There have been a lot of iPod Nano watch bands released. Many of them are cheap bands with nothing to actually hold and protect the iPod and most of the models with a rubber case look flimsy.  There is one case that has grabbed attention on Kickstarter for being a little more stylish and elegant. This Kickstarter case is not out yet which means, for now, this one from Griffin Technologies looks like the best option.

The Griffin Slap Case is a very protective case which is important since wearing your iPod Nano around on your wrist means you are likely to bang into things. The only part that is still vulnerable is the touchscreen.

The buttons and headphone port are easily accessible. However, the dock connector is not, a real problem since the case is hard to remove from the Nano. You have to be careful not to press on the touch screen face of the Nano as you press it out of the case.

Wearing the Nano as a watch is not really going to serve you well full-time. But using it for exercise is a good option. Press the Nano into the case and slap it on your wrist or onto your exercise equipment and you are ready to listen while you work out. The band part of the case is sturdy. It has a metal strip inside the silicone. The curved band holds it long and straight when not on your wrist and lets you slap it onto your wrist. I have a very thick wrist and it has plenty of length to fit around my wrist. A small person or child could wear it on their upper arm.

The major drawbacks are the fact that the dock connector is not accessible and the silicon material picks up lint and dust very easily. Used for certain situations it would make a great way to carry around the Nano. But for all day use, wait for the one on Kickstarter above to be released, or just get a watch.

Pros:

• Good case for workouts
• Protects the back and edges
• Volume, power and headphone jack all accessible
• Long band will fit large wrists or small upper arms and most exercise equipment bars

Cons:

• Picks up dust and lint very easily
• Dock connector not accessible
• Hard to remove iPod from the case
• Big and not very fashionable

Griffin Slap Case Watch Band for 6th Gen iPod Nano Review is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

There are two new cases the Suede Jacket and the iPod Travel Cases. The Suede Jacket Case is a sleeve style case that fits the new iPod Touch. It is made of Ultrasuede material and will protect from damage coming from outside the case and from scratches to the screen while the Touch is inside the case. The inside is much like the iPad case we previously reviewed and then offered as a giveaway. It is designed to not only protect the iPod’s screen but can also be used to keep it clean. When removing the iPod just put a little pressure on the outside screen side of the case while sliding the iPod Touch out of the case. This serves to wipe off light smudges or dirt. Also the outside of the case, which is also Ultrasuede, can be used in a pinch to clean a screen as well. It is available in sizes that fit the new iPod Touch as well as the previous generation model. They are also available for the iPod Classic and the previous generation iPod Nano.

The plain black cases are either $10 or $14 with an external pocket. For Cheetah or Zebra print they are $12 and $16 respectively.

Here is the video review of the case found on the Waterfield Designs web page:

The other case announced today is the iPod Travel Case. It is similar to the previously released case for the iPhone. It is a zippered pouch with enough room for the iPod Touch and accessories like the charging cable and head phones (see gallery at bottom). It is padded inside and has individual pockets for various accessories so that they are not all just loose inside the case scratching the screen. The zippers lock to keep from opening and spilling the contents out of the case. It comes in six colors (black, blue, brown, green, red, silver) and three sizes (small $35, medium $37, and large $39). And it will also work with the iPhone and in tandem with Waterfield Designs’ more form-fitting cases (like the Ultrasuede case) for double the protection.

Here is the video review of the case found on the Waterfield Designs web page:

Waterfield Designs Offering Cases for New iPod Touch is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

I’ve been fortunate enough to test the brand new iP46 from iHome Audio. The speakers are designed to go on the road with you providing untethered sound for you and your fellow listeners. The internal rechargeable Lithium ion battery lasts about eight hours, meaning you can get plenty of sound without having to plug in.

The iHome iP46 portable Audio for iPod and iPhone is available for $90 from Amazon.com.

