The new Bose SoundDock 10 should provide awesome music for your iPod. The latest addition to the five-year-old line of iPod docks will blow away most listeners with its sound quality. It’s bigger, heavier, and pricier than earlier SoundDocks. This one costs $599 direct and ships Sept. 21, as does a drop-in a $149 Bluetooth audio module. It targets users, says Bose VP Phil Hess, “who want the sound quality of a primary music system for their iPod or iPhone.” The existing Bose SoundDock Portable system ($399) and Bose SoundDock Series II ($299) remain in the line.
Waited for the last minute to pre-order your Zune HD? You’re in luck. Dell is giving procrastinating early adopters a special discount–15-percent off for the 16GB and 32GB players. The players now run $186.99 and $246.49, respectively (down from $219.99 and $298.99).
The deal expires when the player goes on sale tomorrow. In the meantime, you can grab the coupon codes for the discounts here and here. Oh, and did we mention the free shipping?
Voudriez-vous le Zune HD? Tough luck, I’m afraid.
According to Ars Technica, Microsoft has no plans to sell the Zune HD outside the United States, apparently ceding the market to Apple. That doesn’t mean that the situation will remain like that forever, but Microsoft tells Ars:
“For the time being the Zune HD device will remain US-only,” a
Microsoft spokesperson said. “Right now we are focused on deploying
an exciting service in the form of Zune Video
to 18 markets. We are looking at potential future hardware experiences
for these markets, but do not have anything to announce right now.”
Now, it’s somewhat true that one needs the skill of a lawyer to interact with technology companies these days; what’s left unsaid can be as important as what is stated, alluded to, hinted, implied, referred to… well, you get the idea. So it’s entirely possible that Microsoft won’t ship the Zune HD outside the United States because, you know, they haven’t announced it. But we’re willing to accept what Microsoft is telling Ars at face value and accept that, possibly because the Zune’s market share is a faint shadow of the iPod’s, that the Zune will only be for les Americains for now.
Ah, that high that can come from only one thing: The anticipation of an Apple announcement! We’re still all abuzz around here comparing stories of missed predictions and lamenting what wasn’t unveiled.
While admittedly, yesterday’s iPodfest was on the uneventful side, we did get some solid incremental updates to the iPod nano, which now sports a shiny new videocamera, the iPod touch got faster, bigger, and cheaper, and iTunes got a welcome facelift and some fun new features. For a run-down of all that was unveiled at Apple’s event, read our news story.
For the full scoop on the latest iPods and the new-and-improved iTunes, check out our hands-on, labs-tested reviews:
Apple iPod nano (5th Generation)
The media queuing up for today’s Apple event.
Well, folks, tomorrow night is the start of the NFL season, which can only mean one thing: Apple will announce new iPods today so it can show the new toys off in commercials during tomorrow night’s game. Other than the promise seeing the same ad 400 times in the next month, what can we expect from today’s event in San Francisco?
Predicting is always a crap shoot when it comes to Jobs and company, but here’s my guesses: a 64GB iPod touch with a built-in camera, one last go-round (gasp) for the iPod classic, a newly designed nano, and the introduction of new iTunes features and the (sort of) highly anticipated Cocktail. Who doesn’t want a cocktail? It’s morning over in here in San Francisco, but by the end of this day, I’ll probably need one.
Oh, and here’s what I hope Apple introduces: a touch-screen nano. Sound silly? A touch-screen would ensure that all iPods–except the classic, which will be dead in a year, if not by the end of the announcement today–will operate using the same interface in the same manner; it’ll just be smaller. The nano already has an accelerometer, so I’d bet Apple is considering this…
Anyway, we’ll fine out soon enough! Come right back to this post before 10 AM Pacific time, 1 PM Eastern, when I’ll be live-blogging the announcement.
12:43: Lance Ulanoff and I are sending photos and updates already; check out our live coverage after the jump!
Shipments of organic light emitting diode (OLED) screens could increase eightfold by 2013, according to iSuppli, to over 240 million units–providing they can make the transition from passive matrix to active matrix technology.
