Other MP3 players can be used for audio recording. This was one of the things that the incredible iPod did not have, until XtremeMac's MicroMemo came along.

With the first high-fidelity iPod recorder with a removable microphone, you can now record those memos, meetings, lectures, or any audio content directly to your iPod. The MicroMemo plugs right into your dock connector, while a flexible, detachable mic captures audio. As an alternative, you can use any microphone with a 3.5mm plug.

Listening to your recorded audio isn't a problem as well, as it has a built-in speaker for instant playback, 0r you could listen to it using your iPod's earphones. With its one-touch recording in stereo or mono, it records 16-bit audio at 22kHz and 44kHz. For this gadget, batteries are not included because you won't need them anyway! This audio recorder in fully iPod-powered, so you just have to make sure that your iPod is charged.

The MicroMemo high-fidelity digital audio recorder is available at XtremeMac for $59.95.

In a recent press release, Belkin has once again amped its already wide-selection of iPod accessories. They recently introduced  eight new cases for the updated iPod 5G (fifth generation) and the new iPod nano. The new iPods were released about a week ago at a special Apple event. They're a bunch of new and standard types of cases, namely acrylic, flip-top hard, neoprene, armband, kickstand and slider. If that doesn't ring a bell, it's basically anything you need.

Belkin also revealed the pricing. Most of the cases cost around 20 dollars, but they start at $14.99. Here is the list:

Â? Acrylic Case for iPod nano (F8Z116) - $29.99; video (F8Z115) - $29.99
Â? Flip-Top Hard Case for iPod nano (F8Z124) - $14.99; video (F8Z123) - $19.99
Â? Neoprene Holster for iPod nano (F8Z124) - $14.99; video (F8Z123) - $19.99
Â? Canvas Flip Case for iPod nano (F8Z120 and F8Z117) - $19.99
Â? Canvas Holster Case for iPod nano (F8Z119) - $19.99; video (F8Z118) - $24.99
Â? Sports Armband for iPod nano (F8Z105) - $24.99; video (F8Z095) - $29.99
Â? Slider Case for iPod nano (F8Z084) - $29.99
Â? Kickstand II (F8Z112) - $29.99

The Kickstand had the following description: "The Kickstand II integrates a convenient stand display so you can comfortably and easily watch video from your iPod video. Enjoy hands free viewing at adjustable angles. Its versatile, detachable belt clip lets you safely carry your iPod anywhere, and the ports remain easily accessible to you."

Ever since Jobs decided to set the digital entertainment world on fire with his declaration of the (still temporarily code-named) iTV, the curious have been asking, "Well, what exactly is the iTV?" We ourselves, among many others, have only been able to give snippets of information as they came. And we're just as curious as you guys are.

Enter Macworld. Even they don't have as close a look as they would have liked of the iTV, but being the Mac experts that they are, have decided to proceed with what Steve Jobs has said about the iTV, gathered stuff from the September 12 presentation, and gave this FAQ on the iTV. So to all who've been asking what exactly is the iTV, here are highlights of their extensive FAQ:

• What is iTV? We've once called it the Living Room Mac, based on the educated guess of a New York Times writer, because it IS a Living Room Mac. It combines the digital media convergence of the Mac's Front Row - which connects your digital TV to a Mac CPU and to the Internet beyond - with the wireless ease of AirPort. A lot easier than hooking up the Mac Mini to the TV. iTV will stream iTunes media running off a Mac or Windows PC and can be operated with the Apple Remote.

• The "temporarily-named" iTV? It can change. Call it Apple's iDevice-prefixing penchant. The thing is, Elgato's already making the eyeTV, a digital TV receiver. Even Apple has an "iTV" branded accessory out there with the Monster iTV link. Steve Jobs called it an internal code-name. It is a snappy, albeit temporary, code-name, though.

Want to know more? Read the full article after the jump!

Let's face it: the standard iPod headphones, while being a status symbol and at a same time offering quality sound playback, aren't exactly the best headphones for the Pod. They're big, and it's hard to keep them in your ears for very long since they just pop out when you're doing something strenuous. Of course, if you want them to stay inside your ears so you could keep listening to your tunes, you'd have to force them inside your ears more so they won't pop out.

Ouch.

You could try buying one of the recommended headphones we had listed on a previous article, but seriously, that's not the cheap-ass way of getting quality goods for low prices! For the $200 you could spend on headphones, you could buy yourself a small stereo, a date with your girlfriend, flowers, and the chance to share the same great music over a candlelit dinner... or you could get yourself some new games! The bottom line is: our voices need to be heard!

Thank goodness our cries of pain and complaints of expensive alternatives have not fallen on deaf ears! Apple is now offering a sleeker version of their headphones for 29 bucks. Same stylish white that shows you're in with the trends. These have superb sound quality, are less painful on the ears, and are a lot cheaper than those super-headphones out there nowadays.

Sounds good, doesn't it?

  

With the wonders of technology, you can make synthetic flowers dance to the beat of your techno muzik. So, if you're thinking of adding a drum solo to a Tenacious D single, remixing Shakira's sultry voice, or adding your own punk rock sound to Mozart's Requiem, then these next few items might just be what you want.

The miJam series of accessories offers people who find themselves in a creative mood to play along with their iPod's tunes. There are four of them that connect to your iPod's headphone jack and work in tandem with the player.

