docks

Samsung will unveil a new line of AirPlay audio docks at CES that are the first to support both the Samsung Galaxy S family and the iPhone.

The flagship DA-E750 features compatibility with both Samsung and Apple devices, including iPads, with what Samsung describes as "dual docking structure. Wireless connectivity is catered for with AirPlay, AllShare for Samsung Galaxy, and Bluetooth. A USB port is also provided with support for MP3, WMA, and WAV.

The DA-E750 will feature Samsung's proprietary 100-watt hybrid vacuum tube amplifier and a 2.1 speaker system.

Meanwhile, the 40-watt DA-E670 features AllShare, Airplay, … Read more

Take a long look at your iPhone. What does it remind you of? If you said, "breakfast," then I have the perfect dock for you.

The Gavio Toast iPhone dock and speaker system looks like a 1950s toaster all covered in chrome with rounded retro lines.

The details are sketchy, but it looks like the speakers hide behind the front slots. The iPhone sits right on top like it just popped up.

There is an adjustable volume control and a mysterious handle on the side that looks like it should trigger the dock to suck your iPhone inside.… Read more

Arcam has a reputation for producing meticulously engineered high-end audio products, so I was curious to try its iPod speaker, the rCube.

I've shied away from reviewing all that many iPod speakers, mostly because they don't offer the best possible sound for the money. That's my beat, finding great-sounding gear, and iPod speakers rarely qualify. Convenient, you bet, sound great, well, that's another story.

The Arcam rCube is a portable iPod dock. Fit and finish are upscale; it's a truly elegant design. The top of the cube has five touch-sensitive buttons--source select, wireless on/off, volume up and down, and standby--arrayed in front of the flip-up door that conceals the iPod dock and the speaker's carry handle. The rCube is available in a black or white finish, and I think the white one looks great. … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week people wrote in with questions on using Disk Utility from a prior version of OS X, whether or not to repair a broken G5 or upgrade, how to recover a missing Downloads folder on the Dock, and the necessity of the Lion recovery partition. We continually answer e-mail questions, and though we present answers here, we welcome alternative approaches and views from readers and encourage you to post your suggestions in the comments.

NOTE: The "contact us" box on the MacFixIt … Read more

It would certainly be an interesting development if an app that lets people dress up their Facebook profiles to make them look more like My Space pages somehow led to Facebook's downfall.

That's probably unlikely. But The Wall Street Journal's Emily Steel is reporting that profile-modification app PageRage is causing Facebook some angst.

That's because the free version of PageRage includes ads--ads that Facebook makes no money from, and that, in some cases, apparently obscure the ads from which Facebook does profit.

The PageRage advertisements are reportedly big and splashy and push products from major companies … Read more

Your power management could be getting a whole lot smarter. Apple has just been granted a patent that details an intelligent dock connector able to properly adjust power levels for multiple connected devices from a single outlet source.

As with other power-related patents that Apple has applied for in the past, the technology involved here seems to be exactly the kind of thing people, including myself, have been waiting for. In a time when everything needs to be charged, be it a MacBook Pro, an iPad 2, or an iPhone 4S, having a one-and-done solution is certainly the solution many … Read more

Any audiophile would appreciate a portable Bluetooth speaker this holiday, but electrician-turned-artist Devin Ward has a more sustainable solution: he guts vintage clock radios and recycles them into desktop speakers for your laptop, smartphone, and tablet computer.

You probably have a similar tube radio lying around the house, but Devon does the work for you and rewires the internal circuitry, replaces faulty electronics, and even adds a 1/8-inch audio jack that lets you play music out of any device with a standard headphone minijack.

You're left with a speaker that probably won't sound as clear as the Bose SoundLink, but definitely looks better on a shelf and has the added benefit of an AM/FM radio.

According to Core77, Devon admits that the receiver may pick up some fuzzy static from electromagnetic interference, but if you're willing to deal with that and a $200-plus price tag, you may have just found the perfect holiday gift.

Check out Devin's Etsy store to buy, or click through the jump for more photos.… Read more

If you're interested in a new pair of media speakers, Audyssey's running a Cyber Monday $149 special on its Apple TV-friendly Lower East Side Media Speakers that trims $50 off the $199 street price (list price is $249).

In my review, I said, "The Audyssey Lower East Side Media Speakers have an attractive, compact design, and offer good sound with lots of bass. They're also one of the few powered stereo speakers to have an optical digital connection (for Apple TV or the PS3, for instance) in addition to an analog input."

The company's … Read more

The MacBook Air has won me over, after a long period during which I'd felt skeptical about the concept. Small, light, fast startup, long battery life; it's all great, except for two things: limited internal storage and few ports. A clean-looking solution for the latter has been made, but it's just looking for funding.

The LandingZone, a MacBook Air docking station, is a Kickstarter project that's aiming to help Air owners with their port woes--but only to a point. The $200 dock concept has four USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet port, a Mini DisplayPort, and a Kensington-compatible locking port. What it conspicuously lacks is Thunderbolt support. … Read more