Hasta La Gadget!

Psyko Audio, remember those guys? No? Can’t say we blame ya — after all, they first introduced these very headphones at CES in 2009, and we’re just now seeing the first sets ship to consumers in North America. We’re just as curious as you as to what caused a nearly 1.5 year delay, but hey, if you’ve been longing for 5.1 channels of audio in a package that requires nothing more than a source and your dome, we suspect you’ll be in the “better late than never” camp. And yeah, the company is indeed charging a borderline insane $299.99 for these, but considering that said outlay buys you an “unfair advantage over the competition through precise 3D sound that drastically heightens awareness of your gaming surroundings,” it’s fairly easy to justify. Oh, and the public humiliation that’ll come with wearing these outside of your basement is on the house. Huzzah!

Update: So, we found out that these have been slipping out in limited quantities since last August to those who pre-ordered, but the flood gates have just now opened up.

Continue reading Psyko Audio finally ships outre 5.1 surround sound headset

Psyko Audio finally ships outre 5.1 surround sound headset originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 08:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Hot Hardware  |   | Email this | Comments

Do you want a flashy alternative to the earbuds that came with your portable music player? Are you under the age of 20? If so, look to the four lines of earphones released by Empire Brands. They’re eye-catching and they offer noise isolation, gold-plated tips, and extra-long 1.2 meter cords.

Starting from the left, there’s the Wicked Little Buds line ($29.99) which has a semi-gloss finish and a lightweight form. They come in four colors.

The Wicked Empire line (34.99) is punk-inspired and comes in several designs, including skull, eight ball, ace of spades, star and knight symbol.

The Jaw Breakers line ($17.99) comes in four candy colors. Are they lickable? Probably not.

The Metallics line ($12.99) offers a bargain price and comes in four metallic hues.

All four lines are available now at the Empire Brands site, as well as FYE and Fry’s Electronics, among other stores. 

If you’re running the 114th Boston Marathon on Monday or just cheering on a well-conditioned, pain-loving friend or relative, you’ll find some excellent tech there to help running performance. Sennheiser will have a booth set up to spread the word about the line of in-ear sports performance headphones it created with Adidas. The CX 680 (at left) won the Innovations Award at CES this year, due to its performance versatility. It’s insensitive to vibrations, can withstand cold and moisture, and cleans off easily under the tap.

Not all tech will be confined to the booth area: Jason, the CEO for RunKeeper, the best running app for the iPhone by far, will run the entire marathon dressed as an iPhone for the second year. This time he’ll be joined by Aaron, one of his company’s developers, who will be dressed like an Android phone to mark the app’s Android release. This is Aaron’s first marathon and he’s opting to run it in padding-free Vibram FiveFingers shoes (ca-razy!). Both guys are collecting donations for charity, so cheer them on with a little cash.

Those clever people at Jabra, or perhaps their clever PR agency, have shown us a new ailment for our times. And luckily, they have the cure.

The ailment is “cellbow,” or “cell phone elbow,” and it comes from holding your cell phone to your ear for too long. Couldn’t this also be an issue with regular landline phones? Sure, but just go with the joke.

To raise awareness of cellbow and promote Bluetooth headset use, Jabra has launched a new site and a contest. Visit www.gotcellbow.com to watch funny videos about the new condition. Share a video with a friend to view the next one in the series and to be entered into Jabra’s contest. First prize is a MacBook Air, second is an Apple iPhone, and third is one of 25 Jabra Stone Bluetooth headsets. The videos are cute and well done, so take a peek.

Fans of console and PC gaming headsets know about Astro. Even though they may not have the market share of their larger competitors, they have a large and dedicated following among gamers and arguably some of the most versatile headsets on the market.  Last month Astro unveiled the A30 Cross-Gaming Headset, one of the first headsets available designed to be portable, and complete with an in-line microphone for telephone calls as well as a boom mic for gaming sessions. The A30 is also designed to be used with consoles and PCs and doesn’t require driver installs or custom hardware to work.

Astro sent us an A30 to test, and it’s as versatile as they say. The A30 performed well as a general use headset to wear connected to an mp3 player on the go, or connected to a cell phone to take a call using the in-line microphone. It also worked just as well when connected to its boom mic and a PC for multiplayer gaming or everyday applications like listening to music or watching video.