Off Duty, Technology - Marine Corps Times

New Products: Adapter boosts iPod’s running time

The iTurbo charge adapter gives you the power to keep on listening to your favorite music when your Apple iPod’s battery is running low. Simply plug the portable charger into your iPod and it can keep your digital player running for several more hours. Priced at $30, the tube-shaped gadget is small enough to tuck inside a pocket, and ships with an AA battery and a USB charging tip. A similar gadget, the TurboCharge, lets you power cell phones. It costs $20.

Gadget adds TV to computing

The VEG-N can transform your desktop or laptop computer into a television that displays TV shows and a digital video recorder that saves the shows on the computer’s hard drive. With its Picture-in-Window function, the device lets you keep an eye on a televised basketball game while working on a report on your computer. And if you want to share the fun, you can connect the device to two computers at once, plug in a video game console and enjoy dual-screen side-by-side game play with another computer user. Cost: $100.

Headphones tune out noise

JVC’s new noise-canceling headphones can be adjusted to block different types of noise. When you’re flying, you can set the HA-NC80 model to a “wide” cancellation mode that minimizes sounds typically heard inside a commercial jet cabin. When you’re on a train or bus, you can switch it to a “low” mode that cancels a narrower and lower frequency range of sounds typically generated by these vehicles. Designed for travelers, the padded headphones come with a dual-plug adapter that can be connected to a plane’s entertainment system. At the end of the trip, the headphones can be folded flat and stashed inside their carrying pouch. Cost: $60.

Post-it holiday cards have sticking power

With the Post-it Photo Card Kit, you can add a sticky new twist to your holiday cards. Using the kit’s software templates, you can design cards for a variety of occasions, including Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year’s and Kwanzaa. You can then print your creations on blank cards with a photo-quality front and a peel-off adhesive backing that makes them easy to display. Each kit contains 20 4-inch by 8-inch cards, 20 envelopes and Windows-based software with basic imaging tools. Cost: $10.

Deborah Porterfield writes for Gannett News Service.

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