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ThinkGeek IRIS 9000 promises to make 2012 a desk-bound odyssey
The comparisons between Siri and HAL 9000 were pretty tough to avoid, and the folks at ThinkGeek have now come through to do what they do best: take things to a ridiculous extreme. In this case, that comes in the form of the IRIS 9000, a familiar-looking fellow that doubles as a dock for your iPhone 4S. It has a remote that lets you activate Siri from afar, a built-in mic and speaker that lets you interact with Siri (or make phone calls) and, of course, a glowing red LED eye that makes Siri suitably menacing. Now, ThinkGeek has been known to produce some faux products in the past, but last we checked it wasn't April Fools' day, and the company has assured us that this is indeed real and set to be available in the spring of next year for $60. Video of your new favorite desk mate is after the break.
Audyssey's Lower East Side Audio Dock Air: square to be cool
Not enamored by any upcoming AirPlay-enabled HiFi systems? Audyssey's curiously square Lower East Side Audio Dock Air could be worth a shot. This is the second wireless speaker from the company, which last year used its audio know-how for the South of Market Bluetooth Dock. The LESADA's light on features, but utilizes "Smart Speaker technology" to offer what Audyssey claims is best-in-class audio quality. The unit itself is loaded with two 1-inch tweeters, a duo of 3-inch midrange drivers and two thumping 4-inch passive bass radiators. Up top there's a single volume wheel, while on the front and back you'll find a headphone jack and a 3.5mm input (if you'd prefer the vintage experience of plugging in). The Lower East Side Audio Dock Air -- in all its cubey goodness -- is slated to hit shelves in November for about $400. Full PR past the break. %Gallery-136940%
JBL On Tour iBT Bluetooth speaker now available for $150, iPad stand included
Have a soft spot for wireless speakers? There were tons of options out there already, but JBL just threw one more into the ring with its On Tour iBT. As we'd expect form the audio gurus, the system boasts wireless audio internals that play nice with both A2DP and AVRCP Bluetooth devices. In addition to four JBL Odyssey transducers, the kit packs a built-in microphone for Facetime or hands-free calls, an adjustable iPad stand and a USB connector for charging -- when the Katy Perry tune blastin' device is plugged in itself, of course. Interested? It can be yours now via the source link for $150, but if you'd care to take a closer look before committing, peep the gallery below. %Gallery-135353%
Harman Kardon's MS 150 speaker dock supports multiple devices, $600 pricetag (video)
Some folks get along just dandy with an iPod and a speaker dock, but if you need a rig that'll handle more sources, Harman Kardon hopes to have you covered with MS 150 -- which bears more than a passing resemblance to the Zeppelin Mini. This stereo system comes loaded with an iPhone dock, CD drive and FM tuner, along with a flood of auxiliary connections not limited to its headphone jacks and subwoofer output. It's even sporting an LCD display so you'll know what's pumping out of its 30 watt drivers. The MS 150 is available now from Harman Kardon, but all of its functionality will cost you -- it's priced at a whopping $600. Hey, at least it comes with a remote. You'll find full details in the PR and video demo below.
