Alternative Apple iPhone 3GS headphones / earphones as recomended by twitter followers

zbud_blackUPDATE 26.02.12:  I thought I’d update this post as there are a few more headphones on the market that will work as per the Apple iPhone headphones (and cheaper) for the 4 and the 4s. I had a look in my local tescos the other day as I have lost another set of Apple headphones and both sets of Addidas Seinheisers are out of action.

I bought these and they work perfectly KIT Sound iPhone Stereo Earphones with Microphonebut also while I was there I saw these Bliss Black Metallic Earphones available in various colours and for those (like me) who loses or breaks them all the time, pretty cheap to.

Please add anything else you find to the comments on this page to keep it up to date, thanks!

After not having too much success with a google search for an alternative replacement set of headphones for my iPhone 3GS I turned to Twitter for some advice. I got quite a response so I thought I would share the tweet recommendations. Note: I have popped into a reseller and they did tell me that apple would replace a faulty set still within the 1 year manufacturers warranty.

Apple [Link]
Replacements for the headphones that ship with the iPhone £21 and the in ear earphones are £59 on the Apple site.
Z.buds [Link]
These look awesome, durable, not to expensive and all the iPhone functions.
Griffin [Link]
SmartTalk and TuneBuds Mobile. Two solutions and not too expensive, both do not have volume control though.
Bose ipod buds [Link]
A little more expensive, in line microphone but no volume.
Klipse Image S4i Earphones [Link]
Looks like a good set of headphones, a little expensive although comes with a 2 year warranty, microphone but as far as I can see no volume control.
Etymotic hf2 Hands-free Headset [Link]
Again going for the sound quality higher end of the market, a little expensive mic, control, but again no volume.
JVC HA-KX100 [Link]
Affordable, mic and control but again no in line volume.

February 25, 2012 | | Posted in: Apple Mac, Filming Editing and Production, Gadgets, Gaming, General chat, Learn at lunch, Mobile Phones, Premiere Pro CS4, Software, Tech | No Comments »

IPTV – The 4OD Player and ITV join iPlayer on your Playstation 3

I’m always watching 4OD on my laptop as I never seem to be in at the tme shows I like to watch are on. For a while now the PS3 has had the BBC iPlayer in the video section of its main menu but after the latest OS update Sony had introduced the 4OD Player (read more) and the ITV player (read more), brilliant! there’s not much you can’t do now on your games console and like most technology shifts at the moment there is no need to upgrade your hardware just your software.

We have also installed an internet enabled TV, the Panasonic Viera in one of the meeting rooms at work and am currently testing with some of the Apps, will keep you posted! isn’t it funny how television moved onto the PC and then back to the TV, just more conveniently!!

December 28, 2010 | | Posted in: Gaming, On the Web, Tech, Web and Software | No Comments »

Record / Screen Capture what you do on your XBox or PS3 as video footage

Ok, I’ve been doing a bit of usability testing recently and thought I’d push the boundaries of what I can record and offer as video output. In theory anything with a video out I can record, so there was no problem with most mobile phone devices so I thought i’d rig up and record my gaming.

Here’s the xBox and ps3 setup. I used an Apple MacBook Pro to record the video with a Formac Studio analogue to digital converter. It meant that I could take a digital signal to the computer and still run the xBox into the TV and keep playing a game.

Couple of things about the ps3, sometimes, on some tv’s you’ll have trouble with the analogue inputs so you have to go into the playstation menu while you are in your usual setup and then select analogue and restart. Not going to talk you through the setup it’s pretty self explainitory although here it is

And here is some sample footage.

March 15, 2010 | | Posted in: Filming, Filming Editing and Production, Gaming, Tech | No Comments »

XBox 360 – Playing Video Files from an Extenal Device

Xbox_360_Video_LibrarySimilarly to the Playstation 3 you can play regular video files on your XBox 360, here’s how.

Plug in you Hard Drive to a USB port,

Go to My Xbox and scroll right to your Video Library square / button/ tab what ever you call it,

Choose Portable Device with the USB symbol by it,

You should be able to see the folder structure on the hard drive, browse to the video you want to play,

The next screen will show the title of the file, hit Play, you will get a message telling you a media update is required (about 4 meg) you will need to sign into Xbox live, if you haven’t already, do so and hit Play again.