The miJam DJ Mixer, for example, allows you to mix your iPod tunes in real-time, adding scratches and riffs to the sound as you please. You also have an electric guitar and drumsticks that allow you to add your own set of chords or beats. Even if you're not that good with a musical instrument, you can always sound cool anyway.

There's also a fun little gadget that's just plain cute, called the miFlower, the last of the four accessories. According to the product description: Plug in an i-Pod and MiFlower starts to groove as its 6 petals reflect the mood of the music via flashing LED light patterns and animation. MiFlowerÂ?s LCD display face smiles to the sounds, and the leaves perk up to show that its digging the music.

It seems to be a lot like those mechanical flowers that wiggle and dance when there's music playing. It's a cute kiddie kind of gear, but it might serve as a nice present for the girlfriend if she's into out-of-the-ordinary finds. Too bad it doesn't work with other types of mp3 players though.

Now we all know there's nothing wrong with being in style. There's nothing wrong with being creative, either. That applies to any person's fashion sense, whether it maybe in the manner of clothing, accessorizing one's place, and adding a few touches to your gadgets.

But of course, not everyone's on the same wavelength in regards to style. What may be cute for one may be considered weird for another. So TechEBlog has made a list of the "five strangest iPod cases" currently out in the market.

Errrr, no. If you're thinking this article's going to be a fashion spread, you're dead wrong. This is QJ, after all.

Want to take a look? Click on the "Full Article" link below!

If you still haven't gotten your hands on those sleek new aluminum-sheathed nanos to try them, out, well, at least you can try it with your eyes. The iFixit DIY Mac/iPod repairs site features a new 2nd-gen iPod nano inside and out, from packaging box to logic-board innards, as they take apart the music player.

Even the packaging art is new: transparent, flexible hard plastic encases your new nano. Perhaps Apple went with the transparencies to show off the new aluminum casing, huh? iFixit, being a DIY fix-it site, doesn't stop there, as they work on carefully prying the electronics out of its new, scratch-resistant shell. As advertised, the new Nano can trace its design lineage to the old Mini, although its center button is concave as opposed to convex (and the flat button on the old Nano). Aside from that, the aluminum casing, and the new 8GB model, it's still the same Nano we've come to love.

  
 

The (temporarily code-named) iTV promises to connect the TV to the Mac, which means that all those downloaded iTunes movies can be viewed on the boob tube as well as the iPod's tiny-but-portable screen and the monitors on the Mac boxes and notebooks. But that is still to come.

For now, there's the ViewSonic ViewDock Desktop iPod Dock, which will do for the iPod's screen what a host of speaker-dock accessories have done for the iPod's earphones.

The ViewDock, being shown off at the Paris Expo, will display the video content of its docked iPod on a 19 or 22-inch screen. No resolution details have been released by ViewSonic, as well as the expected retail price. But the company has released other technical details for the ViewDock, including several USB 2.0 ports, a microphone (iPod karaoke?), and integrated stereo speakers with a subwoofer for a decent audio experience from that downloaded movie of yours. The product is expected to go on sale later this year.

Okay, this thing doesn't do anything for portable video entertainment - not at 19 inches minimum, anyway. But no one can criticize the iPod for its small screen anymore. Of course, once the iTV comes out, this might turn out to be redundant, but maybe it could double as an LCD CPU monitor, too. And besides, at the rate things are going, the iPod will soon be able to dock to anything. Like, you know, the toilet paper dispenser.

Buy: [iPod]

Truth be told, when we first heard of the BluPod, the first thought that entered our minds was, "It came true!" As it turned out, we were wrong. No biggie, though, since the BluPod is still a very welcome addition to the huge catalog of iPod accessories.

Here's what it does: when a BluPod is connected to your iPod, it allows you to check Bluetooth phone calls on your iPod's screen. It automatically lowers your iPod's music or video volume to a point where you can take a call and talk to the other person on the line. The BluPod also has the capacity to pick up FM signals, turning your iPod into an FM radio.

The BluPod, from Zenocom, was first presented at IFA 2006 in Berlin, Germany. No information regarding availability and price has been released yet, so stay tuned for those here on QJ.

It may be a little radical on our part to consider possible alternatives for the "exorbitant" price of most notebook batteries. Replacement batteries for the Apple laptops often cost up to $100, but according to Dan Knight, the cost isn't justifiable. Of course, ordinary consumers would agree to this, but what makes it even more unsettling is the fact that your $100 worth of high-capacity battery replacement means only a bunch of ordinary AA Li-Ion Cells soldered inside your Powerbook.

The standard battery is the AA Li-Ion cell, and Knight says there's no need to solder wires on them or enclose them in fancy cases. Companies that offer battery replacement services don't want to expose the secret -- but in reality there's always a better alternative to these enclosures. An example is a built-in adapter that could accept standard AA Li-Ion batteries. With the addition of some "information on the importance of using a matched set of cells, maybe even a big, bright warning label you'll see every time you replace the batteries", Knight says it eliminates expensive proprietary enclosures or over-engineered battery holders.

Notebook users will eventually find out that Apple, Dell and other notebook manufacturers have all the carte blanche to trim the price of their rechargeable batteries. $100 isn't just worth it, considering that these ordinary AA Li-Ion batteries cost only less than $30!