EnviroGadget » MP3 Gadgets

iBamboo iPhone Speaker

Anita (EnviroGadget Writer) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 09:00:29 +0000

The iBamboo iPhone Speaker is a natural and elegant way to amplify the sound of your iPhone. Made from sustainable bamboo the speaker requires no electricity and is light and robust allowing you to take it with you, perfect for when you wish to share your iPhone’s music while out and about.

Each iBamboo is unique, crafted from a single piece of bamboo. Due to its creation from a natural material there is slight variation in the appearance of each speaker, though it will always help to amplify the sounds coming from your iPhone. Designed for the iPhone 4, the iBamboo works in a similar way to the Megaphone, resonating the sound down its length and out of the holes either end producing a stereo effect.

Bamboo is a truly sustainable material, it grows quickly and easily and decomposes when disposed of. The bamboo is machine cut to size, while the opening to allow the insertion of the iPhone is lazer cut to provide accuracy, each one is then hand finished. There is very little waste in the manufacturing of the iBamboo, adding to its environmental appeal.

The iBamboo is a lightweight speaker to carry with you, for use when camping, for a picnic, or any outdoor activity where you wish to have music. Though it will not have the same abilities as electronic speakers, its ability to amplify without the need for electricity and its use of natural sustainable material make it ideal for eco-friendly iPhone users.

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the iBamboo iPhone Speaker article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

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Megaphone – Ceramic iPhone Loudspeaker

Anita (EnviroGadget Writer) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 09:00:44 +0000

The Megaphone is an aesthetically pleasing way to boost the volume of your iPhone or iPod. The speaker has been designed to amplify the volume naturally using its smooth contours. Created from ceramic, it’s a great way to share your music without needing any additional power.

The Megaphone has been created by en&is designers Enrico Bosa and Isabella Lovero. The ceramic horn shaped megaphone sits on a thin wooden frame, the mouth of the horn has been designed to fit iPhones and iPods. Just like a horn the sound that comes in through the mouth is amplified passively by the very shape of the device, providing you with louder music without the need for any additional electricity to power the device. Because the speaker is propped up the vibrations within are maximized, helping to provide you with as much amplification of sound as possible.

The Megaphone has a natural look that is appealing to many. The simple curves and contours and sleek clean look allow the megaphone to fit into any household, allowing you to share your music with others when required. The Megaphone is a beautiful, elegant and eco-friendly way to fill your room with music, either for you to enjoy without headphones or to share with others, without causing any energy bill costs through additional electrical usage.

Source: iGreenSpot

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Megaphone – Ceramic iPhone Loudspeaker article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

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Skinny Player – Stick On Music Player Powered By Body Heat Concept

Anita (EnviroGadget Writer) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 10:00:15 +0000

The Skinny Player is a concept design for a music playback device that is attached to the users skin and is powered through their body heat. The device is intended for use when a person is exercising or is out walking.

The Skinny Player is a concept by industrial designers Chih-Wei Wang and Shou-His Fu to allow people to listen to music without needing to carry a player or use headphones. They envisage that you would buy the player with an album preloaded onto it. To listen to the music you would simply stick the Skinny Player onto your body, on your arm for instance, which would provide the heat to power the player.

The Skinny Player comprises of a plaster/band aid shaped device that features an on/off button in the middle of it and has flexible speakers running down the ‘arms’ of it. By sticking the player to you it would gain power from its flexible battery charging device. This part of it must always be in contact with you for the device to function, by using body heat the player is powered in an eco-friendly and sustainable way.

The one issue with the player is the concern over the ability of the player to stick to a person without coming off. The device is intended for exercise, a time when the body is hot, and usually sweats, most stick on items do not remain stuck on a sweating body for long. The player would allow anyone to listen to music at any time without any forethought, or the need for batteries, which for some would make this a useful eco-friendly powered device.

Source: Yanko Design

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Skinny Player – Stick On Music Player Powered By Body Heat Concept article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

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Colourful iPhone 4G Silicone Cases with Solar Panel

Dan (EnviroGadget Writer) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 09:00:29 +0000

These iPhone 4G Silicone Cases are very brightly coloured iPhone cases which also feature a solar panel charger on the back of the case. The case clips on to the iPhone and the internal 1500mAh battery charges up when charges it up when placed in sunlight. The charged battery can then be used to top up the iPhone.

As the battery in the case is charging up, the 3 light indicators on the bottom of the case will light up. Each of the LED lights represent 25% capacity, 50% capacity and 100% capacity respectively. You can charge up the iPhone by flicking the ON/OFF switch to ON once the battery is full. As usual, you can also topup the battery in the charger using a USB lead to your PC, an AC adaptor, or to a car charger.

