Sorry, vinyl aficionados, but CDs most accurately capture the clarity of musical performances. If you look at the grooves of a standard long-play record, or LP, through a microscope, you’ll see that each is filled with what look like rolling hills. These are, in fact, an extremely close replication of the shape of the sound waves from the musician’s instrument. But because the needle that carves the groove is shaped slightly different than the needle that reads it, the LP will never sound exactly like the original performance.

A few enterprising gamers have managed to port the popular shooter game Quake 3 onto the iPhone and iPod Touch. A YouTube video recently put into circulation shows how they've taken advantage of the devices' built-in accelerometers and touch-screen capability. Basically, you move around by tilting the iPhone or iPod, and tap the screen to blast bad guys. They've set it up so that multi-player games are possible, too.

The Financial Times reported yesterday that Apple is considering a plan to give people free access to its library of tunes if they pay more for their iPods or iPhones.

When you´re tearing downhill on your snowboard, it´s a little distracting to take off your glove and dig out your iPod just to, say, hit pause. Instead, build this simple radio-frequency ID system and control your iPod by waving your hand in front of your coat.
A tag sewn into your glove sends instructions to a reader stashed in your pocket.
Unwire Your iPodCost: $161Time: 6
HoursEasy | | | | |
Hard

Where to Go for Help

Out of the box, the iPod is basically a one-trick pony. The games and applications found under the â€Extras†menu get old faster than Britney. But thanks to four years of work by a crafty group of programmers, you can now use your iPod´s processing power and scroll-wheel interface to play dozens of games, record voice memos, or browse Wikipedia, all without messing up the existing software or your music.

The secret is iPodLinux, an alternative operating system you can install free alongside the existing one on any iPod model.

Ultrasone iCans (above)

$130; ultrasone.com

Reviewed by Joe Brown

The Claim: The off-center drivers bounce sound off the cartilage of your outer ear instead of shooting it into your inner ear, to make the music seem more like it's coming from speakers.

The Test: I listened to upward of 80 hours of music, from 128-bit MP3 files to vinyl to DVD-audio discs.

The iPod is so compact that it sits in your shirt pocket just fine, but that exacerbates the problem of too-long earbud cords, which
dangle, tangle, and annoy. The Smartwrap from design house Sumajin helps by allowing you to wrap excess cord around a colorful notched bit of plastic that hangs in plain sight, attracting envious stares from iPodsters who lack this ingenious accessory. Voil: cords exactly as long as you need them.