Maybe it’s just me, but I like the idea of “wireless” audio devices. No, not the holy grail of a Bluetooth-connected headset and DAP. Rather, a music player built into the headphones.

About ten years ago and long before MP3 became a household word, I had a Speedo FM radio and earbuds (similar to this one) that I attached to a baseball cap and ran with. Nothing to carry! (Other than the house or car key.) I’m not sure why we haven’t seen more of these designs in the digital world. Perhaps it’s a combination of battery size/life and storage space or maybe I’m the only one who digs it.

Anyhow, Arriva has Photoshopped a headset prototype (top) they’re constructing for the second-gen iPod Shuffle. Assuming it doesn’t fall of you head, this could be perfect for exercise playlists and podcasts. (Check out Podrunner.)

Additionally, OTTO has already released a 512MB “wireless” MP3 headset ($85) which I’ve added to my pile o’ devices to review. Notable: Otto supports protected WMA.

Speaking of small audio devices… Anyone want a first-gen 512MB iPod Shuffle sans earbuds? I have one that’s been collecting dust on the den floor for probably a year. Leave a comment if you could put it to use!

In a move that I can only suspect is designed to show Pandora’s willingness to abide by copyright law, the Internet radio company has said that as of today, May 3rd, it will start blocking access to its service for listeners outside the US. While Pandora is currently fighting a ruling by the CRB that would make copyright fees within the states impossibly expensive, today’s move comes because there is no global licensing organization that allows it to stream music abroad legally. Pandora previously relied on registered zip codes to track out-of-country users, but the company says it will now determine location based on IP address.

There is some confusion over whether Canada and the UK are exempt from this streaming cessation. Michael Arrington over at TechCrunch said he spoke with CTO Tom Conrad, who said he’s hoping to have deals in place with the UK and Canada soon. On the other hand, an email we received from a representative at Pandora specifically said, “we are going to start blocking access to our service for listeners outside of the US, UK, or Canada.” Hmm.

Meantime, The Register suggests that non-US users should still be able to take advantage of proxy services to route access to Pandora through US IP addresses. Of course, that’s no doubt illegal, and also a pain in the arse.

On the US front, Pandora does have a reprieve from the CRB ruling (that would put it out of business) until July 15th. By that time we’re all hoping that a new bill introduced in Congress called the Internet Radio Equality Act will have passed. Want to support the bill? Sign the SaveNetRadio petition.

PC World reports that two Congressmen have submitted a bill called the Internet Radio Equality Act that could save Internet radio broadcasters, including Pandora, from going out of business. The bill is the follow-up to a petition started by the SaveNetRadio group.

Pandora’s founder:

Following our outreach to Pandora listeners, every congressional office was flooded with constituent phone calls, emails and faxes - literally hundreds of thousands in just 5 days! The entire fax system on the Hill was brought to a standstill. We had to hand deliver the faxes! Please take a moment to call your congress person to voice your support for this legislation and urge them to sponsor or support the bill. It’s very important the we keep pressure on the legislators to ensure that this bill is passed quickly.

I’ve written before about my love for Pandora and about the Copyright Royalty Board’s (CRB) attempt to kill it and other Internet radio services. Now Pandora, as part of a coalition called SaveNetRadio, is fighting back.

The SaveNetRadio group (including listeners, artists, labels and webcasters) started a campaign yesterday with a petition to Congress protesting the CRB’s new licensing rate scheme. The goal is to bring attention to the issue now and then follow up by introducing a bill that would make the CRB’s recent decision to slap unfair royalty fees on Internet radio sites illegal.

With all of the things that have been done wrong in the music industry, Internet radio is one shining example of what’s been (generally) done right. Please help save Pandora! Sign the petition and pass on the URL: http://capwiz.com/saveinternetradio/issues/alert/?alertid=9631541

Let me start by saying I’m not a “case” guy. I don’t put phones, iPods, PDAs, etc in them — everything ends up “naked” in a pocket or backpack. I choose to believe the exterior of a product is designed to protect the delicate electronics inside and I just won’t sweat a scratch or two. Having said that, the iPod nano is missing two things… a FM tuner and a belt clip (which the cheaper iPod Shuffle Includes).

Digital Lifestyle Outfitters (DLO), to be acquired by Philips, introduced the nano Shell about a week ago in a variety of colors at $20/ea. The Shell has three pieces: a front, a plain back option, and a back with belt clip option. The front and plain back seem quite sturdy and look sharp, while the clip back plastic doesn’t seem as solid or as attractive… though it’s far more useful. Without adding much bulk the Shell protects most of the nano, including the screen, but considerately leaves the bottom exposed to connect a sync cable, Nike pedometer, etc.

Those looking for some protection and/or a belt clip for their nano will find the DLO Shell a nice solution. And if you’ve read this far and want my review sample, leave a comment. When I get home in about a week, I’ll randomly choose a winner.

Click thumbnails for larger pics…

With Apple and EMI planning to offer 30-cent song upgrades to a higher bitrate without DRM next month, TUAW has documented two ways to identify the applicable tracks in your Mac iTunes library…

First up is the geeky command line method:

mdfind -onlyin ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music “kMDItemCopyright == ‘*Emi*’ kMDItemCodecs == ‘*protected*’ “

Next we have the OS X search method:

In Finder, select File -> Find (Command-F). Select “Other…” from the search attribute pop-up and when the “Select a search attribute” dialog opens, choose Copyright (”Copyright information about this item”) from the list. Search for Copyright Contains EMI

And don’t forget EMI has a variety of sub-labels which may be upgradeable as well… Jorge has posted a text file and command line sequence to identify those additional songs. For just the EMI label, looks like I’ll be in the hole for $12.60.

Apple and EMI will begin offering DRM-free songs via iTunes in May. I honestly never saw this day coming… Not on a voluntary basis without the might of several European countries behind it. There’ll be a 30 cent premium here in the US for unprotected tracks, but with it comes higher audio quality (256kbps versus 128). Jobs expects other labels will get on board and 50% of the iTunes music catalog will be DRM-free by year-end.

While I wonder if this opens the door for other (new?) hardware audio devices to gain a foothold, Michael Gartenberg has his doubts. As a consumer, if I can upgrade all my iTunes-purchased tracks to the unprotected version (as described) I might just make whatever my current cell phone is (not the iPhone) into my portable music player.