PC Magazine's audio analyst Mike Kobrin sounds off for us on personal-media technology company PortalPlayer's attempt to bring WiFi to digital audio players. Read on:

By now, most of us have seen the reports of PortalPlayer's attempt to bring WiFi and Bluetooth to the digital audio player world. Basically, the company has partnered with a chip maker called CSR and claims to have the ability to enable device makers to create an MP3 player with WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities. The reason for this is fairly obvious: You'll be able to sync files and transmit audio without any wires.

Since PortalPlayer chips power most flavors of iPod, various Apple-related sites are abuzz with reports that Apple may come out with a WiFi-enabled iPod by the end of this year. Will it really happen? And will the product satisfy consumers? I'm not so sure.

One of the main drawbacks of integrating wireless technologies into a device is shorter battery life. Apple isn't known for having exceptional battery technology, and unless the company has gotten some battery life secrets from a company like Sony, I'm pretty sure that any WiFi capability will suck an MP3 player's battery dry very quickly. I'm hoping that the power consumption of this WiFi chip will be as efficient as PortalPlayer claims it will be, and that the implementation allows the chip to be active only when it's in use (unlike some current WiFi-enabled devices, in which the WiFi component is constantly drawing power).

Bluetooth, on the other hand, is a far less power-hungry technology, and integrating it in players will let users get rid of those silly Bluetooth dongles. If Apple includes Bluetooth in a future iPod, for example, you'd be able to use products like the Logitech Wireless Headphones for iPod without making your iPod about 25 percent longer, as happens with the current product. Unfortunately, Bluetooth audio is still pretty lousy, especially when compared with WiFi transmission or wired headphones. Not to mention the agonizingly slow file-transfer speeds that limit Bluetooth's usefulness as a sync method. But because of Bluetooth's relatively low power requirements, Apple (or whichever unnamed manufacturer, since PortalPlayer wouldn't tell us who's going to get their new technology—wink wink, nudge nudge) may opt to include Bluetooth in upcoming devices and wait until battery technology catches up with WiFi's needs.

Once WiFi is integrated into MP3 players and PMPs, however, it will certainly spawn another segment of the already-huge portable accessory market. iPod accessories alone are expected to be a $1 billion industry this year. I predict that one of the hottest-selling accessories will be the giant battery packs that extend the iPod's battery life. These will likely be must-haves if WiFi is involved. On the other hand, maybe this is the push Apple needs to start making players with removable batteries.

Nokia phones are famous for their cuddly UI. Macs are famous for their cuddly UI. So designer Dan Schwartz decided to put the two together and came up with an awesome Mac OS X theme for Nokia Series 40 phones. The theme works with a bunch of phones available in the US using Nokia's Series 40 user interface, including the 6101/6102, 8801, 7280, and presumably others as well.

There's one problem, though: I haven't figured out how to get this onto one of my phones yet. Y'see, right now, the Nokia phones I'm working on are a 6030 and a 6061. They don't use the standard Nokia data cable, and I've had zero luck installing the theme through the WAP browser.

Does anyone out there want to try installing these themes onto a popular US phone? I've noticed folks on HowardForums have succeeded, but they're mostly using more obscure phones which aren't sold directly by US carriers.

Valentine's Day. A long tradition of showing each other you care with special gifts. Of course, I show I love my boyfriend every day, not just on V-Day. Granted, February 14th may just be a company's way of making us spending fools by loading up on chocolate, lingerie, and sentimental cards. I just hope old Saint Valentine isn't rolling in his grave.

I'm sure the shopping malls and jewelry stores will be packed this weekend, full of last-minute shoppers springing for a gift to express their undying love. I'm no dummy though. It's not always that simple. Most of the time it's your significant other giving you exact orders: "My ring size is 6" or "6GB, not 4GB." But for me, I like to be surprised. So, if you're "allowed" to shock your one-and-only, try these on for size:

1. Motorola RAZR V3 Pink Phone ($369.99)

If you're dating a pink lady, then she'll love Motorola's Pink RAZR V3.

2. Mr. Beer Premium Home Microbrewery Kit ($39.95)

If your guy is anything like mine, he LOVES his beer. You might as well let him brew his own! All you do is add water to brew twenty 12 oz. beers each week.

3. MAGPIX Titanium Digital Pocket Photo Album ($99.99)

I haven't seen people whip out an accordian of photos from their wallets in years. It's all about digital now.

4. The Sims: Hot Date Expansion Pack ($9.82)
My boyfriend owns one of The Sims games, and I have to pry him from the computer sometimes. This expansion pack is the perfect gift for your Valentine. But, if you don't have a sweetheart this year, a virtual vixen is just as sweet!

5. Scrolling License Plate Frame ($59.95)
I'm not one for bling, but if you're into LED belt buckles and rings, you'll probably love this gift idea. You can enter up to five personalized messages, then use the wireless remote to select one as you drive. Available in black and silver.

