Apple: activating 230,000 new iPhone+iPad+iPods per day, Android counting upgrades

Apple CEO Steve Jobs started off today’s press event by pointing out the fact that his retired Apple co-founder Steve “Woz” Wozniak was in the audience. Jobs then went on to focus on a first topic that few were expecting – Apple retail stores in Europe| and China – before moving on to iOS 4, Apple’s mobile operating system. Jobs says Apple has shipped 120 million iOS devices, which include iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. He also announced that Apple is activating 230,000 new devices every day, which is not only higher than the number Google is quoting about Android devices, but Jobs also said that he believes Google is cheating by including “activations” of upgrades.

Beatweek Magazine issue #82: Goo Goo Dolls interview, Apple Event, Auburn, Hey Monday, Zoe Scott and more

New in the 82nd issue of Beatweek Magazine:

• Goo Goo Dolls cover story interview: Johnny Rzeznik and Robby Takac discuss their new album Something For The Rest Of Us and reflect on twenty-five years of Goo

• a look at Apple’s September 1st media event

• interviews with Auburn, Hey Monday, and Zoe Scott

• reviews of new iPad cases, iPhone docks and more

Read this issue now

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Calypso Crystal Dock for iPhone: review

I have to admit, it took me awhile to wrap my head around this product. The question I first posed was whether any iPhone dock could be worth two hundred bucks. But as it turns out, it’s up to each individual reader as to whether they want to sink that kind of money into hand crafted crystal. The relevant question here is how the Calypso CrystalDock functions as a dock for iPhone and iPod. And from that standpoint, after having used this dock on my desk, it’s mostly thumbs up.

A dock this beautiful would be ruined visually if it employed Apple’s standard universal docking system of plastic inserts, so it turns out Calypso’s decision to instead go with a simple lean-back docking system was the correct one, both in the sense that it avoids uglying things up with plastic, and in that it allows your iPhone or iPod to be fully on display instead of partially sunk into a docking well.

My only quibble, and it’s merely a visual one and not a functional one, is that it would have been nice if the rear docking port were recessed or somehow bottom-based instead of flush with the rear surface, as it leaves the fat end of the dock connector cable sticking out the back instead of just the cable itself running out. But that’s just being picky, and only because with a price tag like this, it feels like I should be. Don’t ask me to put a star rating on a $199 piece of crystal. But if that’s your thing, rest assured that it works well as an iPhone+iPod dock.

Learn more at CalypsoCrystal.com

Griffin AutoPilot for iPhone and iPod: first look

The search for the perfect car connection product for iPhone and iPod continues, and Griffin’s latest entry comes in the form of a car charger along with a line cable designed for those users with stereos that have an aux-in port. The new wrinkle comes in the form of playback controls built into the front face of the charging unit itself, including play/pause and previous/next track.

There’s already a vaguely similar product on the market from Monster, so the two will have to be placed head to head in order to see which works best and for whom. A few immediately noticeable differentiators are the fact that Griffin’s AutoPilot has a high-low gain switch for the line-out port, aimed at helping to account for the different built-in line settings of various car stereos, along with the fact that the line cable is fully detachable from the charging unit. The latter means that users who don’t have a line-in port on their stereo could instead potentially use their cassette adapter instead, but that’ll have to be tested.

Fifty bucks is no small amount of money for a car charger, so this one will have to shine in hands-on testing.

Learn more at GriffinTechnology.com

Edifier Luna5 iF500 Encore for iPhone and iPod: review

Nearly all single-unit dockable stereo systems for iPhone and iPod follow the same design philosophy: a flat rectangular structure with the speakers placed at opposite ends of the unit. But with the Luna5 Encore, Edifier blows up the blueprint – almost literally – with a tall balloon shaped unit whose design doesn’t quite compare to any dockable stereo I’ve ever tested in five years of doing so. The pictures don’t quite do the unit justice. Rather than being fully spherical, the Luna5’s speaker housing is only about six or seven inches front to back, with the docking unit sticking out another several inches. Still, it’s something of a monster when sitting on your desk, which helps explain why it’s able to crank out such excellent-sounding audio.

In fact, this is one of those stereos you can crank so loud that your neighbors will be ready to call the police, and you still won’t notice any dropoff in the pristine-ness of the audio quality, even in the lower ranges. In fact the bass is set a bit higher by default than most systems, but that’s fine because the bass and treble can be separately and significantly adjusted via the included remote. Even with its large overall size, it turns out the Luna5 is not as wide left to right as most of its similarly priced competitors, so it actually takes up less desk space. The downside to that tradeoff, however, is that the lack of physical separation of the speakers is immediately obvious when you listen; it sounds like all the audio is emanating from the same spot, because it is. Contrast this with most competing (rectangular) $300 systems, which offer noticeably better stereo separation despite also being single-unit systems.

