mp3

Skullcandy, maker of some pretty rad accessories, showed off its new headphone lines including the Lowrider ($29.95) and the G.I. Stereo ($59.95). The Lowrider comes in nine color schemes (several designed to match the iPod Nano) and has DJ-style swiveling ear cups. Its 40mm drivers should give you enough bass to make you forget slamming into that tree on your snowboard.

Those needing a beefier set of cans can check out the G.I. Stereo line, which uses 41mm drivers and comes in black camouflage, khaki camouflage, or Rasta color schemes. The headband is thicker, and you … Read more

I'm a big fan of Polk Audio's bookshelf and floor-standing speakers, so when it released two iPod speakers, I just had to check them out. Both are available in black or white.

The miDock Portfolio ($119) is a portable model and is compatible with any iPod via the supplied plastic adapters. It also has an auxiliary input for non-Apple players, though it'll only charge dock connector-equipped iPods. The speaker is pretty small and folds up flat for traveling. It has four 1-inch drivers and runs on four AA batteries or the included AC adapter. I took a … Read more

In addition to its recent release of the Cube2, MobiBlu launched a pair of flash-based MP3 players at CES 2007.

The Boxon is a bit reminiscent of the iRiver Clix in that it's all screen on front, but it measures just 2x1.7x0.5 inches and weighs about 1 ounce. It has VoIP phone capabilities, too, so you can use it to make Internet phone calls--hot! Available in 1GB ($109) and 2GB ($129) capacities, it'll do video, photos, FM radio, voice/FM recording, direct line-in encoding, and audio playback, but it can't handle PlaysForSure subscription content.

The … Read more

Shhhhhh! Audiovox has been displaying the XM2Go/MP3 portable in its copious CES 2007 booth, but the company isn't quite ready to discuss details. Scheduled for a late-summer release, the X2G100B will offer a similar feature set as other XM/MP3 portables such as the Delphi SkyFi3--live and recorded XM playback, MP3 playback, storage, and so on--but company execs say they are taking some time to make sure they can equip the player with enough cool features to really differentiate it from other XM/MP3 portables.

It will likely have at least enough memory to store up to 50 … Read more

We always welcome a revamped product, and the A3 is just that. Cowon took the already highly rated A2 and gave it just a bit of a face-lift. The A3 is swathed from head to toe in shiny black, with just a bit of silver on the controls. Also, unlike the A2, it comes ready to support DRM-protected content from services such as Rhapsody and Yahoo Music (subscription included). The A2 review has plenty of relevant details for you to absorb, but here are some key specs:

Cowon may be a bit of an underdog in the U.S. market in terms of sales, but boy, this company sure does know how to make a quality MP3 player. I have in my hand the Cowon D2, a solid device dominated by a 2.5-inch screen. I had seen a picture of the player before CES, but it didn't do the D2 justice--the player has such a nice feel to it. The sleek, black body is wrapped in a brushed-metal border, where you can find some tactile controls: a power/hold slider, volume buttons, and a menu … Read more

SDI Technologies, the maker of the hot-selling iPod clock radio, is showing new affordably priced iPod speaker accessories at CES, including two small home-based units, the iH10 ($49)and iH4 ($49), and the portable iH19 ($69), which comes in multiple colors. The company also has a license to use the Timex name in upcoming iPod clock radios, so this is clearly an accessory company on the move. During my tour of the SDI meeting room (for dealers), I was shown a couple of more novel iPod accesories, including a speaker with a built-in iPod dock that looks like a water … Read more

Convergence among devices is one thing, but it's happening with accessories as well. The Duracell PowerFM ($79.99) from Battery-Biz is three iPod Nano (1G and 2G) add-ons in one: an FM transmitter, a protective silicone case, and a battery pack.

The transmitter sends your iPod's audio out to any FM radio receiver within about 8 feet via a user-selectable frequency, while the lithium-ion battery pack doubles the life of your iPod's built-in battery. The PowerFM isn't hideously obtrusive, and a pass-through port on the bottom lets you hook up other iPod accessories that use the … Read more

You may not have heard much about Eton, the sole licensee of Grundig for all of North America, but you may have seen some of its portable radio products in a Sharper Image catalog. The company had a well-priced and decent-performing iPod speaker last year, the Eton Sound 50, and at CES it was showing a couple of new products, including the Apple Hi-Fi-like Sound 200, which will come out in March for $250. Along with an iPod dock on top of the speaker, there's also a USB port for playing back tunes from a USB thumbdrive and … Read more