Frequent air journeys, superfast trains, speedy cars and better roads are reducing the actual travel time that we spend in commuting. However, our patience levels to reach our destinations seem to be dwindling in the same proportion. Thus, there’s a growing popularity of gadgets to keep ourselves occupied en route. For no longer

can books, magazines and newspapers keep most of us enthralled during a journey. There’s nothing like a laptop, of course, to carry with you to watch movies and listening to music etc. But there are occasions when you either don’t want to carry a laptop along, or even if you’re carrying one, find it too tedious to take it out and put it away, again. Quite often it’s simply not convenient to do so either.
For times like these, one of the best gadgets you can have with you is a universal personal media player like the iLuv i1166 PMP (http://is. gd/d7vXI). The iLuv is portable multimedia player for DVDs.
So what’s the big deal? They’re a dime a dozen now. No sir, this one also serves as your iPod player. And yes sir, the 8.9-inch TFT LCD screen on this little “box” plays back video off both these devices! And even a SD/MMC memory card, or USB flash drive for that matter. It charges your iPod while playing it. Not only can you run the iLuv off its rechargeable lithium ion battery, but you can also power it from your car’s lighter socket or AC mains. Audio-wise it offers stereo speakers as well as — not one but two — 3.5mm stereo headphone jacks. It can tackle media that includes audio CDs, VCDs, DVD, DVD/CD-R/RW and formats like DivX, MPEG-4, MP3, WMA, and JPEG. Definitely beats lugging around and watching movies on a laptop.
For absolutely lightweight portability, there is still nothing to beat the companionship of the can-always-carry 36gm Apple iPod Nano (Rs. 8,200). All your music, radio, podcasts, pedometer, accelerometer, and the best of 640x480 VGA video recording with 24 hours of battery life (for audio). If you’re a music buff and enjoy listening to music on journeys — be it off your phone or an iPod — it makes sense to invest in a decent pair of headphones — especially a wireless set. Among these currently, the Plantronics Backbeat 906 (http://is.gd/d7x7q, Rs. 5,500) is a very natty lightweight, flexible, behind-the-head stereophonic set. Apart from being capable of good, clear, crackle-free audi-both with music as well as phone calls — the twin-ear headphones are comfortable to wear for hours without virtually any discomfort. And that makes them ideal long drive companions for the road.
Setting up is easy, the controls user friendly and manageable, the construction rugged, and the battery life excellent. An accompanying adaptor helps make even non-Bluetooth devices wireless-friendly. If you’re fond of adventure sports like cycling, skating, and skiing etc. wearing headphones —wired or wireless — to listen to music may not be a very good idea since you need to be very aware of ambient sounds.
For such times, Tunebug Shake (www.tunebugshake.com) is quite the perfect solution. This portable speaker eliminates the need for in-ear or over-ear headphones as it can mounted on to a helmet.
No ma, no wires here... For connectivity to your iPod or music player wirelessly, the Tunebug uses Bluetooth.
The writer is a part-time publishing
consultant and a full-time devotee of all things tech. He can be contacted at ashishone@gmail.com