Losing touch: iOS 5 on iPhone, iPad signifies death of iPod branding
October 16, 2011 by Bill Palmer · Leave a Comment
by Bill Palmer
I finally saw the sign I was looking for today, and it’s one I hadn’t spotted on my iPhone or iPad despite having been staring it in the face for a few days now: as of iOS 5, the iPod brand name is dead to Apple. Take a look at the icon in the lower corner of your iPhone’s dock. For the first four years of the iPhone era, it was called “iPod” and it housed your music, video, podcasts. Now Apple has segregated video out into a separate app, leaving the main one on the dock called “Music” instead. Sure, it’s the same way Apple has been handling things on the iPod touch from the start. But as of now, the iPod brand name has been banished from the iPhone. Whether it’s by intention or mere happenstance is unclear. But the fact that so few are talking about it, and the fact that it took me three days into the iOS 5 era so much as even spot it despite having noticed the orange new music notes icon and having tapped on it a dozen times, represents a remarkable revelation in terms of just how forgotten the iPod is. This despite the fact that Apple still has four different iPod lines and sells them by the millions. You have to wonder how much longer that lasts.
When the iPhone launched in mid 2007, I confidently predicted that the iPod had five years of life left in it. Nine months short of that mark on the calendar, it seems I’m only half right. I’ll leave the iPod touch out of this for the moment, for two reasons. One is that it’s more a part of the iOS/iPhone/iPad family than the iPod family. The other is that at the time I made my prediction, the iPod touch didn’t exist yet and I was specifically referring to the traditional iPod lineup: the nano, the shuffle, and what is now known as the classic. All three are still around, and at least two of them will be by the time the launch of the first iPhone reaches its fifth anniversary. So much for my prediction of the traditional iPod lineup being dead and gone.
Instead, “commoditized” might have been the more accurate prediction. The iPod nano and shuffle are barely more than trinkets, useful ones at that but thoroughly lacking in comparison to the kind of music and content playback offered by the iPhone (and iPod touch). The iPod classic with its hundred-something gigabyte hard drive capacity is still around for the singular reason that the iPod touch and iPhone are still topped out at sixty-four gigs of lightweight solid state storage; the classic will be discontinued the microsecond iOS devices are revved to 128 gigs. But still, I suspect that the enduring sales of the nano and shuffle are at least partially a result of one of the biggest mistakes in recent Apple history. The company gave the iPhone to AT&T (and generally one carrier per nation) exclusively for its first several years, getting god-only-knows-what in return. As a result plenty of would-be iPhone users ended up with either the Brand-B smartphone their preferred carrier was pushing, or no smartphone at all as they clung to a basic cellphone. In some instances their other pocket became occupied by an iPod touch, while in other instances a traditional iPod fit the bill.
My point is this: while there are some exceptions, most typical iPhone users don’t also own an iPod. Unless they want something small like the nano or shuffle to go jogging with, or a bulk-capacity device like the classic to store their full music library, owning an iPod on top of an iPhone just doesn’t make sense unless you’re an Apple enthusiast. The rate of adoption of the iPhone has been far, far, far slower than it should have been thanks to that idiotic AT&T deal which Apple is still working to dig out from under while attempting to do damage control in terms of reclaiming all those legions of would-be iPhone users who would rather have gone phone-less altogether than go with AT&T. And those would-have-been iPhone users are one of the remaining drivers of iPod sales. As a result, the iPod lineup still has more life left in it than it rightly should.
Now that the iPhone has recently expanded to most carriers in most nations, I’m left to wonder just what kind of increased negative impact this will have on traditional iPod sales. Last night I had dinner with a Sprint customer who had an iPod touch in one hand and a Brand-B Sprint phone in the other, and intends to trade them both in for an iPhone once upgrade eligibility arrives. This trend will impact sales both iOS-based and traditional iPods to some extent. How much? That remains to be seen in Apple’s upcoming quarterly reports. But in the mean time, the fact that Apple has banished the “iPod” name from the iPhone home screen in iOS 5 means that it’s now giving up on the once-everywhere brand name one symbolic step at a time. How quickly will users do the same? My arbitrarily defined five year deadline beckons in nine months. We’ll see. Here’s more on the iPhone 4S.
