Crave

(Credit: The Container Store)

Chances are at least one of your friends or family members owns an iPod. Or maybe you're planning on giving one as a gift this holiday season. Perhaps you have one yourself and think even inanimate objects deserve presents.

Whatever the reason, it's the perfect time to pick up some accessories for this ubiquitous MP3 player. Rest assured, there is no shortage of add-ons for the iPod; in fact, wading through the sea of cases, speakers, chargers, and car mounts for this device can be a bit of a daunting task.

This is precisely why we've packaged a slew of neat little extras right here in this handy one-stop-shopping post. Heck, there's even some iPhone-worthy stuff scattered about, so make sure you give 'em all a look.

iPod Shuffle accessories

iPod Nano accessories

iPod Classic accessories

iPod Touch accessories

Headphones with iPod controls

Car docks for the iPod

Best iPod speakers

Best headphones

Before all of September's iPod and Zune hoopla devoured my attention, I was in the middle of telling you folks about the Altec Lansing inMotion Classic speaker dock. Now that the dust has settled, we've posted a full CNET review of the Classic, along with the customary First Look video and photo gallery.

If the thought of clicking over to the full review just seems like way too much trouble, then let's just cut to the chase. For the $130-ish dollars you'll spend on this iPod- and iPhone-compatible portable speaker, the inMotion Classic packs a surprisingly big sound into a striking, compact design. Sound-wise, it's not going to stand up to the inMotion Mix or the $600 Bose SoundDock 10, but as an affordable, portable, rechargeable iPod speaker, it rules.

Read the full review of the Altec Lansing inMotion Classic.

Altec Lansing inMotion Classic iMT620 -- photos

Apple's dropping bombs all over CNET in the form of brand-new iPods and a freshly updated iTunes. You know what that means: harried editors scrambling to get you all the freshest details. This week's podcast has all you want to know about iTunes 9 and the updates to the iPod Shuffle, Nano, Classic, and Touch. Plus, we have plenty of video demonstrating the fifth-generation Nano's many new features.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

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The Altec Lansing inMotion Classic is an angular, powerful boombox made for the iPod and iPhone.

(Credit: Donald Bell/CNET)

Altec Lansing has a long history of producing some stellar little speaker systems designed around the iPod. Their latest portable speaker, the inMotion Classic, continues the company's tradition of delivering quality audio in a compact and stylish design.

I've reviewed a number of Altec Lansing's iPod speakers, including last year's inMotion Max and im600, so I thought I had a pretty good idea what to expect from a seemingly basic, $149 speaker dock. I was wrong.

So far, my initial impressions of the inMotion Classic are excellent. For a budget-minded portable speaker that stands only 4 inches high and measures just 2 inches thick, this thing cranks. Sure, it's not as thin as the im600, or as impressive-looking as the inMotion Max, but the engineers have juiced the two 3-inch speakers on the Classic for all they're worth.

Altec Lansing inMotion Classic iMT620 -- photos

There are no EQ settings on the Classic, but the overall sound is crisp with a surprising amount of meat on the low end compared with other fold-flat speakers we've tested from Logitech and Griffin. ... Read more

As first reported by Paul Thurott of SuperSite for Windows, Microsoft is discontinuing the current generation of Zunes.

So long, Zune 8, we hardly knew you.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Leaving aside all the easy insults--yes, we all know Microsoft never sold many of the things--and the possibility that your candy-apple red Zune 80 may someday be a collector's item, this means Microsoft has basically ceded the low end of the MP3 player market.

While the current Zunes start at $80, the Zune HD, which becomes available on September 15, will run you at least $220. This is great news for competitors such as SanDisk, whose Sansa Clip+ suddenly looks like the best deal around for folks on limited budgets.

On the other end, eliminating the 80GB and 120GB models means that folks with huge digital collections and no interest in touch screens will probably just stick with the iPod Classic, which is pretty much what was happening anyway.

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(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)

Vinyl is back, big time, but the fact is most folks, probably close to 99 percent of the under 40-set, haven't heard records.

For them, music is about portability and vinyl is a stay-at-home deal. Vinyl has more of a hands-on work ethic: you've got to cue the tonearm, lower the "needle," and when the side's over, turn it over or play another LP. Digital requires almost nothing from you; no wonder it's dominated the music scene for the last couple of decades.

Me, I'm having something of a vinyl fling right now. I've always owned a turntable, but there were times I played only CDs for months on end. I guess I didn't want to deal with the extra work of playing vinyl. Sad, but true.

As for LP vs. CD comparisons, I didn't do any. Trust me, you don't have to be a golden-eared audiophile to notice the two formats sound very different. Records are "warmer" and sound more like the sound of real instruments and voices; CDs almost always make them more detailed and brighter-sounding than they are in real life.

Civilization comes to the iPhone and iPod Touch. Bye-bye, productivity!

Following in the footsteps of PC classics like Doom, Myst, and SimCity, Sid Meier's legendary Civilization just landed in the App Store.

Not only has it arrived, but also it's on sale for $4.99--but only until tomorrow (Aug. 12), at which time the price jumps to $9.99.

Of course, die-hard Civilization fans (of which there are a few hundred bazillion) would probably pay any price for a mobile, iPhone-optimized version of the beloved game. If you're new to the world-building party, there's a single-scenario Lite version available for free.

Civilization Revolution for the iPhone closely resembles the Nintendo DS game of the same name, which debuted a little more than a year ago. This version, however, lacks multiplayer support, though it does take advantage of iPhone gestures: you can pinch to zoom in and out and drag your finger to move units in a desired direction.

Confession time: I've never been a Civilization player, so I found the learning curve here a little steep--despite the presence of some basic tutorials. What's more, the screen is undeniably cramped for a game that revolves around massive maps. And the onscreen controls seemed unresponsive at times.

That said, I can see how a few minutes with Civilization could easily turn into a few hours. I think that's been the case with every version of the game, which is why it's widely regarded as one of the most addictive of all time.

Needless to say, if you're a fan of the series, you'll undoubtedly want to add this to your iPhone or iPod Touch (along with a spare battery, perhaps). If not, give the Lite version a try and see what all the fuss is about.

The iPod Classic may be an endangered species.

(Credit: Apple)

If you've read the stories on Apple's latest earnings, you may have noticed that Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer took the time to break out the sales of each model in the iPod franchise, which is seeing year-over-year declines for the first time in its history. In her piece, our own Erica Ogg wrote:

"During the third quarter, Apple sold 10.2 million iPods, compared with 11 million a year ago. It turns out that the shifting appeal of the Shuffle, Nano, and Classic model iPods are to blame. But Apple apparently saw this coming." She then goes on to quote Oppenheimer, who says those declining sales are "the reason we developed the iPod Touch. We expect our traditional MP3 players to decline over time as we cannibalize ourselves with iPod Touch and iPhone."

As rumors continue to circulate that Apple will introduce new iPod models this fall (as it traditionally has), the big question is whether the iPod Classic becomes the odd iPod out. In a recent MP3 Insider podcast, CNET editor Donald Bell points out that orders for new Samsung hard drives that would go into an updated Classic appear to be nonexistent, according to Ars Technica and Apple Insider. And shortly after the earnings were posted, TechCrunch writer MG Seigler asked whether the iPod as we know it is dying.

The prevailing bet among iPod followers is that the Classic may stick around for a little while, but it probably won't be upgraded and will be quietly put out to pasture. ... Read more