We receive frequently emails from the wearable electronic community asking about speakers suitable to be integrated into garments or bags.

My first choice for doing this would be the surface sound technology from NXT which is used for the soft, magical sound in backpacks like the one from Spyder or Reebock.

NXT, the inventor of the surface sound technology uses a module called Exciter, a unit when attached to a surface excites this surface, brings it to vibrate according to the audio signal fed into the Exciter unit. This vibrations generate the sound waves through the surrounding air.

The achievable sound quality varies with the kind of material the Exciter unit is attached too and the size of the area. Larger areas will generate a richer sound than small areas. Very stiff areas will generate less low frequencies than semi stiff.

Do not expect full range HiFi sound quality but for some application this surface sound technology can create a surprising effect when integrated in unsuspecting objects like clothing or bags that contain semi hard areas made for example from EVA or cardboard material.

While is was very difficult in the past to get hands on to this Exciter modules, Parts Express, a supplier of audio, video, and speaker building components for home and professional installations offers now via their online shop NXT exciter modules under its Dayton Audio® brand.

The Surface Transducer shown in the image above is from my experience the most suitable one with legs that makes the module look like a frog. These legs offer a lot of flexibility without danger of break the unit from its attachment surface. The price for this particular model is just $3.- making it a perfect component to play around and experiment with surface sound.

Check out the other Sound Exiter modules as well as you might have different ideas and needs for your garment sound project.

Need to cheer up a bit the last leg of this school year? How about the Targus SonicPak from Dell?

Dell is offering this cool looking BoomPak featuring a padded compartment for protection of not only Dell laptops but will also fit for MacBooks of up to 15.4″.

The sound part is integrated into the front panel which is transformed to a sound emitting area giving decent sound via the surface sound technology from NXT. As this technology uses the soft, called ‘EVA’ material of the bag itself it is a space saving and extremely lightweight sound solution for on-the-go.

Any audio source can be connected via a standard 3.5mm pin connector, so many cell-phones, MP3 player and of course laptop computers.

The battery compartment with an on/off switch, a power-indicator LED as well as a 1.4W*2 amplifier (yeah it’s stereo sound) is integrated into the surface sound panel. The batteries should be able to provide power for up to 100 hours, sounds a bit much for 4x AA batteries or the volume is turned down to ‘unhearable’ levels which misses the point of having a BoomPak. Having half of that time for real volume would be still a good thing.

Dell is selling the SonicPak for S85.99, a reasonable price for what you get next to the great looking sound: side mesh water bottle holders, adjustable, padded shoulder straps, molded carrying handle, oversize zipper pulls for easy gripping and  plenty of pockets for accessories.

Sharper Image made headlines earlier this year by announcing the closure of their stores and reinvent them as a ‘brand’ rather than a retailer, leveraging the familiarity of its name to market products via retail partners.

One of their first products is the SoundBag, a top-of-the-line backpack ‘designed to transform the listening experience for commuters, travelers and digital music lovers’.

Portable audio devices connect via the standard 3.5mm earphone connector to the SoundBag. The player pocket has a transparent window and is located in the shoulder strap making the control of the player easy accessible.

A practical placement and better than having to hold a player or taking it out of the bag although for a quick change of tunes but a soft keypad in the shoulder strap would be cooler.

The flat panel speaker module contains also the audio part and battery holder and is detachable allowing the use of the speaker system as standalone solution when a quick audio presentation or party is coming up. The three AA batteries that drive the speaker offer around 8-10 hours of playback – good enough for almost a day of presenting or partying.

A word of caution: I haven’t tested this particular SoundBag but from comparable products tested before, I know that the soft, flat speaker technology is not able to produce low frequencies that give the ‘boom’ conventional boom-box are able to produce. Keep in mind this SoundBag like the other sound bags on the market will not give groovy party sound but decent enough for ‘in between’ listening.

The Sharper Image Sound Bag retails for $99.- in the colors black, blue and pink and is available for example by Macy’s online shop or other major retailers in the US.

iHome, one of the leading iPod accessories companies in North America, has a diverse range of speaker cases primarily for the iPod generation but some work with any portable audio player with similar or smaller size.

The idea is simple: give protection against scratches, moister and dirt to the iPod while on the road in harsh environment.

As a special ‘bonus’ iHome integrates speakers in their soft cases giving the option to listen to music without the need of earphones.