House of Marley: Beatweek Breakthrough Product for 2011
January 8, 2011 by Beatweek · Leave a Comment
Anyone can slap slap Bob Marley’s name onto a line of iPhone and iPod speakers and headphones for publicity purposes. Well, not anyone, as you’d have to clear the legal rights in order to do so. But the newly debuted “House of Marley” line of products scores on both fronts. For one thing, effort is spearheaded by the Marley family itself, so it’s a proper use of the name in that sense. And just as importantly, the products themselves live up their namesake in terms of their standout uniqueness.
Here’s an example which crystalizes what you need to know about the Marley line of products: the typical iPhone dockable stereo system is made of one-tone acrylic plastic and is a perfect rectangle. The stereo systems Marley had on display at CES featured odd angles, camouflage coloring, and would stand out in any context. Of course the lone vital component of any audio product is the audio itself, and we were only able to test that aspect of the Marley lineup in limited capacity. The good news is that the Marley headphones we tested sounded great. But some of the speaker systems appeared to be prototypes, and so while we got a positive vibe from the products, we couldn’t determine anything specific enough to consider the Marley products for our Best of Show awards. That said, we were impressed enough by the unique styling, the authenticity, and the limited exposure that we did have with the audio component of the products, that we feel compelled to name the entire Marley speaker, earbud, and headphone lineup as a Beatweek Breakthrough Product for CES 2011.
Altec Lansing MIX iMT800: Beatweek 2010 Portable Stereo of the Year
December 28, 2010 by Beatweek · Leave a Comment
We waited years 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 wish with with the MIX (iMT800): 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. The MIX officially lists for an eye popping $299 but is available for barely half that.
Buy now: $171 at Amazon.com.
iHome iP1 Studio Series: Beatweek 2010 Stereo of the Year
December 27, 2010 by Beatweek · Leave a Comment
It tells you something about what kind a year it was for iPhone and iPod dockable stereo systems in general when the best option on the market in 2010, the iHome iP1, actually came to market in 2009. So while iHome turned its focus toward the more economy-priced iP3 this year and most competitors treaded water or took the year off, the iP1 still stands out as the top dockable stereo on the market. It’s a $299 home system, not really portable in any sense of the word, and it looks like it’s from the future – in a good way. We’re not sure what’s more impressive, that the iP1 gets away with completely shedding the rectangular external housing found elsewhere and exposing its guts, or that it actually looks good in doing so.
In any case, looks are in the eye of the beholder and the real reason the iP1 is still the king of the year is that its audio quality is still unmatched when it comes to any dockable system in the “less than a car payment” category. And that’s before you fire up the Bongiovi acoustics, which compensates for the “compression” part of compressed music and makes most digital music sound noticeably better.
Here’s hoping, for the sake of progress, that a new product (from iHome or elsewhere) will bump off the iP1 in 2011. But as it stands, it’s our Stereo of the Year. It’s also on sale at an eye-popping discount at Amazon at the moment.
Buy now: $299 $199 at Amazon.com.
review: iMainGo X Speaker Case for iPhone and iPod
November 29, 2010 by Bill Palmer · Leave a Comment
by Bill Palmer
On the heels of the iMainGo 2 release just a few months back, here comes the iMainGo X. And while Droid users may be feeling like that naming convention is a little too familiar, the iMainGo is actually a speaker-case for iPhone and iPod. It’s far from a new concept, as the original iMainGo launched four or five years ago. The idea is that you put your device into an oversized zippered case which just happens to be oversized because it’s got speakers built into the back of it. And while plenty of these products have come to market over the years which didn’t sound very good, the iMainGo products have stood out in that they do in fact sound very good – almost stunningly good, considering what you’d expect from such a product just by looking at it (and by looking at its price). Now comes the big test for the iMainGo, as the new iMainGo X raises the price level from $49 to $69 and justifies it by packing in a number of improvements and new features.
The most vital upgrade is the fact that the iMainGo X runs on a built in lithium battery, rechargeable by plugging the entire unit into a wall socket, a big improvement over the AA batteries the iMainGo 2 ran on. In terms of new features, the X includes a pair of audio-out ports on the outside, which means that if you suddenly want to switch over to using earbuds or headphones, you can do so without having to remove your iPhone or iPod from the iMainGo. That’ll come in handy if you’ve got your music blasting away and someone joins you in the room, for instance. And thanks to a larger device bay, you should be able to get your iPhone or iPod to fit into the X with having to remove a skin or a thin case, although you’d be out of luck with larger cases.
