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iLounge on the new Shuffles
I haven't even seen one of the new iPod Shuffles in the wild, but our friends at iLounge already have all 5 types. They posted a nice photo gallery giving you all the details about what comes in the box (mostly unchanged) as well as listing 5 key facts about the new shuffles.The biggest news, other than the colors, is that the shuffles now come with the improved Apple earbuds.
TUAW Video: Interview with iLounge's Jeremy Horwitz
We sat down with iLounge's Editor-in-chief Jeremy Horwitz today and talking about the iPhone, iPod accessories, earphones and more. Give it a watch and I bet you'll learn something.
iLounge posts their Best of Show 2007
Our friends at iLounge have been pounding the show floor looking for the best stuff out there. As usual, they have produced their famous 'Best of Show 2007' awards, and the list up for you to marvel at. The iPhone, of course, made the list but check out the iPod accessories you'll find. Jeremy and I sat down and spoke about the awards (the interview will be online later today) and he told me that while nothing on the list was revolutionary there are lots of solid products that should make anyone happy.
Dress up your Shuffle with Shufflesome
The second gen iPod Shuffle is looks pretty good in its nature state, but some folks like to differentiate their gear from the rest of the pack. Shufflesome offers a variety of stickers for your Shuffle (both first and second gen Shuffles can be dressed up with Shufflesome stickers). They have a wide variety to choose from, and some are very striking (the one above is my favorite).Each Shufflesome sticker will set you back about $7, but can you really put a price on individuality?[via iLounge]
Apple releases game cheat codes
Oh Apple. You bad, bad company. Instead of making your customers work to excel at iPod games, you go ahead and release cheat codes? Tsk, tsk, tsk. iLounge has an amazingly wrong and unethical article up today, that we at TUAW highly recommend you avoid because none of you are cheaters. And none of you would be interested in how to bypass levels for Texas Hold'em and Vortex.Remember, folks, cheating is wrong.
The iLounge 2007 iPod Buyers' Guide
Our friends over at iLounge have just released their 2007 iPod Buyers Guide and it's the biggest one yet, weighing in at 180 pages. If you're thinking of buying anything iPod related at all for the holidays, this is the guide to read before you spend your hard earned cash. The guide includes more than 20 exclusive accessory debuts, sneak peaks, iPod buying tips, Best of the Year awards and so much more. There are two versions available for download and both are 100% free. One in a full-screen single-page PDF format, which is suitable for printing, and one in magazine-style two-page PDF format. iLounge adds: This issue is specially formatted to fill your screen horizontally rather than vertically, unlike past issues. As a result, if your monitor is smaller than 20" on the diagonal, we strongly recommend that you download the single-page version rather than the two-page version. TUAW adds: if your monitor is smaller than 20" on the diagonal, skip the iPod and buy a bigger monitor first!
iLounge unveils iPod Storage Calculator
Apple offers their own advertising-friendly estimation of how many songs each model of iPod can hold, but those numbers are based on fairly unrealistic standards of 128Kbps AAC songs that are a mere 4 minutes long. Toss in a few tracks from Phish or Beethoven's 5th, and you can easily hurl this song estimation into the realm of 'anyone's guess.'Enter iLounge's iPod Storage Calculator, a handy little web tool (what, no widget?) that lets everyone from newbies to demanding audiophiles perform some quick calculations to figure out just how many songs, even at varying bitrates, their iPod can hold. As a matter of fact, the only thing about this calculator that makes it iPod-specific is the handy pull-down menu offering one-click access to every storage capacity the iPod has ever packed; in other words - anyone can use this tool to get an idea of how many songs they can bring along.Thanks Josh
iLounge reviews all iPod games currently available
Our iPod loving friends at iLounge are getting their game on (was that as painful to read as it was to write?). They have reviewed each and every iPod game that is currently available from the iTunes Store. Mahjong does the best with a score of A- while Pac-Mac gets a D+. Check out all the reviews, or just look at them ranked by awesomeness.
Apple trying to keep iPod nano chip manufacturers a secret?
I should have noted this when we found iLounge's 2G iPod nano dissection gallery, but it seems that Apple has (strangely) opted to take a step towards keeping their new iPod chip manufacturer's identity under wraps (strange because we already knew Samsung won PortalPlayer's old contract). As iLounge notes about their gallery, you can see three chips stamped with Apple's logo, and absolutely none from PortalPlayer (which we were expecting). It is believed that Wolfson and Philips are the other two namelessly Apple-branded chips, though I have to admit I'm a bit perplexed as to why Apple went to all this trouble in the first place. I mean, their attention to detail is admirable, and their logo is cool and all - but how many nano owners do they expect will ever check under the hood?
iLounge interviews, um, everyone about new iPods
Ok, maybe not 'everyone,' but they certainly made the rounds to a healthy portion of companies who have just about anything to do with the iPod. iLounge asked for general reactions of the new products from the likes of Griffin, Altec Lansing, Pacific Rim, Targus, TechRestore and even the Chief iPodification Officer of iPopMyPhoto and iPopMyBaby.com. Plenty of other companies sounded off with reactions, and (of course) just about everyone got a word in on the status of their products, whether they'll work with the new iPods (save for the shuffle, many products should be fine) and what they have coming down the pipeline. While some of the reactions may be packed with more marketing than genuine answers, it's still a good overall 'state of the iPod universe' article, providing a nice communication channel between the accessory manufacturers and their adoring fans. I haven't seen a post like this before from iLounge, but I hope they keep 'em coming.[Update: Jeremy Horwitz of iLounge let us know in the comments that they actually have been doing these types of posts for a while, and they even have an archive. Thanks Jeremy!]