The Luna5 comes with a built in FM radio, which is a good thing. And it allows for eighteen programmable presets, which is also a good thing, because there’s no way to manually tune the radio stations via the on-board controls; anything beyond accessing the presets has to be done from the remote. Actually, the remote is on the powerful side, with the ability to navigate up and down the menus of your iPhone or iPod, meaning you can access nearly any song on your device, without having to reach for it, so long as you’re close enough to be able to see you device’s screen. On the other hand, the remote is about a foot tall, slightly larger than even the oversized one that came with my cable TV box, which doesn’t make a lot of sense because my cable box remote has about three times as many buttons.

At the end of the day, the Luna5 Encore is one of those products that I really like, but can’t bring myself to give more than four stars out of five because everything that it does right also comes with at least a little bit of a caveat. As a minor example, the on-board volume buttons are easily accessible right near the lip of the dock, but the accompanying LCD screen which displays the volume level and the radio station is obscured behind your iPhone or iPod when viewed anything other than the left side. These are the kind of gripes that probably wouldn’t even register when testing a $100 system. But at $300, users are likely to be picky about the details.

After spending some time with this particular product, my general recommendations haven’t really changed: the iHome iP1 is still our highest rated non-portable system at $300, and the Altec Lansing MIX is still our highest rated $300 portable system. But if those products aren’t for you, or if you merely favor the shape or aesthetics of the Luna5 Encore, then it’s recommendable in its own right. It’s got its flaws, but they’re minor, and they’re essentially overshadowed by what the product gets right – so long as stereo separation is not atop your list of priorities.

Rating: four stars out of five · $299 · Edifier.com

Logitech Rechargeable Speaker S715i for iPhone and iPod: review

Logitech owned the $149 price range for portable iPhone+iPod stereo systems for years, until the company cut too many corners last year in attempting to reduce the price to $129, resulting in a compromised S315i just as Altec Lansing finally managed to nearly perfect its own competing product. Here in 2010, Logitech’s new S715i attempts to put the company back into legitimate competition in the price range, and indeed fixes much of what went wrong with the previous model.

Despite the return to a $149 price tag, the S715i represents a better value over the S315i right off the at in that it sees the return of a (small, basic) remote control. The design of the S715i is smarter in that the volume buttons, which had inexplicably and awkwardly been on the back of its predecessor, are now on the front of the unit; no more blindly groping for them around back. And while the dock on top still cuts corners a bit by not using Apple’s system of universal docking inserts, turns out to be significantly more stable than what came before, as far as tilting the unit forward and such. And the kickstand, while simple, is plenty sturdy (just be sure to remove that slippery yellow piece of tape first). These are all improvements that were easily observable before I even turned the unit on.

Good news on the audio front as well, as the S715i sounds just a little better than its predecessor – but then again, audio quality was never a problem with the S315i to begin with. The hokey “turn this switch to cut audio quality in half for the sake of doubling your battery life” option is gone, which won’t likely be missed. Perhaps of more concern is that the previous ten hour rechargeable battery is now reduced to eight hours, but that still outshines the five hours you’ll get from the competing Altec Lansing iM620. Altec still wins this round, as the iM620 offers a built-in radio, LCD screen, carrying handle, better docking mechanism, and sounds a little better for the same price. But the S715i puts Logitech legitimately back on the playing field at the $149 price point – particularly if battery life is a priority for you.

Rating: four stars out of five · $149 · Logitech.com

iMainGo 2 for iPhone and iPod: review

The original iMainGo emerged during the classic iPod era as an oversized carrying case with built-in speakers, easily the best-sounding product of its kind at the time. Now the new iMainGo 2 faces a bigger challenge, not from any competitor but from the mere fact that today’s iPhone and iPod touch are significantly more complex devices than the simple click-wheel iPods of old, and that’s even before you consider that the iPhone doubles as, you know, a phone.

But the iMainGo 2 tackles the challenge ambitiously, placing your device inside a play-through plastic cover which keeps it fully sealed inside the case while allowing full access to all touchscreen controls. An internal audio cable connects to your device’s headphone port, a pair of small speakers on the back of the case sound impossibly good for their tiny size, and the whole thing is powered by batteries. At about an inch and a half thick, the iMainGo 2 is far larger than your typical iPhone or iPod case, but it’s far smaller than any portable dockable stereo system.

In my tests, I amassed a laundry list of minor gripes, each of which may or may not affect you. First and perhaps foremost there’s the fact that scrolling through the plastic cover is not the smoothest of tasks – which is compounded by the fact that the iPhone’s side volume buttons can’t be accessed, meaning that the on-screen volume slider is your only option. And while the AAA batteries power the iMainGo 2, they don’t keep your device charged – this wasn’t a big deal back in the classic iPod era, but with the iPhone you can be in a heap of trouble if you run your battery to zero in the wrong circumstance. And while the AAA batteries do power the iMainGo 2 for about thirty hours, a built-in rechargeable battery would have been nice.

But two things serve to minimize all of those gripes. One is that the iMainGo 2 costs a mere forty bucks, making it a huge value play. The other is that, as I said, the audio quality is way better than you’d have any reason to expect from a product like this.