All of the above is all good news. The lithium battery alone is probably worth the extra twenty dollars. Unfortunately, the iMainGo X solves neither of my minor gripes left over from the iMainGo 2: operating the touchscreen of your iPhone or iPod touch through the clear plastic cover isn’t quite as easy as it should be. And even with the lithium battery there’s still no method for keeping your device charged up while it’s inside the iMainGo, leaving you potentially with a suddenly dead iPhone battery and no phone. If iMainGo could somehow figure out how to squeeze a dock connector port into the product so iPhones and iPods could charge while playing, that would really hit it out of the park. But even as it stands, the iMainGo X is a nice product at $69. And for those looking for a less expensive option, the iMainGo 2 is still around, now reduced to $39 from its original $49. Either way, my recommend hasn’t changed: If you want a speaker case for your iPhone or iPod, go with iMainGo.
rating: four stars out of five • price: $69 • iMainGo.com
review: Lift Audio Icon in-ear earbuds
November 29, 2010 by Bill Palmer · Leave a Comment
by Bill Palmer
Even the most inexpensive of in-ear earbuds nearly always offer an improvement in audio quality over the earbuds which come bundled with the iPod, and the new Icon earbuds from Lift Audio attempt to prove that with a price tag of a mere $29. Icon is also intriguing due to the fact that the buds are tiny and so lightweight as to feel essentially weightless. Black with silver chrome trim, they’ve got a styling that’s understated yet fancier looking than I’ve come to expect at this price point.
Of course the real test of any earbuds, even (perhaps especially) with inexpensive ones, is how they sound. Someone who’s accustomed to using $100 in-ear earbuds would describe the Icon’s sound as being comparatively dry, lacking any real expansiveness in the audio experience. But someone who’s only ever known the iPod’s bundled earbuds, and who doesn’t have the budget to invest in $100 or even $50 earbuds, will be impressed with the the Icon, particularly in that they sound good in both the high and low ranges, whereas so many cheap in-ear earbuds offer either no bass or bad bass.
The catch here, and it’s a dealbreaker for plenty of iPod and probably all iPhone users, is that Lift Audio hasn’t included any on-board controls at all. No mic, no play-pause button, no volume buttons. You can’t take phone calls, and all music control has to be done directly on the device itself. And that’s a shame, because I’ve tested at even half this price which come with a simple built-in mic and button. But if you don’t care about on-board controls anyway and you’ve got $29 to invest in improving your iPod’s audio experience, the Lift Audio Icon is a nice way to go – made even nicer by the fact that you can currently get them for $25 on Amazon.
price: $29 • Amazon.com
review: Woodees Vintage earbuds for iPhone and iPod
November 29, 2010 by Bill Palmer · Leave a Comment
by Bill Palmer
Wooden earbuds, once a rare novelty, are becoming more popular and with good reason: they have a noticeably more natural sound to them than standard earbuds housings do. The latest spin on wooden earbuds comes from the appropriately named Woodees Vintage which – surprise – comes with three buttons and a microphone, rare for its $69 price point.
But before you even get to listening to them, the Woodees Vintage jumps out due to their obviously wooden styling, which includes a gold-orange-brown-black gradient on the buds and keeps the earth tone theme intact with its gold cabling and black trim throughout. They’re the kind of earbuds you hope will sound good, because otherwise the awesome styling would be a waste. But as it turns out, these are the clearest-sounding wooden earbuds I’ve ever tested. Of course their original $99 price tag would have made them the most expensive wooden earbuds I’ve ever tested, but their new $69 price makes them less expensive than the competing Thinksound TS02+ wooden earbuds, which I already very much like the sound of. Except the Woodees Vintage sounds better.
If you want wooden earbuds, the Woodees Vintage are the ones to go for. Audio quality, styling, price, and the fact that they have three-button controls for playback and volume for iPhone and iPod.
