With three demo beats and soundbytes provided by Nappy Boy’s own Young Fyre, it’s as if you’re in a real recording studio! The I Am T-Pain Mic is MP3 compatible so you can record and sing along to your favorite tracks. Connect the I Am T-Pain Mic to your computer to download and share your recordings with your friends online, or plug in headphones for more discreet play.  You can also expect to see I Am T-Pain speakers launching too. I Am T-Pain Mic is expected in stores in Fall 2011 and will retail for $39.99.

The Atomic Floyd MiniDarts are the latest piece of ear-candy for the avid music listener. These in-ear headphones will look like someone shot a bullet into each of your ears and rightly so, since they will indeed be shooting pure sonic joy into your canals.

Design

The Atomic Floyd MiniDarts consists of my favorite colors, red, black and silver. Even when you look at the packaging you realize you are getting something special. When you open the box, inside you will find the MiniDarts, a stiff oval leather case that holds two additional silicone earbuds, a DJ Jack, and an airplane adapter.

The MiniDarts resemble a small bullet in shape with fine metal grooves and they are extremely lightweight in the palm of your hand. I find the Atomic Floyd MiniDarts to be super comfortable to wear. I was able to select a size of silicone tips that fit comfortably in my ear, and the tips, combined with the weight of the earbuds create just the right amount of pressure in your ear. As a matter of fact, these are amongst the most comfortable pair of in-ear headphones I’ve ever used.  Also, the MiniDart’s construction feels solid, however the cable that runs from the headphones to the remote portion of the MiniDarts is plastic and does feel a bit flimsy. Fortunately, the second part of the cabling that runs from the remote to your device is made of fabric and feels much stronger, it just seems odd that they didn’t make all of the cabling fabric.

The remote is quite attractive too as it looks more like a piece of jewelry on the headphones rather than an actual remote. Using the remote, with the a single press you can answer calls or stop or resume music. Press the remote’s button down for more than a few seconds and you’ll access the voice control on an iPhone 4. Press it twice, and it will skip to the next song. Press it three times and it will play the previous song. Unfortunately, the remote can not be used to control the volume the way you can on Monster’s ControlTalk and on many other premium headphones with mics.

Sound Quality

I honestly didn’t know what to expect with the Atomic Floyd MiniDarts. This was the first time I had ever tested a pair of headphones from this company. But right off of the bat, for the price I expected the listening experience to blow me away. I tested the headphones on different genres of music as well as several different bit rates. The clarity of the treble was impressive and there was no noise when I turned up the volume. The high-end stayed crisp and clear and not once did the MiniDarts exhibit any static sound. Noise isolation was also pretty solid as I was able to block out most of the noise around me while listening to the headphones.

The MiniDarts excelled at bit rates of 320kbps but didn’t do half bad on the typical 128kbps or 192kbps files you would typically listen to on your iPhone, iPod, etc… Sound is crisp and clear, however the low end isn’t as intense as I expected it to be. Overall, sound reproduction is nice and balanced but the high-end is certainly much more prominent than the low-end. This is the case on songs ranging from Katy Perry to P. Diddy, where treble shined, but bass waned.

Using the MiniDart’s mic, incoming calls were crisp and clear and many callers on the other end couldn’t believe I was using a headset to talk to them. It sounded to others on the other side of the call, like I was talking directly into the handset rather than through a pair of headphones. They also didn’t hear much ambient noise from passing cars or other typical city noises.

Conclusion

Overall, the Atomic Floyd MiniDarts are a well made, comfortable to wear and extremely stylish pair of headphones. These in-ear headphones excel at high-end reproduction but are a bit weak when reproducing the low-end. However, while sound is balanced and rich sounding, the weak bass leaves much to be desired especially for the price. The long line of In-Ear headphones from beats by dr. dre still hold the the crown for intense bass reproduction. But if you aren’t into banging bass in your ear and enjoy the more sublime high-end output then you are in luck because the MiniDarts certainly excel in that department. In this respect, to each their own. While both my co-editor and I love these headphones in terms of comfort and style, they would be the perfect pair for me if they had more bass. On the other hand, my co-editor doesn’t like having too much bass in a pair of in-ear headphones, so for her, the MiniDarts are the perfect pair. So in other words, if you are more of a bass lover, then you may want to look elsewhere. But either way the Atomic Floyd MiniDarts are definitely in a league of their own. The Atomic Floyd MiniDarts are currently available only online at the Apple Store in the UK and retail for £149.95 ($237.00 USD).