Rating: four stars out of five · $49 · iMainGo.com

Konnet PowerEZ Plus battery for iPhone and iPod: review

Batteries which merely snap onto the bottom of an iPhone or iPod have generally been considered a poor man’s substitute for a more expensive form-fitting battery case or battery cradle. But three things are potentially working in the favor of Konnet’s new PowerEZ Plus battery. One is that, for now, there are no form-fitting battery cases or cradles on the market for the new iPhone 4, leaving those users (at least for the moment) looking for universally compatible solutions. The second is that its 1000 mAh capacity is in line with competing snap-on batteries priced at $39, while this one is priced at a mere $29. And the third thing going for this product is the fact that it has a kick-out leg which can be used to prop up your iPhone.

So how does all of the above hold up in real world testing? As far as the kickstand, it’s immediately apparent that it has no value when your iPhone is positioned upright, nor was it likely intended to. But when you lay your iPhone (or iPod touch) sideways, for watching video or perhaps when you want to prop it up overnight on your nightstand as a pseudo-alarm clock, it’s actually surprisingly steady, so long as it’s being used on an evenly flat surface. And the battery life claims held up, meaning that you can count on getting roughly an extra fifty to seventy percent battery life out of your iPhone if it’s fully charged to begin with.

All of that, combined with the price, makes the Konnet PowerEZ Plus the most attractive bottom snap-on battery currently on the market. My only complaint is that unlike most batteries, which begin working when you plug them in, you have to remember to manually turn on the PowerEZ Plus after you plug it in, but that’s minor. I’d still recommend considering a battery case or cradle for your iPhone as they tend to be more practical during active use, but those will generally run you $50 to $100, whereas the PowerEZ Plus is $29 – making it a steal at that price.

rating: 4.5 out of five stars • KonnetOnline.com

Moshi Vortex earbuds for iPhone and iPod: review

There are already plenty of strong options on the market when it comes to in-ear earbuds, but each has its own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to audio, design, styling, and added features, so my view has always been the more the merrier. I was excited, then, to test out the first earbuds from Moshi, a company whose products have generally been more the lines of iPhone cases. After testing out the Moshi Vortex, the good news is that there’s more good news than bad news.

Eighty to a hundred bucks has always been a tricky middle ground for earbuds, as there are plenty of fifty dollar options that sound great for their price, while on the other side, the hundred and twenty dollar mark means you won’t have to compromise on anything; eighty dollars means you’re still going to compromise a bit, but the product is going to have to stand out from the best fifty dollar options to warrant paying a relative premium. So the good news is that the Vortex sounds noticeably better than any $50 earbuds I’ve tested. But they do sound a little drier than the competing $89 Ultimate Ears MetroFi 220vi, so based purely on sound quality, that makes the Vortex above-average its price point, but not the best. Then again, it’s a relatively weak crop of options at the price point to begin with.

The triangular shape of the Vortex earbud posts is unique and looks interesting, so that’s a potential plus. Unfortunately the comfort isn’t quite there, owing to the fact that the backing is too thick right next to the earbud, which is not good news for users with smaller ear canals (users with bigger ear canals likely won’t notice the difference). The inclusion of foam tips in addition to rubber is rare at this price point and good news, but the one set of foam tips is very large and not easily squishable, making them among the less comfortable foam tips I’ve used. These details suggest the Vortex may not have been tested on users with small ear canals.

My advice is still to save up any extra $40 and look at one of the $120 options out there. But at the same time, the $80 Moshi Vortex does provide additional value over the best competing $50 earbud products out there. Three button controls instead of one button would be nice, but again, three buttons is rare for under $100.

rating: 3.5 out of five stars • Moshimonde.com

Beatweek.com launches reader forums: discuss music, iPhone+iPad, entertainment, pop culture, and more

Beatweek’s reader forums launched earlier today as the place to discuss, music, technology, entertainment, pop culture, and anything else that comes along. Opportunities for discussion include everything from talking up your favorite artists and products, to buying advice, to tech support. Several hundred post have already been made on a variety of topics, so feel free to join the conversation at Beatweek.com/forums.

review: iHome iP90 stereo alarm for iPhone and iPod

You’ve got to hand it to iHome for taking some major stylistic chances with the sixth generation of its $99 dockable stereo alarm clock. Although competitors have come and gone, the iHome product (which started life as the iH5 years ago and is now the iP90) has generally been the market leader at its price point – and with the iP9 iteration last year, it felt like the product line had essentially reached perfection. So what did iHome do? Well, it went retro.

But before I get into the iP90’s styling, here’s what hasn’t changed since the last version: this product offers better audio than any other sub-$100 single unit dockable stereo system for iPhone or iPod, which is remarkable considering that many of those competing products don’t even offer alarm functionality. As has been the case with each version, the audio is a slight yet noticeable improvement over the previous generation. And the alarm built into the iP90 includes dual alarm settings along with an AM/FM radio and an included remote control with a host of functions built into it. In other words, it’s a winner, and that hasn’t changed.

