If hitting that "Cancel Sync" button in iTunes is just too terrifying of a task, the Tune Blocker from Matias is here to save your day. For the low price $24.95, you get the three-foot cable which allows you to toggle between data syncing and charging only modes. For another five bucks, you can score another three-feet of mouseless anti-syncing bliss, or you could just take the economical high road and stick to the included cable that comes with your iPod or iPhone out-of-the-box and save your cash for a much more useful purchase later on.

Tons of little accessories from Griffin today -- here's a quick breakdown, pictures in the gallery!

• SmartTalk Bluetooth headset: dual-mic headset featuring STEPvoice "acoustic voice separation" technology to kill background and wind noise, and features voice feedback during pairing. $100, now shipping, or wait until February to buy it in a bundle with the PowerJolt car charger for $120.
• TuneBuds Fit: In-ear headphones with 10mm drivers in an "anatomically correct" aluminum curved design. Sure, okay. They'll be $50 in February.
  
• Noise-reducing auxiliary audio cable: Car-oriented headphone cable with an inline dual-element noise filter to eliminate hum from vehicle electrical systems. If you need this -- you know if you do, trust us -- it'll be well worth the $20 in February.
  
• SmartShare USB: Sure, lots of people could use this $20 two-port USB hub with a unique splitter-like design, but Griffin's targeting it at MacBook Air owners, because let's face it -- it's fun to point out how limited the MacBook Air is.
  
• PowerBlock Reserve: Adds a removable battery to the popular PowerBlock USB charger that allows it to charge your iPod / iPhone away from an outlet. A little steep at $40, but the battery is held in place magnetically for extra awesomeness.
  
• PowerJolt Reserve: Same deal as the PowerBlock, but in an iPod / iPhone car charger package.
  
• Charge Converter FireWire to USB: We're still unclear as to why all these iPhone 3G FireWire charging adapters are all so expensive, but $30 will get you Griffin's take on the idea sometime later this month.

SanDisk got official (after some fighting) with its 16GB microSDHC and M2 cards way back in September, but now we're being formally introduced to the Mobile Ultra line. Both cards remain topped out at 16GB, and it's also bundling a MobileMate Micro Reader along with each. They ought to be hitting shelves this month for $119.99 (microSDHC) / $129.99 (M2), and you can catch the full release just after the break.

We all yearn for a life lived sans wires, yet many of us still find our media players dangling from the things. Mono Bluetooth headsets are already everywhere, but this could be the year that those of the stereo variety take off, and Altec Lansing's hoping its new BackBeat series will be a contender. They're made in partnership with earpiece-guru Plantronics, so callers will find integrated voice dialing, omnidirectional microphones, 7 hours of talk time, and AudioIQ to boost volume when you're in a noisy situation. For the music listener the sets include tune-channeling, canal-sealing buds, a behind-the-head band, and support for A2DP, AVRCP, HSP v1.1 and HFPv1.5. For those devices that list doesn't cover (we're looking at you, iPhone), the $130 BackBeat 906 includes a small transmitter. Everyone else can opt for the otherwise identical but transmitter-less BackBeat 903, which is $30 cheaper. We look forward to getting our ears on these at CES -- hopefully after they've had a thorough cleaning.

[Via iPodNN]

We've been hearing intermittent reports that T-Mobile may or may not be sending new, better batteries for owners of juice-deprived G1s in the field, but in the meantime, Seidio has a solution of its own. This 1400mAh battery is rated a full 400mAh higher than the OEM unit, presumably giving you an extra hour or two of Android-powered bliss between charges -- and even better, it fits in the same space with no replacement cover needed. $42.95 sounds steep, but then again, it's hard to put a price on talk time.

Apple's claims that the iPhone is a console might carry a bit more weight if the thing had, you know, some physical inputs. Touchscreens and tilt sensors are great, but without at least a couple of buttons and a D-pad it's kind of a hard sell to your average gamer. Inputs are exactly what the iControlPad case for the iPhone adds, and we've got confirmation that the thing is at long last heading to production. The pic above is the final prototype, set to be colored black upon release -- and we presume those gaping holes will be filled with something other than air, too. No word on an anticipated ship date or price, but -- great as it may be -- without Apple support we don't expect it'll to do much to help the iPhone's gaming cred anyhow.