6. Distorted Wall Clock ($219.00)
I'm a big fan of Dali, so if you want to show off your artistic side (or pretend that you have one), this clock will do it.

7. Terracotta Self-Watering Flowerpot ($29.95)

In my opinion, buying flowers is a waste of money because they only die after a couple of days. Buy a plant instead, and then get the Self-Watering Flowerpot.
 

8. 1001 Dreams: An Illustrated Guide to Dreams and Their Meanings ($9.95)

I frequently dream of freaky things happening to me. I can attribute this to watching too many horror flicks, I know. Once, I dreamt that I was filling the bathtub, and suddenly the drain was clogged. So, I reached into the water to feel for the drain, when suddenly a person pops out from underwater! I'd sure like to know what that dream means!

9.  Buy One Share of Tiffany & Co. Stock ($36)

We can't all afford the good stuff. Buy a share of stock instead.

10. Solar Messenger Bag ($229)

This bag can charge any device that runs on 5, 6 or 7.2 volts, such as a cell phone, MP3 player, PDA, or digital camera. Plus, you're saving electric!

If these don't appease you, check out PCMag.com executive producer Robyn Peterson's ideas.

You ever felt like surrounding yourself with carbon fiber? Nothing feels quite like it. It's cool to the touch and a great way to protect your investment. I'm a big fan of this material and so far, there are only a handful of manufacturers that are using this stuff.

Alright, so it might be a little geeky to some of you, but I rounded up several carbon fiber toys that might make it into my budget sometime this decade.  I reviewed the Acer Travelmate 8204WLMi personally, and it's one of the best looking laptop designs out there on the market. The cover feels a little like glass and it's definitely great to look at.

How would I protect this laptop? A carbon fiber briefcase looks like a perfect match.  And adding on the finishing touches, an Ipod Nano feels so naked without a carbon fiber case.

Maybe it's a little obsessive. Maybe I'm not alone. 

Thanks to the Digg community, for finding some of this stuff.

A shiny aluminum knob less than 2 inches high is an unlikely lightning rod, unless you're talking about the BMW iDrive cockpit controller. The iDrive became a metaphor for all that's been unworkable in technology-centric cars of the past decade. But the cockpit controller is here to stay. iDrive competitors are coming to market, improving the genre and even forcing the iDrive to evolve.

The concept behind the cockpit controller is simple: One control wheel and an LCD take the place of the several dozen knobs and dials that clutter dashboards. Since the early 1990s, most commercial airplanes adopted this type of "glass cockpit," reducing the number of switches and the complexity faced by pilots. And automakers often think of their cabins as grounded aircraft cockpits -- BMW's blue-and-white logo, for example, is patterned on a spinning airplane propeller. So BMW introduced the first car controller, the flawed iDrive, and is now hard at work on a follow-up.

Audi's MMI (multimedia interface, shown at left) was a big step forward. The Audi control knob isn't quite as showy as the iDrive, but it's easier to grip and has eight task buttons around the controller: Radio, CD, Net (communications but not Web browsing, sorry), Tel, Nav, Info, Car, and Setup. You just press one of the eight buttons and then fine-tune your choices with the control knob.

Infiniti's wonderful M45 (below right) has the same kinds of task buttons, except that the control knob and buttons are mounted on a slope on the dash, giving you a place to rest your palm. Palm rests are an excellent addition to these types of controllers. If only Chrysler and Ford had added one to the system control stick that juts from the dash on some of their models. Mercedes got it right, with the gorgeous controller palm rest in its new S-Class vehicles. | Stumble | Digg | del.icio.us | Slashdot

Jim Louderback, PC Magazine's Editor-in-Chief, has a fun slideshow up at the magazine's site, showing a bunch of the brand-new products introduced at the show. Including this ice-cream vending machine from MooBella that pops out customized bowls of the frosty treat! [Insert "cool" pun here.]

Jim also documents a new service from Blurb that will help you turn your blog into a photo book; you know, the kind made of paper. This takes vanity publishing to a whole new level! The books look really good, though, very professional.

Click over there and take a look. (Jim, I think you really should have a GearLog reporter at DEMO next year! Ahem.)

Not all my music is downloaded through iTunes. That is why the latest version of iArt 3.1 comes in real handy for me.

Currently, every song I download from iTunes includes some type of album art, but it doesn't include lyrics. And if you have songs that are not downloaded from iTunes, say your pirated music ripped audio CDs, chances are you won't have album art for those songs.

This is where iArt 3.1 comes in. It does an extensive search for clip art, and with the new version, I can add lyrics to my entire music library. Best of all, it's shareware, so I can try it out for free. The demo is good for 50 songs, and afterwards you pay $10. The interface is simple to use, and I no longer have to add lyrics manually.