Accessories

Bedphones let you listen to music while you doze off

Desperate to listen to music in bed, but wary of disturbing your spouse or losing your conventional earphones inside the murky depths of your ear canal?

Step this way, music addict, and cuddle up with the Bedphones -- the first headphones we've seen that are designed specifically for use in bed. Continue reading...

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Nokia Luna Bluetooth headset has NFC, tap to pair

No, this isn't a docking spacecraft, it's actually a Bluetooth headset. And while we don't usually get too excited about headsets, this one has a name, and some tech inside, that's pretty out of this world.

The Nokia Luna comes in five colours and is smarter than your average handsfree kit, reports Nokia Conversations. It packs NFC (Near Field Communications) technology that means to pair it, all you have to do is tap it on your phone. Now that's clever. Continue reading...

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Nokia and Monster partnering for headset launch

Well what do we have here? Looks very much like a leaked poster of an upcoming Nokia headset, letting slip the Finns' partnership with headphone brand Monster to us. Looks very much like that indeed.

The product shown is named as the Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset by Monster, in tiny text in the bottom right of the image. And judging from the graffiti-strewn approach, Nokia's looking to inject some much-needed cool to its brand image. Either that or this is a very early proof that someone's hastily scribbled notes on, but we doubt that. Continue reading...

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CNET How To

Need to know how to do something? You've come to the right place. This page contains a collection of all the walk-through how-to articles we've written to help you get more out of the technology you own. Bookmark it and come back regularly to see what's new.

Amazon Kindle updated, ditches keyboard

When it comes to setting prices here in the UK, Amazon is cruel to be Kindle. The online retailer and ebook champion has ditched the keyboard from the popular Kindle ebook reader, and although it's just £90 that's a lot more than our friends across the pond have to pay.

As long as they don't mind a few adverts, that is. The new Kindle with ads on it costs $80 -- just £50 -- in the US. The advert-supported model isn't on sale here, so we're stuck with the pricier model.
Continue reading...

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Amazon Kindle Touch 3G is first touchscreen Kindle

The Amazon Kindle ebook reader is ditching the keyboard for a touchscreen with the new Kindle Touch and Kindle Touch 3G announced just moments ago.

The Kindle Touch is the first ebook reader from Amazon to let you turn pages and look stuff up by tapping on the screen. Continue reading...

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Disney Appmates make your iPad a playmat

We're all for apps and add-ons that make the iPad more child-friendly -- we even advocated an iPad 3 kids edition -- but we have to draw the line when they're as good as this. How are we supposed to get a moment's peace when kids have toys this cool?

Disney's Appmates peripherals are toys bearing the likenesses of the Cars 2 characters, TechCrunch reports. They have special sensors on the bottom -- press them on the screen and the iPad will tell the difference between them. And this is where it gets really cool. Continue reading...

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Apple settles with knockoff stores, not Samsung

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Apple must be feeling pleased as punch right now. Or maybe not, considering how busy its keen team of legal eagles have been.

The Cupertino company has settled with two New York shops accused of selling counterfeit Apple products. The shops, Apple Story Inc and Fun Zone, agreed to hand over all products they sell bearing the word Apple. They include headphones, cases and other accessories for the iPhone, iPad and iPod. Continue reading...

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Zumreed X2 Hybrid Headphones double as speakers

Technology has just made bus journeys worse over the years. First came the tinny tsh tsh tsh leaking from a pair of headphones, then we had to endure phones with speakers built in, letting everyone in on the owner's choice of terrible r'n'b. And now your stint on the number 57 could be about to become a lot worse, thanks to a hybrid of the two.

Though we suppose annoying a busload of passengers wasn't the intention behind the Zumreed X2, a pair of headphones that double as a set of portable speakers. A flick of the switch is all it takes to flit from headphones to speakers, and the drivers on the outside of the ear cups start doing their thing. Hey presto -- everyone can hear. Continue reading...

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Marc Ecko Zip headphones actually zip up

Just when we were thinking there was nothing new in the world of headphones, along comes Marc Ecko with some bonkers new designs.

Because his new range of in-ear headphones under the *ECKOUNLTD brand don't feature bog standard cords. (Well some do, but not the ones we're interested in.) Instead, there's a zip, a chain, and shoelaces in place of the cable. Altogether now: wtf? Continue reading...

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Beats mixr mixes Beats by Dre and David Guetta

Beats by Dr Dre welcomes a new set of ostentatious headphones to its gaudy stable -- the Beats mixr are a set of cans with DJ chops, built in collaboration with French roof-raiser David Guetta.

Styled like the rest of the bass-heavy Beats line, one of the mixr's earcups swivels around on a hinge, so you can hear whether or not your audience has given up and gone home. Continue reading...

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11 foot tall iPod dock provides bone-crushing beats for £350k

Musician and laser afficionado Jean Michiel Jarre's new toy, the AeroDream One, was on show at IFA this year. It's an 11-foot tall iPod dock from Jarre's audio firm Jarre Technologies and it costs a whopping £350,000. Thankfully, the ladder comes included in the price.