iLounge dissects 2G iPod nano, posts gory details
Why, iLounge, why? The 2G iPod nano was announced barely two days ago. It still had its entire product cycle ahead of it! So young, so innocent.. and apparently so ripe for the dismantling. The gurus of all things iPod have dissected what looks like a silver 2G iPod nano (though I'm not sure whether it's 2GB or 4GB) for all the world to see.While the majority of us probably won't get much out of looking at this internal iPod guts pr0n, I can think of one basic lesson we can pass on to the iPod owning luddites of our lives: if they ever, during their experience of owning an iPod, see any of these parts from it - that's a bad thing.
iLounge releases The Free iPod Book 2.2
Those iPod-obsessed kids over at iLounge have updated their Free iPod Book to version 2.2 (yes, books can have version point updates too). Four all-new sections are included in this updated version: Nike + iPod Sport Kit Troubleshooting Your iPod U2 iPod + iPod Pack-Ins Backstage at iLounge You'll also find the typical kinds of updates to previous content you would expect. This 200+ page "free manual on getting the most from your iPod" is available from iLounge's update post, as well as from the iLounge Library. Enjoy.
iLounge unboxes the Nike + iPod Sport Kit
iLounge has unboxed the Nike + iPod Sport Kit and decided to go full-on with pictures of everything, including some iPod-infused Nike apparel and screenshots of how exactly the software in the iPod nano works. While we've already seen some pics of the software, iLounge posted more images that reveal the workout options are surprisingly in-depth and customizable. There are various workout types that target distance running and burning calories, for example. iLounge even posted images of the Nike+ site and the user experience, even saying that it's hard to give Nike enough credit for the beauty and simplicity baked into the site. Head over to iLounge's First Look at this impressive new accessory.
iLounge launches 'Blog the Book' contest
We like iLounge and you like to win stuff, so it is a no brainer to tell you about iLounge's Blog the Book contest. As previously mentioned, iLounge has made available their free iPod Book 2.0. Who what's the contest?Simply put one of their graphics, promoting the book, on your blog and you may win thousands of dollars in fabulous iPod related prizes. Check out the rules, and take a chance.
The Free iPod Book 2.0
Our iPod lovin' friends at iLounge have toiled for many long, sleepless nights to birth the Free iPod Book 2.0. How much does it cost? It is free (crazy, huh?) and available in PDF format (which is my favorite portable document format). This 194 page monster of a free download covers all things iPod and iTunes, including reviews, tips, tricks, and much more.What are you waiting for? Download it now!
iLounge has an iPod Hi-Fi
Those iPod crazy kids at iLounge have gotten their hands on an iPod Hi-Fi and they have posted their initial thoughts. This isn't a review, rather a 'first look,' as iLounge calls them.The post includes a number of pictures of the packaging, some shots comparing the Hi-Fi to other products that do similar things, and shots of the new iPod 'speakers' menu option (I wonder if that menu will be open to other iPod accessory makers).
Apple Special Event Feb. 28th, this time for real
It looks like all the fake invites were off by 6 days. iLounge and Thinksecret are both reporting that Apple has sent out invites to certain members of the media (Hey, Steve, no invite for your favorite bloggers?) to a special event on February 28th to be held on Apple's campus in Cupertino. The invite reads 'Come see some fun new products from Apple,' while featuring the iCal icon to the right.So, what do you think Apple will be announcing? Perhaps a new iPod? Intel Mac minis? Let the speculation commence!Thanks to everyone who sent this one in.
iLounge Mobile: iPod news to go
Congrats to our friends at iLounge who recently launched iLounge Mobile. Are they starting to cover cell phones you wonder? No, but if you lust for cell phone info go give Engadget Mobile a look (how's that for smooth internetwork promoting?).Back to iLounge Mobile, which is a slimmed down version of iLounge for your mobile devices (perhaps your iPhone?). Need to know about the latest iPod cases, or iPod lawsuits and you are on the Autobahn? No problem, put the pedal to the metal and fire up the browser on your cell phone.
iLounge reviews ETCHamac
We were impressed with ETCHamac way back in July, but we hadn't actually sent off a Mac or iPod to their service to see how it would turn out. iLounge, with a trusty iPod in tow, decided that they must see if ETCHamac's product was up to snuff.The image to the right is the iPod that iLounge had etched, and it looks pretty good to me, however, as the review points out the placement of the logo is a little odd.Overall, iLounge gave the process a B.The image in this post is from the iLounge review, we just borrowed it to illustrate our point.
iLounge announces their 2006 Best of Show recipients
The Macworld Expo wraps up on Friday, and the folks at iLounge have identified the stand-out products that make up their 2006 Best of Show list. They are, in no particular order: Altec Lansing inMotion iM9 Speakers Garageband 3 with Podcast Studio iPod Radio Remote Belkin TuneTalk Stereo (we covered the first version of the TuneTalk here) Better Energy Systems Tread Case for iPod nano (aka the company that makes Solio) Contour Design Showcase 5G El Gato EyeTV2 Television Recorder with Export to iPod Griffin TuneCenter Interactive Dock for iPod JBL On Time Speakers and Clock Radio Mophie Relo Case Series for iPod nano and 5G Scosche Bluetooth Car Kit for iPod Shure E500 Earphones XtremeMac Iconz Sport - NBA Series for iPod nano and 5G Congratulations, all! Check these products out if you're at MWSF.
