It's all the good stuff from Crave. CNET MP3 editor Donald Bell drops by the studio to talk with Brian Tong about an outdoor speaker system that looks like a droid, and we look at a spy camera in a book, and sticky goo for your electronics. Plus, pitvertising? This idea sounds like it stinks!
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Soundcast's OutCast speaker is perfect for summer
(Credit:
Chip Chick)
After seeing so many chairs and sofas that play music, we didn't think that there were many other ways to pipe MP3s through upholstered furniture in the living room. Then we saw it: the musical ottoman.
Actually, it's called the "Audio Cube," according to Chip Chick. Just slip your MP3 player in a pouch on the side, plug it in, and kick back--literally. Our only quibble is the choice of upholstery, which, other than black, isn't exactly understated (French pink, polka dots, etc.). Hardly the kind of patterns one would find in "Salon du Emo."
And it's just a wild guess, but we'd venture that its sound isn't exactly world-class either. If you want an audio cuboid of quality, something like the latest Yamaha model might be a better choice. Just don't try sitting on it.
(Credit:
Woot)
If you managed to score one of those $99-or-less first-gen Zunes I've been writing about, now's your chance to score a pretty sweet speaker dock to go with it. The Altec Lansing M604 offers room-filling power, deep bass, and a wireless remote. (This ain't marketing talking; I own one of them.) It also charges the Zune, connects it to your TV (via a video-out port), and works with other MP3 players (via a line-in jack). You can even mount the sucker on a wall.
The M604 sold for $199.95 when it debuted early this year, but Woot's got 'em for $39.99, plus a reasonable $5 for shipping. But hurry, hurry, hurry: The best Woot deals never last, and this one probably won't survive the morning.
Somebody call Turbo! Crave is ready to throw a non-stop breakdance competition.
(Credit: Lasonic)In a move that just might reignite Mr. T's breakdance career, Lasonic has announced plans to update their classic '80s full-size boombox design to meet the demands of the iPod-toting modern world. That means no more flipping tapes over between headspins and popping routines. It also means that you can fit the soundtrack to Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo and several Africa Bambaataa mixes onto your Nano to keep the party rockin' 'til the break of dawn.
Wondering if this thing has a mic input so you can bust your rendition of "Rapper's Delight"? Of course it does. It can also load music directly from USB thumb drives or Flash memory cards. Super fresh.
Here's the original Lasonic TRC-931 boombox in all its cassette-flipping glory.
(via Listening Post)
(Credit:
Sears)
With Caroline McCarthy on tough assignment at E3 all week, we've been having a field day poaching on some of her favorite topics. We're talking pillows specifically and, better still, ones in the kind of obscene neon colors she so loves.
These phone-shaped music pillows, for instance, connect to any MP3 player for direct eardrum-shattering pleasure while maintaining a suitably cheesy look. (The player can be kept snugly in a mesh sleeve at one end of the giant fuzz-bound receiver.)
As Shiny Shiny astutely observes, these items are being marketed for for kids, but we all know better. Right, Caroline?
(Credit:
Griffin Technology)
Ever since Sonos opened the door for whole-house iPod wireless network solutions, numerous firms have tried to produce less expensive alternatives that also avoid the DRM issue, such as the conceptually similar but not as pricey Creative XDock systems. But both the Sonos and the Creative XDock require the addition of separate speakers.
Griffin's Evolve is a less ambitious $349 whole-house solution operating in the 900MHz spectrum. But for the money, you get a base that charges and broadcasts your music and video through two included speakers. Essentially, the twin 4-inch-square speakers charge on the transmitter base, then can be moved to any part of a room but no more than 150 feet from the charger/transmitter base. Imbued with Griffin's Intellisense intelligence, each new speaker knows which is the right speaker and which is the left speaker.
But the real magic is that an unlimited number of speakers can be added to the system, either in pairs or one per room. Each speaker is shipped with a unique network ID. When docked with the base, each learns which has to act left as the right speaker or the left or even mono.
A speaker can spit out music for as long as 10 hours on a single charge of its lithium-ion battery, and has to be returned to the base station for conductive recharging. No wires needed even to recharge. While designed for the iPod--iTunes video can be watched on a TV via composite or S-Video connections--any music player can be jacked in via a standard 3.5mm miniplug connector. The system is expected to be available in late May or early June.
Being of a decidedly superficial ilk, we're always on the lookout for stuff that catches our visual fancy despite how it might perform. That's why we were both pleased and disappointed in Saitek's new iPod speakers.
(Credit:
Saitek)
The "gently smoothed pebble" appearance, as Slashgear describes it, is indeed fetching. But then we saw a photo of the Nano stand affixed to the speakers, which looks like something of an afterthought applied with a nervous screwdriver. It's not nearly as bad as some of the deformities we've documented in this space, but it's not exactly seamless integration either. Still, as MP3 speakers go, it could have been a lot worse.
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