But the stylistic redesign is a little more troubling. Setting aside whether or not it matches my personal styling preferences, my concern is that the digital numbers, by virtue of trying to look retro, don’t feel quite as easy to read as with previous generations, and the gut feeling is that the design changes aren’t a net positive for most consumers over the previous iP9. None of that changes the fact that the iP90 is the premier sub-$100 dockable stereo system on the market. You’ll have to judge for yourself as to whether the styling changes are agreeable or even matter to you.

rating: 4.5 stars out of five • iHomeAudio.com

Top earbuds and headphones for iPad, iPhone and iPod: Beatweek 75

The sixteen top rated earbuds and headphones on the market for iPad, iPhone, and iPod, ranging in price from $25 to $400, including three button, one button, and no-button control options:

Etymotic hf2 • one button earbuds • $179: An essentially perfect product for their price point, the hf2 offers a triple-flanged design goes deep into the ear canal and provides the kind of detailed listening experience that’ll make you hate your existing earbuds. The catch-22 at present is that Etymotic’s three-button hf3 has been announced but isn’t yet shipping, so it might be worth it to wait at this point.

Monster Beats by Dr. Dre Tour with Control Talk • three button earbuds • $179: Dr. Dre’s signature earbuds are certainly the most unique looking we’ve ever tested, and they’ve got a fantastic sound to match. While the competing hf2 slightly edges them out in audio quality, the fact that the Tour is available with a three button configuration right now is enough to get them onto this list – along with the definitively 21st century styling.

v-moda vibe ii • one button earbuds • $119: An oldie but a goodie, this product has a firm grip on the sweet spot of not being too expensive and yet offering audio quality that’s head and shoulders above any other iPhone-specific earbuds in the roughly hundred dollar price range. And the earbuds themselves are lightweight and tiny. Fair warning: they have a higher than usual bass to treble ratio.

Shure SE115m+ • three button earbuds • $119: These earbuds sound excellent for their price and offer perhaps the best noise isolation of any earbud product we’ve ever tested. The colors are a bonus, as are the built in three buttons; make sure you’re actually getting the SE115m+ and not the older SE115, which doesn’t have three buttons built in.

Ultimate Ears 220vi • one button earbuds • $89: The overall audio quality of these earbuds is the best of any sub-$100 iPhone earbuds we’ve tested, crisp and expansive on both the high and low ranges. The design is lightweight and non-bulky, without feeling fragile. If you can afford an extra $30, you should probably move up to the vibe ii. But if $89 is the high-end of your budget, you’ll be plenty happy with these earbuds.

Radius Atomic Bass • one button earbuds • $49: These earbuds surprised us by sounding noticeably better than even some competing iPhone-specific earbuds that were more expensive. We can’t be the only ones who’ve caught on, as the silver model is out of stock at the time of this publication. No worries, though – also available in red, black, and pink. There’s also a $39 non-iPhone-specific version.

Macally HifiTune • one button earbuds • $49: These earbuds are remarkably similar to the Atomic Bass earbuds in overall quality, with the primary difference being that the HifiTune sounds a little better on the high end and the Atomic Bass (as its name would predict) wins the battle on the low end. With an identical price tag, you can use that fact (along with the differing styles) to decide which of the two is right for you.

RadTech ProCable • one button earbuds • $25: You wouldn’t think you’d be able to get your hands on iPhone-specific earbuds for twenty-five bucks that would sound even decent (and some competing products at this price point don’t), but these earbuds will significantly improve your audio experience over the ones that come bundled with the iPhone – and they come in a choice of five colors.

Westone 3 • no-button earbuds • $399: These iPod earbuds offer such a stunningly expansive sound that after using them for a few minutes you’ll forget you’re wearing earbuds and swear you’re instead wearing cup-style headphones. They’re also stunningly expensive, leaving us skeptical going in, but as it turns out they really do offer four hundred dollars worth of sound quality – you’ll notice it immediately.

Future Sonics Atrio • no-button earbuds • $199: For those of you who can’t quite manage to spend four hundred dollars on earbuds, the Atrio will still move you nearly to tears of joy over their audio quality while not quite as likely to leave you in tears over their price tag. As with the 3, our only knock on the Atrio is that they won’t come in an iPhone-specific version with a built-in mic and button. Oh well, can’t win ‘em all.

Wi-Gear iMuffs MB220 • wireless headphones: We’ve tried out any number of wireless headphone solutions, but we keep coming back to the iMuffs, which provide playback controls on the right headphone and allow you to toss your iPhone in your pocket. Good luck finding them though, as we can’t currently find them in stock anywhere.

JayBird SportsBand SB1 • wireless headphones • $89: These new challengers in the wireless headphone arena are a virtual tie with iMuffs in our book: they’re comfortable and they sound great. The only catch is that the SB1 is about to be replaced with JayBird’s even newer SB2 – which we haven’t had the chance to test out yet – and while we expect the SB2 to be even better, the SB1 is in fact the model that’s available now.

Ultrasone HFI-2400 • high end headphones • $329: These massively sized headphones sound so brilliant that you’ll think you’re in a room equipped with surround sound speakers – and for this price tag they’d better. They’re brilliant across all audio ranges, and comfortable. Yeah, you probably can’t afford them, but they are more than worth their price tag.

v-moda Crossfade LP • high end headphones • $249: Metallic styling and the best bass at any price – the two hallmarks of v-moda’s line of earbuds – translate nicely to the company’s new headphones. If you like your bass crisp and heavy, the Crossfade LP is what you’re looking for. As a bonus, they come with a pair of cables, one which includes three control buttons and the other of which doesn’t.

