speaker

Leave it to the Museum of Modern Art's store to sell a product like this. The "Music Mug" might look like something you'd drink out of, but please don't. It's actually a speaker for portable music players, which the MoMA Store touts as "a new interpretation as the desktop coffee cup." Plug the cord into the headphone jack, drop your iPod, Zen, Zune, or what-have-you into the ceramic cup, and it'll play. Unfortunately, it doesn't charge it in the process. It's $42.

Cute, I guess. Um, next?

(Via Apartment Therapy)… Read more

If the furniture industry wised up, it would start designing a slew of lines with embedded media technologies. The combination of smaller devices and wireless connections could make entertainment options as common as choices of color and upholstery. And like any other quality product, aesthetics don't have to be sacrificed in the process.

The "Music Sofa" by designer Giongkun Wuqiongkun (conventional spelling) proves this point. The piece is beautifully done and fully functional with a built-in CD player and wireless speakers that can stream MP3 audio from an audio system within range, according to Yanko Design. And … Read more

What would it take to flood sound into every inch of a 7,500-square-foot home? Try 49 speakers and $30,000.

That's how Marge and Chuck Dushek did it with their Midwestern home, where "even the steam shower and walk-in closet have their own speakers," according to Electronic House. "There are absolutely no dead zones in this house," Ken Walker of Sound Design Systems says.

Top-grade Sonance speakers were built into walls and ceilings of the great room, master bedroom and an area adjacent to the kitchen. Alas, compromises had to be made in the … Read more

If phones and media players are indeed destined to evolve into a single device, as fellow Craver Jasmine France fears, then we should be prepared to see an onslought of accessories like this. Sony Ericsson has made these Snap-on Speakers to go with its handsets, according to Cool Gadgets Zone, "perfect for that party moment." The design-conscious company has made the MPS-75 speakers in colors to match the handsets, but we still think it the attachment looks a little weird. (Is anyone else reminded of The Fly ?) It could be worse, though: Sony Ericsson could have outsourced them … Read more

No fashion accessory seems immune to the trend of built-in speakers, from toolboxes to bowling bags. But the fanny pack?

The "Sound Box Waist Bag" not only carries your personal effects but also blares music from its sewn-in speaker. And if that's not enough reason to draw attention to your midsection, Red Ferret notes that it comes in bright orange. But we can't get past its name, which sounds disturbingly medical.

It's not enough for Star Wars memorabilia to launch a ground attack. Now they're coming at us by air too.

The assault of data-repelling gadgets from the monster franchise continues unabated, with the latest being a set of Tie Fighter speakers spotted by Engadget. The pair is made by Nikko, whose R2-D2 Webcam was a big hit at CES earlier this year. We wouldn't have recognized the speakers as Ties, were it not for the Star Wars logo on the subwoofer. But that, come to think of it, is actually a good thing.

Crave prides itself on embracing (almost) all techno-cultures, but this is one trend that's left us baffled: turning tabletops and other flat surfaces into speakers.

The latest entry into this apparently growing market is the "Soundbug," which Gadgetizer says resulted from a "British moment of inspiration." The $70 device, which is supposedly compatible with anything from media players and laptops to game consoles, has a suction cup designed to ensure proper conductivity for "wicked sound output"--as well as allowing it to work with walls, ceilings or anything else it'll stick to. … Read more

This is one piece of sound equipment that will make a huge statement without ever being turned on.

The "iTower Omega" iPod system stands nearly 4 feet tall, housing four stereo speakers in its black vertical case. The monolithic design dwarfs the iPod itself, which sits atop in its dock like a bird perched on the tip of a giant redwood.

The height is practical for another reason. As Gadget Review points out, the system lacks a remote--so the iPod will be relatively close to eye level when you need to walk over and fiddle with the … Read more

The whole idea of turning a tabletop into a speaker has always sounded weird to us, but apparently there's a market for it.

A few months back we saw the "Nimzy Vibro Max" (sounds like an adult toy from Jabberwocky), and now we get word of the "I-mu Magic Audio Frequency Singer." Both claim to play music or other sounds through any hard surface.

China-based Vavolo describes the I-mu as "a new revolution in the audiovisual field," according to Chip Chick. We don't know about that, but we do see that its $… Read more