Since the battery is in the case, it means you don’t necessarily need to keep your iPhone with the case as it’s charging up. Probably a good thing considering that iPhones are pretty expensive to just leave lying around!

What’s not clear is if you can still connect to the iPhone using the standard 30-pin Apple connector once you’ve got your iPhone in the case. It would be nice if you had a pass-through connector on it, as the case is nice enough that you wouldn’t want to take it out of the case very often!

The iPhone 4G Silicone Cases cost just $25.00 each, and there are discounts for ordering in bulk.

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Colourful iPhone 4G Silicone Cases with Solar Panel article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

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Leather iPad Case with Solar-Powered Charger

Dan (EnviroGadget Writer) — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 09:00:30 +0000

Finally we now have some iPad chargers coming on to the eco-friendly gadget scene. The Leather iPad Case with Solar Charger. It has a built in 4400 mAh battery which is charged by solar-power, which can then be used to charge up your iPad.

The case features 4 LED lights which reflect the charging status of the battery in the iPad case, reflecting 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of full capacity. The 2.4W solar panel is claimed to have a life of at least 20 years, and the battery will still be able to retain at least 75% capacity after 500 successive charge and discharge cycles.

What’s really nice about this iPad charger, part from it being a natural material as opposed to a plastic) is that it has a stand on the rear of the case. Perfect for angling the iPad towards sunlight to charge the battery again. Available for just $79.00 plus delivery, it’s pretty reasonably priced too.

Source: Leather iPad Solar Charger Case

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Leather iPad Case with Solar-Powered Charger article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

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All-in-One High Power Solar Charger Toolkit

Dan (EnviroGadget Writer) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 09:00:12 +0000

When I’ve reviewed solar-powered chargers before, the chargers usually support most, but not all portable gadgets. The All-in-One High Power Solar Charger Toolkit is the first portable solar-powered charger that I’ve seen that appears to charge all portable gadgets, thanks to its 9 connectors and 6-way connector cable.

The kit contains a compact solar-charger, which contains a 2600 mAh battery charged up by a 0.7W solar panel. The idea is that you place the solar panel (and battery) in the sun to charge up, such as on a dashboard or a window sill. You can also use a USB cable to charge up the battery using your PC rather than waiting for the sun to come out. Once the battery is fully charged, you can use it to charge up a variety of portable gadgets using the various connectors and leads.

The connectors will allow you to charge up all Nokia phones (thanks to both styles of charger plug), Sony Ericsson phones, Samsung phones, LG, Apple iPod/iPhone, as well as Mini USB and MicroUSB (the new standard). The cable adds charging capabilities for the PSP and Nintendo games consoles, in addition to a standard USB socket for any device with a standard USB cable.

The All-in-One High Power Solar Charger Toolkit is an impressive kit, and will save you lots of hassle when you’re in the middle of nowhere and you need to charge up your gadgets. Impressively, the kit is available for just $19.99 plus delivery!

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the All-in-One High Power Solar Charger Toolkit article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

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Emergency Solar Charger for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch

Dan (EnviroGadget Writer) — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 13:34:02 +0000

Emergency Solar Charger - Charging iPhone

As the name suggests, the Emergency Solar Charger for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch is a compact little solar-powered battery and charger, which can be used to charge up your iPod Touch or iPhone in an emergency. The charger contains a battery which is charged up via the solar panel. When you need the extra power, you just connect the charger to the iPhone. The charger will automatically charge the iPhone, giving it roughly 20% of charge.

Charging the Solar Charger

How It Works

You can charge up the charger using solar energy (so leaving it out on a sunny dashboard or windowsill) or you can charge it up via USB using the Apple USB cable (which could be via the PC, mains adapter, or via a car adapter). For the purposes of testing, I typically used the USB cable, as the charger was charged within just 2 hours. It takes a couple of days to charge the charger in sunlight, so really, you want to place the charger in strong sunlight when you’re not using it. That ensures you always have the emergency charge when you need it.

Once the charger is charged up, you just connect it to an iPhone or iPod Charger and it starts charging straight away. It takes about 20 minutes to charge up the iPhone or iPod to about 20%. If your device is completely dead when you start charging, then the charger charges the device up to around 16 to 18% (due to the power consumption when first switching on the iPod Touch or iPhone).