Just in time for the upcoming Christmas season, iHome is adding a new variant the iHM12L to their iPod speaker case range, 40% slimmer than any other case with NXT’s surface sound technology on the market.

Based on a robust yet slim EVA construction, this case is designed to work with a wide range of portable digital devices, including the latest iPod Touch and nano models as well as smartphones and most MP3 players.

I like the ‘magical’ sound effect of the surface sound technology which never fails to surprise people around me when switching on my sound backpack.

As many reader keep on asking about the sound quality: do not expect ‘boom-box’, ‘full bodied’ powerful sound but I would say you get decent sound quality for the occasional listening pleasure while around and about.

Available later this month for just $24.99 not bad considering you can give your iPod its own save iHome.

Reebok’s backpack and messenger pack with surface sound technology have been a bargain at introduction as one of the cheapest sound bags from an A-brand.

A few month later the price went down almost 50% and if you have every speculated of experiencing a sound system seamless integrated in one of your bags – now it’s time to close the deal.

Available at UK online retailer Born-for-Sports, the Surface Sound Backpack goes for £34.99 ($57.30) and the Surface Sound Messenger bag goes for £32.00 ($52.40).

Both bags come with an integrated stereo sound system using the thermofoam style segment of the bags as speaker panel activated by NXT’s surface sound system. This allows the invisible integration of speakers while still offering good sound. Every time I switch on my surface sound backpack it like magic as the sound is radiating from the bags material.

The sound comes from an integrated amplifier which is powered by 3x AA batteries. Any device that has an 3.5mm audio jack can be connected to these bags.

Both bags have plenty of pockets on the in- and outside to keep your stuff organized. Available in black, Reebok’s surface sound bags are good looking and give great value for money if you are on the lookout for a sound function on your bags.

Even if you don’t use the ‘surround sound’ in public places, it’s still a great feature to share youor tunes or have some background music while hanging out with friends somewhere away from big sound systems.

Targus® Inc., maker of top-selling laptop computer cases and accessories, added a boom-bag for the corporate folks looking for a unique way to spice up the often ‘grey’ business world.

The Sonic Corporate Backpack is an all-in-one kit optimized for audio presentations. The sound comes from a NXT stereo speaker zipped to the front and produces loud, clear audio from most music sources, including notebooks.

When audio is needed for a presentation, the speaker can be detached to reveal a foldable stand, a smart idea as the backpack does not have to stay in front of your presentation. 3x AA batteries give playback time for hours.

While on the road to the next meeting you can turn up the tunes to energize or relax – just watch out if the people around you share your musical taste. While on a business trip, the Sonic Corporate Backpack let’s you listen in the hotel room to your favorite tunes form any MP3 or notebook without the need for earphones.

Made from a lightweight and durable nylon with scratch-resistant lining, the backpack has an internal notebook holder, pocket for MP3 players, and enough space for all other office essentials.

All in all, bags with integrated speaker like the Sonic Corporate Backpack do offer great value when it comes to the need for a quickly set up, simple but still very reasonable sounding audio system in the corporate as well in the leisure world.

The Sonic Corporate Backpack is available from authorized Targus retailers across Europe for a suggested retail price of € 99,90 ($ 147.20)

REEBOK, a top name when it comes to sport apparel and fashion is joining the list of brands who add interactivity to their products.

Reebok’s first product in the Interactive Fashion segment is the NXT Speaker Backpack featuring a complete stereo sound system seamless integrated in a cool backpack design in Reebok’s signature style.

The NXT flat panel stereo speaker at the bottom of the bag blends into the design while delivering impressive audio quality powered by 2x AA batteries from any device connected via the 3.5mm audio jack.

Personally I like the use of the NXT speaker technology when adding sound into bags as it allows a ‘soft’ integration using the bags ‘natural’ materials such as EVA for the speaker membrane. Whit NXT technology there is no need of any additional or different material that would make bags or backpacks look geek like.

NXT’s flat-panel speaker technology transforms the backpack itself into a speaker for portable devices and even a laptop.

Reebok’s NXT Speaker Backpack is tough enough to withstand harsh conditions of school, business and travel.

The Reebok NXT Speaker Backpack is available at this UK online store for £69.99 ($ 136.77) but online for shop pick up at the moment. There are a couple of online retailers from Germany that sell it online for €129,90 ($ 201.-) like this online store.