dockBoss+ adapter brings iOS speaker dock compatibility to Android, BlackBerry and WP7 handsets*
A while back, you probably splurged for that insert-iPod-sound-system-here thinking you'd get some pretty good mileage out of it. If you also jumped ship at some point along the way (read: switched to Android), CableJive can help keep your bookshelf system cranking for a little while longer. The dockBoss+ adapter features micro-USB and audio plugs opposite a 30-pin connector, the latter of which fits nicely in one of the eight quadrillion iOS-compatible sound systems currently on the market. Now, you can port that valuable charging action to your existing handset -- plus, the accessory also features a built-in charge converter for FireWire-enabled cables and docking stations, if needed. Not only that, but the dockBoss+ will also work in tandem with your iOS-centric car or home stereo -- unless you're still clinging to the factory head unit in your VW Beetle... bummer. Those looking to pick one up can do so starting September 28th for $30; a handful of Lincolns is much easier on the ol' wallet than a brand new one of these, that's for sure. *Assuming, of course, that you're cool with a few cables hanging out, and that your handset actually uses micro-USB. [Thanks, Gregor]
Altec Lansing debuts new ultraportable iMT630 speakers for iPhone and iPod
Altec Lansing just debuted a pair of new portable speaker docks for the iPhone and iPod dubbed the iMT630 Classic (which we saw at IFA) and Sport. What separates the two? The Classic comes in black, while the sport has options for teal and red (ooo... fancy). That's it. Otherwise they're the same units with a pull out connector and a compartment on the back that holds and conceals the remote when the stand is flipped up. Both docks also feature a rechargeable battery and the ability to interact with Altec's apps, like Alarm Rock and Music Mood. Both are shipping now for $150 but, before you go, check out the gallery below and the PR after the break, won't you? %Gallery-133940%
Sony unveils $300 RDP-X500iP speaker dock, gives your iPad some sonic assistance
Sony's churned out plenty of speaker docks for the smaller iDevices out there, but until now, it hadn't given the largest Apple handheld any love. It's a little late to the party, but the company finally jumped on the iPad bandwagon with its latest RDP-X500iP speaker dock. Sporting a built in subwoofer, magnetic fluid speakers and Sony's Clear Phase DSP sonic technology, this little gem purportedly packs a pretty good bass punch while delivering quality audio. Picking one up will leave your wallet $300 lighter when it's released next month, and you can reserve yours now by getting in on the pre-order over on Sony's website.
AirPlay-enabled Music Tap systems touted by Pioneer, free us from living room control
Had your eye on an AirPlay accessory for your iPhone or iPod touch? Well, Pioneer is looking to help you pull the trigger on one. The company has announced a new set of AirPlay Music Tap systems that enable access to your music library without being chained to a peripheral. By connecting one of these bad boys to your home WiFi or ethernet network, you'll be able to access your entire iTunes library in various locations throughout your home -- 'course, having Apple's free Remote app will ensure maximum utility. Other features include a 2.5-inch full-color LCD display, Pandora, iHeartRadio, vTuner internet radio and Air Jam, which allows for playlist sharing on your arsenal of the company's Music Tap systems. When this pair drops in October, you'll have your choice of the X-SMC-3-S for $400 or the more dapper, bluetooth-enabled X-SMC4-Elite for $480. You can take a peek at the Elite, along with the full PR, after the break.
Angry Birds speakers are too adorable to slingshot
Okay, we admit it, we want one of these Angry Birds speaker docks from Gear4 seen on the floor of IFA here in Berlin. They're available in both iPod dock varieties (pigs) and as plug-and-play speakers (angry, angry birds). Both will begin shipping in the next few weeks in Europe and the US. The non-dock version should sell for around €69. They'll likely hit the spot for those casual gamers who aren't getting enough of the irate fowl between their web browser, set-top box, e-reader, university and local Philharmonic.%Gallery-132594%
Philips Fidelio DS3801W, another ring-shaped AirPlay speaker, does the FCC tango
Those of you who kinda dug JBL's On Air, but wished it was just a tad more wheel-like, will probably love this AirPlay-enabled speaker from Philips that just passed through the FCC. Burdened with the name DS3801W, this ring-shaped Fidelio unit not only packs WiFi, but a USB port for charging and playing back music from your iDevices, as well as an "MP3-Link" jack (which appears to be just a 3.5mm audio plug) for all your non-Apple players. We got a brief hands-on with its battery-packing sibling, the DS3881w, at IFA and we expect this unit to ship for a little less than that model's $330 price point. Check out the source link for a bunch more images, as well as the user manual and all the RF exposure reports you can handle.
