3-D printed personalized headphones

And when I saw the look on his face when he gave me a sneak peek of what is advertised as the first 3-D printed personalized wearable technology, I knew this was going to be no different.

The company touts the product as the “Next Industrial Revolution.” The custom-designed headphones range in price from $200 to $40,000. It might be hard to comprehend that kind of price but if the high end is in your range, you’ll get yourself an amazing product.

First the headphones, which I’ve reviewed in the past. My words about them a few years ago included, “V-Moda’s newly launched M-100 headphones are the Taj Mahal of headphones in sound, design and durability.”

“Craftsmanship is at the highest level for the M-100’s, constructed with a combination of steel and other metals for an eye-catching design.” Customize the headphones by adding the 3-D printed shields to these and other V-Moda headphones in choices of fiber, stainless steel, raw, plated and precious metals such as 14-karat gold, 14-karat rose gold, 14-karat white gold and platinum.

“It is the first time in history mass customization merges jewel-grade 3-D printing with consumer electronics,” said Kolton.

“3-D printing has captured the imaginations of people, but this is the first application that can be worn every day on an award-winning product,” he added.

Kolton and his team came up with the concept in V-MODA’s design studio in Milan, Italy; the final 3-D shields are made in the U.S.

The personalized customization includes uploading your own design in 2-D or 3-D. At the company’s Milan office, 3-D sculptors work with your logo so it will be embossed at a height of 1 mm; the design should have lines with a minimal thickness of around .8-1mm at the sharpest point to ensure the best results, according to the company.

All the V-Moda headphones with fiber 3-D shields have new reduced pricing. For example the Crossfade M-100s are now priced at $249.99, the Crossfade LP2 is $149.99 and the XS headphones are $179.99.

Then you can choose the upgrade in the shields as mentioned above or just have a name, artwork or logo laser printed into the fiber shields.

Details: v-moda.com

Light up the notifications

The Witti Dotti is a clever device, which alerts you of smartphone notifications such as calls, texts, and even social media alerts.

Dotti is an 8-bit pixel light, you can sit just about anywhere with its compact size measuring about 3-by-2-by-2-inches.

It’s connected to your phone wirelessly via Bluetooth 4.0, which should give you a range of about 49 feet.

When an alert comes in the app will display its logo to advise you of the alert, obviously if it’s a Facebook message, you’ll get the Facebook logo on the display.

It has a built-in rechargeable battery good for 720 hours on standby or five hours of continuous display and shows you the battery life left on an LED display.

The free app is available for iOS 7 or above and Android 4.3 or above.

Details: wittidesign.com, $79.99

Fitness monitor tracks activity

It’s the perfect time of year for the stylish Polar A300 waterproof fitness and activity monitor.

Day or night, on land, in the ocean or a pool it tracks and records steps, calories burned, sleep, and active time.

A unique feature, that caught my attention, is the A300 alerts you with a notification on your wrist that you have been inactive for too long. In my case, this alert would never stop!

The device does a lot and takes a few minutes to setup with a Mac or PC, and after that it tracks what you want it to track.

It also works as an alarm clock and somehow even knows when you fall asleep. It’s waterproof up to 30 meters/98.4 feet.

The A300 is available in six color options, charcoal black, indigo blue, mellow yellow, powder white, sorbet pink and storm gray and lets you interchange the soft colorful bands.

Details: www.Polar.com, $139.95 for the A300, extra wristbands $24.95 each