Just to be clear, there are $99 earbuds on the market (not wooden ones, mind you) which offer overall superior audio quality. But at $69, the Woodees Vintage is a steal, and the natural wooden kick in the audio is just a bonus.
rating: 4.5 stars out of five • price: $69 • Woodees.com
review: Kensington PowerBolt Duo Car Charger for iPad iPhone and iPod
November 28, 2010 by Bill Palmer · Leave a Comment
by Bill Palmer
Kensington’s original PowerBolt car charger for iPhone and iPod was a breakthrough in that the charging unit was so tiny it almost recessed itself entirely within your car’s charging port, sticking out by only millimeters. And now Kensington unleashes the PowerBolt Duo which, as its name suggests, applies that miniaturization concept to a car charger which can support two devices simultaneously. As expected, the Duo isn’t as microscopic as the original, although the Duo is smaller than most single-device car chargers were a year or two ago. But the real twist here is that unlike many car chargers from a year or two ago, the Duo offers enough amperage to charge an iPad.
The Duo sports two USB ports, one whose amperage is more than twice that of the other. As it turned out in my tests, either port can charge an iPad using the included cable. But as the product’s packaging proclaims, the top port can charge an iPad about twice as fast as the bottom one, which is good news seeing just how long it can take to fully charge an iPad. The implication, then, is clear: charge your iPad in the high power USB port while you’re charging your iPhone or iPod in the lower power port. And I found that it works exactly as advertised (and yes, the included cable does work with the iPad).
I have only one quibble: the PowerBolt Duo is clearly intended to be used to charge two devices (otherwise you’d by the regular PowerBolt), so why does it only come with one cable? At the competitive price of $29, I’m not saying a second cable should necessarily be included with the Duo at that price. But from a hassle standpoint, buying this product means getting your hands on an extra cable, whether that be carrying your iPad’s bundled cable back and forth from your house to your car (which doesn’t match stylistically with the Duo’s all-black styling), or buying another cable elsewhere. I’d just like to have also seen another PowerBolt Duo option with two bundled cables for, say, $34. Perhaps Kensington will consider it.
But for those who aren’t concerned about there only being one cable in the box, the PowerBolt Duo is a nice svelte way to keep your iPad and your iPhone/iPod charged up simultaneously, without having to wait forever for your iPad to charge, easily recommendable.
Price: $29 • Kensington.com
review: iHome iB969 charging station for iPhone, iPod, and iPad
November 21, 2010 by Bill Palmer · Leave a Comment
Dual dock chargers for iPhone and iPod are nothing new, but the iPad throws a monkey wrench into the equation and so iHome’s iB969 aims to please users whose collection of iDevices is piling up in a hurry. In addition to a pair of docking wells the iB969 includes two USB ports for charging, for instance, an iPad which goes in the rack around back and a device such as a Kindle or gaming device or camera which lays flat on the slide-out tray. The charger can optionally be connected to your computer, where one of the docked devices can sync to your iTunes.
After spending some time using the iB969, its pros and cons are both obvious: the entire unit takes up no more horizontal space than an iPad laid flat, so it allows you to save significant desk space. But that said, the iPad and the fourth device connect via USB cables, so the whole thing becomes a little gangly looking with cables running this and that way.
For the iB969 to be right for you, you’ve got to be looking to take advantage of both docking wells plus at least one more device; if you’re just looking to charge and iPhone and and iPod, there are simple dual-chargers out there that take up less space. But if you are looking to charge up three or four devices, the iB969 is not significantly more expensive than standard dual dock chargers – making it a potential value play if it’s the right fit for your needs.
rating: four stars out of five • iHomeAudio.com
review: MOBiLE CLOTH
November 18, 2010 by Christine Chan · Leave a Comment
I’m pretty sure that no one can live without cleaning cloths, am I right?
But what about the best cleaning cloth money can buy?
I think I have found the answer to that.
MOBiLE CLOTH is a relatively new cleaning cloth that’s out on the market, and I have to say that it’s one of the best that I’ve ever tried.
According to the sales pitch from MOBiLE CLOTH at their website, it’s made of a ‘unique high tech material consisting of microfibers 100 times thinner than a human hair.’
When you get a MOBiLE CLOTH, the first thing you’ll notice is how soft this cloth is. I thought of cashmere sweaters when I first touched one of my review samples of this cloth. Yes, it is THAT soft!
I w as curious as to how these would fare on cleaning my devices after I’ve used so many. Within a couple of seconds, the front and back of my iPhone 4 were looking perfect after a few wipes with the MOBiLE CLOTH. My iPad gets cleaned in a matter of seconds as well. It would normally take me much more than a few seconds to get these devices cleaned with other cleaning cloths.