The Good: Solid construction. Very stylish and will appeal to both men and women. Comfortable to wear and will stay put in your ears. Excels at high-end output. Mic works excellently on calls. Remote offers music controls plus call answer/end.

The Bad: Bass reproduction is not that impressive. Included case only holds extra silicone tips not headphones. No volume controls. Pricey.

Is Rock Band and Guitar Hero no longer challenging enough for you? Has playing rhythm games made you consider learning how to play a real guitar? If so, Power Gig might just be the ticket for you. Set to be released in October, Power Gig: Rise of the Sixstring is not the same kind of rhythm game you’re used too. Yes, you get to play in a band with cool tracks, rock a guitar and drums, and even sing, but this time the experience is more intense. For starters, the guitar works as a real guitar with strings and the game features a more advanced gameplay mode that will let you play the game with the actual guitar strings.

Outside of the game, you can even plug the guitar into a real amp and use it to play your own music. If that concept seems familiar, it’s because the You Rock guitar works like that too. However, the Power Gig guitar is meatier and larger. After all, the people who designed it are from First Act, a company that makes music instruments. And besides for being able to use the drums and guitar for the Power Gig: Rise of the Sixstring game, the devices are also compatible with rock Band and Guitar Hero games. But what also really stands out about this set of hardware is the drums. These drums are a lot more compact than what you get with the competition, and they’re totally quiet. That is because instead of hitting the base of the drums, you just need to hit the area on top of them – in the air. That might seem odd at first, but if you’re living in a New York City apartment with thin walls, it’s a god-send. What further drives the game’s uniqueness is that the game also has a story mode, so that you’re not just playing tracks, but really experiencing an adventure.

Artists like Kid Rock and Dave Matthews have already signed on to promote Power Gig with exclusive tracks. As a matter of fact, Power Gig’s library of tracks will be devoid of any dubs – instead you’ll only have real artists singing their own music – which is really the way it should be. Power Gig: Rise of the Sixstring will retail for $59.99 for the game alone and will be available for Xbox 360 and PS3. A bundle with the guitar included will cost $179.99. That is more costly than Guitar Hero’s or Rock Band’s guitar + game kit, but with Power Gig, you’re getting a real guitar. There will also be larger sized guitars available on Power Gig’s web site, for those who want guitars that are the same size as the real thing. The complete Band Kit will retail for $229.99. All kits available for preorder now.

Remember mix tapes, those dinky little cassette tapes that you’d use to compile you’re own mixes with tracks from the likes of Duran Duran, Poison and Rick Astley. Well now you can sleep on one of them, and maybe you’ll end up dreaming about some of that old music too. The Mix Tape Pillow Case Set comes with two pillows – one with a cassette tape design and another with a mic. The set costs $24.99. But if Mix Tapes aren’t your thing, and you’re more in to actually composing the music, than you might instead appreciate the Guitar & Amp Pillow Case Set.

Pantech C820 Matrix Pro

Hardware:
The Pantech Matrix Pro’s hardware is solid and feels sturdy. The Matrix Pro sports a metallic finish and curvy top and bottom. Unfortunately the Matrix Pro’s screen tends to attract fingerprints and smudges, so you might want to keep a wipe handy. Overall, it is not the most attractive phone in the world, but definitely pleasant looking, especially considering that many phones which manage to fit in two keypads end up being pretty fuggly.

The Pantech Matrix Pro is on the small size for a smart phone, width and height wise (4.17 x 2.0 x 0.85 inches) – so it will fit in your pocket easily. However, it will also bulge out of your pocket a bit because the inclusion of two keypads end up making it pretty thick. Though the Matrix Pro weighs 5.3 ounces, which isn’t all that much, for some reason the handset also feels a bit hefty in your hand. It’s also got a 2.4” screen with a 240×320 resolution. The screen is clear and pretty bright, and is pretty much on par with other similar Windows Mobile smartphones.

The keyboard on the Matrix Pro feels good to type on and key presses feel slightly stiff but comfortable. The keyboard surface area is smaller though then lets say the T-mobile G1, and is made up of just 3 rows, and as a result it is a bit more cramped. However I still found it comfortable to use. The numeric dial pad is made up of totally flat keys, sort of RAZR style, but they are also comfortable to dial with. The sides of the phone sport dedicated volume controls, a camera button and a record button. Its front face holds dial and end keys as well as a circular navigation key that looks like it’s ready to be a scroll wheel, but it’s unfortunately not one.