In my tests the iP46 also functioned very nicely as a night stand charging and music playing solution. The speakers come with an AC charging adapter with foldable prongs which doesn’t take too long to charge from a fully dead state. Most of the time I use it during the day and then charge it over night. With the free iHome+Sleep app installed on your iPhone or iPod Touch, you can use the speakers and your iOS device as a sleep-timer device to go to bed to music with an alarm to wake you in the morning. I set it up to play some music and it went off at the designated time. Then it came on and woke me up in the morning  just fine.

In my experience the iP46 worked flawlessly with my sons’ iPod Touches. There is a retractable dock connector on the front of the speakers. Press and the dock comes out of the front and you can slide the iPod down carefully. It begins charging if the iP46 is plugged in via the AC adapter. When the iP46 is running on batteries it will not drain the battery to charge your iPod. This way the speaker battery lasts longer. I do wish it had the option to turn on charging even when not plugged in so that you could charge your iOS device in a pinch.

There was occasionally an issue when using the iP46 and an iPhone. My wife’s 3GS and my son’s 3G seemed to work fine, but on occasion I had a little trouble with my iPhone.

Intermittently the warning that says this device was not intended for this iPhone would appear on the screen after plugging in my iPhone 4. Usually, if I would restart my iPhone by pressing and holding the top power button, this solved the problem. Also, with my white Belkin Reveal case on the iPhone it would not get a good connection. So you will want to remove your case if this happens to you. These flaws are minor and do not negate the usefulness and good sound quality of the speakers. The iP46 was not designed to work with the iPad and in my test, it didn’t charge the iPad or drive sound. The iPad is also too heavy for the retractable dock connector; it felt like it would fall off.

When it comes to speakers, the single most important thing is the sound. I am not an audiophile, but I think they speakers sound great. The iHome iP46 has four speakers, two active and two passive speakers. There is an SRS button that boosts the bass of your music. For some music this made the sound even better. But for other songs it gave them a muddy sound, that was quickly fixed by disengaging the SRS functionality. Just test it with the album you are playing. Most of the time, the SRS was a real boost in sound quality. However, spoken word and some music was better with it off.

Besides plugging in an iOS device, you can use the iP46 with any device that can be plugged into a 3.5mm stereo jack thanks to the Line In port on the back. In my test the sound was just as good with an iPod as it was with the Line In port.

There is an optional remote, which I did not test. On the back of the iP46 there is a sliding switch that sets the device to either Auto or On. Auto will disable the remote when it is working with the battery and the On position sets it to work with the remote all the time. The reason you might do this is to save battery life while not plugged in.

When I first set up the iHome iP46 I had a problem. The speakers are a little heavy and it would not stand up on its own. But then I read the manual and realized that there were two feet on the bottom that spin out to support the weight of the speakers. Turn them in when you are packing the device.

For mobility, the iP46 was easy to throw in my notebook computer bag. I do wish the AC adapter had some velcro to keep the wire from getting tangled in a bag. And the iP46 is a little heavy, so I wouldn’t want to carry it around in my computer back all the time. But for occasional use it fit well since it is only 13-inches wide, 3.6-inches high and 1.9-inches deep.

The only significant problems I had, besides the intermittent incompatibility with my iPhone 4, was that after sitting in my computer bag for a full day, it just wouldn’t turn on. At first I thought it was just dead, so I plugged in the AC adapter. Nothing. Maybe it needed to charge for a while. So I let it charge for a couple of hours, normally plenty of time to fully charge. Still nothing. So I read the manual and it says that sometimes you have to reset the device by sticking a sharp object like a paper clip into the small reset hole on the back. I did this and it worked just fine.

Secondly, you have to be careful about putting the iP46 in a bag. It might accidentally turn on in your bag draining your battery.

These are minor flaws and didn’t detract form the fact that, overall, I loved the iHome iP46 speakers.

The iP46 is $99.99 direct from iHomeaudio.com. While that seemed a little steep before I used it, I would easily pay that now that I have tested it. Also, I found it listed at Amazon for $90 or less if you want to take a chance on one of the lesser-known Amazon resellers.