The MOBiLE CLOTH is also great for other devices, such as computer screens, glasses, camera displays, and any thing else you can think of.
In fact, it’s so good that it even removed this annoying imprint on my MacBook screen due to the keyboard protector I have on. None of my other cleaning cloths would work in getting rid of that mark on the screen, but in less than a minute with the MOBiLE CLOTH, that imprint was gone and my screen was looking as good as new.
Other cleaning cloths don’t stand a chance against the MOBiLE CLOTH, at least from my tests with it. The only problem I have is that these cloths are much larger and thicker than more conveniently sized ones, so it’s a bit harder to easily carry around with you. I know I’m constantly cleaning my devices even when I’m out and about. Good thing I’m a girl and can just stash these in my purse! I can’t leave home without them.
The MOBiLE CLOTH comes in the following price options:
- MOBiLE CLOTH: 2 Pack White & Blue – $4.99
- MOBiLE CLOTH: 4 Pack White & Blue – $8.99
- MOBiLE CLOTH: 6 Pack White & Blue – $11.99
review by Christine Chan
rating: five stars out of five • mobilecloth.com
review: Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Mini Dockable Stereo
November 9, 2010 by Bill Palmer · Leave a Comment
While the original Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin stereo system got its name for literally being shaped like a blimp, the Zeppelin Mini takes a far more conservative design approach by adopting a cylindrical shape which takes up a smaller footprint. But the Mini might evoke nearly as many oohs and ahs from those who spot it, thanks to a couple of design flairs of its own. Across the top is a curved mirrored surface, which tilts forward enough to cast a visible reflection of the room toward onlookers. And the iPhone or iPod, rather than docking within the unit’s space, sits atop it on a docking perch. The perch even rotates to allow you to watch video on your iPhone or iPod’s screen, making it perhaps the best-sounding mini movie theater experience ever.
The Mini’s audio quality is, in a word, brilliant – as it should be for this price (officially $399 but findable on sites like Amazon for $299). However, and perhaps it’s due to the efforts made to make the Mini so small, as it’s barely three inches front to back, something is lost from the absolutely stunning audio quality of its larger full-sized $599 Zeppelin. In fact, the Mini doesn’t even quite measure up to the best similarly priced systems on the market, as its audio is closer to that of iHome’s $199 iP3 than iHome’s $299 iP1.
I was about to be disappointed in the lack of on-board volume controls, until I found them tucked away on the right side of the unit – a clever design touch. I mention this because they’ve been so well integrated into the design that some users may not even know they’re there.
Hate to say it, but if you’re buying the Zeppelin Mini for $399 or even $299, you’re doing so at least partially for its design flair. And if you’re going to do that, you might as well opt for the larger model, which actually looks like a Zeppelin. Still, the Mini is a quite a high quality product – but it’s not in the top tier for its price range.
review by Bill Palmer
rating: four stars out of five • Bowers-Wilkins.com
review: Thinksound TS02+mic Earbuds
November 9, 2010 by Bill Palmer · Leave a Comment
These days, due to lack of interest from most iPhone and iPod users, we rarely bother reviewing earbuds that don’t come with some kind of on-board controls for playback, volume, and making calls. We made an exception back in 2009 for the Thinksound earbuds, and for one reason: they’re made of wood. This all too rare design choice gives your music a feeling of being less digital and more natural, and while that’s not for everyone, it’s nice to see the option on the market. The even better news is that Thinksound has gone back and added a mic and button to one of its earbud lines, with the result being a new generation called the TS02+.
Actually, the TS02+ has more over the previous TS01 than just the addition of on-board controls, as the already crisp audio sees improvement with the new generation. Among the various wood-based earbuds I’ve tested, the TS02+ now pretty clearly stands as the best option.
