Tivoli introduces new iPAL - now available in yellow

Posted by Finnian Durkan Categories: Design, Home Entertainment, Music

I love listening to my iPod. Everywhere I go, I have it plugged in - on the road, in my car, on the bus, at work; everywhere.  But no matter how much I love having all of my audio/visual media right at my fingertips, there has always been one thing that has bothered me about iPods and all of their associated paraphernalia - they all look the same. 

They all resemble something that Eero Saarinen carved out of a block of plastic, polished to a shine, and made available to the public.  This is all well and good if you have a condo chock-full of Jetsons furniture, eschewing any and all hard lines in favor of the Apple standard of soft eggshell curved products.  I, on the other hand, am a pretty typical guy and have a living space peppered with very angular, semi-broken furniture and accoutrements that make a proto-futuristic iPod docking station look a tad out of place.

Enter Tivoli’s iPAL docking station.  Resembling something that would be right at home on a WWII submarine or knocking around in the jungle on a National Geographic expedition; it is the perfect addition to my jumbled, yet spartan living situation.  Stacked next to my hotplate and the Zenith TV that I use as the base for my coffee table, it looks perfectly natural - like it was meant to be there.  Despite its rugged and retro appearance, it offers amazing sound quality, and also comes with an AM/FM auto-tuner and a NiMH battery pack that recharges in three hours and offers 16 hours of continuous play.

While its price, at $274.04 (192.40 Euro) makes it far more expensive than any of the rest of my furniture, it still looks mighty fine sitting atop my bookshelf made of cinder-blocks and 2x4’s.

Read More | Questo Design

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Sonos announces the Sonos Controller 200 CR200 touchscreen remote

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Features, Home Entertainment, Music, Wireless / WiFi

We’ve been waiting on this for a long, long time, and we are happy to share the news that Sonos has officially announced the Sonos Controller 200 CR200 remote. Why is this news to be excited about? Well, if you’re a Sonos owner (or a potential owner,) this means that you get a touchscreen Sonos remote, rather than the old-school click wheel version of the remote. Like the rest of the Sonos gear, this will work anywhere in the home, is meant to be a shared device that can be left in a common area, is more intuitive, turns on instantly when picked up, and has a nice capacitive VGA touchscreen. It even has a replaceable battery. The only thing that the old remote has that this new one doesn’t is that the new one isn’t water-resistant and splash proof. The Sonos CR200 goes on sale tomorrow, and will sell for $349, $50 less than the older model. Even better, the Sonos Controller 100 will be heavily discounted until they are sold out, so if you do want a splash-proof Sonos Controller that you can take to the hot tub, now’s your chance.

We’ve played with the new remote (video coming shortly!) and we can very easily recommend it - it makes finding music from the vast number of libraries and services that Sonos can connect to a breeze, because when you have that much music, a clickwheel just won’t measure up. Be sure to check out our Sonos Controller 200 gallery for a bunch of images of the new remote.

Read More | Sonos Controllers

Gallery: Sonos announces the Sonos Controller 200 CR200 touchscreen remote

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Olive Opus No. 4 2TB music server

Posted by Mark Rollins Categories: Home Entertainment, Music, Storage

According to the dictionary, and opus is considered “one in a series of musical works”.  In the case of the Olive Opus No. 4 music server, this thing is capable of holding 2TB worth of musical works. 

That’s room enough for 6,000 CDs, which can be accessed from the full-color display, stored in a lossless FLAC format. In the back is a WiFi adapter, a left and right analog output, optical/coaxial digital audio outputs, as well as a USB socket and Ethernet port. 

Now how much would you pay?  Try $1,799, buddy. 

Read More | Press Release

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Klipsch Image S4i earbuds with iPhone and iPod controls

Posted by Mark Rollins Categories: Accessories, Music, Portable Audio / Video

It has been a while since we covered a Klipsch product, but the company just announced the new Image S4i, “an in-ear headset that combines the company’s acclaimed sound performance and amazing comfort value with a unique in-line microphone and remote.” 

It’s designed for iPhone and iPod users, and features Apple’s advanced three-button microphone and remote system that can handle voice and/or music controls.  By the way, the Image S4i works seamlessly with the iPhone 3GS, and the latest releases of iPods.  It is also compatible with the Apple VoiceOver feature on the 3rd gen iPod Shufle, so you can hear the name of the playlist, song, or artist. 

The Klipsch Image S4i is planned for release in August, at a price of $99.99. 

Read More | Klipsch Press Release

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Aibelive AITALK With iPod Voice Command

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Portable Audio / Video

Aibelive’s portable AITALK can control your iPod with only voice commands. Search for albums, singles and artists and your player will begin immediately after your final selection. With Speaker Independent technology, there is no training required, it supports several languages and music preview when in search mode, and claims up to 90% accuracy. The gadget can also aid those who are driving and the disabled. When released, the AITALK should retail for about $85.00.

Read More | Aiblelive via Aving

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Video Refrigerator Memo Magnet

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Household, Portable Audio / Video, USB

Nag your loved ones with this Video Fridge Magnet. Record up to 30 seconds of A/V with its built-in camera and recorder, and it will playback on a 1 1/2-inch LCD screen and speaker. When a message is stored on the device, an LED lights up. With one click of a button, the message plays back. When it needs a recharge, plug into your PC’s USB port. Although the magnet is temporarily out of stock, contact them if you would like to pre-order for GBP 29.99 (~$48.92.)

Read More | Thumbs Up

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Tascam CD-200 CD Player

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Home Entertainment, Music

Tascam has updated their CD-160 player with the appropriately named CD-200. Utilizing a TEAC CD-5020A transport that has a smoother loading drawer for less clamping noise, the player also has an improved internal clock for better sound and less jitter. The CD-200 features the same phono outputs and S/PDIF digital out as its predecessor, can play MP3 and WAV files and comes with a wireless remote. Contact Tascam for pricing information.

Read More | Tascam

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iRiver B30 PMP Supports DMB

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Movies, Music, Portable Audio / Video

Iriver has released their new B30, a successor to the B20. The PMP has an accelerometer, supports UCI and comes with SRS CS headphones. Other features of the 109.5 x 56.9 x 11.15mm player include a 2.8-inch QVGA display, a battery life of 40 hrs. music, 6 hrs. video and 5.5 hrs. DMB. Compatible with MP3/WMA/OGG/ASF/FLAC/APE audio and AVI/WMV/MP4 video, select white, black or silver in 4/8/16GB (with microSD) at prices starting at $155.00.

Read More | DAP Review

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Sonix7 Media Pro PMP

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Portable Audio / Video

The Sonix7 Media Pro has the distinction of having 20 hours of video and 30 hours of audio playback on a charge. The PMP has a 3.2-inch TFT touchscreen, supports MP3, MP4, AVI and Xvid formats, and has eBook capability. It also has a digital and video cam in case you want to make some videos of your own. The Sonix7 can hold up to 4,000 songs, 14,000 photos or 60 hours of video and is available for $136.00 for the 8GB model and $159.00 for 16GB.

Read More | Sonix7

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NANO 7 Series Digital Picture Frames

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Cameras, Misc. Tech

Jobo has introduced its new line of NANO high-end digital frames. The 7 Series Basic, Pro and Media versions are each less than a cm thick, come with remote and have a 7-inch high res TFT color LCD display. The Pro and Media frames have touch-activated buttons on the bottom front that disappear when not in use. The Media frame shows digital photo slide shows, plays music as well as video with audio and music. Contact Jobo for price and availability.

Read More | Jobo

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