Portable Entertainment Accessories

One of the best reasons to put on headphones (besides to hear music that’s truly worth listening to) is to shut out the world around you. However, it's difficult to quiet down noisy environments, like the cabin of an airplane or the chatter in an office. 

Imagine the year is 1962, and you've been asked to predict what headphones will be like fifty years into the future, all the way forward to the year 2012! It's possible that you would describe something like the two new models recently announced by Creative, the WP-450 and the HN-900. 

You can always go with roses, assorted chocolates and a greeting card, but a bit of imagination can’t hurt when it comes to making Valentine’s Day memorable. Here are a bunch of gift-giving ideas for her, for him and for the kids.

Carrying out triple duty as a pocket projector, supplemental battery and stand for any iOS device (iPhone, iPad or iPod touch), the Pico Power Projector II from MiLi is a multi-purpose accessory that fits under the just-might category.

The popularity of the Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch has spawned a plethora of add-on devices for recording musicians that run the gamut from simple, single-input devices to external microphones. 

Blue is a maker of fine microphones, well known for their excellent sound quality and unique industrial design. In 2011, Blue released an affordable studio microphone with a standard, analog XLR output called the Blue Spark.

The blueSLR for Nikon line of accessories makes it possible to wirelessly control your Nikon DSLR using a remote device you may already be carrying: an iPhone, iPod, iPad, Android device or BlackBerry. 

IK Multimedia unleashed a fresh batch of new iOS and iPad-centric accessories at NAMM 2012, which can help you do everything, from recording excellent-quality sound directly into your Apple device, to mixing songs on separate media players with a purpose-built iPad hardware DJ mixer.

Flat speakers thin enough to be hidden in an iPad case aren’t new, but iHome goes one better by also embedding a flat rechargeable battery instead of requiring the user to supply four not-so-flat AA batteries. 

Notebook users, accustomed to the ease of connectivity via built-in USB ports and card slots, have been known to clench their teeth adjusting to a world of Apple-induced roadblocks endemic with iOS devices like iPads, iPhones and iPods. Now, a clever way to break through is the AirStash AO2 Wireless Flash Drive.

Lighted portable keyboards offer an extremely intuitive and user-friendly method for learning to play piano. In order to play a song, the first keys that need to be pressed are illuminated, and the next notes in the tune light up after the previous set have been played, so the user knows exactly where to strike in succession.

Video game consoles, in-vehicle entertainment systems, rocking out to Justin Bieber on mobile media players; no matter how you slice it, kids end up spending a lot of time wearing in-ear headphones. Unfortunately, this is potentially dangerous for the youngsters’ eardrums.

Choosing the “best” or “right” gifts for the photographer(s) in your life can be daunting, to say the least. So to ease the burden of having to wade through a gazillion or two pages of our website in your quest to be on target, we took it upon ourselves to narrow the choices down.

Many children with digital cameras, as well as some of their parents, have been stymied by their inability to join their iPads and cameras. That’s about to change with the release of the Sakar Disney iPad Camera. Soon to be available in one of five color/cartoon faces, the camera contains a 30-pin plug in its base, so the entire device can be connected directly to an iPad or iPad 2.  

When people ask me why I recommend Pelican cases for storing and transporting cameras, lighting equipment and other sorts of shock-sensitive tools and doodads safely, I tell them to read the warranty statement that comes with every Pelican shipping case. 

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