We’ve seen blow-hard electronic music makers in the past (one particular didgeridoo hack comes to mind) but still, when one makes us take note we feel like we just have to pass it along. Onyx Ashanti is an American living in Berlin and a one-man band to boot. His instrument of choice is a Yamaha MIDI wind controller for triggering audio and the TouchOSC app for iPod touch for controlling PureData audio processing. And the music he makes from the two is pretty, pretty wild… see for yourself after the break.

At its surface, a recently uncovered Apple patent application describes a Motion Based Input Selection. But a closer look reveals that Apple wants the iPhone to become your life’s omnitool. Using near field communication—or RFID, which isn’t in the current crop of iPhones—coupled with a cute, onscreen UI (like a combination lock), Apple’s patent describes a future in which iPhone users open their front doors and even pay for their next iPhone with a 3-digit pin. Many have already dubbed it the “iKey.” I’m not sure that I could stand waiting at Walgreen’s while the guy in front of me attempted to wield the iPhone’s accelerometers with enough dexterity to purchase some antacid and the latest edition of Sport Fishing . But given that a good chunk of the world is already benefiting from phone-based RFID shopping, there’s little question that the basic premise is a good one. [ Patent (PDF) and Telegraph and ElectricPig via Slashdot ]

This is so brilliant, and so very wrong. Some poor soul in Baltimore has lost her iPod Touch , offering a $50 reward for its return. And some Bad Samaritan knows a bidding opportunity when he sees one. Of course, the $148 estimate is just for an 8GB Touch. When you get into 64GB territory, you’re looking at a grand savings of $348! I don’t know exactly where these signs are posted, but that’s probably for the best—it’d take no time at all to whip up my generous offer of $51.01

Based on its name, I thought the iLuv Premium iMM178 Vibe Plus is an overpriced sex toy, but it turns out it’s a rather clever iPod/iPhone-compatible alarm clock which shake-shake-shakes you awake. Just hope the headboard doesn’t hit the wall. The idea is that you shove that mouse-looking thing under your pillow and wait for your alarm to go off. When it does, everything will get a bit shaky while a speaker blares whatever sound or music you’ve selected.

V-MODA has made some rather nice in-ear headphones with a pretty reasonable $99 price tag. They’re shiny, slender, durable, and capable of controlling your iPod, iPhone, or MacBook with those three little buttons. Oh. and they come in four colors. V-MODA PRESENTS REMIX REMOTE HEADPHONES: SOPHISTICATED SOUND AND DESIGN OPTIMIZED FOR HIGH-PERFORMANCE, ACTIVE LIFESTYLES Series Offers Music Enthusiasts Unparalleled Audio, Style and Reinforced Durability HOLLYWOOD (Feb. 22, 2010) – V-MODA, the music lifestyle brand and manufacturer of award-winning headphones, today announced Remix Remote, the latest fashion-forward in-ear headphone featuring unrivaled audio performance partnered with an integrated three-button remote.

A Pentucket Regional High School science class got an unpleasant surprise yesterday when one student’s iPod exploded on her desk . But don’t worry! Nobody was hurt, and there’s a perfectly good explanation. While Apple has gotten in trouble in the past for spontaneous iPod Touch combustion , Newburyport Daily News Online commenter “jos” offered some valuable insight into this particularly incident: The iPod did not just explode. It was broken so a kid took the entire thing apart and was rubbing wires against the battery, which became very hot, then exploded. This is not a faulty product that caused a danger to people. This was bored kids, in a classroom with a substitute all week, who found a dangerous way to entertain themselves

If you have an old 8-track player you’ve been holding onto and feel like leapfrogging a few generations of music media altogether, here’s a handy guide on turning that old piece of junk into a shiny new iPod dock. So you’re ready to upgrade from 8-tracks to 8000 MP3s, but you want to keep your sound system matching your lava lamp and your bean bag chair. Unplggd’s, advice, in short: find a working 8-track and cram a tape adapter all up in that piece. It’s sort of like That 70’s Show—you get the novelty of the retro aesthetic without forfeiting the modern familiarities you’ve grown to love.

The celebrant wore a black turtleneck and read vows from an iPod. The ring was brought in on a first-generation iPhone. And the bride and groom both said iDo. What more could you hope for from an Apple store wedding ?

An Apple patent application has surfaced that tackles improved video and photo performance on handheld devices includes a very clear depiction of a front-facing camera . Did someone say iPad Chatroulette? The patent, with the decidedly unsexy title of “Apparatus and Method for Compensating for Variations in Digital Cameras,” outlines ways in which they company could account for variations in the lens manufacturing process. Since camera components are manufactured separately and then incorporated into their host devices, there’s a broad range of lens thickness, color response, and so on. The technology in the Apple patent would test each camera individually and adjust for the bias. But I care less about what the lens does than where it goes, and on the generic Apple device pictured above, it’s clearly front-facing

There’s a new power couple in town—Fatman’s Wi-Tube and FatDock. The Wi-Tube valve amplifier can stream music wirelessly from a docked iPod or by the multitude of outputs the FatDock also offers. If you happen to invite a non-Apple-eating friend over for a long night in listening to Roxette’s back catalog, you can connect a media player or other source by the 3.5mm input, alternatively most iPod and iPhone models will do the trick. It not only charges any ‘pod that’s stuck in it, but can also sync up to a Mac or PC by USB. The Wi-Tube amp has two RCA inputs and one 3.5mm jack, and the FatDock can output wirelessly, or by RCA, USB, Video or S-Video—controllable with the bundled remote control. On sale in April for our UK friends for £399, it’ll retail for $599 in the States when it hits stores late April/early May.