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Jewish World Review
Nov. 24, 2005
/ 23 Mar-Cheshvan, 5766
Some small-ish gift ideas
By
Mark Kellner
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
'Tis the season and all that jazz - as this appears in print (Nov. 22), a
little more than one month remains until Christmas Day and the beginning of
Hanukkah. Time to get shopping, I'd imagine.
IPOD ACCESSORIES DOMINATE - Or so it seems: the first few pages of the
Sharper Image catalog have all sorts of iPod accessories; announcements of
new items are a daily feature of my e-mail inbox.
One of the nicest items I've seen - and one that lives up to its billing -
is the $80 Boostaroo Revolution from UpBeat (stet) Audio of Grand Haven,
Michigan. The device is a pre-amp and three-channel "surround sound" unit
that sits between your iPod (or other audio source) and your headphones, if
the latter have a greater than 60 ohm impedance.
I tried this out with a pair of Sony MDR-XD200 headphones, rated at 70 ohm
impedance, and the result was impressive, just as it also was plugged into
the headphone jack of a Hewlett-Packard Media Center PC m7160n. There is a
difference, and for the better, when using the Boostaroo Revolution device.
The Sony headphones, which retail for between $21 and $30 online, are
impressive on their own; add this unit and you've got a great companion for
a road trip or an afternoon's reading. The battery-operated Boostaroo has
two headphone jacks, so you and a friend can rock out together. More
information can be found at http://www.upbeataudio.com/.
Among other good sources for iPod accessories, I've found, are Digital Life
Outfitters of Charleston, South Carolina, http://www.dlo.com, and Belkin
Corp. of Compton, California, http://www.belkin.com. Both make a wide range
of accessories for the iPod, and each firm offers some interesting designs.
The same can be said for Griffin Technology of Nashville,
http://www.griffintechnology.com, whose RoadTrip device is a personal
favorite.
GIVE THE GIFT OF VOIP - The leading Voice-over-Internet-Protocol, or VoIP
(stet), telephone service providers will be happy to activate a
VoIP-compatible router or phone that you pick up at Best Buy or a similar
store and give to someone else - or even yourself, for that matter.
The genius of VoIP is simple: it utilizes your broadband connection to place
and receive voice telephone calls, using a regular phone connected to a
special router. Recipients can be on a cell phone, another VoIP phone or a
regular phone line, here or around the world. I've got an excellent VoIP
plan that lets me call the U.S., Canada and Western Europe as much as I want
for a reasonable monthly charge under $25; my calls to Australia are
super-low priced, too.
Among the providers to check out are Vienna, Virginia-based SunRocket;
AOL; McLean, Va.-based Lingo and New Jersey's Vonage. A Google
search will provide Web addresses, while a trip to local electronics
retailers will point you towards the hardware needed. This is a great gift
if you have a teenager - and a broadband Internet connection - at home.
OLDIES, BUT STILL GOODIES - I've mentioned, briefly, the Jabra SP-500
Bluetooth speakerphone before, which will let you speak hands-free on a cell
phone. Some hearers may or may not like the audio quality, and this isn't
something to use when there are others in the car, unless that's
unavoidable. But it's a good device for what it does, and in the District of
Columbia, which is one of several locales that mandate hands-free phone
calls in vehicles, it's downright essential. You can find it in stores for
under $90, and substantially less if you search online.
Apple's Mighty Mouse - their name, not mine - is a $49 wonder that offers
great navigational tools and a more sensitive operation to users connecting
to an Apple Macintosh, but also to a Windows-based PC. Especially wonderful
is the "scroll ball" pointer on the top of the mouse, which is the most
responsive such device I've ever used on any system, anywhere.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Mark Kellner has reported on technology for industry newspapers and magazines since 1983, and has been the computer columnist for The Washington Times since 1991.Comment by clicking here.
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© 2005, News World Communications, Inc. Reprinted with permission of The Washington Times. Visit the paper at http://www.washingtontimes.com
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