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Orbitsound announces T9 iPhone-friendly soundbar, we go ears on
You may remember seeing Orbitsound's T12 iPod dock / soundbar pop up in our summer buyer's guide. Today, the firm's just unveiled the latest in its product family: the Orbitsound T9. As you'll see, it's a very similar deal, but with an obvious difference -- its size. At 300mm (about 12") across, it's almost exactly half the length of its bigger brother (605mm) -- but not everything is a straight cut down the middle. Power-wise, this diminutive dock has a power output of 140W RMS (split 80 on the subwoofer, 35 on the front speakers and 25 on the sides,) and carries the same in- and output options. That means optical, line (phono and 3.5mm) and an iDevice connector going in, and a composite video (for piping those movies on your iPhone to your telly) in the other direction. The included subwoofer helps the device perform the dual roles of iPod dock, and TV soundbar. It's launching in mid-July in UK retailers, and internationally online for £200 / $249. Luckily, we managed to get our hands on one of the first production models, and took it for a spin, so boogie on past the break for our impressions.%Gallery-158189%
Parrot's new RK8200 car stereo plays nice with everything
Looking for a car stereo that does it all? Maybe the boys and girls at Parrot can help you out with its latest and greatest -- the RK8200. In a rare case of ultimate convergence, the electronics-maker is bringing you a head-unit for your vehicle which boasts a USB port, SD card reader, line-in jack, iPod connector, and A2DP Bluetooth support. Let's be honest -- that's a lot of options for your system. In addition to the Swiss-Army-like connectivity choices, the stereo has 2GB of onboard storage, and the faceplate drops down to reveal an area where you can store a device (or anything else). The RK8200 can also be coupled with a mobile phone for hands-free talking / dialing, can hold up to 8000 of your precious contacts, and touts voice recognition and intelligent microphone switching. Here's the kicker: you don't even have to rob a bank to get one of these puppies -- the stereo will be out by the end of the year for the very affordable price of £149.99 (or around $302).
LineIn Audio Play-Through Utility
The positive reaction that greeted our recent post on Rogue Amoeba's free SoundSource menubar selector leads me to think that some of you might also be interested in another cool freebie from the same company. LineIn is a simple little utility, but if you need what it does, it's wonderful. It allows soft playthough for any device hooked up to an input on your Mac. That is, if you have a source hooked up to your line-in or mic jack, and you run LineIn, whatever is coming in on that jack will be played out through your standard output. Here's how I use it: my main monitor is a nice Dell widescreen with multiple inputs, which allows for picture-in-picture. I have a TV tuner hooked up to a spare input so that I can watch live TV in a small window in the corner of the main display. I hooked the audio out from the tuner to my Mac's line-in jack, and with a click of the "Pass Thru" button LineIn lets me hear the TV audio. Like I said, what it does is simple, but it does it very well.Like SoundSource, LineIn is a free download from Rogue Amoeba's Freebies Page.