Altec Lansing shows off an iPod dock, AirPlay speaker, plus headphones for the ladies
Altec Lansing is showing off a handful of updates to its line of audio accessories this week at IFA in Berlin. At top of the list is the newly revealed inAir 5000, a hefty tabletop AirPlay speaker that the company is firmly positioning to take on Bowers & Wilkins' Zeppelin line (which also recently got its own AirPlay version). Like that system, the inAir certainly offers a unique take on aesthetics, with a teardrop design. The company opted not to install an Apple dock on the 110 watt system, given that compatible devices can stream audio wirelessly to the thing via AirPlay. The iMT630 Classic is, not surprisingly, a more traditional speaker dock. It's portable and light and features a docking shelf on the front that can be flipped out with the push of a button. Open up the stand on the back, and you'll find a spot for storing the speaker's remote. The remote itself is also magnetic, so you can stick it to the Classic's front grill (someone at the company has clearly lost a lot of remotes in their day). No word yet on pricing and availability for either speaker system. The company also showcased its Bliss Headphones, which are "designed for a Woman's ear." What does that mean, exactly? Mostly that their earbuds are smaller, fitting more comfortably in smaller ear canals. Altec Lansing assures us, however, that they're still capable of offering great sound, in spite of their size. And yes, they come in pink.%Gallery-132600%
XtremeMac showcases the Soma Stand, Soma Travel and more at IFA (video)
There were lots of cool Apple-centric products to been seen around XtremeMac's extremely orange booth at IFA this week, proving that there's still interesting things to be done in the world of iPhone / iPad / iPod docks. At the top of the list is the Soma Stand, a pyramid-shaped dock that folds up for portability. The accessory is mostly speaker, which faces outward, so sound isn't blocked when you've got an iPad on the thing. The Soma Stand should be hitting shelves around October, running around €100 here in Europe. The Soma Travel, meanwhile, works without the need batteries or wires, running directly off the power from your docked Apple device. XtremeMac claims that a docked iPhone 4 playing through the speakers will get about 34 hours of audio playback on a charge. As expected, the thing doesn't get too loud, but it should do the trick for solo listening. The peripheral will run around €50 on its release. The Tango Bar is a style-conscious sound bar with a silver grill that fits in quite nicely with the current generation iMac. The speaker pulls both audio and power from a single USB cable and outputs audio at ten watts. Like the Soma Stand, the Tango Bar will run around €100. Check out video of the Soma Stand after the break.%Gallery-132528%
Philips Fidelio for Android speaker docks get your little green robot bumpin'
Philips' line of smartphone-connected sound systems has been all up on iOS for quite sometime, but now Fidelio's ready to show Android some love. The outfit just outed three new Android-ready speaker docks -- the AS851, AS351 and AS111 -- and is set to debut the flossy Fidelios at IFA this week. These new docks are so anxious to get close to your Android handset, that they're rocking a micro-USB connector that adjusts in three dimensions to allow just about any phone to stand tall in portrait or kick back in landscape. Either way, the phone syncs the jams via Bluetooth and a dedicated app. The biggie of the bunch, the AS851, promises "lifelike, distortion-less music" and 30 watts of RMS power, while the smaller AS351 lets you take the show on the road with both AC and battery options and bumps 10 watts of RMS. The smallest of the three, the AS111, is dubbed as a bedside companion. There's no word on pricing or when the docks will have your Android getting up with the get down, but we do have full PR for you after the break.%Gallery-132393%
Engadget's back to school guide 2011: speaker docks
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we have speaker docks in our sights -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here. Yeah, studying's the hip thing to do, but waking up for class is arguably where success begins. Rather than relying on some ear-piercing tone emitted from one's cellphone, we prefer something more... substantial. Here, we'll be covering the best and brightest in speaker docks, also known as the alarm clock that your grandkids will eventually point at and laugh, mockingly. Jump past the break for our recommendations, and another opportunity to enter our back to school giveaway. Simply leave a comment below to be entered to win, and head over to our giveaway page for more details.
Klipsch's AirPlay-enabled Gallery G-17 Air soundbar pleases ears sans cords for $530
No, that's not some oversized Kinect KIRF. What you're looking at is Klipsch's latest soundbar, the Gallery G-17 Air. Seem familiar? If you'll recall, back at CES it was known as the Gallery Studio -- the smallest of three AirPlay-enabled speaker systems the company let us demo at CES. Although not totally new, its full specs have been revealed and its price re-vamped from $400 to a slightly spendier $530. The bi-amplified stereo rig features four individually powered drivers that aim to deliver full-range sound via two Tractrix-horned .75-inch tweeters (10 watts each), and dual 2.5-inch, 20 watt woofers. Although you'll probably be streaming music over WiFi from iDevices or iTunes, the unit's equipped with USB and 3.5mm inputs should you ever want to plug-in directly or juice-up your battery. There's an ultra-svelte grill-cloth magnetically attached to the front, playback and power buttons on the side, and it also comes with a remote. The system itself sits atop a tempered glass base, but if space is at premium it can be mounted to a wall. The G-17 is set to release this fall, but if your ears are already tingling you'll find more info in the source link below.
