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Last year I was in the market for new earbuds, after my second pair of Sony In-Ear headphones broke down.
My buddy Denny (whom I see IRL about as often as he blogs, which is way too seldom) recommended the Bose® In-Ear Headphones. I took his recommendation (even though the little f*ckrs are quite expensive) and have been very happy with the choice.

Shortly before my last USA trip, Bose released a version of the same headphones with an inline microphone, the Bose® Mobile In-Ear Headset. It’s compatible with most smartphones with standard jack connectors (and supplies adapters for brands with non-standard diameters).

It works great on the iPhone. The inline microphone also works as a button to pick up and hang up calls. It also functions as a remote control for the iPod application. ¹

The best thing about it though is that on the new-ish unibody MacBook, the headset actually works as a headset, which is great for Skype.

I’ve been wanting to do this ever since the iPhone first came out. At the time MacBooks still had a separate line-in and line-out, meaning the microphone part of iPhone headsets was ignored.

The 15″ and 17″ Unibody models still have separate line-in and line-out sockets, but apparently the line-out has a dual function on this models too. Yet another reason to treat yourself to a new laptop or at least a new headset for the holidays.
Update: The 13″ MacBook and 13″ MacBook Pro are at an all time low price now at Amazon (including free shipping), just in time for a happy thanksgiving!

Afgelopen dinsdag kondigde Mobistar de iPhone en de bijbehorende abonnementsformules aan.

In tegenstelling tot elders ter wereld kost de iPhone hier niet het lokale equivalent van $129, vermits “subsidiering” door de operatoring dmv. koppelverkoop en simlock in Belgie niet toegestaan is.

Mobistar verantwoordt de hoge prijs van het toestel (525 euro voor 8Gb, 615 euro voor 16Gb) door het feit dat koppelverkoop in Belgie niet toegestaan is. “Maar,” zeggen ze er bij, “we breiden de garantie wel uit tot 2 jaar.” (Wat helemaal geen “geste” is van hun kant, maar gewoon de wet.)

Dit klopt, en is ook niet erg. Het probleem zijn de abonnementskosten die veel duurder zijn in vergelijking met het buitenland. (more…)