Are there drawbacks? Sure. There are competing earbuds in this price range (not made of wood) which offer better overall audio quality; in other words, you’re paying a premium here for the natural-sounding factor, which means you need to make sure it’s something you really want. And as we head into 2011, the single-button controls of the TS02+mic just barely cut it, as three-button are almost standard at this price point. But if you don’t care about the extra two buttons for volume control, and if you place a premium on the kind of natural-sounding audio from wooden earbuds, then the TS02+mic earbuds are worth consideration. As I said, they’re the best-sounding wooden earbuds I’ve tested to date.
review by Bill Palmer
rating: four stars out of five • Thinksound.com
review: ProClip Car Mount for iPhone and iPod
November 5, 2010 by Beatweek · Leave a Comment
Universal car mounts for iPhone and iPod, no matter how well done, are invariably a crapshoot because the interior of every car is laid out different. The only way to ensure your device is mounted in a way that works well in your car would be to get your hands on a mount which was specifically designed for your car make and model – fortunately, as improbable as it sounds, ProClip has done exactly that.
Over the years we’ve had the opportunity to test out ProClip’s mounts in various kinds of vehicles, and the results have always been about the same: our iPhones and iPods have been mounted a place that’s easy to reach and stable. The ProClip consists of two components, first a mounting kit specific to your vehicle and then a holder that’s specific to your device and your usage patterns. Holders include options for a built-in charging cable, a method of semi-permanently attaching your own cable, swivel options and more.
Two things to know: Many of the mounts include a small amount of (non-permanent) installation. And the product doesn’t come cheap, as you’ll pay about $25 to $80 for the device holder plus another $29 for the car mount. But it’s worth it if you prefer to have your iPhone or iPod mounted in your car on a regular basis.
rating: five stars out of five • ProClipUSA.com
Lil Wayne to spend one more day in jail due to iPod before freed
November 4, 2010 by Beatweek · Leave a Comment
Lil Wayne will have to spend one more day in prison before going home, after a recalculation of his sentence. It seems like just last night – wait, it was last night – that the rapper was all set to walk out the door of Rikers Island a free man. In fact crowds were gathered outside to greet him. But as it turns out, Wayne lost a day of sentence reduction due to an infraction, says MTV – and that infraction was apparently an iPod and headphones which turned up in his cell unapproved. If so, this isn’t likely the first time that someone has had to spend extra time in jail due to an iPod, but it’s certainly the most high profile to date (in one sad unrelated story several years ago, a teen was murdered over his iPod).
Lil Wayne’s release will mean the resumption of his superstar music career, which has seem him guesting with everyone from Kevin Rudolf to Drake to Weezer while releasing his own chart-topping albums. In fact his career wasn’t actually stopped short by his jail sentence, as his most recent album (finished before his sentence began) was released during his prison stint. No word yet on whether the same crowds will gather tomorrow night for Wayne’s newly updated release date.
review: Radius Atomic Bass 2+Mic Earbuds
November 2, 2010 by Beatweek · Leave a Comment
The reason why our awards often go to brand names you’ve heard of is that those companies have generally earned their popularity for a good reason. But sometimes the best product in a category comes from an upstart vendor most users haven’t yet heard of, and that’s the case here with the Atomic Bass 2+Mic from Radius.
As the product name implies, the Atomic Bass line of earbuds has a significantly higher than usual bass-to-treble ratio, which won’t appeal to all users. But the Atomic Bass 2 stands out as our winner in this price range because you simply never encounter forty dollar earbuds with this kind of fidelity. We’re not sure if Radius knows something other vendors don’t, or if the Atomic Bass products are simply priced too cheaply for their own good. But either way, if you can’t spend the $100-$200 required to bring true high fidelity to your iPhone or iPod experience, this $39 product is a heck of a consolation prize – assuming, of course, you consider the extra bass kick to be a positive.
One lament: as is too often the case with earbuds in this price range in 2010, the Atomic Bass 2+Mic comes with a mere one button (for playback control) and mic, as opposed to the three buttons (for volume control) found on more expensive options.
rating: 4.5 stars out of five • RadiusEarphones.com
Beatweek 2010 Buyers Guide Issue: Josh Groban, Styx, iPad iPhone iPod accessories of the year
November 2, 2010 by Beatweek · Leave a Comment
Beatweek Magazine’s 2010 Buyers Guide Issue:
• Josh Groban cover story interview
• Best iPad, iPhone, and iPod accessories of 2010
• Styx interview with Tommy Shaw
• Blogworld 2010 onsite report
• interviews with Daniel Lanois, Greyson Chance, iPad DJ Rana Sobhany, Eliza Doolittle, and Greg Laswell
• much, much more
Read this issue now
review: Callpod Fueltank Uno
October 24, 2010 by Bill Palmer · Leave a Comment
Mobile battery life is paramount for travelers and power users, and often for more than just one device – and so Callpod has positioned its Fueltank Uno as an external iPhone/iPod battery which can just as easily used to charge something else. In addition to an iPhone/iPod charging cable, the brick-style battery also comes with a mini-USB charging cable (good for charging plenty of other mobile devices), and even promises to include a third cable of your choice, for any of 3000 different mobile products, the company claims.
