We think that the Kenpo iPod Jacket soundly ushers in the latest in fashion, style and durability to the growing ensemble of “technology clothing” and is able to hold its own in terms of functionality and features. The good folks at Kenpo were kind enough to give us an opportunity to demo one of their jackets and we decided to take them up on their offer. We received a woman’s style jacket and our tester eagerly took the Kenpo iPod jacket through it’s phases for two weeks.

The Kenpo iPod Jacket utilizes a patented fabric control system and operates a 5-button switch sensor with multiple capabilities that has a Play/Pause, Track Forward, Track Back Volume Up and Volume Down buttons which are located on one sleeve of the jacket. Additionally, this self-powered jacket requires no batteries and supports most iPods including the iPod Video and iPod Nano models. And the Kenpo Jacket is machine washable and dry cleanable when the iPod connector is removed. The Kenpo iPod Jacket is available in small, medium and large sizes and black and brown are the colors of choice. Additionally, the Kenpo iPod Jacket has a front zipper and snap enclosure, flap pockets and it’s lining is made of Polyester and Polyester fill.

Our tester was impressed with Kenpo’s 1-2-3 easy instructions and the over-all ease of use in setting up her iPod to the dock connector to the inside of the jacket. The initial set-up entailed connecting the included controller to the ribbon cable, then connecting the 30-PIN Connector (included) to the iPod, then feeding the headphone plug through the jacket’s flap and then connecting the iPod and lastly, placing the controller and the iPod into the jacket’s protective pocket.This whole process took less than 3 minutes.

The controls for use with the iPod are located on the left sleeve of the Kenpo iPod jacket and operation of the buttons were a cinch, although our tester indicated that there’s no way of knowing how much time is left on a song and there’s no way to access play lists. Thus, one is left with FIRST selecting the play list manually on their iPod. None the less, our tester was surprised at smooth operation of the controls on the jacket sleeves. The controls on the jacket responded well to touch and our tester did not encounter any malfunctioning of the controls on the jacket in terms of sticking.

All in all, our tester was impressed with how the Kenpo iPod Jacket held up in 30 to 40 degree temperatures as well as the over-all craftsmanship of the jacket. Thus, our tester informed us that she even got a few compliments on the design of the jacket as well as “way-cool” jacket kudos from folks once they found out that this was a tech jacket!

“The Kenpo iPod Jacket provides the right mix of style, fashion, durability and functionality”, quipped our tester. However, she thought for all of it’s high praises that she bestowed upon this jacket, that it’s also worthy of a few things that would be a boon on future designs of this jacket and they include: Offering more colors, to find a way to display play lists on the sleeves, and to offer the iPod controls on the right sleeve (which would be for left-hand users) and there should be some kind of hide-away pocket for non-ear bud or plug head-phones of a light weight nature (you can use any kind of head phones with the Kenpo Jacket, however, there are not any hide-away pockets for larger type head-phones).

The Good:
Fashion meets tech and works as promised!

The Bad:
Awkwardly positioned controls for left handed folks.