Jay-Z vs. Dr. Dre, Headphones Edition
Its commonplace, almost expected, for musical icons and HipHop stars to make the foray into the fashion industry. But Jay-Z and Dr. Dre could spark a new East Coast vs. West Coast rivalry with an unexpected brand extension… headphones.
According to several reports, FCC documents show that on August 12th Motorola submitted an application for approval of new headphones with codename JayZ. Take a look for yourself…
They’re bluetooth enabled and support multi-tasking. So, you could be bumping the latest post retirement Jay-Z album, get a phone call, transfer the call to your headphones and when you end the call simply revert the headphones back to music listening. These are only in FCC land for now and it will take some time before these are on the retail shelves.
Meanwhile, Dr. Dre’s headphones serve a completely different purpose and are already available for sale. They’re called The Beats by Dr. Dre and cost $350 for the headphones themselves, a carrying case, cable for connection to your phone and undeniably sleek sexiness:
The audio quality isn’t groundbreaking but very solid. They only work with a pair of AAA batteries and the noise canceling capabilities are pretty kick butt… tune out the world why you tune in to your tones. And did we mention these things look bad ass?
Waterproof Phones with Golden Shellback
Urinals and other types of toilets and potties have been mobile phone nemesis’ for years… but not any longer. In fact, it might not be long before you’re prancing around IN the pool while you’re talking or even dialing 911 from underwater, gargling about how you’re drowning courtesy of the undertoe.
Golden Shellback uses patent pending technology that heats up a special liquid concoction until it becomes a gas which is then evenly applied to the gadget in a vacuum, waterproofing the device for beach lovers and clumsy goofs everywhere.
As you can see in the video (from Gizmodo) below, you can dial a phone number, press send, drop the phone in a glass of water and it continues to function and make the call let alone works perfectly when the phone is taken OUT of the water:
We can definitely see a mainstream manufacturer working out a deal with Golden Shellback to produce a mainstream phone that has the waterproofing technology included on purchase. How about a Sony Ericsson Cybershot that takes underwater photos? How about a Summer Inspired Nokia that promises to function at the beach and pool, whether or not it gets wet.
It might take awhile for something like this to catch on but the company is still exploring distribution channels, whether through manufacturers, carriers, retailers or other parties.
[Via Gizmodo, Golden-Shellback.com]
New Sony Ericsson Walkman Phones Announced
The W902, W595 and W302 are the latest breed of Sony Ericsson Walkman phones to become officially official. They’ve been rumored for a long time and we’ve already seen some pretty legit looking press style photos of the devices, but its always nice to get that “final approval from dad” type feeling.
(Note: we’ve updated each phone with Live Video from UnwiredView)
First up is the W902 and is described as for “those who want it all” - it is, not surprisingly, the most feature packed of the new phones. With nice audio/media features including a 5MP camera, this ain’t a bad choice. Here are some pics and features:
• Outstanding music sound – Clear Stereo + Clear Bass+ premium headphones = clear audio experience
• Retro music navigation keys – skip forward, back, play and pause with the push of a button
• Crystal clear video playback
• 5 megapixel camera – snap your stills and videos
• Scratch-resistant 2.2” QVGA screen and lens - made with mineral glass
• 8GB Memory Stick Micro™ (M2) for more than 8,000 songs
The W902 Walkman™ is a UMTS/HSDPA 2100 and GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 phone that will be available in selected markets in Volcanic Black, Wine Red and Earth Green in Q4 of 2008.
And now for the W595. Consider it a slightly toned down version of the W902 - still a ton of features, but pulled back a bit and the price will reflect that. It’s got a 3.2MP camera instead of a 5.0 (the iPhone only has a 2.0 for comparison sake), it has 2GB of storage instead of 8GB, etc… you get the point.
Here are some of the features from the Official Press Release:
• Walkman™ player – music on the go
• 2GB Memory Stick Micro™ (M2) – store and play more than 1,900 songs
• Share jack and stereo speakers – share your sounds
• Bluetooth™ - use the many wireless speakers for loud sound
• TrackID™ and SensMe™ - lets you know what you are listening to
• 3.2 megapixel camera – snap some great shots and share with friends
Lastly, the W302 has a lot less to be desired, but for a mass audience type phone it certainly has its fair share of nice qualities.
• Walkman™ player – music on the go
• FM Radio –Just plug in the handsfree, turn on the FM radio and tune in
• Premium style and design – compact metal finish and only10.5mm wide
• 2 megapixel camera – capture your favourite moments forever
• Bluetooth™ Stereo – send & listen your music wirelessly
In addition to these 3 new phones, Sony Ericsson has also announced SEVEN new music accessories that work in conjunction with these phones. They include 3 different Wireless Speakers (MPS-100, MBS-200, MBS-400), 3 different headphones (HBH-IS800, HPM-88 and HPM-66) and a phone case dubbed “The Phone Case” (IPC-40) that comes in two colors.
All in all, Sony Ericsson looks to have done a pretty nice job with these suckers. Lets hope we can get one in our hands to try out!
[Via Sony Ericsson PR]