microphonics

Karaoke mic has endless ways to humiliate

We're not naming names, but there are some people here at Crave who think they could karaoke their way to American Idol if given half the chance. (Luckily, we don't have a half to give.) Whenever possible, we try to appease these misguided souls with an item to help them keep their dreams alive--without encouraging them too much.

To that end, today we're highlighting the "Munia MH-6600" karaoke microphone, which seems to be the ultimate piece of equipment for those hell-bent on humiliating themselves. Ubergizmo says it supports MP3 downloads and video playback, among a … Read more

Talk on the phone through your ear

There's certainly no shortage of communications products that promise to muffle ambient noise, but a new earbud microphone from Japan is taking an interesting approach: It picks up speech from the ear, not from the mouth. We're not kidding.

That's the explanation given by Nikkei Net Interactive about the "InCore" microphone from start-up Nap Enterprise. The company claims that the technology allows mobile phone conversations "in even very noisy settings like concert halls and construction sites," according to Textually.org, reducing external noise by 30 decibels.

It's just another example of the … Read more

Podcasting for dummies

More than a decade ago, the Web promised to make everyone a publisher. Now an Australian company wants to make everyone a podcaster.

Rode Microphones is manufacturing the "Rode USB Podcaster," which Popgadget describes as "a broadcast-quality microphone that doesn't need any special cables, drivers or other doodads." It's not the first pod-mic, of course, but Rode is trying to make the whole process a lot easier.

In addition to building volume control and headphone jack directly into the $195 microphone, Rode also hosts a site where podcasters can post their files. Just don'… Read more

Spy lamp can bug any room tastefully

The espionage community has apparently taken up some hobbies since the end of the Cold War--including interior design.

The "GSM Table Lamp" may look like an innocent accent piece from Crate and Barrel, but it doubles as an eavesdropping device that can pick up audio up to 20 meters away. But what really stands out is its global monitoring ability.

As long as it's in a region with GSM coverage, Red Ferret notes that you can call the lamp from anywhere in the world. And no one will be the wiser, as it's activated automatically and … Read more

Whatever it is, it's really small

The other day we were complaining (yes, again) that electronics manufacturers sometimes seem determined to disguise their products, making them look different devices altogether. Well, we're apparently not alone.

Mobile Magazine makes a similar observation about the "Neo 808i" phone, which it says looks more like a media player because of its landscape screen. Even more notable, though, is how many features it crams into its diminutive frame. Among those are a 1.3-megapixel camera, an MP3 and MP4 player, FM radio, 128MB of memory, 3D graphics and Bluetooth connectivity. All this in an almost-miniature case that … Read more