No, it's not a Doomsday clock, ticking away the precious seconds of your brief mortality. It's just another iPod dock, the CR-iP500 from Kenwood. The 371 x 175 x 187-mm globule of thump brings a pair of amplified 5W speakers, a built-in FM tuner, slot-in CD player, and a USB 2.0 jack to playback unprotected WMA and MP3 audio files off USB sticks. Yeah, iPods too, just as long as you don't stretch the definition to include the iPhone which this dock doesn't appear to support. Expected to hit Japan for ¥27,000 (about $280) in early December.
Update: Oh Kenwood, turns out your dock is just a rebadge of the
LG PC12 already on sale in the US and elsewhere for $250 MSRP.
[Via
Impress and
Akihabara News, thanks PABLO]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
shimmy shimmy yah @ Nov 25th 2008 2:05AM
what an uuuuugly design.
Hero @ Nov 25th 2008 2:07AM
This is another woo-hoo. It doesn't look all that great, and someone needs to stop chuckin little lights in just cause they can. It just really bugs me.
PABLO @ Nov 25th 2008 2:14AM
Wow! I live in Mexico, and in Walmart, they sell a LG that its the same for about a year. I really think this is a clone from the LG, because the LG won the CES 2008 'Innovations' Awards Honor. And the price, is about 100 dlls. Tha same tec specs.
Engaget, im a big fan of you, but i really think you must double check your posts. This "gadget" is old.
Here you go:
http://www.inovus.com.mx/lg-estereo-con-estilo-en-tu-casa-931
ps.- 10 watt speakers.
who? @ Nov 25th 2008 2:22AM
Just to clarify, do you live in a Walmart in Mexico, or do you live in a Walmart and Mexico (1/2&1/2)? Or do you just suck at punctuation?
P.S. :-)
Ian @ Nov 25th 2008 2:20AM
woot go All-Blacks!
lowdef @ Nov 25th 2008 2:55AM
he likes his blacks
El Taco @ Nov 25th 2008 3:02AM
Is there a problem with liking blacks?
lowdef @ Nov 25th 2008 3:45AM
did I suggest there was a problem?
Stevo @ Nov 26th 2008 12:00AM
Frickin Go the AB's!!!!! Grand Slam!!!!
Zorque @ Nov 25th 2008 2:30AM
Hey, thanks for that. It was really insightful, because it was about this article and everything.
Zorque @ Nov 25th 2008 4:41AM
Welp, the original comment got deleted, so I look like an idiot. Sorry, folks.
Mark Regan @ Nov 25th 2008 2:34AM
I don't want to hear a Haka by the All Blacks on my iPod, they might carry my head about atop a spear. I want to hear Hayley Westenra singing the New Zealand National Anthem to 82,000 All Black fans. That is REAL music to MY ears.
Ripoff of make Pro Con Pass guy @ Nov 25th 2008 3:06AM
Pros:
-Is Black
-FM Tuner
-Plays WMA
Cons:
-Another remote I could lose.
I'll pass.
ross @ Nov 25th 2008 3:15AM
Ka mate, ka mate! ka ora! ka ora!
MarbleMind @ Nov 25th 2008 5:11AM
The last time I paid $250 for an audio playback device with nondescript seven-segment display was spring 1998.
It will remain the last time.
Navig8r @ Dec 4th 2008 12:11PM
There's no mention of an AC power source, a serious deficiency for a table top system with a CD player and an alarm clock. Falling asleep listening to your favorite CD may use the last energy from the tiny AAA batteries and prevent the alarm from waking you.
F. Villa @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:40PM
I bought the LG version of this.
After just two hours of trying this thing, I tried to return it. Two things - you have to turn off the music to see the time, and sound quality is horrendous. How about making everything sounds like AM radio?
I thought it might be just this unit and tried to get help from LG Customer support. The first was an online chat, it went nowhere. Second, an email to customer support - my message body did not go through as per their reply. Third I called and was forwarded to a non-working number. Thanks LG.
It took me three weeks to return it, paid $36 on restocking fee plus shipping but I was happy to get rid of it from my view. It is such a disappointment.