In the box you get a sync cable, software CD, charger, 3.5mm headphone adapter, a case and a manual.

Interface / Home screen:
One of the strongest aspects of Windows Mobile 6.1 over its predecessors are the slick updates to the home screen layout which includes a new slide panel layout that now lets you easily access things like recent calls, get access to your voicemail, text messages, mms, email, appointments, AT&T services (xpress mail, instant messenger, media net, media mail) and settings (profile wireless manager, ringtones, background image and task manager) without leaving the home screen. You can now also scroll through, and play music from your Windows Media playlist. The slide panel home screen can even show off the album art associated with the track you’re playing. While this new home screen option is very welcome, the rest of the Windows Mobile 6.1 interface is starting to look old.

Overall, navigating through the OS didn’t feel sluggish and overall the phone had good pep, though there were pretty minor delays, like a second or so delay when switching between landscape / QWERTY and portrait views. The handset comes ships with just 256MB of ROM and 128 megs of RAM, but it sports an SDHC slot for up to 32GB expandable memory.

For those of you looking for a touch screen, the Matrix Pro does not have one, however between both keypads you don’t feel like you’re missing one. Also, the OS is designed well for phones without touchscreens. That said, we do wish that the circular navigation button on the front face doubled as a scroll wheel.

Call Quality:
Call Quality was very good on the Matrix Pro, testing in New York City, I could hear callers clearly and vice versa. I generally had full bars as well, but then again I only have gotten a chance to test in an area which is known to have good coverage. The speakerphone worked ok, but often callers on the other end said they had some difficulty hearing me when talking to them on speakerphone. Also the speakerphone does not get quite loud enough for noisier environments. Overall, the phone’s battery can manage to last a few days with light use and even over a day with moderate use. In contrast, most smartphone I’ve worked with tank out after a day of even moderate use.

Software:
The Matrix Pro comes with plenty of software including an instant messaging app that gives you access to AIM, Yahoo and MSN messenger, a weather app, a PDF program, a Java VM app for running other Java based apps, a mobile banking app as well as AT&T’s optional specialized services like Xpress Mail and MobiTV, and AT&T’s Navigator application which takes advantage of the built-in GPS. Office Mobile is also included which contains Excel, OneNote, Powerpoint and Word Mobile. Oddly, there are some apps, like the Mobile Banking app which have icons in the menu system but aren’t actually installed on the device yet until you manually download them. The handset also comes with a great selection of games, including Guitar Hero 3 Mobile, Brain Challenge, Bubble Breaker, Jewel Quest II, Midnight Pool, Ms. Pac Man, Scrabble, Solitaire, and Tetris. Unfortunately many of these like Ms. Pac-man and Guitar Hero 3 are just demos, which is a bummer.

Internet:
The Matrix Pro does not have Wi-Fi abilities, instead you have to rely on only 3G for surfing the net speedily. The Matrix Pro comes preloaded with Internet Explorer, of course. Using DSLReports’ Mobile speed test, the Matrix Pro came up with a 120kbit/sec result. Surfing the net with AT&T’s 3G network in NYC felt pretty fast, even when using bloated Internet Explorer. However, I would highly recommend downloading the free Skyfire browser which is a lot faster than I.E. and also emulates the closest desktop surfing experience possible on a Windows Mobile smartphone. Skyfire also renders web pages better than Internet Explorer and overall takes better advantage of AT&T’s 3G network. In order to understand just how much faster Skyfire is, check out the loading time comparisons below.

Internet Explorer:
1:05 for ChipChick.com
8 Seconds for m.cnn.com

Skyfire:
23 Seconds for ChipChick.com
5 Seconds for m.cnn.com

E-mail:
Windows Mobile of course integrates with Microsoft Exchange beautifully and does a good job of playing nicely with imap and pop3 accounts. However, the Matrix Pro also comes with support for AT&T’s Xpress mail which is a $4.99 a month push email service that lets you get your mail as soon as the email server receives a new one. It’s compatible with most personal email accounts including Yahoo! Mail, AOL, Windows Live Hotmail (MSN, Hotmail and Live), Comcast, EarthLink, and others. Xpress Mail also saves the devices from running scheduled sync if there is no mail and it enables you to to sync contacts and schedules with your phone.

