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Workout Machine
Sony’s S2 Sports Walkman is the only MP3 player designed to give you rock-hard abs. It’s meant for using while you work out and is full of features that even the most dedicated gym rats might not have known they need.
The player has a sensor that measures your pace and can tune your playlist to your stride. There’s a built-in stopwatch for timing runs, the pedometer can measure how many steps you’ve taken, or how far you’ve gone, and the built-in calorie counter measures what you’re burning on the way. Switch to shuffle mode by shaking the device three times quickly. The radio picks up FM, so you can tune in at the gym, and the S2’s battery is rechargeable — a three-minute charge will give it three hours of playback, while a full charge lasts 18 hours.
About the size of a tube of lipstick — or ChapStick for you manly men — the S2 fits on the arm with an included strap. It holds 2GB worth of songs and is water resistant. All in all, it’s the perfect device to make a rain-soaked 18-hour jog exhilarating. ($150; sonystyle.com)
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Better Brush
The electrifying news in the toothbrush sector is the latest version of Philips’ Sonicare brush. Running at two speeds, and with two brush head sizes, the Elite e9500 also has a built-in recharger, plus a little beep that goes off every 30 seconds so you clean each corner of your mouth equally. With the Smartimer, the brush automatically shuts off after two minutes of brushing, discouraging those all-night marathon brushing sessions — which is probably a good thing. ($150; sonicare.com)
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Jump No Rope
How can you resist a ropeless jump rope? The JumpSnap has two handles, but no rope. Instead, built-in counters keep track of the number of times the nonexistent rope has passed under your feet and the calories burned. The basic kit comes with a travel bag and two workout DVDs. We’re not sure if this is going to sweep the country, but it just might be the best option for people trying to work out in a confined space. ($60; jumpsnap.com)
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Phone Card
Vonage’s V-Phone makes Internet telephony easy. (Internet telephony, by the way, means making a phone call over your computer.) Just plug Vonage’s USB card into your computer, hook up the included earpiece microphone, and dial using the onscreen window. There’s no need to install software, and the connection is as good as any landline (and better than most cell phones). If you’re traveling, it’ll work over any Wi-Fi connection too. The phone hooks up to any PC with a USB port and comes in hard-to-lose orange. ($40; vonage.com)
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Watch and Learn
Ever since James Bond’s watch printed out a message in The Spy Who Loved Me, anyone with half a brain has been wondering, where’s mine? Enter the MBW-100, Sony Ericsson’s Bluetooth-enabled wonder watch. The MBW-100 communicates wirelessly with your cell phone and lets you know who’s trying to get in touch with you. Telemarketer? Send it to voice mail with the face-mounted button. M? Better take it. ($399; sonyericsson.com)
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Fingertip Sensation
The Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000 is Microsoft’s version of the keyboard of the future. It’s wireless, of course, and comes complete with a matching wireless rechargeable mouse. The keyboard itself is backlit — for typing in candlelight, maybe — and more important, it’s curved to match the natural position of your hands. It’s also got four USB ports to suck in information, as well as to power the proliferating devices that run on USB power. And though the dock is wired, the keyboard gives you the freedom to work untethered. ($300; microsoft.com)
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(Overindulgence of the Month)
Past, Meet Future
The cutting-edge meets the classic in Shanling’s tube-based SACD player. Audiophiles have long sung the praises of vacuum tube technology, and even dedicated vinyl nuts have been forced to admit that the SACD (Super Audio compact disc) format approaches the LP’s sound quality. Shanling’s SCD-T200C combines the best of these two worlds in a beautifully constructed device that’s as much art as science. ($2,695; musichallaudio.com)
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(The Way It Works)
What Do Tubes Have to Do with Audio?
Anyone who has dipped a toe in the world serious of audiophiles has probably noticed one thing: Tubes rule! We’re talking vacuum tubes, the lightbulb-like contraptions that were used to channel and amplify audio signals in the days before the transistor took over. They’re relatively expensive, they generate a lot of heat, and they burn out after a while. No wonder they went out of mass production in audio units in the 1960s.
So what’s so great about tubes? To find out, we called Roy Hall, founder of Music Hall, which imports turntables, speakers, and the Shanling tube/CD hybrid featured on page 30.
Yes, Hall says, tubes are obsolete. “They distort the sound they amplify.” But, he adds, “they do it in an absolutely fabulous way. The sound they give is wonderful and euphonic.” The tube, being a somewhat less efficient transmitter of audio, actually seems to add something to the overall experience.
That’s why Shanling added a “stage” of tubes to its SACD player, which plays both regular CDs and super-high-end SACDs (Super Audio CDs). “Many people think CDs can be kind of shrill and harsh-sounding,” says Hall. The tubes tame that by adding their own “warmer” sound, in a way downgrading the fidelity of the system. It’s a downgrade that works for many audiophiles, and musicians too. Many electric guitar players swear by their tube amplifiers, loving the slightly distorted sound they produce.
In addition to sounding good, tubes are pleasant to look at. They glow mildly while they’re at work — especially in the dark — which really gives the sense that your electricity is actually doing something. — B.U.
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FLY & BUY
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