The giant audio beast uses a subwoofer, two mid-frequency speakers and two high-frequency tweeters to provide 10,000W of sound -- that's enough to knock any old lady off her mobility scooter. Continue reading...

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Revo K2 radio streams music, resembles tower block

If you thought Vita Audio's DABs were the last word in radio design, Revo has something it'd like you to see. Because while this monolithic, aluminium and rubber structure may look like the kind of block of flats where Robocop would live, the K2 is actually a radio. Over engineered? Not when you consider what else it can do.

As well as FM, DAB and DAB+ broadcasts (when the latter comes to the UK), the mountainous K2 will play Internet radio (Kazakh hip-hop ahoy!), dock your iPod, iPhone or iPad, stream music from Last.fm as well as any music files stored on your computer. Even if it didn't look this good, we'd be impressed. Continue reading...

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Philips Fidelio SoundRing iPod dock has AirPlay, big hole

Remember the Dyson Air Multiplier? The bladeless fan that was low on buffeting but high on price? Philips has announced a speaker dock that looks a little like it, though the Fidelio SoundRing is closer to a doughnut than the Air Multiplier ever was.

And if you're looking at it thinking, "Where do I dock my iPod?" the answer is you don't. It uses AirPlay, Apple's streaming technology to fire tunes through the air from your iPod touch, iPhone or iPad right to the speaker. The only way you can plug in to this is by using an aux in, though the benefit is you can play non-Apple MP3 players through it. Continue reading...

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BMW S1 aviation headphones sound pretty fly

What do you buy the discerning BMW fan who has everything? Certainly not a car, motorbike or yacht -- nobody's friendship is worth that sort of cash --but how about some uber-exclusive BMW headphones? 

The fancy BMW S1 noise-cancelling cans have a pretty shameful 0-60mph time, but they should deliver some serious aural pleasure, as they're the brainchild of established headphone conjurer Sennheiser and artistes-at-large BMW Group DesignworksUSA, a wholly owned Beemer subsidiary. Continue reading...

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Android landline, ebook reader and £99 tablet revealed by Binatone

Android on a landline phone. Yes, you read that right: the Binatone iHomePhone 2 is an Android-powered landline phone, launched alongside a new Binatone ebook reader and the budget HomeSurf 705 Android tablet.

The iHomePhone 2 is an Android landline -- Landroid? Andline? -- DECT digital cordless phone. It sports a 2.8-inch colour touchscreen, on which you can browse the Net, read your email, and watch YouTube videos. It offers 802.11b/g Wi-Fi for Web surfing, email, weather and news widgets, RSS feeds and Internet radio. Continue reading...

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Mac OS X Lion puts new keys on MacBook Air and changes your Mac

Mac OS X Lion has roared on to Apple Mac computers, and new computers are making changes for Lion's button-pressing paws.

New keyboards have new buttons to fire up some of Lion's new features. New standalone keyboards and the keyboards on new iMacs and MacBooks have Mission Control and Launchpad buttons, calling up a view of all your windows or all your apps. Continue reading...

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iPad Smart Cover rip-off case lands Samsung in hot water

Samsung has hastily dumped a third-party accessory for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 after realising it's a blatant rip-off of an Apple product. The Anymode Smart Case, a laughably obvious clone of the iPad 2 Smart Cover, was quickly yanked from sale, but will still provide Apple with ammunition in the legal battle between the two technology giants.

The timing couldn't be worse for Samsung, currently embroiled in a legal spat with Apple over claims the Korean company has been copying Apple's products. The fruit-flavoured phone flinger reckons Samsung's Galaxy range of phones and tablets rips off the iPhone and iPad, right down to the design of the packaging. Continue reading...

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Transforming iPad waistcoat straps you to your tablet

We love the iPad and, ever since that big HR meeting, we've learned to love clothes too. Consequently, we're sweating with excitement at the thought of this iPad-stashing waistcoat, which transforms into a trendy man-bag. It's the perfect accessory for the tablet-toting chap or chapette about town.

The design is the result of a competition run by accessories manufacturer Proporta and the presumably bequiffed London College of Fashion. Our very own mobile guru Flora Graham sat on the judging panel, which is how we know this transforming gadget gilet is the crème de la crème of tech fashion. Continue reading...

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Orange Sound Charge t-shirt claims to juice up phone with Glastonbury noise

Orange is getting into the spirit of hippie-dippy ridiculousness at Glastonbury festival this year with the Sound Charge T-shirt, which it claims turns music into power for your phone.

Losing charge on your mobile at a festival is a surefire way to put a dampener on things -- you can't phone your friends to find out where they are and you can't use the camera to take photos of them passed out in the mud when you do. That's to say nothing of the shame of not keeping up on all the latest tech news on Crave. Continue reading...

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