The good news is that the Fueltank uno works as easily as advertised: just make sure you travel with the correct included stub cable(s), and you can use it to charge whatever you want. The trouble comes when you look at the specs of the device and you see that it offers a mere 2200 mAH capacity. Actually, that’s a lot in some respects, as the typical iPhone battery case or cradle comes with less. But in terms of value, Just Mobile’s competing Gum line comes with twice as much battery life in a slightly smaller brick for about $10 more. So while the Fueltank Uno scores points for its versatility, it doesn’t measure up if you’re only going to use it to charge your iPhone or iPod.
Intriguingly, however, the company’s Fueltank Duo offers twice as much battery life as well as the ability to hook up two devices at once, for $20 extra. The Duo sounds like a much more cost-effective device, and we hope to test it out soon.
rating: 3.5 stars out of five • Callpod.com
review: Callpod Chargepod
October 24, 2010 by Bill Palmer · Leave a Comment
More than a mere multi-device charging station, the Chargepod aims to provide an entire ecosystem in which each device is charged with a three-inch stub cable. You plug in the cables and devices like spokes around the edges of the circular Chargepod, and you can charge up to six devices simultaneously.
The nice part about the stub-cable ecosystem is that it means you can travel with the little space-saving, tangle-free cables instead of the longer cables that your devices came with. Anyone who’s ever taken the time to unwind or untangle a series of three-foot USB cables while unpacking can appreciate that. Aimed at iPhone and iPod users who also travel with other battery-based devices, the Chargepod comes with three stub cables in the box: one for iPhone/iPod, one for mini-USB, and one for micro-USB. Assessing the various devices I travel with, these three cables combine to cover nearly all of them, which is a good thing.
The flipside is that using this product is entirely dependent upon having the right stub cables; there’s no way to, for instance, use your own mini-USB cable to charge your digital camera. The $49 “Bundle” version of the Chargepod allows you to pick out a fourth stub cable of your choice, while the $59 “Value Pack” lets you pick three extra cables for a total of six.
Bottom line: The Chargepod is a nice way to cut down on cable clutter and travel load, while only requiring one electrical outlet at your hotel to charge everything up. But at fifty to sixty bucks, it doesn’t come cheap. Not necessarily a huge help while at home, but definitely worth a look for travelers and those on the go.
review: Altec Lansing Octiv Duo app-enhanced stereo alarm
October 14, 2010 by Bill Palmer · Leave a Comment
Altec Lansing’s new Octiv Duo is an interesting little stereo system, and not just because, as its name implies, it features twin docks for two iPhones and/or iPods. What makes the product unique is that it’s an app enhanced product – by not one but two free App Store apps – which turns it into a much more comprehensive product than it first appears to be when you pull it out of the box. The first app is an alarm app, which converts the Octiv Duo from mere iPhone stereo into an iPhone alarm stereo. The second app attempts to take advantage of the dual docking capacity by allowing you to fire up a conjoined playlist from both docked devices.
But before we get to all that fun stuff, the basics first: the Octiv Duo is designed as a wedge-shaped system which fits into a corner nicely, but whose angles are slight enough that it doesn’t look odd sitting out in the open. As the unit’s small-ish size might suggest, the audio output is just a little better than okay; without the app enhancement, this might only be passable as a perhaps $69 product.
The better news is that it does come with a full featured remote control including on-screen menu navigation. But in an apparent attempt to stick with the space-conserving theme, the remote is circular in shape, small enough to easily fit in the palm of your hand. In my tests I found that even though the buttons are quite close together out of necessity, that didn’t cause any problems for me. However, I did keep picking up the remote and pointing it in the wrong direction, thanks to its perfectly circular shape. The product’s designers apparently foresaw this, as they included both an arrow telling you which way to point the remote, and a bottom cut-out for where to place your index finger while holding it. Although it’s not a major issue, they might have done better to stick with the rectangular shape of most other remotes.
