Jan 10

Cambridge Unveils the iD100 iPhone and iPad Dock

Posted in: ipad, iPhone, MP3 Digital Audio, Today's Chili

Cambridge iD100

CES 2011 may be over, but the product releases are still going strong, with new products slated to hit the market later in the year making their appearances. Among them is the new Cambridge iD100 iPhone and iPad Dock, which Cambridge can “transform the iPad into a true audiophile device.” 
The iD100 is a docking station that will support the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch when it’s released later this spring, and is designed to provide clear audio and video out from your device to your home theater or HDTV. 
The iD100 will feature S/P-DIF outputs, optical audio, and digital audio outputs, and component, composite, and S-video video outputs on the back, as well as and IR input for remote controls and a USB port to sync your docked iOS device with your PC or Mac. When it’s available, Cambridge says it will retail for $279.
 
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Jan 10

Facebook Not Shutting Down March 15

Posted in: MP3 Digital Audio, Today's Chili

Thumbnail image for Mark Zuckerberg.jpg

While the rest of the country was fixated on politically motivated shooting, bad weather, and the Consumer Electronics Show, its seems that a chunk of the Internet was reeling from the terrible news that Facebook would be shutting down, mid-March. Sure the site just received $500 million dollars, has been valued at billions upon billions, and was the subject of a recent critically acclaimed major motion–but hey, the great one always quit at the top of their game, right?

News that the wildly successful social network was closing up shop was originally reported by The Weekly World News–that home of Batboy notorious for making the The National Enquirer look like The New York Times. But while the WNN has never been taken particularly seriously, this report really has the Internet to thank, having quickly ballooned and taken on a life of its own, as things on the Internet are wont to do.

“After March 15th the whole website shuts down,” a fake Facebook exec fakely told the realish Weekly World News. “So if you ever want to see your pictures again, I recommend you take them off the internet. You won’t be able to get them back once Facebook goes out of business.”

PCMag has taken the whole thing as a sort of cautionary tale against such eventualities.

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Jan 10

Rdio Adds Pixies, Spoon, Vampire Weekend, Tim McGraw

Posted in: MP3 Digital Audio, Music, Today's Chili

pixies.jpeg

I like Rdio. I gave the subscription music service high marks when it first launched, for its smooth interface and strong focus on socialization. I had to knock the service, however, for its relatively paltry selection.

When I bumped into some folks from the service last week at CES, however, they assured me that they were on top of it, that the company had added plenty of music since I took it for a test drive, and that they were continuing to do so. Apparently the service waited for the CES buzz to die down a bit before making its latest announcement.

The Skype founder created service has just added a ton of music to its selection, including such big name indie artists as Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Spoon, The xx, The National, Vampire Weekend, The Pixies, Belle and Sebastian, and Boards of Canada. Also on that list, funnily enough, is country star Tim McGraw. The new selection comes courtesy of a partnership with music licensing firm, Merlin.

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Jan 07

CES: Razer Chimaera XBox 360 Gaming Headset Starts Shipping

Posted in: gaming, MP3 Digital Audio, razer, Today's Chili, video games

Razer Chimaera

If you’ve been waiting for Razer’s Chimaera Gaming Headset for the XBox 360 since it was announced at CES last year, it’s on display again at CES this year and Razer says they’re ready to ship to eager XBox 360 gamers looking to replace their stock headsets with some 5.1-channel surround sound. 
The wireless headset features a docking station for the rechargeable battery, a noise isolating microphone that fits into the body of the headset and flips down when you want to speak, and boasts its own EQ and audio-output jacks on the docking station if you’re playing multiplayer and want to connect another pair of headphones. 
Razer says the 5.1 channel version will sell for $199.99 list price, and they plan to offer a 2.1 channel version for $129.99 list price. 
[via Engadget]
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Jan 07

The “World’s Smallest” MP3 Player, Again

Posted in: MP3, MP3 Digital Audio, Today's Chili

Smallest MP3 Player 2011.JPG

Speaking of dubious claims, there are usually more than a few every year in the CES International Hall. Over the years, the claims usually change to fit the latest technology trends. A few, however, are seemingly evergreen. Take the “world’s smallest MP3 player,” for instance.
There are a lot fewer companies claiming this feat in 2011 (most have moved onto the MP4 player field–no word on MP5 players yet, though), but a few are still carrying the torch. 
This is the Kube. It’s shaped like a cube (clever, huh?). It claims the elongated title of “the world’s tiniest thumb-sized MP3 player. It was manufacturered by a Sinapore company. It has 2GB of built-in memory and no screen–but it sure is tiny, huh?