Choose Download Update and the Optional Media Update the Confirm Download,

You’re done, go back and play the file.

If you want to know how to do the same with your Playstation 3 See Here

December 7, 2009 | | Posted in: Gaming, Tech | 1 Comment »

Playstation 3 – Playing Video Files and Movies on your PS3

ps3_slim_videoIn the past I have exported my DVD’s to play on my iPod or laptop while I am out of the country or out and about to save carrying them all around with me. I wanted explore ways to play these on the television.

Using the PS3 plug the hard drive into the USB port. On the Playstation scroll over to the Movie symbol then scroll down and locate your USB Device next press Triangle NOT the Cross and choose Display All you should now be able to see all the files on your device. Navigate to your video and hit X.

If you want to know how to the same on your Xbox 360 the See Here
and if you want to learn how to stream your media from your Macbook Pro to your PS3 See Here

December 1, 2009 | | Posted in: Gaming, Tech | 1 Comment »

Media Streaming, MacBook Pro, PS3, Xbox 360, MediaLink, iTunes Part 1

I grew tired of having loads of tech, loads of tunes, loads of software but still limited by not being in the right place or not having a lead long enough, so I set about improving my technical life. I started with my music, I have a 2.1 surround sound system plugged into my TV with an iPhone dock in it yet I hardly ever dock the iPhone and only have access to 8 gigs of music…

Streaming_Media

MacBook Pro (iTunes) to PS3
I downoaded Media Link and installed it on the Mac. Once installed go to your system preferences, register your software then under the iTunes tab make sure you are sharing your library. Use your settings here to share anything else you wish to make available. Go onto your PS3 and scroll left to the music icon, scroll down to search for media servers. Your Null River Media Link icon should appear in the menu system. Scroll down to your music and browse the folders as you would your playlist, providing the music is in a exognisable format for your ps3 you should hear tunage.

MacBook Pro to Xbox 360
I then set about doing the same for the xbox and soon gave up, Mac, Microsoft! Bad combination

iPhone to MacBook Pro (iTunes)
Apple have made a nifty little app that doesn’t ship with the iPhone software. It’s a handy little WiFi remote control available on the app store it gives you full access to you iTunes library as long as you are withing range and you HD is not asleep. Very easy to set up and most importantly FREE.

iPhone to Macbook Pro (full operating system)

Given the nature of my job a high proportion of my time is spent video editing which means I struggle to work from home or on location like many others. As an experiment I decided to play with remote desktop. I have worked for a company in the past that tapped into the company server using remote access and in turn could remote desktop to any one of the PCs as long as it was on. Security is extremely high on the company network so I began testing to see if I could log onto my laptop at home from my iPhone. I began by setting up a logmein.com account and installing the relevant software locally on the MacBook. Logmein also a produce a tidy little app called logmein ignition which provides a seamless iPhone interface to operate Mac OSX. Before I invested the £17.99 I tested the theory by merely using safari on the phone (didn’t work) I also wanted to know what kind of speeds we would be looking at. When I attempted through a Firefox browser logmein required the installation of further software and an active x control in Internet explorer. The connection from work to home on the first test went well. As you can imagine there is no delay on programs loading at the remote end but the refresh speed locally was slow. I am presuming the wireless connection a distance away from the router does not help. I am slightly reluctant to test the logmein ignition app on the iPhone as I don’t think it will be able to handle the tasks I need to perform over wifi but especially over the 3G network ( I wonder if an iPhone 3G S would help)

MobileMe
The subscription has put me off the MobileMe software. I really don’t know whether it would improve my efficiency that much that I can justify paying the recurring price tag. But, I am rubbish with dates and having a work calender and a home calender does not help. Often the email I need for some information on a particular task will be on my laptop at home.

Part 2 coming when I am considerably richer and invest in a home entertainment system.

August 19, 2009 | | Posted in: Apple Mac, Gaming, Learn at lunch, Software, Tech | 6 Comments »