A Washing Machine with an iPod Dock?

I could not help but laugh at this one when I came across it… Apparently, LG has filed a patent application for a washing machine with speakers and audio dock. I don’t know about you but I tend to stuff my clothes in the washing machine and clear out as soon as possible. I mean the whole noise the washing machine makes is a bit of a problem. Even if the washing machine was whisper quiet I jut don’t see myself docking my iPod and listening to music on it. Imagine a bunch of these washing machines in a Laundromat. Gosh I can just hear the cacophony of sounds… Enya playing on that one, Rolling Stones on the other, Neil Diamond on the one around the corner and some Eminem blasting from yet another. I’m assuming folks won’t be running their earbuds from these washing machines… The whole thing just strikes me as a joke but eh people seem to be into all kinds of odd things nowadays so maybe this will become some cool fad… We do look quite ridiculous walking around with these white earbuds in our ears to begin with.

Ipod Pillow

This iPod pillow thing is just plain weird. For $20 you can get this soft squishy pillow that apparently has built in speakers so that you can hook up your iPod to it and play your tunes. The buttons on this thing actually works (how cool is that) and it has a built in FM radio.  I wish I could get my hands on one to check it out instead of having to plop down $20 for it. I already have enough iPod related accessories in my life. I have to admit its cute though and it comes in pink. This would be a good gag gift for someone at work… hmmpf.

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iHome 5

I was getting a bit tired of my old alarm clock. The buzzing sound was just getting on my nerves and I wish somehow that I could wake up to music instead. Then I discovered iHome (IH5). An alarm clock/ radio that allows you to wake up to tunes from your iPod. I saw it in a copy of Wired and thought I would go hunting for one in a store nearby. A couple of weeks ago I picked one up. I wanted one to match my black Nano but all they had was white and since I didn’t want to drive up to and deal with the whole Mall experience that day I just took the white one that they had. Anyway, I got home and couldn’t wait to get this thing out of the box. The box itself was nice and the components were neatly tucked away in little compartments. The whole un-boxing experience reminded me of the first time I un-boxed my Mini (I’ve got the PPC version). Somehow it felt that I was opening an Apple product only it wasn’t. Anyway, I took it out of the box set it on the counter and found the adapter for the Nano. Its comes with an adapter for just about every iPod. Anyway, I plopped the one in for the Nano, slapped my Nano on it and thought I would test out the speakers a bit. The speakers were clear and loud… I had to turn it down for fear of disturbing my neighbor. It was on an audio setting of 14 or so and believe me it was louder than any of the other audio equipment in my house plus it has a built in sub-woofer. Adjusting the sound was easy you turned a little dial on the left of the unit much like the iPod click wheel. Setting the alarm was equally as easy once I read the manual. It was so easy I felt like an idiot reading the manual but I like to read manuals so I didn’t mind so much. The clock automatically sets itself to your local time so you don’t have to worry about that and batteries are included so you don’t have to worry if you lose power. There are only two things I don’t like about the iH5 (1) Its really bright when you plug it into and outlet so I have to keep it covered up when I sleep (which I do with all my alarm clocks since I’m sensitive to light during sleep for some reason) (2) It does not include a remote for free you have to buy that separate.

If you are interested in this products check out the review of it at iLounge. I’m quite pleased with it so far. Now instead of waking up to that constant bleep bleep bleeeeeping in my ears or some radio station that’s a bit hard to hear I can now wake up to my favorite tunes (yeah). My friends came over the other day and got a kick out of it too they thought that it was sooo cute.

Keep it Safe Keep it Hidden…

I’m currently a dead 4th generation iPod owner. Although I didn’t have anyone rob me of my precious cargo there were a couple of times when I got a few lustful looks on account of the white earbuds I would wear with it. In response to the recent iPod thefts in England the Home Office crime prevention department in the UK has launched a three-year “Let’s Keep Crime Down” campaign with a specific bend on consumer electronics and portables to, um, help reduce crime. They are using some pretty snazzy advertising some of the best can be found here. Check out the the crimereduction.gov.uk site for more. I’m wondering why the US don’t do something like this. At the least one should probably take the advise of the NYPD and wear some different headphones and keep the iPod out of sight. As for my dead 4th generation iPod its currently being used as paperweight since I can’t afford the replacement fee to get it revived.

Star Wars iPod Case

I like my iPod and I like Star Wars so when I read in my TUAW RSS feed that an official Star Wars-themed iPod cover was available for only $29.95. I went to check it out. What I saw almost burned out my eyes, the thing was butt ugly. The only thing I liked about it was that you could get to the click wheel but other than that not much else. Why couldn’t they put an Episode 3 collage on there or make something similar to the designs on the Alienware Star Wars Systems. Those images are much nicer. I would personally like to see a cover with General Grievous. Needless to say I’ll be keeping my pocket book closed on this one.

How would I change the iPod

I’m a 4th generation iPod owner. This means the black and white one. More than a few have appeared on the scene since back in those days. I still haven’t seen anything that makes me go I want to trade mine in. Sure the iPod video is nice but here is what I would like to see in the next generation. There are a few rumors and mockups out there that some of this might be coming soon…

1. A larger screen
2. Ability to view in landscape or portrait mode
3. On screen touch pad get rid of the whole click wheel to make room for more screen space
4. Extended battery life (how about a week’s worth of juice)
5. Beef up the storage space 100 GB would be nice what’s with the 60GB
6. Add the ability to drag, drop and delete all files especially playlists, contacts…
7. More on screen functions in general
8. A stylus ( yeah turn this baby into a mini Newton)
9. More colors why the heck should I have to pay extra to paint my Ipod another color ?
10. A hard case… and built in FM transmitter