Pros:

• Great sound quality
• Long battery life
• Line in jack
• Works great with iPods of all kinds
• Small enough to fit in a computer bag
• Charges an iPod or  iPhone when plugged in

Cons:

• Slightly heavy
• Some intermittent incompatibility with iPhone 4
• Doesn’t charge your device when not plugged in

If you want to check out the manual for more information, you can download it from the iHome Audio site in PDF.

iHome iP46: Portable Audio for iPod and iPhone is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

Computer Bags

If you are carrying both a computer and a camera, you may want something to protect them and the tools that go with them.  You could just grab a nice notebook bag and a camera bag. Or you could combine them in one case. Our Publisher, Xavier Lanier recommends the Lowepro Pro Runner 350 AW. It is a backpack that will not only hold your DSLR camera and its gear, but also a notebook computer with a display up to 15.4-inches. On our recent trip to Charlotte to hang out with the Red Bull Racing team learning how they use technology in NASCAR, I was impressed with how neatly it carried and protected all his photography and computer gadgets.

While you are on the road, your bag will need to protect all your gear. That is why Xavier recommends Voodoo Tactical. They sell military grade equipment including bags and packs. These look like they will keep your tech safe. And the image they cast might make you feel safe too.

They don’t look very professional, but they’re great for when you have to get a little dirty/rugged. Very versatile and weather resistant. I bought a small one as a range bag and now use it as my daily gadget bag. They’re extremely compact and expand as needed. (Xavier Lanier)

Xavier recommends the Level III MOLLE Assault Pack, which is a military style backpack. He said the following:

The smaller one can shrink down to about 4″ thick, but can expand to fit my 15″ MacBook Pro, 12″ Tablet or iPad, and my DSLR or video camera. It’s absolutely built better than any computer bag I’ve ever seen. You can clip on accessory pouches for anything from mobile phones to water bottles. Both of mine are black. They both have water-resistant pouches and zippers. Really good price compared to computer bags.

The bag he recommends costs $62.95 and comes in many colors.

While some of love the military grunt look of the Voodoo bags, you may want something a little more stylish. That is why you might want to check out Waterfield Designs. I reviewed one of their iPad cases, and in fact we will be giving it away soon.

Waterfield Designs makes larger bags and sleeves for notebook computers and many other electronic devices. If it needs a power cord or batteries, they likely have a nice case to cover it. The Cargo Mambo Combo looks like the perfect thing for a travel bag as it comes in a package price with the bag, a pouch for accessories, and a sleeve for your computer. They are expensive, but they make great products.

Finally, our Editor, Josh Smith, has been testing the Mobile Edge EVO Backpack. It is designed for larger 16 or 17-inch computers. The EVO bags are black with colorful highlights.

They look like a great solution for larger notebooks. The 16 accessory pouches and pockets will make this a great solution for carrying it all on the road. Below is Josh’s video preview of the pack.

Charging Solutions

If you have an iPod-wielding child who will not put the “toy” down, then you will also eventually have a child begging for batteries. My son’s both have iPod Touches. Playing games and watching videos on trips keeps them entertained. But if the battery dies, they get grumpy. So our DLO Game Case Boost helps keep the juice flowing. It serves three purposes. First, it is a nice protective case with rubber outer shell covering a hard plastic inner shell. The inner shell also serves to hold two AA batteries that extend the life of the iPod Touch by about two hours. I recommend getting some rechargeable batteries though, or else you will go poor buying AAs. The third benefit is that it makes the iPod Touch feel more like a gaming controller. My son loves his and I love the protection it gives his expensive toy and at $30 that’s cheap insurance.