AKG K 450 • portable headphones • $189: These small fold-up headphones are designed for traveling light, as they have some of the smallest cups of any headphones we’ve tested. But that doesn’t keep them from sounding great – and for those who want to travel with something more substantial than earbuds but can’t lug around full size headphones, the K 450 represents an excellent middle ground.

Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7b • noise canceling headphones • $219: We’ve tested various active noise canceling headphones, which surround your head with white noise to block out the surrounding fray, but none of them measure up to Audio-Technica’s rather technically named ATH-ANC7b in terms of audio quality or noise suppression. These are a lifesaver if you’re on an airplane or just trying to block out neighborhood noise.

View all seventy-five winning accessories for iPad, iPhone, and iPod (including cases, earbuds, car products, stereos, batteries and more) in Beatweek Magazine’s 75th issue which you can read digitally for free right here.

Top iPhone and iPod speaker systems: Beatweek 75

The sixteen top rated iPhone and iPod speaker systems on the market as of June 2010, including portable and home options, alarm and non-alarm stereos, and price points varying from sub-$100 to over $1000:

Altec Lansing inMotion MIX • portable stereo • $299: We’ve been waiting years for Altec Lansing (or anyone else) to offer a successor worthy to the company’s inMotion iM7, the classic boombox-style portable stereo system. And we finally got our with with the MIX: it sounds fantastic even when loud, it’s easily carryable despite being quite large, displays track info on an LCD screen and cool stuff like dual aux ports for additional devices. It kicks the iM7’s butt – finally.

iHome iP1 • home stereo • $299: The most significant new iPhone or iPod accessory to come to market in 2009, the iP1 sets the benchmark for what single-unit iPod/iPhone stereo systems should sound like – and for that matter, what they should look like, as it’s the first iPhone stereo system that truly looks like a 21st century product. But the showstopper is the “B” button, which restores compressed music to what it’s supposed to sound like.

Altec Lansing Classic • portable stereo • $149: Logitech owned this category for years, but their new S315i is a step backward while Altec’s new Classic is a major leap forward. The Classic is basically the MIX in a (much) smaller and lighter package, complete with a built in handle of its own. One caveat: the five hour built in battery life should be longer. But it’s still a winner.

Parrot by Starck • home stereo • $1600: If you’re going to spend the kind of money on an iPod/iPhone stereo system that could instead be used to buy an iPhone and an iPod touch plus all nine colors of iPod nano and still have money left over, then it had better offer a mind blowing experience. Not great. Not excellent. Mind blowing. Nothing less. And believe it or not, the Starck does. It’s just that amazing. It’s also just that unaffordable. But one can dream.

Altec Lansing inMotion MAX • stereo system • $199: Large enough to sound great yet just small enough to be portable, this vaguely retro-styled system sports a built-in radio with a small LCD screen that displays track info. The audio quality is more expansive than you’d expect from a single-unit system, and the iPod/iPhone dock slides in to make the unit streamlined for transport. We do with the battery lasted longer than 3.5 hours.

Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere 2 • portable stereo system • $149: Fairly wide from left to right but impressively thin front to back, this one is easy to toss into a suitcase and sports a built-in rechargeable lithium battery that lasts ten hours or more. The latter is no small feat, as most products in this price range require you to (continuously) supply your own store-bought batteries. Most importantly, it sounds good.

JBL On Stage IIIP • stereo system • $169: The third time’s the charm, as iteration number three of this fairly diminutive circular system emits impressive audio quality for its size and (finally) includes a battery compartment so you can take advantage of its smallishness and carry it around with you. And the “P” somehow stands for iPhone, meaning that you can use it with your iPhone or iPod.

Altec Lansing T612 • stereo system • $199: An oldie but a goodie, it’s still the standard for mid-priced, mid-sized, non-portable stereo systems for both iPhone and iPod. It has a smallish front-to-back footprint and its audio quality is on par with some competing systems that cost $100 more. While we continue to wait for someone (perhaps Altec itself) to knock it off its perch, it’s still the best in its class and price point.

Griffin Evolve • wireless stereo system • $349: The flipside to owning a large, high-quality iPod stereo system is that you can’t take it with you when you leave the room – except in this instance you can, as both speaker units can be carried around. The battery-enabled cubes automatically recharge when placed back onto the main unit. Carry the remote control around with you too if you really want to have some fun.

Chestnut Hill George • stereo system + alarm • $499: The detailed LCD display on the front of this system syncs with your iPod and displays similar navigable hierarchal menus – but its real power is in the fact that the entire front center section can be removed and used as a remote control, which means that you can navigate your iPod’s menus without even having to be within squinting distance of your iPod.

Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin • stereo system • $599: Something this expensive had better sound stunningly awesomely fantastic – and it does just that. Paying two or three times what your iPod or iPhone itself cost you makes sense, however, when you realize that this system in on par with multi-units that are even larger and more expensive. Obviously only for audiophiles, but gleefully worth it.