Emergency Solar Charger - on it's own

Feature Suggestions

The charger is very simple, it does exactly what it says on the tin. However, there are a couple of things that I suggest as minor improvements. Firstly, sometimes you need to wiggle the plug on the charger to get it to be recognised by the iPhone or iPod. I suspect there’s a microscopic difference in the connectors which means the charger is not always recognised as a charging device.

Secondly, it’d be good if there was an indicator to show how fully charged the charger is. Just a few small LEDs or a small LCD display to show if the charger is empty, half-full or fully charged. Currently, there’s no way to know how charged the charger is. Some attention here would be appreciated.

Conclusion

The Emergency Solar Charger for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch is a genuinely useful little gadget. I can imagine that it’s going to come in very useful when out and about with no power source! And costing just $5.51, it’s not going to break the bank either! Thanks to Budget Gadgets for sending me the charger to review.

Disclaimer: Although I was given this gadget to review, it has in no way influenced my opinions in this product review. This review reflects my personal and honest perspective on this gadget, and this perspective has not been biased in any way.

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Emergency Solar Charger for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

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iSol Plus – Portable Solar Charger

Anita (EnviroGadget Writer) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 09:00:53 +0000

The iSol Plus is a solar powered charger designed to allow you to charge your portable electronic products from environmentally friendly electricity. The charger’s size allows you to take the device anywhere with you, the solar panel ensures you can regain charge even when away from mains electricity.

The iSol Plus by iSol can be used to charge a wide range of portable electronic devices. The charger is suitable to charge MP3/MP4 players, PDAs, iPhones, iPods, Blackberrys, mobile phones, and many other such devices. The charger has the ability to be set to three different DC settings to allow it greater flexibility, 5.5v, 7.5v and 9.5v. The charger is supplied with the adapters for both Samsung and Motorola phones, the device though should work with any portable electronic device that has a USB adapter.

The iSol Plus measures 11.43 cm x 6.35 cm x 1.52 cm(4.5 in x 2.5 in x 0.6 in) which allows it to be easily taken with you wherever you wish to go, to provide your devices with power whenever they require it. The charger has an internal rechargeable lithium battery that requires anything between 10 and 20 hours to charge through the solar panel, depending on the brightness of the sunlight available. The battery can also be charged through a USB port, it takes 2-4 hours to charge the device via this method. The charger has both charging and discharging indicators to allow you to easily see when the charger is working. The iSol Plus helps to make your portable electronics truly portable. It allows you to be able to charge you devices anywhere, all you require is sunlight.

Source: World Of Green

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the iSol Plus – Portable Solar Charger article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

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Devotec Solar Sound 2 – Solar-powered Bluetooth Speakers

Dan (EnviroGadget Writer) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 09:00:52 +0000

Solar Sound 2 - via Bluetooth to iPhone

Devotec Industries have been kind enough to send me their latest creation to review – namely the Devotec Solar Sound 2, which is a solar-powered speaker that plays music from your computer or phone via Bluetooth.

The quality of sound from the speakers is exceptionally good, despite the relatively small size of the speakers. What’s more, is if you receive a call on your mobile phone whilst using the speakers, you can use the speakers as a handsfree kit too!

What’s comes in the box?

Solar Sound 2 - What's in the Box

In the box, there are the speakers (measuring 165mm x 58mm 58mm), a retracting male 3.5mm stereo plug to male 3.5mm stereo plug, a retracting mini male USB plug to standard male USB plug, a protective case for the speakers, a mains adapter for the USB cable, plus full instructions.

The instructions I was particularly impressed with, as they’re really detailed and explain how all of the features of the speakers work (rather than letting you guess like some instruction manuals). I was up and running within just a couple of minutes.

The speaker case

Solar Sound 2 Speaker Case

The speaker case is a fabric case with a zip for the speakers. There’s also a little pocket on the side for one of the cables. It’s a shame that only one of the retracting cables can fit into the case, it would have been nice if both could fit. The case will protect the speakers from getting scratched. Perhaps something for the future is a molded case that protects the speakers from knocks too.

How I tested the Solar Sound 2

I tested the speakers with both a mobile phone and my laptop to test the audio quality. So if you don’t want to use Bluetooth, then you can just use the 3.5mm extension lead (although you can’t use the handsfree function if using the audio cable). These are the combinations I tried:

Speakers to iPhone – via Bluetooth
Speakers to iPhone – via 3.5mm extension lead (in headphone socket)
Speakers to Mac Powerbook – via Bluetooth (as Headphones)
Speakers to Mac Powerbook – via Bluetooth (as a Headset)
Speakers to Mac Powerbook – via 3.5mm extension lead (in headphone socket)

Audio Quality

Solar Sound 2 - via Bluetooth to iPhone

Overall, the quality of the sound is excellent. The speakers don’t sound particularly ‘tinny’, although at higher volumes, you did start to notice a lack of bass. The Bluetooth range is very impressive, and I achieved pretty much 10 metres indoors from one side of the house to the other.

