Burton Audex iPod Field Jacket
The Burton Audex iPod Field Jacket ($379) is a high-end snowsport jacket with an integrated iPod remote control. If you've ever taken a spill and watched your snowboard and MP3 player shoot off in different directions, then the Burton Audex iPod Field Jacket is worth more than a passing glance.
Like most Burton products, the Burton Audex iPod Field Jacket has a very hip design, constructed with materials that are both high-tech and high-style. The jacket employs taped seams, laminated fabric, and resizable fittings to keep moisture from finding its way through to your clothing. Zippered pockets can be found practically everywhere, in sizes large enough to stash away a pair of snow gloves, or snug enough for a pair of earbuds. An interior pocket is built into the field jacket specifically to cradle your iPod. With your iPod tucked away, earbuds can then be threaded through a small port within the jacket's lining and up to the ears.
The Audex iPod remote control can be removed from the Burton Field Jacket's molded rubber compartment.
While the jacket alone is worth the price, what really makes the Burton Audex iPod Field Jacket unique is the iPod remote control integration. The Audex-branded iPod remote comes in two parts: a remote receiver that plugs directly into your iPod's dock connection; and a remote control. Both the receiver and the remote use high-frequency radio signals to communicate with one another, with an expected range of 100 feet. While the Audex iPod remote receiver is basically a nondescript black nub that plugs into your iPod, the remote control has a little more going for it. The pebble-shaped Audex remote features five rubber buttons that control volume, track skip, and play/pause. Although the Audex remote is meant to be operated within the field jacket's custom-molded rubber compartment, it can also be used separately as a go-anywhere iPod remote. We found that the Audex iPod remote system worked flawlessly with both a fifth-generation video iPod and a third-generation iPod Nano.
Taken as a whole, both the Burton Field Jacket and Audex iPod remote system provide an uncompromised solution for sliding down a snow-covered mountain in style. There are other good ways to bring your music onto the mountain, but none that are nearly as cool.
Reviewed by: Donald Bell
via Cnet
Labels: Burton, Burton Audex, iPod, iPod Jacket
iPod touch now running Mail, Google Maps, and more
We're not looking at general availability yet, but those happy hacking cats unravelling the iPod touch have decrypted the ramdisk and are now busy installing applications. Already, Mail, Maps, and other 3rd party apps are up and running on their
jailbreaked touches. The race is on between the cat and the mouse to see who will release their wares first.
by Thomas Ricker
Labels: iPod, iPod hack, iPod touch
Suit claims Nike, Apple stole idea for Nike+ iPod Sport Kit
A while back we had a tech review of the Nike + iPod series, here is an interesting follow-up to that story...
A little-known athletic company from Utah has filed a lawsuit that names both Nike and Apple, claiming that Nike knowingly stole its decade-old idea for the Nike+ iPod Sport Kit.Brothers Greg and Kenny Anderson of Leaper Footwear, LLC say they invented in 1995 and successfully patented in 1998 a unique breed of footwear which -- like the
Nike+ iPod Sport Kit co-developed by Nike and Apple -- measures locomotive performance parameters such as a user’s walking or running speed and/or distance traveled.
According to their complaint, filed Monday in the United States District Court for The District of Utah Central Division, Leaper’s counsel sent a letter to Nike in 2000 suggesting that the shoe maker take a license to the Anderson's patent (
#5720200) and incorporate their invention into Nike shoes.
Nike reportedly wrote back two weeks later, stating that it had "no interest" in pursuing the idea.
"Six years later," the suit continues, "in May 2006, acting on Leaper’s suggestion but without contacting or seeking permission from Leaper to use the patent, Nike and Apple jointly announced their partnership to launch Leaper’s invention through the 'Nike + iPod Sport Kit'."
The "Nike + iPod Sport Kit" allows Nike+ footwear to communicate with Apple's iPod nano music player. It includes a sensor that fits into a pocket in the inner sole of Nike+ footwear, and a receiver that plugs into the bottom of an iPod nano. Information about time, distance, calories burned and pace is displayed on the iPod screen and audio feedback is announced to the user through the iPod’s earbud headphones.
In their 8-page suit, the Andersons claim that Apple and Nike have achieved "huge success" through unauthorized use of their patent. They recall comments made by Nike chief executive Mark Parker during a conference call last December in which he widely touted the sport kits, stating that users had already logged more than 3 million miles on the devices and that over 3-million Nike+ shoes had shipped.
"We expect that number to double by the year end," Parker added during the call. "Clearly our confidence in this concept has proven to be accurate."
As a result, the Andersons allege, Nike and Apple have generated "hundreds of millions of dollars in infringing sales" of iPod nanos, Nike + shoes, and Nike + iPod Sport Kits, "easily exposing them to liability in the tens of millions of dollars" for their infringement of Leaper’s patent.
"It is further believed that Nike and Apple’s infringement has spawned additional revenues through sales of products related to the Nike + iPod system, such as the Nike Amp + bracelet, " the suite adds.
The last time Nike or Apple provided sales figures for the Nike+ iPod Sport Kit was in September of 2006, when Apple said it had
sold 450,000 units in the kit's first three months on the market.
Leaper's complaint is the second to target both Apple and Nike over allegations that the Nike+ iPod Sport Kit makes unauthorized use of patented technology. In January, Colorodo-based PhatRat Technology filed a
similar suit, charging both companies with infringing on four of its own patents.
By
Kasper JadeLabels: iPod, Nike, nike + iPod