Getting to the Alarm Rock and Music Mix apps, and this is where the fun begins, either or both (or neither) could be selling points for you, depending on the particulars of your usage. Alarm Rock is a nicely done, multi-skinned app which allows you to have plenty of control in waking to the music on your iPhone or iPod touch. Is this app as comprehensive as the iHome+Sleep app which comes with iHome’s vaguely similar competing iA5 product? No. But Altec’s app is still fairly comprehensive in its own right.
The other app, Music Mix, is where the Octiv Duo’s designers give us a peek of the kind of innovation which might be in store for us in our app-enhanced future. The idea is simple, and so is the app: let’s say you’ve got his-and-hers iPhones docked into the two docks, and you want to keep everyone happy by having the songplay alternate between the libraries of the two iPhones. The idea is as innovative as it is niche-y. First, you’d almost have to be a couple living together for such a concept to be of use, and you’d have to both be picky enough about what you want to hear that it would be worth the trouble.
I just don’t know what percentage of potential would actually put Music Mix to good use, but it’s there nonetheless. Of likely broader use is the fact that the Octiv Duo is the first app-enhanced dual dock alarm to come to market (iHome’s own dual-dock iP88 is not an app enhanced product).
All the app fun aside, there’s no escaping the fact that the Octiv Duo is not a great sounding product, or the fact that there are $99 dockable stereos out there that aren’t app enhanced which sound notably better than this one (although to be fair, iHome’s app enhanced iA5 doesn’t sound any better).
Altec Lansing’s other dockable stereo products show that the company knows how to produce great sound, so perhaps it’s best to view the Octiv Duo as more of a proof of concept, and look forward to what the company can do in 2011 when it presumably brings app integration to its more capable sounding product lines. But in the mean time, the Octiv Duo is a fun little innovative product, worth its price tag if you fit the specific criteria to be able to take advantage of its app integration.
review by Bill Palmer
rating: four stars out of five • AltecLansing.com
app review: Time Crisis 2nd Strike
October 8, 2010 by Beatweek · Leave a Comment
When I was younger and visited arcades, Time Crisis was one of the games that I had to hunt down. Popping in and out of cover by pressing and releasing a giant pedal, while feeling like an unstoppable 80’s action star was worth the 4 tokens. Luckily, Namco has decided to release Time Crisis 2nd Strike for the iPhone and surprisingly almost complete a seamless transition.
The game is simple to understand, you are Global Agent Giorgio Bruno, who looks like Capt. Jack Sparrow, and your job is to kill anything that moves onscreen. You do this with the help of a variety of guns that you come in possession of (Pistol, Shotgun, Uzi, Grenade launcher). You pop in and out cover by pressing and releasing the pedals on the bottom corners of the screen, and attempt to finish each section before time runs out. The swapping of guns is also very intuitive, as you just tap on their icons located on the bottom of the screen. This sounds like everything that would want in a Time Crisis game, but some problems do arise by being on the iPhone.
A big problem in transitioning the Time Crisis franchise to the iPhone is the tap control. With the arcade cabinet, you have a large screen, and an actual light gun to fire upon the baddies with. In the iPhone version, you will utilize your finger to fire at henchmen with. What this then leads to is henchmen firing at you from a distance: you tapping on them to fire, your finger covering a portion of the screen, covering up other enemies, or realizing that you are not firing at the exact right place. Possibly, making the enemies a little larger could help? There is then the voice-over work, during the cut-scenes, that seem as if the actress was handed the script two seconds before recording. Namco seems to be proud of the scenes, enough to have them be a selling point on the App. store, but they are mostly cringe worthy.
Even with its problems there is fun to be had: the tap controls are almost a suitable replacement for the light gun, the visuals are almost on par with its arcade big brother, and it captures the challenge that makes the franchise fun. Besides the story mode, the game also includes: Time Attack mode and Score Assault mode. These two modes allow you to run through completed stages to achieve the fastest speed or highest score. If you really desire a shooter or in need of some nostalgia on your iPhone, then this game is worth the pricey $9.99. Just make sure to pull out your headphones during the cut-scenes.
review by Bagner Estrada
rating: 3.5 stars out of five • App Store link