Look, we know haphazardly stapling an iPod dock onto nearly any product can cause almost-paralyzing fits of hyperbole amongst marketing personnel, but Scosche's description of its sad little reviveLITE nightlight charger as "cordless" because it plugs directly into the wall might take the cake. Oh, wait -- you know what actually takes the cake? It's priced at a delightfully insulting $40. Yeah, we'll stick with the monster under the bed, guys. At least it respects us.

Earth-friendly initiatives are picking up steam in the mobile world just as they are with virtually every other industry, and the redesign of the wall warts we all use to recharge our phones seems to be one of the lowest-hanging fruits. The problem stems from the fact that the chargers continue to draw prodigious power even after the phones to which they're attached are fully charged, leading to millions of wasted watt-hours year in and year out. The problem's so fricking big that the top five handset manufacturers put aside their differences long enough to agree on a standard for rating how "green" chargers are, and O2's British outpost wasted no time in jumping on the bandwagon with a universal charger said to be some 70 percent more efficient than your average brick. We imagine most other carriers are going to follow suit on this -- at least, they should -- and at £14.99 (about $22), it looks like there ain't much of a premium for saving the planet. Cheers to that, we say.

Whittling might have been a hoax and Blackberry massages just a ruse, but the Awethumb is all too real -- and all too freaking amazing. Yeah, we're not at all sure that these $8 plastic thumbguards -- available in your choice of colors! -- will actually protect you from repetitive stress or even make typing easier, but all the dudes and dudettes on the El train will know you mean business when you slip 'em on. As an added bonus, lack of compatibility with the iPhone will allow you to express your disdain for touchscreens in a satisfyingly dramatic way -- if you can't rock it with an Awethumb, you're not rockin'. Ah, to be young and ensheathed in plastic thumb protectors. Frankly astounding video after the break.

It's not going to somehow magically conjure a jack where there's currently nothing more than a sad-looking ExtUSB port, but new G1 buyers can take some solace in the knowledge that they'll be able to plug in, turn it up, and tune out right out of the box. We've received official word from HTC that 3.5mm headphone adapters for the ExtUSB port are now being bundled with the phone, meaning you won't be stuck with that janky (no, seriously, it's insanely terrible) headset with the special connector that you get free of charge; after all, when we're blasting the Jonas Brothers at full tilt, we need the kind of fidelity that only high-end earbuds can provide. What, you got a problem with that?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, LG, and Sony Ericsson probably don't see eye-to-eye on very many topics, but thankfully, they can all agree that Planet Earth is worth saving (or, at the very least, they can all agree that getting hated on by Greenpeace sucks). The five handset juggernauts have announced a common five-star rating system for phone chargers, making it easier for buyers to figure out which chargers consume the least energy; adapters that have features like automatic standby when the phone is finished charging will be awarded higher ratings. Nokia's been saying for some time that a ridiculous amount of energy is wasted every year by chargers that are idling their watts away plugged into fully-charged phones, so this could be a major step toward getting charger manufacturers to produce more advanced models en masse.

[Via Phone Scoop]

If you've got to choose between endurance and beauty, we can think of plenty of good folks who'd gladly take the endurance card without a moment's hesitation, and for those people Seidio offers this... thing. Discreet, it's not, but what the Seidio Innocell lacks in fashion it should make up for in sheet capability, stuffing 3500mAh of lithium ion juice into a soft-touch shell that extends 5 to 6mm beyond the Bold's standard back -- some 2000mAh beyond what the standard pack is going to give you. Seidio claims it'll ship the week of November 28, and pricing is currently set at $65; we're still waiting for our promised fuel cell revolution, but we guess this'll have to do in the meanwhile.

[Via BlackBerryNews]