DLO's iPhone-shielded Portable Speakers

Recognize this sound? "Blip da da blip da da blip da da blip da da bliiiiiiiip." If you answered yes to any of the preceding questions, you may own an iPhone. The little bugger wreaks havoc on your average unsuspecting, unshielded desktop speaker -- and most iPod docks, as it turns out -- emitting audible blasts of interference from up to three or four feet away. Luckily, the DLO Portable Speakers for iPhone don't have that problem, since they're shielded from TDMA interference. You can power 'em off of AAA batteries or an AC adapter, and since they plug into the iPhone's headphone jack, you can use plenty of other audio sources. The speakers detach from the rotating base, and you can even use the setup as a speakerphone if you'd like. They're out now for $50.

[Via iLounge]

[fanman @ Feb 9th 2008 8:15AM]

This is an ingenious solution to a problem that should never have existed in the first place.

[Wayne @ Feb 9th 2008 9:56AM]

If iPhone users were smart enough to turn on "flight mode", or whatever Apple calls it, they wouldn't have a problem at all.

I tried using a coworkers' iPhone with a $40 set of iPod speakers with dock and it worked perfectly with the phone in flight mode.

[mmendoza27 @ Feb 9th 2008 10:02AM]

@ Wayne

That is one solution and I usually use that when I connect my iPhone to my iPod FM Transmitter in my car. However, that's not always the best solution since you can't receive calls or SMS when you turn Airplane Mode on. That's the part that sucks.

[LegendZ28 @ Feb 9th 2008 11:10AM]

@Wayne

You self-righteous tool, if you owned an iPhone you'd know it prompts you to go into flight mode when you plug into a non-sanctioned device. The problem is that, guess what, while in flight mode, you can't use the phone as an actual phone, which means no receiving calls or making them.

So if I'm in my office trying to listen to music through speakers on my iPhone, and I have to put it into flight mode to do so, my iPhone is no longer a phone, but an answering machine.

[Wayne @ Feb 9th 2008 11:49AM]

@LegendZ28

You're a self-righteous tool if you can't be without your phone to listen to some music for a little while.

If you weren't so busy cutting me off on the highway because you can't bother to use directionals or check your blind spot while you yap away on your precious iPhone, you might realize that not only is a little human contact a good thing, but your addiction to your phone is a really bad thing.

[kev @ Feb 9th 2008 12:08PM]

It's so hard to please everyone isn't it, fanman? Now you know the difficulties of being an engineer.

A problem that shouldn't have existed? Thanks for insulting the decades of military engineering and development that now allows the average joe to annoy the fuck out of everyone on the train.

[Pete @ Feb 9th 2008 6:59PM]

Funny... I have had that same speaker set (Philips branded) for a while without the umm... nifty (?!?! is that the word?) iphone/pod stand.... seems to me like another cheep rebadged product to me. Way to go DLO! *snicker*

http://www.consumer.philips.com/consumer/en/ca/consumer/cc/_productid_SBA1510_27_CA_CONSUMER/Portable-Speaker-System+SBA1510-27

[PatrickIs2Smart @ Feb 9th 2008 8:18AM]

TDMA interference? Isn't GSM interference the beast that cannot be tamed?

[macjesus @ Feb 9th 2008 8:32AM]

TDMA is a tecnology and GSM is an standard of that tecnology, duh!

[bondsbw @ Feb 9th 2008 10:53AM]

And you spelled "technology" wrong twice, duh!

[Hawkmankt @ Feb 9th 2008 9:13AM]

Man, it took way too long for 3rd parties to come out with speakers for this device.

Happy its coming along now. I'm thinking about the Altec Lansing Orbit iM207 though. Read great things about it.

[Blaktornado @ Feb 9th 2008 8:34AM]

If i recall correctly, all phones do that...

[John @ Feb 9th 2008 8:37AM]

You recall incorrectly, friend.

[Blaktornado @ Feb 9th 2008 8:40AM]

I've seen 4 different phones do it... at least. (School + music/IT lessons = you hear these things through speakers)

I thought it was a common thing.

[fanman @ Feb 9th 2008 8:46AM]

Walkman phones managed to get round it...

[packetsniffer @ Feb 9th 2008 10:40AM]

GSMs do. I haven't had a CDMA with that problem. But agreed, it has nothing to do specifically with the iPhone.

[LegendZ28 @ Feb 9th 2008 11:12AM]

CDMA phones do it too, but GSM's are just ridiculous. Even in my car, I can sometimes hear the inference on my radio from my iPhone stashed in the cup holder.

[fanman @ Feb 10th 2008 4:52AM]

That's funny, I have a w810i next to the monitor now...

[Chris Hemingway @ Feb 9th 2008 10:18AM]

Actually fanman, my Sony erricson walkman W810i used to regurally make beeping noises come out of my computer speakers until I wired up sheilded cable

[remotecontrolled623 @ Feb 9th 2008 9:10AM]

Hmm... I'm living in Germany right now, and I recently purchased a set of non-iPhone portable speakers, which have exactly the same form-factor as these speakers (sans iPhone dock, naturally). I wonder if they are also shielded from the death rays known as TDMA...

[mingistech @ Feb 9th 2008 9:30AM]

they should have gone through the dock connector for Line-Out instead through the headphone jack. It's surprising how much better the sound quality is from there.

