Tekkeon NavDock: TV Integration for your iPod

The NavDock from Tekkeon is an iPod extender that allows you to use the supplied remote control to view the contents of your iPod on your TV. They have re-skinned the OS so it works with their remote and looks OK on a TV. You can listen to your music and watch your videos off of your iPod all from the comfort of your couch. These types of systems are great for people that carry around their entire media library on their iPod. This way you get home, plunk it down in the dock, and you can now access all of your media via your TV. The only real problem we can find with this is that it doesn't upscale your content so you will have to deal with watching your videos in the same crappy resolution you used to jam them onto the iPod. If it upscaled then we would be talking about a killer iPod accessory that everyone should own.

via engadget

Creative's New X-Fi X30 iPod Dock Coming Soon

Creative is getting ready to launch a new X-Fi device next month for all of you iPod owners out there. We had reviewed a few of their other products in the past, here and here, and they always seemed like very cool products. Creative is a great company and they usually produce quality products. The X30 should be no different as it will allow you to hook up your iPod to your stereo system as well as letting you watch your videos on your TV. According to the review we read on Engadget there will be no wireless media streaming options with the X30 as you will be limited to only pushing audio and video to the TV/Stereo that you are directly connected to. The video will be transmitted over S-Video which might actually look halfway decent considering the original quality of the video you will be dealing with. Videos on the iPod are already very compressed so using high end HDMI or Component will not really gain you much. S-Video should be all you need. We aren't exactly sure what is used to stream the audio, but we would guess it would be either optical or RCA. Both would be good options of this device. This is set to release in Europe next month and so far no mention of a US release date. As always we will keep our ear to the ground and let you know if we hear anything.

via engadget

Wireless Speaker System For Your iPod

Having your iPod as the center of your music hub has become a very common occurrence these days. Everyone seems to have some system in their house where they plug there iPod in and can enjoy all their music over speakers a lot more powerful then the mini earbuds they are use to. Well Griffin has taken the concept a step further with speakers that detach and can be placed anywhere. This allows you to place the speakers in a location that might be better suited for listening to your music without you having to take the entire music station with you.

They are claiming a range of 150 feet for these speakers which would be very cool if you were having some people over and were hanging out in the backyard lets say. Setup a playlist and bring the speakers outside with you, stick them out of sight and enjoy some sweet music on the patio. The speakers have built-in rechargeable batteries that they claim can hold a 10 hour charge so unless you are planning on having an epic all night party these will be able keep playing for the entire night.

These look like a great solution for someone that just wants a simple product that allows them to use their iPod as their music streaming device and doesn't want to have to bring a bulky base station where ever the party has moved to in order to hear the music. No need to undo any cables and mess up the neat entertainment center. Just bring the speakers and be done with it. Use the included remote to control the iPod and you have what for some will be the perfect listening station.

via gizmodo

Stream Music From iPhone or iTouch to any Computer Running iTunes

A new app called the FireFly Media Server will allow you to stream music off of your iPhone or iTouch to any computer that is running iTunes. This does require that you 'jailbreak' your iPhone/iTouch, but that isn't that difficult.

Once you have followed the necessary steps to get the app installed your device will now show up as an option in the Shared Libraries section of iTunes. Now you have complete access to your music via the iTunes client allowing you to stream your music as if it was on the local network. This isn't that great for your personal network, but awesome for when you drop by a friends house or something and you can just add your iPod to their wireless network with the push of a button. This is something that Apple should have bundled in the first place, but we assume it has to have something to do with DRM or some other ridiculous nonsense that is the digital music conundrum of today.

These are the types of apps we love to see come out for mobile Apple products. Apps that allow you to share your music and not keep it locked up in the portable format. The main problem is that Apple keeps updating their software and breaking a lot of these cool apps. Of course they will work again, it just is a pain in the ass that Apple has yet to fully embrace the 3rd party apps that people are making. We are hoping that a cool app like FireFly Media Server will help open Apples eyes and change their tune for 3rd party apps.

via lifehacker

Philips WAC3500D Streamium Wireless Audio Center Reviewed

We have been seeing more and more boom boxes come out as of late that have added the ability to stream music from your home network from anywhere in your house. The WAC2500D acts as a normal boom box with FM tuner, CD player and the like. It even adds the common new addition of having an iPod hookup. Where the WAC2500D sets itself apart from most other players is that it has a USB hookup, an internal 80GB hard drive as well as the ability to stream music from your PC either via a wired connection or wirelessly. With the addition of the USB ports you can keep all your music on external USB drives and never run out of space for your music collection. You can just take the WAC2500D and the drive wherever you go and you have a very nice sounding entertainment center on the go.

The addition of letting people stream music from their home netowrk to WAC2500D really opens things up. Now you don't need to modify that huge collection of digital files you have on your home server. Just stream them to the boom box like you would any other media streamer. We are very excited to see companies allowing us to stream our audio on more and more devices. When we first got into streaming media we had to search out products that could accomplish this for us. These days you can't go a day without finding another product has been released that will allow you to stream some sort of media.

Well enough of our rambling, read on for more specs.