Sonos S3 / Play:3 all-in-one speaker system pops up at Amazon for $300, gets yanked post-haste
Sonos has proven to be quite the tease in its handling of the Sonos S3 (or is it the Play:3?). The wireless all-in-one speaker system made its first clandestine appearance at the FCC earlier this month, but gave little in the way of details, and now it's popped up in an (already pulled) Amazon pre-order page. This latest lift of the curtain hasn't given us much more to go on, but at least now we have a price -- $300 -- and confirmation that the speaker system is indeed rocking a "trio of drivers and amplifiers," as we previously speculated. Specifically, it's got one tweeter, two mids, and a single bass radiator on board. Amazon lists the system as PLAY3US1BLK, leading us to believe that we were also right in assuming that the S3 will come in the traditional black and white. As of now, we don't have anything confirming a shipping date, but you can bet we'll blast it your way when Sonos finally decides to give up the details. [Thanks, Charlie]
Altec Lansing Mix iMT810 is big, loud, desperately seeking Ione Skye's affection
Altec Lansing popped by our offices earlier today to show off the successor to its oversized Mix iMT800 iPhone / iPod dock. There's not a heck of a lot to talk about in terms of changes with the iM810 -- the dock is now iPhone 4 certified, the gold trim has been changed to silver, and the amber LED has been swapped for blue. The company does get some bonus points for reenacting the one scene from Say Anything that anyone remembers with the winner of its in-office John Cusack look-alike contest, however. The new dock packs in a 5.25-inch subwoofer, a seven band graphic equalizer, and a slot for storing its little carabiner-equipped remote -- the hulking accessory can also achieve relative portability with the help of eight D size batteries. It's available now for $300, Peter Gabriel album not included. Press release after the break. %Gallery-124446%
Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air review
What's that, an alien egg? Nope. Memory foam iPillow? No, silly, it's a Zeppelin, a Zeppelin Air more specifically. Bowers & Wilkins brought us the first iPod-centric Zeppelin in the middle of the great iPod dock flood of '07. A few years later they downsized and brought us a mini version. The logical extension after the advent of AirPlay is here: a Zeppelin that does its thang without wires. We've been beaming music to it for a few weeks now -- wanna find out how our relationship has been? Click through, captain. %Gallery-122679%
JBL ships AirPlay-enabled On Air speaker dock, charges stiff premium for wireless luxury
It's a familiar face, sure, but there's a key ingredient thrown here that's been lacking on JBL's prior iDevice docks: AirPlay. We're still waiting (and waiting) to see if Apple's going to expand its licensing program to allow third-party vendors the ability to toss in AirPlay video streaming, but for now, JBL's taking advantage of what's out there. The On Air Wireless AirPlay speaker dock -- which is shipping today to Best Buy and Apple Stores after being teased a few weeks ago -- is now good and official, enabling consumers to wirelessly stream their iTunes library from Macs, PCs, iPhones, iPods or iPads right to the dock. Aside from a rather unorthodox design (which should go a long way to dispersing jams in a 360-degree fashion), you'll also find a color LCD, digital FM radio, an inbuilt alarm clock, DSP technology and a proprietary adapter that enables it to be worn as headgear at your next rave. We're guessing that final bit makes the $349.99 price tag entirely more palatable.
Altec Lansing's Octiv 650 iPhone / iPod speaker dock does video out, brings new meaning to Mood lighting
It ain't drastically different than Altec's iDevice speaker docks from earlier in the year, but if you're looking for a living room peripheral that'll output video from your iPod touch or iPhone, the outfit's Octiv 650 is certainly worthy of consideration. Ditching iPad support in favor of a cleaner, more compact design, this particular sound dock features a component / composite output as well as one other trick -- support for the free Music Mood app. Put simply, it'll pipe hallucinogenic visualizations onto your screen, all while cranking out the jams through a pair of three-inch, full-range drivers and a nested 4-inch subwoofer. We're told that YouTube and Netflix output is a go, and there's an auxiliary port thrown in for those pals who wander over with the worst-named PMP of all time. Check it next month for a nickle under $200, and start mulling the most important decision of all right now: black... or slate?
