Your Nano Gone Retro

Back in the olden days, before there was iPod, and even before Sony made music collections portable with the Walkman, the kids were known to enjoy music on the go with the help of a transistor radio. Larger than a shirt pocket, but small enough to carry around, they were especially popular in the middle decades of the 20th century and produced a distinctive kind of sound—thin and tinny, with a narrow frequency response and a tendency to distort at high volume. The effect was anti-high fidelity…but it was portable.

Tiny Dancer

Creative’s TravelSound is incredibly compact and plays forever, but its so-so sound might not be enough to rock your world.

Shift your tunes into your car.

Getting music from your iPod to your ears is usually easy—use headphones or one of the kajillion iPod speaker docks littering the countryside. But the question of how to get music out of your iPod and into your car stereo can be a bit more vexing. A direct, wired connection sounds the best, but if you don’t have a built-in iPod connector, or a fancy stereo with a line-in jack on the front, your options are limited to expensive aftermarket iPod-friendly stereos or yanking your current stereo out of the dashboard to install a cable yourself.

Get Outdoors!

You might not think taking yourexpensive portable technology into rugged terrain, but there’s no reason to use the excuse that your MacBook or iPod are too delicate to take outside as to eschew the great outdoors—or an opportunity to exercise and breathe fresh air. With the proper gear, your tunes and your data can venture outside with you and go back inside no worse for the wear.

Get Outdoors!

You might not think taking your expensive portable technology into rugged terrain, but there’s no reason to use the excuse that your MacBook or iPod are too delicate to take outside as to eschew the great outdoors—or an opportunity to exercise and breathe fresh air. With the proper gear, your tunes and your data can venture outside with you and go back inside no worse for the wear.

Part internet appliance, part imaginary friend

A stitched-and-stuffed leather Wi-Fi pal, the Chumby is a virtual companion, chock-full of useful and amusing information. It’s somehow still cuddly, even with a 3.5-inch touch-sensitive LCD screen mounted to its face, but its Internet-enabled widgets demand to be taken seriously. Because it’s essentially a small, Internet-connected computer, the Chumby is equal parts digital-picture frame, weather forecaster, New York Times reader, alarm clock, Internet radio, and game platform. Depending on your needs, it could be something completely different. While we found some flaws, its casual, fun nature—and surprisingly handy tools—enable it to blend into any home.

Your iPod, The track star

No pockets in your running shorts? That doesn’t mean you have to pound the turf or treadmill in silence. The Music Band-It keeps your music streaming while you run, walk, or hike. The armband, which comes in versions to fit the iPhone and a variety of iPods, features built-in earbuds with a retractable cord that make listening to music while you work out hassle-free. The patented retractable 4-foot-long cord gives you only as much length as you need and is kept neatly organized when not in use.