Crave

The world is overrun with bookshelf speaker systems for the iPod, but finding a powerful, portable iPod boom box is surprisingly tough. The Ion Block Rocker isn't the prettiest thing we've seen, but it is one of the most practical and affordable ways to blast your music outdoors.

For better or worse, the Block Rocker also does a damn fine job as a mobile karaoke machine (as I skillfully demonstrate in this video). Along with a few pints of liquid courage and an iPod stocked with pop music, this thing is humiliation on wheels.

To learn more, check out our full review of the Ion Block Rocker portable speaker system.

(Credit: I4U News)

Considering how unfortunately popular karaoke remains here, it's surprising that it has taken so long for this music game to arrive on U.S. shores. But Singstar is finally getting a stateside launch for the PlayStation 3 on May 20, according to I4U News.

The game, which is already on the European market, comes with 30 songs loaded on its disc but also allows hundreds more to be purchased and downloaded from the "SingStore," which will be expanded by 25-30 songs each month. Each tune, which goes for $1.49, comes with a video of the artist.

But I4U News says the "killer feature" may be something called "My SingStar Online," a site where aspiring singers can post their own videos and hope to be discovered. Be warned, however: The performances are rated by the SingStar community, and the reviews can be brutal.

A student using Tune In To Reading (photo credit: ELP)

Wonderful things can happen when you are open to unexpected possibilities. That's one lesson I take from the story that starts with a software program called Singing Coach. Carlo Franzblau had wanted to learn to sing since he was an off-key teenager with musical theater aspirations. In 2000 he developed Singing Coach, software with an American-Idol-in-training vibe. Users sing karaoke-style into a microphone and the software tells them whether their pitch is too high, too low, or in tune.

While performing quality-control tests on Singing Coach, Franzblau received some unexpected feedback: one of the first testers was a middle school student named Ashleigh who happened to be a struggling reader, and her mother reported that the singing software was improving her daughter's reading.

Franzblau pursued this unexpected finding with gusto. He teamed up with literacy professor Dr. Susan Homan at the University of South Florida to conduct a research study to see if Ashleigh's finding represented a genuine effect. Dr. Homan found that struggling readers benefited greatly from the program, raising their test scores by more than a whole grade level after nine weeks of training with the singing program, which has been redeveloped specifically as a reading intervention called "Tune In to Reading." The kids who used Tune In To Reading sustained their gain, continuing to make progress six months later even when they were not using the program.

(Credit: Disney)

You know, it only occurred to me until very recently that karaoke means something very different for the younger generation than it does for mine when I was a kid. When I was in elementary school, we had roller skating parties and laser tag parties and arcade pizzeria parties--but no karaoke parties, because that was dorky and no one would sing, and since we were well under the legal drinking age, no one could break the ice with, "Okayyy, let's get a round of SoCo and Lime and then see if anyone wants to try the mic, how about?" If we were going to have anything to do with singing, it had to be in a massive group. Anything solo was for the icky show-offs that everyone only pretended to like.

But getting up in front of all your little frenemies and singing like William Hung seems to be an integral part of childhood in this post-boy band era. Kids these days appear to all be wholeheartedly addicted to American Idol and that freaking High School Musical thing. (What is it about? Should I be glad that I don't know?) And apparently it's necessary to have the ability to share your lovely singing voice with everyone wherever you go, which is why the geniuses behind High School Musical's toy tie-ins have created a sleepover duffel bag so that you can be the life of every fifth-grade party.

This shiny purple piece of luggage comes with speakers that unzip at each end, space in the middle for your MP3 player of choice, and the obligatory microphone hook-up. I'm sure there's also plenty of room for a pink Razr, your cutest pajamas, pictures of all the boys from your homeroom, and several bottles of Hard Candy nail polish.

Personally, I think showing up even at a fourth-grade slumber party with one of these would be, to quote Mean Girls, "social suicide." But considering my friends only have sleepovers when they're in no state to remember which subway will take them home at 3:45 AM, and considering that I'm old enough to remember Billy Ray Cyrus as "that country singer whose one hit made everybody run screaming from the dance floor" rather than "the dad on Hannah Montana," maybe I just don't get it.

Kids these days...