Continue reading: "Philips WAC3500D Streamium Wireless Audio Center Reviewed"

Logitech Pure-Fi Dream iPod Dock for Your Bedroom

Logitech has released a very cool iPod dock for your bedroom dubbed the Pure-Fi Dream. This device will allow you to dock your iPod and have it setup to be your alarm clock. I know we are tired of waking up to the same old station day after day. It would be very cool to have your entire collection available for those dreaded morning alarms.

One of the coolest features of the the Pure Dream is that you don't have to hunt around for the snooze or off button in the morning. You can simply wave your hand to illuminate the display so you can see the button that you need. No more smashing your alarm clock trying to stop the noise.

The built in LCD display will show you what is playing on your iPod and the included remote will let you treat this little bedside boom box as an actual mini stereo system. On top of all that the thing looks really cool as well.

Pick one up at Amazon.

via engadget

DLO HomeDock Music Remote Review

For those wanting their iPod to be the center of their music streaming world, one of the biggest problems has been how to control it while it sits in the dock. Some solutions use IR remotes to control which song is playing, but the problem with that is what if you are on the back porch and don't have direct line of site to your stereo.

Enter the DLO HomeDock Music Remote! This is a great little system that is a must have for anyone that has multiple speaker locations or just likes to sit out of range of the stereo while they listen. The setup is like every other iPod dock system in that you hook the dock to your stereo and you are good to go. The included remote will sync up to the base unit and can control what is playing from anywhere in your house. The included mini LCD screen is a great addition so you can see what is currently playing and what is coming next in the playlist.

This is a very slick device that so far has been getting great reviews. We found this over at Techware Labs and they had nothing but great things to say. They tested out the range of the remote and found that at 100 feet they still didn't have any problems.

Anyone needing a good iPod streaming solution should look no further.

The Miuro Mobile Audio Streaming Device

OK so here is something that is so cool it could only exist in Japan. We constantly write about how you can stream music all over your house. We have countless articles reviewing products that will let you setup a static link between two rooms in order to stream music. Well here comes something that is so decidedly 21st century that you would expect it in a Star Wars movie.

The Miuro will literally follow you around from room to room while playing your favorite tunes. It has wheels on either side of it and an iPod dock in the middle. One option they give you is for you to plug an iPod in and let this little robot on wheels play your songs as it follows you around. You can also skip the iPod and let it play music via iTunes. And if all of that wasn't enough you can actually control it with a joystick allowing the Miuro to become the life of the party.

Their website ( Miuro.com ) is in Japanese so we can't figure out some of the specifics about this, like how does it follow you? Does it do it by sound or do you have to wear something that it tracks? We have no idea.

It is only for sale in Japan right now, but you can be sure it will hit our shores pretty soon.

via webuser

Streaming Networks iRecord

Have you ever wanted to throw that new DVD that you just bought onto your iPod before you ran out the door only to to pass on it since you didn't want to rip it to your computer, then convert it to the proper format for the iPod and then move it over to said iPod. That is surly a lot of work for something seemingly so simple. Well the good people over at Streaming Networks have come up with a great solution.

The iRecord is a standalone device that can take the signal from one A/V source, record it, convert it and push it to the iPod. So for instance you can hook up your DVD player to the iRecord, hook the iRecord up to your iPod and hit record, BAM, the movie is on your iPod.

The main advantage of the iRecord is the simplicity. We know lots of semi technical people that are turned off by the prospect of having to figure out some new software for converting movies to iPod format. This is the mom and pop kind of product that we love around here. So get out and start enjoying your movies on your iPod with just about no hassle.

Info on how to use it can be found here.

You can purchase one here.

via webuser

TuneView for iPod Review

Keyspan has a new product that adds a few cool new twists to the crowded market of iPod streaming. The TuneView comes with a color LCD screen for navigating your iPods music collection. It will connect both to your stereo or your TV so you can either listen to music or watch movies. The screen will display everything you could want about the currently playing song: duration, album, title, and artist. The only thing they haven't set up is for it to display album art, but we can forgive them for that one.

There have been some negative reviews of the product though. Complaints range from the LCD screen not looking that sharp and therefor ugly, to bad button placement and overall bad ergonomic design. While all of these are valid complaints we would say that if it does its job and does it well we can always look the other way at not so great design.

From what we can tell it is a superb product that does exactly what it claims to do. The remote is a fully functional replacement to your iPod, allowing you to be just about anywhere and control your music selections. The dock is a multi-function dock that not only charges your iPod but allows for syncing with your iTunes library.

If you want something that gives you the mobility of a remote and allows you a lot of freedoms with how you select your music then this just might be the product for you.

At Amazon.

Creative's new Xdock shown at CeBIT

Creative debuted a very interesting new line of products at CeBit this year. They are calling the technology X-Fi for "Xtreme Fidelity". The Xdock is at first glance just another run of the mill looking iPod docking station. But in reality it is so much more.

With the Xdock you can stream music to the rest of your house by purchasing extra receiver units and attaching speakers to them. Each unit has the ability to output its music through attached powered speakers or to a home audio system. That way you can have one iPod service your entire house.

It also comes with S-video and composite video connections allowing you to display photos and videos from your iPod to your TV. Creative has attempted to make the all in one media station based around an iPod and by the looks of it they have succeeded.

Continue reading: "Creative's new Xdock shown at CeBIT"