TECHNOLOGY: But sticker shock may prevent many from buying cool new item
Jim Jamieson
Province
What is it? Icuiti iWear for iPod
Price: $249 US
Why you need it: If you’re tired of squinting into that tiny iPod screen for a whole movie.
Why you don’t: You prefer big(ger) screens to watch your movies.
Our rating: Three of five mice.
For those of us who have been frustrated watching video on the crisp but annoyingly small screen of an iPod, a Rochester, N.Y. company is offering something completely different.
Portable display company Icuiti Corp. has launched its iWear for iPod, a high-tech glasses/earphones combo that allows users to watch television shows, music videos, movies and video podcasts on a virtual 44-inch screen.
As well, Icuiti says, no extra batteries or cables are necessary, as the iWear attaches to the iPod’s bottom dock connector. The company says it draws no more power than the media player’s screen.
The 110-gram device features twin, high-resolution 320-by-240-pixel LCD displays that are equivalent to watching a home theatre screen from 2.7 metres away.
Hi-fi stereo headphones come with the iWear, but they can be removed if you want to use your own gear.
It also comes with an adjustable nosepiece and independent focus adjustments (+2 to -5 diopters) so people can use it without prescription glasses.
Icuiti says 3D content will soon be available from its website, www.icuiti.com.
One of a raft of new gadgets we can expect to see heading into this week’s Consumer Electronics Show, the iWear — which has won a 2007 CES Innovations Award in the Portable Electronics: Audio/Video category — is available at Sharper Image or on the Icuiti website.
© The Vancouver Province 2007
