JBL's new ipod speakers

The JBL On Stage 200iD iPod speaker, has rich sound quality and an eye catchy design. JBL had brought out an earlier version of this which did not click among its customers. But this time, they emerge as winners with On stage 200i.

It looks no different from its older version, but the quality has been improved and is now available at a satisfactory price. The current market price is $150 which might come down in another 3 months time.

The audio quality is phenomenal, but there is no additional options. The design is pretty much like a starship - cool for some, for others it might not suit.

Apple iPod touch Review (Verdict: Good In the Face of Greatness)

When looking at the iPod Touch, you have a choice: you can either see it as an evolutionary leap for iPod, or a slight downgrade from iPhone. You gain a thinner shell, up to 16GB of storage, but lose a bunch of apps, the phone, and some other surprising things. In our opinion, it's both the leap and the downgrade, and therein lies the rub.

• Physically, it's almost more of an attention grabber than the iPhone, at about 2/3 the thickness and wearing the signature iPod chrome jacket. Yes, the back is more prone to scratching, but it's oh so shiny. Removing the recessed headphone jack was also a smart move, as you no longer need compatible headphones, or a silly adapter to make it work.

• Much of the iPhone experience remains intact: the wonderful multitouch navigation, the supreme Safari browser, the ease with which you can sync to iTunes, then grab and go without that annoying Eject delay. New minor features like adding a period by double tapping the space bar and bringing up the music HUD by double tapping the Home button are both welcome additions that make using the iPod Touch even easier.

• The iTunes WiFi Music Store is thrilling to use. Not only is it easy as hell to find a song, click its animated icon for a preview and download it, in seconds, to your iPod; it's also impressive how it syncs back to your computer's iTunes library without any weirdness.

*No video downloads in iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, no wireless syncing to iTunes, no external speakers, dumping the calender, and no Mail or Notes apps. This falls into the same category as our bitching about the lack of stereo Bluetooth A2DP on the iPhone: would be nice, might happen with a software update.

The bottom line, if there is one, is that this will certainly be a great product for people who are unable or unwilling to sign up for AT&T. But spending $399 on the 16GB touch is not better than spending $399 on an 8GB iPhone. There are real reasons why the iPhone is a better iPod than the touch, especially now that both will have equal access to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store. Choosing the touch over the iPhone is like choosing a fully loaded Toyota Avalon over a Lexus ES.

iPhone – phone = iPod Touch

The Touch includes Wi-Fi just like the iPhone, letting you browse the Web and get info on stuff like stocks and weather, not to mention watch YouTube videos — all stuff you've never been able to do on an iPod before.

Another new trick is wireless downloading. The Touch will have a button for the iTunes Music Store, letting you sign on and buy songs from any Wi-Fi hotspot. The next time you sync with your computer, the Touch will copy it over to your iTunes library. It's about time this feature was added, though it gives you another thing to worry about if your iPod is stolen (assuming payment is automatic).

You'll be able to choose between a 8-GB model ($300) and an 16-gig ($400). Should be available in a week or two.

Apple updates Nano with video powers

Apple dropped an updated version of the iPod Nano today, it's a fat little guy, shorter and squatter than the last version. It's been beefed up to play video now, with a 2-inch, 320 x 240-pixel screen that'll play your vids just as well as the last-generation iPod videos.

It's got an updated interface, too, which includes Cover Flow, the same scrolling menus included on the iPhone. The new Nano will be available in a variety of colors, including a (red) . The super-thin little guys will come in both 4-GB and 8-GB varieties, setting you back $150 and $200, respectively.

Confirmation: No Bluetooth in iPod Touch

An Apple spokesperson has confirmed that the upcoming iPod Touch does not include Bluetooth, despite rumors to the contrary today. An image had made the rounds earlier today—the corner with the purported Bluetooth icon in the corner is reproduced here—but Apple has said it is not an official image.

While there wouldn't have been much use for monophonic Bluetooth headsets in the iPod Touch, the lack of Bluetooth precludes the possibility of wireless Bluetooth stereo headsets or microphones that could be used with a future third-party VoIP application.

iPod Touch Has Bluetooth Support

According to this picture—found on the official German Apple website and still up at the moment—the iPod Touch supports unannounced Bluetooth. Look to the upper right corner near the battery gauge. Yup. Bluetooth. That is, unless Prince went back to symbol form, signed a contract with Apple and has his name stamped on every iPod Touch.

Either way - "Looks good"

iPod Touch Can Run All Apple and Third-Parties' iPhone Apps

You may be asking yourself where are Mail, Weather, Google Maps or Stocks in the new iPod touch. The answer: they are coming, but probably not from Apple. The iPod runs Mac OS X like the iPhone does run exactly the same applications. The exact quote: "they use the same damn binaries."
For some unknown reason, Apple decided not to include Mail, Weather and Stocks in the iPod touch, perhaps trying to separate both devices. Looking at the application mix, the iPod touch seems more entertainment-oriented while the Jesus Phone extends itself into the communication hub/personal productivity area.
This is an artificial differentiation, however. Both gadgets use exactly the same core operating system and programming frameworks. The only differentiating aspects are in some of the user interface elements.

ZUNE 2 - Headphones

I know it’s not that exciting, but the Zune 2 headphones are pretty damn cool. It’s a mashup between the current premium headphones and the V Moda buds you see up top. What sets these apart from the current batch and even the Apple buds is that the Zune team has done away with the obnoxious plastic cables and brought in some nice black and brown striped cloth-wrapped cables. Not only that, they sound much better than the ones Apple includes with its iPods. The Zune 2 could win on quality then, perhaps.

Toyota Releases $300 iPod Integration Kit For All Current-Model Cars

It's fantastic news for Toyota and Lexus owners, as the car company has just released an iPod adapter kit to directly link the player with your car's audio system. The kit fits into all current Toyotas and Lexuses and connects inside the glove box so you can control the iPod with your head unit (or steering wheel controls). The whole thing costs $300 (more than most iPods), and finally brings Toyota in line with GM, Ford, BMW, Mercedes and Audi in offering iPod integration. Toyota: happily being #1 by letting everyone else innovate beforehand.