OLEDs consume less power, offer higher contrast, a wider viewing angle, and very fast response time compared with regular LCDs.
Currently, OLED screens are found on cell phones, MP3 players, and even some flat panel TVs and digital TVs. Early screens could only display one or two colors, but manufacturers have made significant steps in the last year to bring the technology to much larger, full color panels. The report also mentioned the Nokia N85, an OLED-equipped smartphone with a 2.6-inch panel, as an example of the next wave of OLED devices.
Logitech today announced two new devices that can help move digital
music from your PC to your ears. The Squeezebox Radio (above, $199.99
list) is a Wi-Fi player that streams music from your home network–from
the Web, your subscription services, and your own collection of tunes.
Its color screen shows album art, track info, station info, and so on.
The
snazzy black Radio is only 5.12 by 8.66 inches, so its quite portable.
It features 6 preset buttons, a line-in jack, and even a built-in alarm
clock. Logitech claims the built-in speaker is of high-enough quality
to deliver music with very little distortion. You’ll be able to buy an
accessory pack with a rechargeable battery and IR remote for $49.99 in
November.
The Squeezebox Touch Wi-Fi player ($299.99) serves as
an interface between your digital music and your existing music system.
Logitech says it will support high-quality sampling rates of up to 24
bits at 96 kHz. The Touch offers a 4.3-inch color touch screen as well
as a USB port and SD slot, for additional music sources.Look for this
to ship in December. (Check out a photo after the jump.)
Both
devices will require 256MB of RAM, 100MB hard drive space, and an
802.11b/g/n network. And for those who just can’t get enough social
networking otherwise, both will offer Facebook and Flickr integration.
Details are emerging from Creative’s Singapore headquarters this morning about a new touch-screen-based portable media player. The ZEN X-Fi2 will be available in 8GB ($129.99), 16GB ($179.99), and 32GB ($229.99) capacities and can be pre-ordered from Amazon now.
The player looks, well, a lot like an iPod touch–but I suppose that can be said about most touch-screen-based PMPs now. The X-Fi2’s 3-inch TFT LCD will feature 262,000-color support, but no word yet on the screen’s resolution. Codec support seems well thought out, if not overly generous: MP3, WMA, AAC, FLAC, and Audible4 for music; WMV9, MPEG4-SP, DivX4/5, and XviD for video; and JPEG and BMP for photos. There’s a microSD expansion slot, and 32-preset FM radio, and the ability to display RSS content feeds while offline.
The player will also come preloaded with some music tracks from a variety of artists courtesy of eMusic and James Patterson’s maximum Ride: the Angel Experience, as read by Evan Rachel Wood. And, as always, the X-Fi Crystalizer is loaded onto the player, for those who wish to play around with stereo-enhancing effects.
Not bad, but there seems to be no true Internet support, which puts the player a notch behind the Zune HD and whatever new iPods we see next week. Price, however, could make all the difference. Creative has always made decent players–some of them even excellent. So for the people who care more about music and videos than Web browsing, the ZEN X-Fi2 could be just what they’re looking for–and certainly cheaper than the $220 and $290 16Gb and 32GB Zunes and iPod touches.
Look for a full review at PCMag.com in the coming weeks.
Your iPhone’s built in speaker can only do so much. If you really want to get your room rocking, you’re going to need an external speaker system. I like the looks of the newly refreshed Klipsch iGroove SXT. While this speaker was originally released in 2007, the company just refreshed it to make it compatible with new iPhones and iPods.
The new iGroove includes a bi-amplified design, which means each driver is individually amplified–a change meant to remove distortion. The company has also re-tuned the bass ports on the sides to remove any “port noise.”
The iGroove can accept iPod Shuffles and other media players through a rear auxiliary port, and also includes an S-video port for TV connections. One of the more useful features is the rapid recharge circuit, which lets you power-up your dead iPod or iPhone in a hurry.
You can find the iGroove SXT at Best Buy stores or on the Klipsch Web site for $149. The site says it’s currently backordered, however.
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