Audioengine A5 • stereo system • $349: This pair of hefty speakers offer a better room-filling sound than Apple’s own iPod Hi-Fi ever could. You do have to provide your own iPod dock and connect it via line-in, but on the other hand, an Airport Express hookup on the back allows the speakers to be used wirelessly with your iTunes library. And you can space them as far apart as you like.

iHome iP90 • home alarm stereo • $99: This is the sixth generation of the original iPod alarm clock (replacing the iP9), and it still rules the roost in its price range despite increasing competition. The latest features include iPhone compatibility, dual alarms, built-in radio, and a new retro look which, for better or worse, is the most distinctive in this product line’s long history. Comes in black or silver.

iHome iP27 • portable stereo alarm • $99: The portable cousin of the iP9 loses half its height and weight, and folds down flat for travel. In the process you’ll lose the built-in radio and dual alarms, but this is for travel purposes and it fits nicely inside a suitcase (comes with a travel case too). It doesn’t sound as good as the iP9, but it sounds good enough that frequent travelers will do fine using it both at home and on the road.

Altec Moondance Glow • home alarm stereo • $179: This one would be worth its price even if it weren’t an alarm clock. Sound quality is great, an LCD screen displays your iPod’s track information when listening to music, and there’s even a “mood light” on the back. In addition to the standard remote control, there’s also a wireless snooze bar for your bedpost. Unfortunately it’s iPod-only, and won’t be on our list next time if doesn’t gain iPhone compatibility by then.

iHome iA5 • app enhanced alarm • $99: This one is only worth it if you’re going to take advantage of its free iHome+Sleep companion app for iPhone and iPod touch, as it’s not a standout piece of equipment in terms of audio quality. But that app enhancement instantly brings the iA5 to life as a stereo, as an alarm clock, and as a glimpse into the future (those looking for better audio might do well to hold out for iHome’s forthcoming iA100).

View all seventy-five winning accessories for iPad, iPhone, and iPod (including cases, earbuds, car products, stereos, batteries and more) in Beatweek Magazine’s 75th issue which you can read digitally for free right here.

Top iPhone and iPod car products: Beatweek 75

The highest rated car products for iPhone and iPod on the market as of June 2010:

Scosche SolChat • Bluetooth speakerphone • $99: Every bluetooth speakerphone we’ve tried has its pros and cons, but this one comes out on top for one simple reason: rather than coming with yet another battery to keep charged, this one recharges via solar power. Going green is great, but more importantly you’re being charged up when you need to make a call.

Plantronics Discovery 975 • Bluetooth earpiece • $129: There are any number of bluetooth earpieces on the market that work with the iPhone. But this one is our new favorite, even though it doesn’t come cheap, thanks to a combination of audio quality and comfort – and the styling is worthy of the device’s price tag. The new hands-free laws are a pain, but this’ll help make the whole thing a bit less painful.

Belkin TuneBase FM hands-free • $99: Even the best FM transmitters aren’t ideal for big cities. But this is the best we’ve found, a short gooseneck which includes presets and auto-scanning, can be used with thinner cases, and has a hands-free iPhone option that actually works. More importantly, it offers some of the strongest FM broadcast quality on the market.

ProClip • car-specific mount • $29 + $24-$79: This is the only iPhone/iPod car mounting solution that works well in every car, because they send you a different mounting kit depending on your car. And the option of padded, swivel, and dock connector mounts seals the deal. It’s not inexpensive, but it’s totally worth it.

Belkin & Kensington micro car chargers • $19: Simply put, these two competing micro-chargers make all other standard car chargers obsolete because they’re tiny enough that they’re almost entirely housed within your car’s power socket. Say goodbye to big bulging chargers. Both come with a sync cable for $19; the Kensington is $9 without the cable, $29 with the cable and wall charger, while the Belkin is $14 without the cable.

Monster iCarCharger 1000 • charger plus stereo connection • $59: With the advent of micro-chargers, what would possess you to consider a traditionally shaped charger? Well, this one offers a hidden aux cable which wraps up inside the charger’s head, and has basic iPhone/iPod playback buttons on the front face of the charger. It’s not cheap, and the buttons are only useful if you can reach them. But this is the coolest car charger ever.

View all seventy-five winning accessories for iPad, iPhone, and iPod (including cases, earbuds, car products, stereos, batteries and more) in Beatweek Magazine’s 75th issue which you can read digitally for free right here.

Top iPhone and iPod batteries: Beatweek 75

The top rated batteries for iPhone and iPod on the market as of June 2010:

FastMac TruePower iV • battery cradle • $99: It’s thick, it’s awkwardly shaped, and it’ll barely fit into your pocket if your pants are on the tighter side, but it triples the battery life of your iPhone (or iPod touch), making it indispensable for power users who struggle to make it even partway through the day on a single charge of their battery. Bonus: built-in camera flash and secondary USB charging port built-in.

