tee-hee). Happy drumming!

Surprised much? Neither is the rest of the world. It only took six years for the hippest fruit loving computer manufacturer to make the iPod a household name and cause award winning entertainers to admit disabilities such as amnesia:

“It’s hard to remember what I did before the iPod,” said Mary J. Blige, GRAMMY Award-winning singer.

At least she’ll always have Smash Mouth to rid herself of the evil voices in her head. Besides the player itself, accessories, music downloads and puppy suicides have reached all time highs:

The iPod has also sparked an unprecedented ecosystem of over 4,000 accessories made specifically for the iPod that range from fashionable cases to speaker systems, and more than 70 percent of 2007-model US automobiles currently offer iPod connectivity.

Love it or hate, the iPod is one piece of hardware that ranks up there with all other evil robots like HAL and Niero, come on Zune, pick up the pace.

And yes, the above image does the animation, check it after the jump.
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In a typical day of working and traveling, millions of wireless devices are used, seen, bought, and sold. All of these products share one thing in common: their innate ability to consume and engulf batteries and power from outlets. The sheer amount of environmental pollution and waste created by the use of disposable batteries and dead chargeable batteries is enormous, not to mention the average cost of replacing and charging those batteries.

Along with the cost is the huge inconvenience of having a device lose power from lack of battery charging or actual battery inoperability. There are several ways to fix this problem, the most straightforward one being to create longer-lasting batteries that have less of an environmental impact. But now, four companies are poised to take the battery market into a new era: wireless charging and power. Read on for a preview of Wildcharge, Powercast, eCoupled, and Splashpower, all of which have their own respective method of providing power on-the-go.
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