Multimedia:
A trial of MobiTV is included. MobiTV offers the ability to stream TV popular TV shows to your handset. I was able to watch streaming episodes of Lost without a hitch. Granted the screen isn’t big enough for watching video for serious lengths of time, but it was awesome being able to watch some TV while waiting for the train. Other notable preinstalled multimedia apps include Pandora for free music listening, a trial for XM radio Mobile and for MobiVJ which provides access to music videos, and there is also access to AT&T’s music shop.

As for audio and video playback, the device comes with the standard Windows Media Player which lets you access your music by artist, album, and genre. Album art and star ratings can also be viewed while listening to tracks. Unfortunately the Matrix Pro comes uses a proprietary headphone jack. The T-mobile G1 is guilty of the same offense. We can’t understand why companies would bother making a multimedia handset with anything but a 3.5mm jack. However, to their credit, at-least Pantech does ship the Matrix Pro with a 3.5mm adapter.

Camera:
The Matrix Pro sports a 2 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom. Both the camera and video recording/camcorder function give you a nice amount of options such different choices for white balance settings including Auto, daylight, cloudy, and fluorescent. You also have options for special effects: Normal, gray, sepia, and negative, and a self timer. The video recording is nothing to write home about with just  a 176×144 resolution. But it’s a nice feature to have regardless. The camera photos also were just mediocre and like most other average camera phones, photos taken in the daylight came out much better. And unfortunately, the camera sorely lacks a flash.

Conclusion:
I have to be honest and admit that until now, I hadn’t paid all that much attention to Pantech’s handsets. But after spending time with the Pantech Matrix Pro, I have come away pleasantly surprised at what a solid phone it is overall. For those looking for the best of both worlds as far keypads, an affordable price tag, and a solid feature set for a business phone with decent multimedia capabilities, the Matrix Pro doesn’t disappoint. The Pantech Matrix Pro C820 retails for $179.99 with a 2 year contract from AT&T. Alternatively you can pick one up from Amazon for just $99 with a 2 year contract.

The Good:
Dual keypad form factor is very cool, great messaging and email abilities, good overall performance, fast internet browsing and multimedia streaming, good call quality, solid feature set.

Bad:
No Wi-Fi, lacks dedicated 3.5mm jack for audio, Windows Mobile isn’t the hot shot OS that it used to be, camera lacks flash and its photos are mediocre.

Last September we reported on the Aexea KeyXpress USB Key that actually looked like a ‘key’. Well who knew the firestorm that would incur, blogging about what ended up being labeled a ‘crapgadget’.  Just released today, the iamaKey and itsaKey ( unique names ) come in 4GB and 8GB capacities from LaCie and your eyes aren’t deceiving you – they look like real keys!. The third addition to the line is the the PassKey which is a microSD card reader. Designed by 5.5 Designers. The ‘keys’ are designed literally to look like metal keys you would use in a typical lock and each will fit nicely on to a key ring or in a pocket. The keys are made to be durable like its real counterparts, being able to withstand various conditions. The gold SIP connector on the iamakey is both water and scratch resistant. The LaCie iamaKey, itsaKey and PassKey can be used with both PC and Mac and are available now, starting at $9.99 at LaCie .

Michelle G. of Lubbock, Texas

Teresa M. of Everett, Washington

and
Martha K. of Hartford, Connecticut

They each won a Monster Cable Digital PowerCenter MDP 900.

Regulations: SanDisk& ChipChick.com are not responsible for any lost packages or incorrect shipping addresses. The prize is not redeemable in cash and must be accepted as awarded. Approximate value of prizes may vary. By claiming the prize, the winner authorizes the use, without additional compensation of his or her name and/or likeness and/or voice/photograph and municipality of residence for promotion and/or advertising purposes in any manner and in any medium (including without limitation over the internet and picture data storage).

Regulations: SanDisk& ChipChick.com are not responsible for any lost packages or incorrect shipping addresses. The prize is not redeemable in cash and must be accepted as awarded. Approximate value of prizes may vary. By claiming the prize, the winner authorizes the use, without additional compensation of his or her name and/or likeness and/or voice/photograph and municipality of residence for promotion and/or advertising purposes in any manner and in any medium (including without limitation over the internet and picture data storage).