[frozo @ Feb 9th 2008 11:03AM]

The iPhone is notorious for this interference. I can't use it in my car without getting 6 speakers-full of the noise. I tend to listen loud in the car too, so when it happens, it scares the sh*t out of you. This is the same noise I remember first hearing when I started using Bluetooth devices years ago. Realizing this, I turned of BT on the iPhone, but strangely enough, it still happens--so Im not sure what exactly is making the interference.

[LegendZ28 @ Feb 9th 2008 1:36PM]

@Wayne

What the hell are you talking about?

[thekevinmonster @ Feb 9th 2008 12:35PM]

I wish people would stop saying this is just an iPhone problem. My AT&T TDMA analog phone did this (that would be AT&T Wireless, pre-cingular, which was NOT GSM but the old analog TDMA stuff), my T-Mobile GSM phone did it, my SMT5600 GSM phone did it, my Treo 650 did it, my HTC Hermes did it, and my iPhone does it. The interference coming from outside the phone into other equipment has nothing to do with anything about the phone's design.

Interference on the actual connector from the phone to something else, that's an iPhone problem.

Heck, my friend's RAZR would interfere with ITSELF. He'd call me and I'd hear "blip blip blip bzzzzt blip blip blip" in the background.

[jeeesus @ Feb 9th 2008 12:49PM]

yep my nokias have been shit...

its lucky i make the music i listn to


metal FTW!

[Maneki Neko @ Feb 9th 2008 1:02PM]

I've had a phone that did it a ton, and a phone that doesn't seem to do it at all. I think the phone design definitely plays a part.

[Asha @ Feb 9th 2008 12:44PM]

Mikephones and Blackberries will do that to speakers too. Actually, what is really cool is, if you take a Mike Phone (I don't know if it is all Mike phones or just the shitty brick that they gave me at work) and hold it up to a CRT monitor with the talk button depressed, the screen goes all wonky.

[megapopular @ Feb 9th 2008 12:59PM]

@Wayne

Typically, you have an iPhone to multitask... even while in iPod mode it remains functional as a phone. Even though people might like to listen to music, they might also like to get an important phone call from a family member or from their job... maybe they'd like to receive a funny text message from a friend... all without getting that annoying feedback through their speakers. That's why this shielded speaker is a good product. Maybe you don't have a family, a job, or friends... (because you truly are a tool( and probably not enough money to afford an iPhone. Too bad for you, buddy!

[Fuzzmanmatt @ Feb 9th 2008 1:08PM]

The interference was REAL bad when I was living in the dorms at school. Every time anybody with a Nextel who was in the same building would get a call every speaker in the place would start making the wonderful noises.

And you're right, my SonyEricsson has the least interference of any phone that I've had other than the CDMA phones...

[dan @ Feb 9th 2008 1:05PM]

funny i've seen this at Phillips: http://www.consumer.philips.com/consumer/ro/ro/consumer/cc/_productid_SBA1500_00_RO_CONSUMER/Sistem-de-boxe-portabil+SBA1500-00

got a pair as a Christmas gift and they cost $29. Philips also has these http://www.consumer.philips.com/consumer/ro/ro/consumer/cc/_productid_SBA161_10_RO_CONSUMER/Sistem-de-boxe-portabil+SBA161-10
that the above are a lot closer in design. sound is satisfying and design is clean.

[austin @ Feb 9th 2008 2:05PM]

if i didnt know better, i would say that second one is the exact same product

[Joe @ Feb 9th 2008 1:15PM]

I've been using an iPhone for 6 months, and I've yet to hear it go "Blip da da blip da da blip da da blip da da bliiiiiiiip"!

[perry belcher @ Feb 9th 2008 1:22PM]

My iphone will be my last, dropped calls, factory resets and tennis ball support. Apple seems to have dropped the ball on this one - Perry Belcher

[Gabe McGuinness @ Feb 9th 2008 2:18PM]

@ Wayne...

You're sure making the case for "human contact" there buddy. You sound like a real peach...

[Darwin Smith @ Feb 10th 2008 1:23AM]

The iPhone is GSM, not TDMA. The At&t TDMA network was shut down a few years ago.

[austin @ Feb 9th 2008 2:03PM]

i never have problems with my klipsich iFi

[CanCar @ Feb 9th 2008 3:05PM]

If you answered yes to any of the preceding questions, you may own an iPhone. The little bugger wreaks havoc on your average unsuspecting, unshielded desktop speaker — and most iPod docks, as it turns out. jamessmithrealestateinvesting. net

[lanejasper69 @ Feb 9th 2008 3:56PM]

@ Wayne and Legend, STFU! you little girls wanna bitch at each other do it elsewhere....God, Engadget posts stuff on a products for it's viewers and people constantly bitch slam each other over who's a fan boy or not, what a bunch of BS, take it for what it is....information!!!!!!!! Not your petty little bitch fests!!!!!

Bite Me Losers

Faslane Out!

[jbrelsford @ Feb 9th 2008 10:10PM]

What I have found is that phones on the AT&T network cause a significantly greater amount of interference than phones on other networks. Usually within a range of a couple of feet. I know this as I had a razr on T-Mobile which did not cause interference with my standard pc speakers. When I switched to AT&T, unlocked the razr and put in the AT&T SIM I noticed interference immediately.

I speculate that AT&T must program some power boost on the phone to make fewer dropped calls. Of course the question remains if this increased power/interference will lead to a brain tumor...

[OneLove @ Feb 11th 2008 1:12PM]

iphone gets a boob job.