(Via Shiny Shiny)

Perfect for the Highway 66 Blues

(Credit: Tech Digest)

No sooner had we posted our top 10 boredom-busting road trip gadgets than up pops a portable navigation device to rule them all. In addition to its impressive list of media and navigation capabilities (movie and music playback, support for SD cards, TV tuner, 3D map rendering), the iNavi G1 also comes with a karaoke function to let the whole family serenade each other on those long, cross-country drives. Oh, how those hours will fly by!

The iNavi G1 is only available in Korea at the moment, but we are already perfecting our Livin' on a Prayer routine in the shower in preparation for when it arrives in the U.S.

[Via Tech digest]

(Credit: Ubergizmo)

We're not naming names, but there are some people here at Crave who think they could karaoke their way to American Idol if given half the chance. (Luckily, we don't have a half to give.) Whenever possible, we try to appease these misguided souls with an item to help them keep their dreams alive--without encouraging them too much.

To that end, today we're highlighting the "Munia MH-6600" karaoke microphone, which seems to be the ultimate piece of equipment for those hell-bent on humiliating themselves. Ubergizmo says it supports MP3 downloads and video playback, among a wealth of other functions. In fact, it has so many controls that it looks like a universal remote with a microphone head glued on top.

For now, however, our crooning collegues would have to travel to South Korea to get one of them. Come to think of it, maybe that's not such a bad idea after all.

(Credit: GPX)

Some would say that everyone needs a little karaoke in their lives, even in the shower. And if you're really serious about it, you might even want to record your performances on your way to American Idol.

And GPX wants to help you avoid the fate of Sanjaya Malakar with its "CD+G Karaoke System." In addition to its 5.5-inch LCD, dual speakers and "professional" microphone, the machine has a built-in digital video camera so you can record yourself belting out "Stairway to Heaven" for later viewing. (Warning: Results may vary after the effects of alcohol wear off.)

Still, its $100 price is certainly more reasonable than top-of-the-line $1,800 "DoPi Karaoke" system, and it's relatively portable at 14 pounds for transportation from one kegger to the next--both of which will make it easier to chuck it out the window once you've actually seen yourself in action.

(Credit: Amazon)

Readers of this space likely know our stand on Hello Kitty (or "Kitty Hell," as we call it), so there's no need to go over that again. So suffice it to say that we cringed at the thought and sight of this karaoke system from said feline.

The latest evil incarnation comes with two microphones, speakers, an LCD screen and a CD player that even has a shuffle button, according to Gadgetizer. And it closes up into a compact case so it can be carried anywhere. Oh joy.

We have just one question: How can Hello Kitty do karaoke when it doesn't have a mouth?

LBT-ZX80D component system

(Credit: Sony)

Sony unveiled new Muteki do-it-yourself DJ systems that will be available from SonyStyle.com and Sony retail stores.

Sony said in its press release that the Muteki is "perfect for getting any party started," but then particularly adds that it has created the Muteki with the "Latin culture" in mind. The Muteki systems also include a "festive companion for Hispanic fiestas like quinceaneras and Cinco de Mayo."

Why does Sony particularly point out that the Muteki is good for the "Latin culture?" What about all the sweet sixteen parties, block parties, barn raisings, college parties and bar and bat mitzvah parties that go on in this country? Is Sony saying that Latinos are the only group who likes to have parties with DIY music and the possibility of Karaoke thrown in?

The LBT-ZX80D system with 800 watts of power will be available in May for around $700. It has a Karaoke feature, 3-DVD player, and supports DixX and MP3 formats, Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, Digital Cinema Sound systems and DTS decoding for DVDs. The system lights pulse to the beat and an air system allows for ventilation. The Karaoke feature will also rate singers based on rhythm.

The MHC-LX10000 has 520 watts of power, two speakers and a 3-CD changer that will allow you to change the other CDs while playing one. The LBT-ZX6 560 watt system has a mic input, 5-CD changer, customizable equalizer settings and a SC Synchro Recording function for recording from CD. Both systems are $400 each and available immediately from Sony.

The LBT-ZX9 consists of an MP3 compatible system with a 5-CD changer and four speakers. It will be out in March for about $600.