Mophie Juice Pack Air • battery case • $79: It offers not quite double the battery life of your iPhone 3G or 3GS, but its slim profile (for a battery anyway) and case-like design make it a great way for more casual users to add a significant amount of life to their daily iPhone experience without adding any more bulk than necessary. And you’ve got to love any battery that comes in optional purple.

Just Mobile Gum Pro and Gum Plus • battery bricks • $59-69: If you’re looking for a battery brick to sit next to your iDevice rather than wrapping around it, Just Mobile’s Gum Pro and Gum Plus represent the best value propositions on the market. Either model will quadruple the battery of a fully charged iPhone, especially handy for traveling. Gum Plus (pictured) above is brushed metal, while Gum Pro is all all-black number.

MiLi Power Pack • battery cradle • $67: It doesn’t offer as much juice as the competing TruePower, but MiLi’s Power Pack is sleeker, more colorful, and more fun. We’re still waiting for a perfect iPhone battery cradle to come to market (and may have to wait until iPhone 4 batteries arrive later this year for that to happen), but for now this is a strong option as far as lightweight battery cradles.

View all seventy-five winning accessories for iPad, iPhone, and iPod (including cases, earbuds, car products, stereos, batteries and more) in Beatweek Magazine’s 75th issue which you can read digitally for free right here.

More top accessories for iPhone and iPod: Beatweek 75

Thirteen more top accessories for iPhone, iPod, and iPad that don’t fit into any of the official categories:

Dexim mHub • iPhone+iPod dock • $66: Most iPhone and iPod docks do nothing more than allow your device to sit upright while connected to your computer, but this is a dock on steroids, with three built-in USB ports for connecting additional devices to your computer along with an SD card slot for syncing your photos to your computer as well. And oh by the way, you can sync your iPhone or iPod to your computer too.

Griffin PowerDock 4 • multi device dock• $69: We’ve seen any number of twin chargers come to market for iPhone and iPod, but this one remains king of the hill by charging four devices at a time thanks to its front-seat, back-seat design. We wish it were able to somehow allow the devices to connect to a computer, but we’ll take it as is. Also available in a standard twin-charger option for less-connected families.

RadTech Bezel Blaster • restoration product • $8: The only part of the iPhone 3G/3GS that’s easily scratched is the mirrored chrome bezel running around the screen. Until now we’ve just had to live with those scratches. But if you’re willing to put eight bucks and a little elbow grease into it, those scratches can be gone (yes, it actually works!) – good news for users who’ve decided to hang onto their iPhone 3G for another year.

Marware Game Grip • iPhone 3G+3GS gaming product • $39: What initially looks like an absurd child’s toy actually turns out to be a great low-tech way to make your iPhone (or iPod touch) less of a cellphone and something closer to an actual handheld gaming device. This won’t come close to fitting into your pocket, but comes in handy at home – and it offers a hidden way of running a charging cable to your device while in use.

Griffin Navigate • Dexim mHub • $66: This radio remote runs circles around other radio remotes, as its LED screen gives you artist and track information whether you’re listening to FM radio or the music on your iPhone or iPod. It’s as close as you can come to never having to take your device out of your pocket during the course of your music listening experience. Might even be worth it if you don’t care about radio.

Just Mobile Lounge • iPhone stand • $59: This is a whole new take on the concept of metal iPhone stands. While such stands up to this point have generally consisted of a metal pedestal that grabs the iPhone by its corners, this design simply grabs it by its sides. It rotates just as easily as previous pedestal-style stands, and even holds your iPhone while it’s in its case – all with a lower profile and arguably svelter design.

H2O Audio Interval • waterproof iPod shuffle case• $99: If you’ve always wanted to strap your iPod shuffle to the back of your goggles and go swimming with it, H2O Audio’s Interval executes the idea perfectly. The waterproof housing has built in waterproof earbuds, and the external controls are easily reachable. Obviously aimed more at the adept swimmer than the shallow end wader.

Scosche showTIME • video connector • $39: Playing your iPhone or iPod’s video content on your television should be a simple matter, but often gets massively overcomplicated by products that only a geek could love. In contrast, this cable simply connects to your iPhone or iPod on one end and to your television’s RCA (red, white and yellow) ports on the other. Just make sure your TV actually has those ports.

Blue Microphones Mikey • high end audio recorder • $79: Snap-on iPod microphones are nothing new, but it took until this year for an actual microphone company to get in the game and produce something that sound pristine. A little larger and more expensive than the $50 standard fare we’d gotten used to, but this product is worth it on both counts. Fair warning: the new Mikey 2 is coming later this year, and it’s even better.

Incipio Lloyd • budget audio recorder • $18: At the other end of the spectrum is a snap-on mic so tiny it barely adds any bulk to the fourth-gen iPod nano at all. And while the audio quality isn’t such that you’d want to use it to bootleg a concert (see the product at left for that), it’s an inexpensive and unobtrusive way to record voice conversations with surprisingly decent audio quality.

GelaSkins • iPhone+iPod skins: Too substantial and durable to be dismissed as mere stickers, these stick-on skins for iPhone, iPod touch, iPod nano and iPod classic are easy to attach and easy to become addicted to, as they come in a nearly limitless number of custom patterns and designs from various artists. Also available for Mac and PC laptops, netbooks, and even gaming devices.