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Jan 06

Monster Audio Unveils Miles Davis Trumpet Headphones

Posted in: audio, headphones, MP3 Digital Audio, Today's Chili

Miles Davis Trumpet Headphones

We’ve seen a number of musicians get their own line of audio equipment recently, from Dr. Dre and Beats Audio to Ludacris’s new “Soul by Ludacris” line of headphones. This week at CES, Monster Audio announced that they would unveil the Miles Davis Trumpet Headphones, an in-ear model designed and inspired by Miles Davis and his music, and developed in collaboration with Sony and Miles Davis Properties, LLC, which owns the rights to his work. 
The earbuds even look a bit like trumpets, with a flared design that expands out to the actual earbud itself and is narrow in the center, with gold-colored trim and silver body design. The headphones are also etched with Miles Davis’ signature on the sides, and feature a stylized image of Davis playing the trumped on the flat audio cable leading down from the earbuds. 
Monster didn’t reveal when the Trumpet headphones would be available, but they did say they’ll be on sale for $349 retail price. 
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Jan 05

Doctor Who, Top Gear Play Tunes at CES

Posted in: MP3 Digital Audio, Today's Chili

Tardis, Top Gear

The BBC is getting into audio. Or at least, it’s licensing out two of its biggest brands to be used as speakers, created by Speakal, a company known for making cutesy speaker bases and iPod docks, such as the iPig, iBoo, and the flower shaped iPom.

The first: the helmet worn by The Stig on Top Gear, which will hold an iPhone or iPod touch (or maybe any audio device) nestled up top. It has an integrated subwoofer, digital amp, and 25W output.

And of course, there’s a police call box, circa 1963. Better known as the TARDIS, the blue box is typically seen as a (not-very-well) camouflaged time machine used by a former renegade Time Lord, now the last of his people, who likes to randomly pick up women from Earth and take them on adventures. This version doesn’t appear to have a dock, but will instead work with any media player that supports Bluetooth playback. No word yet on the price. You’ll have to supply your own traveling companion.

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Jan 05

Ludacris Gets His Own Headphone Line

Posted in: headphones, MP3 Digital Audio, Today's Chili

soul by ludacris.jpg

Ludacris certainly isn’t the first musical artist to get his own headphone line–in recent years, we’ve seen models from Dr. Dre, Puffy, Justin Bieber, and Lady Gaga. Heck, he’s not even the first artist of the year to snag the honor–that likely belongs to the late Bob Marley, whose kids introduced a line of headphones and other iPod accessories featuring the reggae pioneer.


That said, the rapper’s headphone are, in fact, pretty sweet looking. Ludacris has teamed up with Signeo to offer up five different models, which will be branded “Soul by Ludacris.” The line includes the High Definition Professional SL300 Powered Noise Cancelling headphone, High Definition On-Ear models SL150 and SL100, and the SE99 and SE49 High Definition In-Ear headphones.

All models include “world class” noise cancellation and audio mixing. Also, these things: “professionally voiced sound technology with advanced circuitry and drivers designed by a team of engineers who have developed some of the most notable acoustic breakthroughs in the audio industry.”

The headphones are set to hit the market early this year. We’ll be getting some more information — as well as a chat with the man himself — later in the show.

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Jan 05

Custom Earphones for the Masses

Posted in: headphones, MP3 Digital Audio, Today's Chili

sculpted eers.jpg

Speaking of CES Unveiled (as we will most likely for a little bit longer), the oddest sight of the show (we’re pretty used to Interactive Toy’s duck and shotgun thing by now) might well have been SonoMax’s table. The company was showing off its new Sculpted Eers customized earbuds.

The product comes with what looks like some manner of medical gear. Pop them over your ears, and they will custom fit silicon earbuds for your ears only–the sort of high end treatment you suspect only people like Lady Gaga and Bono get. The whole process takes about four minutes, according to the company. Gearlog was looking into the possibility of getting our own, but the line was too damn long–maybe next year…

According to Sonomax, the custom earbuds offer such advantages as crisper sound, more frequency (including improved bass), a secure fit on your ears, and hearing protection. Perhaps we’ll be able to get our hands on the things when the show floor opens up on Thursday.

No official word yet on when the headphones will be available to the unwashed, non-Gaga masses.

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Jan 05

Eton Soulra 2: Solar Powered iPod Dock

Posted in: iPhone, ipod, MP3 Digital Audio, speaker, Today's Chili

soulra.jpg

Here’s the other cool bit of green tech we saw at tonight’s CES Unveiled show in Las Vegas. It’s the Soulra 2, from Eton, a new and improved version of the company’s solar powered iPod dock. Like its predecessor, leaving this thing out in the sun will both give you power for the speakers and charge up your iPod or iPhone.
This version ups the ante, however, with eight speakers and a giant solar panel which will give you eight hours of audio on a five hour solar charge. It’s a bit unwieldy, compared to other speaker docks, but the included strap should help you lug the thing around.

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