I’m not sure what the fascination is with plastering diamonds on everything, but the trend shows no signs of dying down. In the latest bit of news, you can purchase covers, that’s right. Covers, for your iPod earphones, which are encrusted in diamonds. The diamonds are worth $60,000 dollars. If you’re troubled by recent the recent economic crisis and don’t want to fork over quite that much cash, you could always opt to purchase a $4,500 set which is encrusted wit black or white diamonds, or even cheaper, a set covered in Swarvoski crystals for just $110.

Tags: Diamond, Earphone, ipod, Swarvoski

It might be sooner than you think. The European Union initiated a Battery Directive in 2006 which aimed to make it easier to dispose of old batteries, but it looks like they’ll be taking it a step further with a New Battery Directive. This new directive proposes that all batteries should be able to be removed from their electronic devices for replacement and disposal. If this new directive goes through, it could mean trouble for the iPhone in Europe, as well as iPods and a few other non-Apple devices. It wouldn’t be the first time Apple has gotten into trouble with the EU, and it most certainly won’t be the last.

Tags: battery, EU, European Union, iphone, ipod

Starting October 15th, the Nero LiquidTV/TiVo PC box will be available for purchase. The package comes in two options: software only or tuner model. The software only model will run you $99 while the tuner model will cost you $199. Both include a free year of TiVo (afterwards it will cost you $99 per year for the service). While Nero is known for their burning software, it looks like the exporting on this package is going to be limited to portable devices and the like. We’ll have to see how long that lasts or if it will cause the device to not sell as has been expected. It has also been over a year since the announcement of this partnership, so whatever steam there was may be gone by now.

Tags: iphone, ipod, liquidtv, nero, psp, tivo

After three long years, Rockbox 3.0 is available for iPod, iRiver, Sansa, iAudio, Gigabeat, and Archos media players. This open source firmware offers up a lot of different options for those of you looking to spice up your media player. Features include a codec support for over 15 different formats, 5-ban parametric EQ, MPEG video support, a multilingual interface, a butt-load of video games (including the shareware version of Doom), plus the firmware can talk to you through it’s spoken interface which is pretty handy. If you’re using this firmware on an iPod, you also no longer have to use iTunes to sync everything together.

Tags: Archos, Gigabeat, iaudio, ipod, iriver, rockbox 3.0, Sansa

It’s always confusing when one competitor makes something that works so wonderfully with their rivals. So when we heard news of the Sony ICF-CD3iP we just had to share it.

This $100-ish Dream Machine isn’t just another CD playing clock radio, it can actually work with your iPhone or iPod. Surprisingly enough it looks very sophisticated and very appealing to have on a desk.

The features of this yet to be released device do include a remote for the iPod/iPhone and even an alarm function that can work in conjunction with your devices alarm. Hopefully the audio is as good as the device looks.

For those of you who think it looks spiffy enough without the iPhone/iPod connectivity you can easily remove that little side attachment and get things going the way you truly want them to.

Tags: apple, cd player, clock radio, dock, iphone, ipod, mp3 player, sony

If you’ve ever wanted an awkward looking little device to plug your iPod into, we’ve got just the perfect one. Meet the iPig. This little docking station from Speakal has five drivers in it, including a 4in subwoofer, adjustable bass, 360 degrees of pure rocking sound distribution. Oh, and did I mention it looks like a pig?

Check out the press release below:

Read the rest of this entry…

Tags: apple, docking station, ipig, ipod, speakal

Traditional “headphones + ignorance” just not getting it done when you want some technology privacy? Well the Ovei isolation pod will take personal geek privacy to a whole new level.

Designed by Lee McCormack and made by Mclaren Applied Technologies, the $100,000 (!) pod will be custom built to tailor your specific needs – be it gaming or media – including color exterior and can be hooked up with a PS3 or 360.

Forget questions about where you’d put it in your apartment or explaining it to guests (“It’s an entertainment isolation chamber…”) as they look at you funny and just drop the coin. Your Halo 3 rank will thank you. Your wife/girlfriend, not so much.

Tags: ipod, ovei isolation pod, ps3, xbox 360

Sick of that ugly plastic iPod dock messing with the feng shui of your room? No? Me either. But for those who want a real stylish home for their tunes comes the wooden iPod dock.

They’re compatible with the old school and nano versions and come in walnut or birch finishes. Ranging from $90-$100, these babies hit in Japan next month. It’ll go perfect in my log cabin next my maple grain PS3 and oaken HDTV.

Tags: apple, HDTV, ipod, ipod dock, ps3

Ahh Japan, home of all things crazy/weird/awesome. From the land of the rising sun come these lovely pig headphones. They are (of course) made of silicon, come with a sizable 35-inch cord and are available in pink, black and white. You can pick up these hilariously offbeat headphones for a mere $11, but that’s only in Japan. Sadly, a search for “pig headphones” on Amazon yields Howard Stern’s biography.

Tags: howard stern, ipod, Japan

If you’ve ever bought an audio or video product from Best Buy or Circuit City, you’ve most likely been attacked by associates who relentlessly attempt to sell you Monster equipment. Personally, I don’t notice a huge deal of difference between Monster and other products and think they’re actually a huge gimmick. So when I saw the iSoniCast Wireless Audio Bridge I actually laughed out loud.

For $100 you get a two part device that will allow you to do the same thing you’ve been doing with your FM Transmitter all these years, but Monster makes it! You’ll probably get a little bit of a better sound, but be realistic, if this is how you’re playing MP3’s you don’t care that much about the small improvement.

Tags: ipod, iSoniCast, Monster