iPod vibrator? Yes, THAT kind of vibrator...

At first glance, we figured the Naughtibod to be a great adult iPod accessory and a fantastic gift for audiophile sweethearts, and possibly a good first-time personal vibe for Shuffle-toting folks who might shy away from the more garden variety of the species. And it very may well be all of that, but with a few practical caveats.

The Naughtibod does exactly what it promises, which is that it's a silky plastic, petite vibe that buzzes with or without music. Run on batteries, the toy functions nicely with fast and slow speeds or a variety of pre-programmed rhythms including pulsing, throbbing, and escalating repetitions such as the "roller coaster”--slow up-and-down in vibrational intensity. Which is all fun stuff that sets the cute, tastefully designed vibe apart from most basic store-bought buzzers.

The music function requires switching end caps and attaching something that is non-ironically referred to as the Freedom Cord, prompting us to wonder if perhaps the cord was once referred to as a French Cord. With your Freedom Cord in place--including a splitter headphone jack at the base--the vibe attaches to any audio device.

We found it plays nicely with laptops, iPods of all shapes and sizes, and our old iMac and both iPhone and iPod touch. However, the true audio snob, the nervous first-timer and anyone who wants to hear the music they're playing will find that the louder you crank the music the more intensely--and loudly--the Naughtibod vibrates. Even if your iPod goes to 11, you’ll inevitably hear the tiny toy over the music.

Thinking that perhaps Nirvana might not get us to nirvana, we switched to some trip-hop, attempted to cool down with the dream-pop sounds of Mazzy Star, and then tried to find a stable beat with some old school hip-hop. No matter how we dialed it in, the vibe didn't respond to the beat reliably. It was sometimes a second behind, and the louder our iPod, the more we just got a steady, muddled buzz. At which point we were inextricably tangled in the Freedom Cord, and decided to end the experiment before someone lost circulation… or an eardrum.

Violet Blue is an author and columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. Visit her blog at TinyNibbles.com.

THE BOTTOM LINE

It’s cute and non-threatening for newbies, but the Naughtibod can get distractingly loud

Naughtibod
COMPANY: OhMiBod
CONTACT: www.ohmibod.com
PRICE: $69.00
REQUIREMENTS: None. Works with all MP3 players.
Compact. Batteries included. Doesn't look like a scary alien sex toy. Music is optional. Variable speeds.
Cheap lightweight plastic feel. N batteries are weird. Tethered during iPod use. Loud like a hive of angry bees.