Booq previews "Venom" luxury iPod cases

Booq this week offered members of its e-mail newsletter a sneak peak of two new nappa leather luxury iPod cases that are due to begin shipping this July. The $45 "Venom45" includes removable suede inserts that help provide a snug fit for the largest 40/60GB iPod photo as well as the slim 20GB 4G iPod. Meanwhile, a $30 "Venom mini" offers the same quality case for the iPod mini. Both cases feature cutouts for easy dock connector access and a sturdy metal belt clip wrapped entirely in genuine suede. The cases, available in either white or black, also leave room for top-mounted accessories like AirPlay. Booq is currently accepting pre-orders for both models through its website.

Genre Collection's HipTunes: designer iPod belts...

HipTunes is offering iPod and iPod mini cases to go along with Genre Collection's line of designer belts. "The HipTunes case is the only mp3 accessory of it kind on the market allowing the consumer to fashionably hold their mp3 player along with a wallet that holds all of their necessities hands free." Fashion designer Shanna Israel of Genre Collection says, "technology is the new fashion – we are here to enhance the technology revolution by fusing fashion, technology and pop-culture."

TEN's naviPlay Bluetooth Stereo Kit now takes calls

TEN Technology announced today that it has updated its naviPlay Bluetooth stereo remote and adapter for theiPod to also connect wirelessly to Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones. "With the updated naviPlay Kit, users will never have to sacrifice entertainment for fear of missing a call. When there is an incoming call, the user will hear ring tones in their headphones and can take the call with the built-in microphone in the naviPlay Handsfree Stereo Remote.  When the call is ended, the music will resume playing,” said TEN chief executive John Lin. Starting May 23, the company said naviPlay units without hands-free can be updated with firmware downloadable at no cost for a limited time from the TEN website. naviPlay retails for $240 and is compatible with iPod Photo, iPod Mini, Click Wheel iPod, and iPod with Dock Connector.

iRiver unveils new T10 "sports MP3 player"

iRiver has launched in Korea the T10, a new sports MP3 player expected to debut in the U.S. this summer. The iRiver T10 comes in three colors each with a different storage configuration: 256MB Lime Green, 512MB Cherry Red and 1GB Orange Yellow. The T10 features a large metal clip to connect the player to bags, belts or hang it around the neck. The iRiver T10 features include 1.1 inch color LCD display, a 53 hours play-time, SRS, 10 equalizer settings, WMA, OGG and MP3 music format support, a clock function, and FM-Tuner. The player measures 85.8x40.8x29.4mm and weighs 49 grams. The iRiver T10 goes on sale in Korea on May 20th starting at 159,000 won (around $158).

palmOne's new LifeDrive challenges PocketPC

palmOne today introduced the LifeDrive Mobile Manager, the handheld maker's answer to PocketPC. LifeDrive features a 4GB hard drive and built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless. It can edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents from Microsoft Office, store and play music, video, and photos, and record audio. It features a 65,000-color, 320x480 Transflective TFT display that can flip between portrait and landscape orientation. The LifeDrive is powered by a 416MHz Intel XScale processor, and costs $500. Unlike devices powered by Microsoft's PocketPC which require third-party software to work with Macs, the LifeDrive is compatible with Mac OS X out of the box.