Wearing an iPod shuffle was really cool when it first came out, but after a while doing so loses its appeal upon realization that it's not a piece of jewelry, that it lacks any bling effect, and that the white spaghetti tangle that is the lanyard string and rather long Apple earphones makes you look like an experiment in wearable CB radio antenna technology. Or just a dork, depending on how technical you want to be.

TuneBuds from Griffin Technology

Griffin's new TuneBuds for iPod shuffle changes much of that. The lanyard-plus-earphone combo is intelligently designed, pulling its audio signal from the USB plug and hiding the earphone cable inside the lanyard string. Two ten-inch wires connect the earphones to the lanyard, greatly reducing cable clutter.

Sound quality is on par if not slightly better than Apple's own earphones. The cap assembly itself is also of high quality, featuring roller balls similar to Apple's own caps for securely gripping the iPod shuffle's USB plug. Color and fit aren't the perfect match�the cap is a tiny bit darker than the white iPod shuffle and it's a little less than a millimeter deeper than the iPod shuffle's body�but are certainly more than acceptable.

Well designed, with sound quality on par if not better than Apple's earphones

As an added bonus, when using the TuneBuds you can plug a pair of headphones into the available iPod shuffle mini-jack port, allowing you to share your music with another person.

My only complaint about the TuneBuds is the 10-inch earphone cable length. Most people's ears are about six inches away from their neck, meaning there's a fair bit of extra play and cable wire around your neck. It doesn't interfere with use and it's almost impossible to tell when you're using the TuneBuds, but it certainly detracts a bit from what is otherwise a sleek look.