It is a pleasant surprise to see such a low price at the launch of the Reebok NXT Speaker Backpack. Style and function wise the Reebok is similar to Quiksilver’s NXT sound backpacks which come for a very steep price of $ 500.- and more.

Getting the price of sound enabled BoomBags to a more ‘tolerable’ range will help to bring this product concept to a larger audience. The uses are manyfold: music can be enjoyed without earphones (where appropriate), have a ‘real’ sound background for a quick PSP or DS game or a magic sound system for presentations ‘on the road’.

A few days ago we had the story of the Hood.e running, a concept design that demonstrated the integration of speakers into a Hoodie. The creator Tim Dubitsky is looking now for commercialization partners.

To my surprise and some search on the WWW, I did find a Hoodie with Stereo Speaker system integrated into the hood, available for you to order and rock away.

Stressed and Depressed Ltd, a new UK fashion label specializing in the street-wear market, is behind this amazing piece of Wearable Electronic.

This Hoodie is using NXT‘s SurfaceSound technology designed into a Stereo Speaker Insert module which can be easily clipped directly into the hood of any Stressed and Depressed hooded garment.

The speaker insert is a stereo speaker system which is made from 2mm EVA foam panel speakers connect to a 3 watt amplifier which is powered by 3 AAA batteries. Via a 3.5mm headphone plug any iPod or other MP3 player will work with this Hoodie.

As I mentioned in the Hood.e article, making a detachable speaker module would eliminate the problem with a washing machine proof speaker system. Stressed and Depressed has solved this elegantly with the detachable unit and added the NXT technology to keep the speaker part soft.

An added bonus of a modular system is the technology (hoodie sound) can be moved from one garment to another as long as it is ‘made for hoodie sound’.

The sweater itself is made from 100% cotton and available in black or white zip-up or pullover designs. The hooded sweaters with stereo speaker retail for £55.- ($ 107.50) by Stressed and Depressed but shipment to mainland UK only.

I like the guys from Stressed and Depressed, putting this unique and for sure a lot of comment catching product on the market.

We have covered G-Tech products numerous times, no wonder they have a large selection of iPod and Audio bags in their program so it was fairly easy to find a hot bargain: the Soundwave Backpack with integrated soft speaker technology from NXT.

Reason for me to look around for Audio Backpacks: I noticed today quite some youngsters on the street using all kind of accessories to listen to their iPod or other MP3 player via external speaker. Not sure if this is becoming a trend or is it related to the energized spirit spring brings with it.

Coming home I scanned the Internet about backpacks with audio function and sure enough G-Tech came up right on the top. Looking a bit closer I found a real bargain, the roomy Soundwave Backpack with plenty of space for a laptop and many of the other stuff students or office worker need for the day.

The cool thing on the Soundwave is: part of the front material of the backpack acts as a speaker thanks to the NXT flat-panel speaker technology. Connect any audio source via the 3.5mm headphone connector and you have voluminous sound, be it for your and your friends enjoyment or for a more ‘serious’ use as audio element in presentations to enhance the laptop integrated speaker sound.

The Speaker/amplifier requires 3 AA batteries and will run an average of 8 hours but this depends largely on the volume setting, louder means shorter battery life time.

Available is the Soundwave in the color schemes grey/black and beige/brown for not more than $46.99 a real bargain even if there would be no sound(wave) in this backpack.

The only downside is: there are no controls in the shoulder strap so each time you need to adjust the volume or go to the next song you need to take out your player to do this – the old fashion way.

School supplies never sounded so good! Five Star®, maker of cool, high quality binder adds a new dimension to binders by integrating NXT speaker technology.

That’s a innovative way breathing new life in commodities like binders, something that has been around for ages. Sure, you select your binder based on the looks, your favorite color, image of your band or club or any of the many reasons you have.

Now you have the option of an integrated speaker that gives your binder character and individuality.

I’m not suggesting you forcefully entertain your class mates with your music, keep your earphones, I am suggesting you could use this as audio element for your project presentations.

Like the business people that have their own option to use their laptop bags as speaker (just look around our blog) students too have the option with the Sound Binder to impress teachers, professor and the rest of your class.

The Sound Binder works with any MP3 player, portable DVD player or Laptop. The top flab has a light weight small-profile speaker from NXT that gets it’s sound from an amplifier powered by 4 AAA batteries.

Available in black/black, black/red, black/pink, and black/blue via this online shop for $ 29.99

Class lasts all year. Make sure you’ve got the gear to go the distance and makes sound fun