Audioengine W2 • wireless adapter • $169: You’ll pay a hefty price for the privilege, but if you’ve got a stereo system on the other side of the room (or in another room) and you want your iPod’s music coming out of that system while your iPod remains in your hand, this is the best way we’ve found yet. Only worth it if said stereo system is high-end enough to warrant further investment, but you can’t beat the flexibility.

Elgato Turbo.264 HD • iPhone/iPod video converter • $149: Trying to get any video onto your iPhone or iPod that you haven’t downloaded directly from iTunes can be a pain, as you first have to use your computer to convert it to the correct format – which can take hours. This USB stick significantly accelerates the conversion process. It’s not cheap, but if you’ve got an massive DVD collection you want to get onto your iPhone, it’ll pay for itself.

View all seventy-five winning accessories for iPad, iPhone, and iPod (including cases, earbuds, car products, stereos, batteries and more) in Beatweek Magazine’s 75th issue which you can read digitally for free right here.

Beatweek issue #75: Ozzy Osbourne interview and top 75 accessories for iPad, iPhone, and iPod

In this special commemorative seventy-fifth issue of Beatweek Magazine:

• Ozzy Osbourne cover story interview

• the top seventy-five accessories for iPad, iPhone, and iPod

• interviews with OneRepublic, Adam Lambert, Felicia Day, LMFAO, and Chevelle

• hands on with iOS 4

• Dweezil Zappa talks Frank Zappa

• and much more

Read this issue now

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Delayed white iPhone 4 is a far cry from Apple’s white obsessed past

The unexpected disappearance of the new white iPhone 4 may be appropriate, as it represents a trend in which white-hued products have been gradually disappearing from Apple’s product lines for a decade. In the beginning the iPod was only available in white, and even as the iPod mini launched in pastels more than two years later, the standard iPod stuck to its all-white guns until a black model was finally added four years into the iPod era, right around the same time the iPod mini’s pastel array was replaced with a mere two options of its own: white or black. The original iPod shuffle was all white, and somewhere in the early half of the last decade the iMac shifted from its candy colors over to white only. But Apple’s years-long trend toward white began to fade when the company grew obsessed with silver metals, whether it be titanium or aluminum. The iMac is now silver, the original iPhone was a mix of silver and black, and white has even been quietly phased out of the iPod lineup as you can now no longer purchase a white iPod of any kind. All but one of Apple’s laptop models has gone silver, and even the Mac mini, which had some white on it, has recently gone all silver as well.

So that’s why it was perhaps surprising that Apple relented and added a white option in the form of the white iPhone 3G and kept it around through the 3GS line. At this point, not counting obscure Apple-branded products outside the company’s primary product matrix (cables and such), the white iPhone and the one remaining white MacBook laptop model are all that’s left of Apple’s former obsession with the hue. So even as Apple carries the torch forward with a white iPhone 4 option, it’s fitting that it too has gone missing, even if only temporarily, and even if only by virtue of apparent manufacturing delays or whatever unfortunate situation has caused the problem.

Interestingly, the lack of white products in Apple’s matrix here in 2010 has only served to make the white iPhone 4 something of a status symbol, as it’s increasingly rare to be in possession of an all white Apple product these days that’s still current. And while the black iPhone 4 model is now considered the default, commonplace option (soon to be too common in some users’ eyes), a few years back the color black had so thoroughly disappeared from Apple’s Macintosh lineup that the 2007 arrival of the black MacBook made it instantly a status symbol in comparison to the white one. One wonders if, a few years down the road, whether it be the iPhone or Mac or some other Apple product line, the current commonplace black or overused silver may have faded from use to the extent that white Apple products are too commonplace and users are left longing for the return of black or silver. In the mean time, good luck finding a white iPhone 4 if that’s what you’re intent on finding.

World Cup soccer iPod speaker system hits market at the right time

Speakal’s MiSoccer speaker system for iPod comes at just the right time, with 2010 World Cup Soccer kicking off in June 11th. The stereo unit is shaped just like a real soccer ball, with a few supporting legs, and an iPod dock on top which makes the device compatible with the nano, touch, and classic. An aux port also allows for use with an iPod shuffle, computer, or any other audio device with a 3.5mm connector. The MiSoccer comes in a choice of black, blue, or red spots on a white soccer ball and comes with a remote control complete with bass and treble controls, and sells for $119.99. The product comes the same company which also offers the iPig, iPanda, and iBoo stereo systems. We’re hoping to review this product hands on here at Beatweek, and we’ll report back on our findings if we can get our hands on one.

U-Socket USB wall socket pushed to October by FastMac

FastMac’s U-Socket, an electrical wall outlet which includes a pair of USB charging ports built into the socket alongside the two standard electrical plugs, will not ship until October, according to fulfillment emails sent to customers who had pre-ordered the product, a fact first reported on by TUAW> The $20 U-Socket debuted at Macworld 2010 back in February and was one of Beatweek Magazine’s “Best of Show” winners. The full details of the award winning product can be found right here.

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