We have other gadgets that we carry on trips from our iPhones to our Verizon Mifi cellular router, which lets up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices get online via Verizon’s broadband cellular network. Sprint has one too. Our charging solution is to have a cable for the car to charge our iPhones and the Mifi. If we are way from the vehicle, we give extra juice to these devices with Energizer’s XPAL XP2000 ultra slim charger. It is essentially a small battery with two USB ports one mini and one standard. You plug in the cable that comes with it to charge up the device. On one end is a standard USB connector. The other is a plug on which you put one of the included adapters. Once it is fully charged you plug one of the adapters into the included cable. Connect to your device and the XPAL and you are charging away. To check how much power the XPAL has left, push the Check/On button on the top and it has four blue indicators to show the power level.

The XPAL has a number of adapters for various devices. To charge a device plug it in and push the Check/On button and it will charge fine. The adapters will fit many cell phones, devices with micro and mini USB connectors, and Apple products via the dock connector. It works fine with iPods, iPod Touches, and all iPhones, but it will not charge the iPad. I have not tested it with other cell phones. It is $48 at Staples. They also have both smaller and larger capacity versions. The $100 model will even charge many notebooks.

Speakers

If you are at the beach, on a picnic, or just in a hotel room and want to play some music for everyone to enjoy, you will need some speakers. This category is far too large to cover in this space, but I do want to make one recommendation. The folks at iHome sent over a great mobile speaker solution for us to test out. I’ve been playing with it and will be writing a full review soon. For now, I can recommend the iHome iP46 Portable Speakers for iPods and iPhones. Not only are they portable speakers with an Apple dock, but it is also battery-powered. You can either plug it in with the AC adapter or after charging the internal rechargeable battery, run it untethered. On the back there is an Auxiliary input via 3.5 mm stereo jack. So you could plug your notebook in so everyone can hear if you are playing a video on your computer or portable DVD player over a projector. The sound is very good and in my initial test the battery lasts more than 7 hours.

The iHome works well with an iPod, but there are issues using it with an iPhone. My iPhone 4 is a little temperamental. I have to sometimes reboot my phone by pressing and holding the power button on top and then sliding the red slider that appears after a few seconds. Usually after a reboot it works just fine. Also, in the picture above you can see that I have a case on my phone. It works with the case on occasion but usually I have to remove the case first. However, all iPod Touches and other iPods seem to work well with the speakers. The sound is very good, but the SRS Boost button makes it even better when listening to movies and music. Spoken word is best with the SRS button on. The feet on the back keep it steady. I love this product and can’t wait to try it out on our trip coming up.

Next week ten people from our church are travelling to Wisconsin to do some mission work. One of the things we plan to do is hook up my notebook to our projector to watch movies after our mission work is done. The iHome speaker will help us enjoy the movies so much more because I will plug the notebook’s headphone jack into the line in on the back.

Summer Travel Tech: Accessories is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

I have used a number of of FM radio adapters like the iTrip in the past, but Griffin has done a great job at improving upon previous approaches. The iTrip is not only for iPods. Any device with a 3.5 mm headphone jack will do, including a laptop. Everything about it is kept simple and convenient. The entire unit is a little thicker than your average USB flash drive and with good reason. The iTrip is made to plug directly into any USB port for recharging. Gone are the days that you had to occupy your single precious cigarette lighter adapter in order to power your FM adapter. With a GPS and phone charger around that one plug already has to do double duty. The backlit display is easy to read and displays the relative amount of battery life you have left on the unit along with the current frequency its using. With a simple push of the + or – you can scan through 88.1 MHz – 107.9 MHz at .2 MHz increments. The iTrip also lets you set up to 3 preset stations so you can find the open frequencies and keep them handy.

As I said previously, I’ve used a couple units like this in the past and the iTrip sounds just as good as you will get from any FM adapter I’ve messed with so far. At $39.99 the iTrip is priced to be the perfect companion to any MP3 player.

Pros:

• Large backlit display
• Rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery gives you hours of music between charges
• Works with any device with a 3.5 mm headphone jack
• Compact design

Review: iTrip Universal by Griffin Technology is a post by Adam Helweh from Notebooks.com.