I did notice that when connected to a Mac Powerbook, the sounds was muffled in ‘Headset’ mode, presumably for saving bandwidth for the microphone aspect. However, when connected in ‘Headphone’ mode, the quality sounded identical to what I got when I connected the audio cable. With the iPhone, using Bluetooth and the cable sounded equal in audio quality to me.

I tested the speakers with Spotify, iTunes and internet radio. The quality was excellent with all of them. Essentially, if your phone or laptop chucks out any sound, then the speakers will work!

When receiving a call, the speakers automatically fades out the music, and you hear your ringtone on the speakers. When you answer the call, you can speak into the microphone on the front of the speakers, just as you would with any other handsfree speaker kit. A very useful feature, just in case a call does come in!

Using the Speakers

The speakers themselves are pretty solid and feel really well made. The on/off switch is a latching push button switch, so it’s easy to check if the speaker is switched on or not. On the front panel, the volume up/down and mute/unmute buttons light up when they are touched. Interestingly, the front buttons are capacitive, which means they work just like an iPhone touch screen – using touch rather than pressure.

Holding the volume buttons for more than 2 seconds is meant to skip a track when you use Bluetooth. However, when I tried this, nothing happened. The volume controls work absolutely fine when adjusting volume though. However, this is a feature I’d never use anyway.

When I wasn’t using the speakers, I just left them on a sunlit windowsill to charge up. I’ve not managed to drain the batteries yet, even with several hours usage. The specifications say that the speakers should work for between 5 to 20 hours depending on how you use it. The speaker is designed to be powered from solar power, so the speakers will switch over power source automatically depending on sunlight.

Solar Sound 2 - Rear Connections

If you want to charge up the speakers relatively quickly, you can charge them using the USB cable and the mains adapter which should take up to 5 hours. You can also charge up the speakers using a computer via the USB port. The logo on the front of the speakers change from a red light to a green light when it’s fully charged.

Conclusion

In summary, the Solar Sound 2 offers a practical solution for wireless music. This gadget is perfect for listening to music on the beach, outside when dining al-fresco, on picnics, or even in the bathroom! The speakers are really simple to use, even when using Bluetooth. I was up and running within a few minutes, with music blasting out of the speakers whist I was sat downstairs, with the music being played upstairs! So it’s easy-to-use, practical, delivers on all counts of it’s specification (apart from the skip track buttons), and constructed to a very high standard.

In my opinion, it’s a top-notch gadget. Well worth buying if you love your music outdoors! Thanks again to Devotec Industries for giving me the opportunity to review the Solar Sound 2.

The Devotec Solar Sound 2 is yours for just £73.98 including delivery if you’re in the UK, just $105.98 including shipping in the US, and €89.98 including shipping anywhere in Europe.

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Devotec Solar Sound 2 – Solar-powered Bluetooth Speakers article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

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Soulra Solar Powered iPod Speaker

Anita (EnviroGadget Writer) — Tue, 25 May 2010 09:00:05 +0000

The Soulra is a solar powered speaker system for iPods and iPhones. Designed to be used either at home or when out, the speakers allow you to share listening to your music with others without worries over batteries or over the drain of mains electricity.

The Soulra comprises a 8-watt RMS speaker with a bass boost, a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and a remote control. The device allows you to listen to music from an iPod or even an iPhone and have full control over the system through its remote. The device has been designed to be robust, its rugged exterior is water resistant and able to withstand minor bumps. This allows it to be used out and about, at outdoor parties, BBQs or poolside events, though it is only really splash and spill proof, so would not be safe out in the rain (nor survive being thrown into a pool).

The large solar panel charges the Soulra’s battery, and when it is at full charge it can provide at least 5 hours of continuous playback. The device can run directly from the solar panel, which can extend the play time of the speaker immensely. The speaker can be used indoors, though the device would need to be placed in a bright spot, like on a windowsill, to charge. Once charged it could be moved for use anywhere it is required.

The Soulra provides you with a good, eco friendly speaker system for your iPod/iPhone music. Because it is solar powered it reduces the worry over batteries running out and prevents you from needing to take spare batteries out with you. The device also allows you to use a speaker system without a constant drain on your home power supply.

Source: Frontgate

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Soulra Solar Powered iPod Speaker article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

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