Granted, the untouched iPod doesn’t sound half bad to the average ear, but for the audiophiles in the house, you all somehow know better. Enter Red Wine Audio, which took its discerning ways and channeled them into a nifty iPod hack that "reduces the analog signal path by taking the signal directly from the internal Wolfson DAC and then hard-wiring it to the dock connector." Additionally, the original case was stripped in favor of a bulkier, roomier aluminum shell that could house the new electronics, and "high-end Black Gate non-polarized NX-Hi-Q coupling capacitors" were used to ensure the highest audio fidelity. Onlookers noted that they "couldn’t tell a difference" between the iMod iPod’s WAV playback and a normal CD player, and while the company looks to be readying these pre-modified units for sale by the end of the month, there’s no telling how many hundies you’ll be throwing down for it. Click on through for a few more snaps.

Red Wine Audio will actually be modding user-provided 5G iPods for a charge of $249 (plus $15 for shipping).

As if treating a mannequin that can bleed and even flat line on you wasn’t stressful enough, researchers at Gifu University’s Graduate School of Medicine are hoping to make your residency even harder to manage. A newfangled robotic dummy packs a potent artificial brain, as it can reportedly "respond verbally to questions about how it feels and move its body in ways that exhibit the symptoms of its ailment." The current prototype is modeled after a female who honestly looks to have had one incredibly rough day week, and while it wasn’t clear if instructors could program the android to act out only a certain number of understood illnesses, we’re sure the library of problems will grow with time. Currently, the bot is being trailed to see if it will indeed prove to be a valuable learning tool to eager med students, and if all goes well, it should "become part of the curriculum next year."

We seem to have been draining our phone batteries even faster than usual this week, so we find TPO’s power-saving display sensor tech to be pretty encouraging news for the future. The Taiwanese display manufacturer has figured out how to integrate ambient light sensors directly into a standard LCD screen, resulting in more accurate light readings than the usual external sensor setup. The system can also compensate for temperature with the addition of a black level sensor, which means the screen can detect light levels from 3 to 10,000 lux and adjust the backlight accordingly. The sensor tech is designed for small screens in mobile devices, and TPO estimates that the setup reduces overall power consumption around 30% under normal use, which would maybe let us get through a day without resorting to buying that enormous external battery pack we’ve been dreading. No word on when we’ll see these screens hit the consumer level, but TPO says mass production won’t start until 2008, so better keep that charger handy for a while.

We can’t say that Genius’ latest laser mouse is apt to cause any cancellation emails to start flying over those recently ordered Obsidians, but the Traveler 515 Laser does a fair job in the specs department to make up for its vanilla looks. Similar to Saitek’s critter, this pointing device boasts a touch-sensitive OptoWheel scroll area, right and left click buttons, Flip 3D and Smart IE hotkeys for Vista users, Turbo Scroll for blowing past those incredibly long patent filings, an adjustable 800 / 1,600 DPI laser, and compatibility with OS X and most Windows flavors. Additionally, this device is said to play nice with both righties and southpaws alike, and while looks may not be everything, we imagine that this one will end up priced a tad lower than its dashing competitor in order to compensate in the attractivity arena.

That special edition Halo 3 Zune is real, out, and up for pre-order exclusively through GameStop. Available June 15th (pre-order now), the $249 promotional Zune comes packin’ a 30GB disk loaded with a flood of Halorific music, video and artwork. Although you’ve made your thoughts about Microsoft’s would-be iPod killer abundantly clear, the tie-in with the hotly anticipated September 25th release of Halo 3 by Bungie Studio (owned by Microsoft) could generate some renewed Zune-buzz all but lost since its initial launch. Welcome to the Social Covenant kids.