Fugly speaker dock for Clix
(Credit:
Akihabara)
OK, OK, I'm harsh. I know. The recently launched Clix Cradle from iRiver isn't all that unattractive. Indeed, it looks to be reasonably useful. It includes a single speaker and seems to prop up the player at a handy viewing angle for video watching. But is it just me, or does this new dock look like a serious step down from the original Clix cradle?
First of all, the old version (pictured below) included dual speakers for stereo sound and had a cool snooze button on top for using the player as an alarm clock. It also came with a remote and added line-in recording as a feature. Finally--and, yes, this is the girl coming out in me (puppies! kittens! stickers! sparkles!)--it was darn cute, turning the Clix into a retro-looking mini TV. Call me jaded, but this new dock thingie just doesn't stack up.
Ah well. It is reasonably priced (about $30) and should come out in the United States in the next month or so (it's Korea-only for now), so if you have a new Clix and are itching to accessorize, I guess it's worth a look. And how does that saying go? Don't knock it 'til you try it?
(via Akihabara)
For more than five years, Jasmine France has covered a variety of tech products for CNET--from scanners to keyboards to GPS devices--but she's happiest where she is now: sitting atop a pile of MP3 players, "testing" every music service known to man, and jamming a variety of earbuds in every shape and color into her absurdly small ears. E-mail Jasmine. 
