classic

Apple's dropping bombs all over CNET in the form of brand-new iPods and a freshly updated iTunes. You know what that means: harried editors scrambling to get you all the freshest details. This week's podcast has all you want to know about iTunes 9 and the updates to the iPod Shuffle, Nano, Classic, and Touch. Plus, we have plenty of video demonstrating the fifth-generation Nano's many new features.

Subscribe in iTunes audio |  Subscribe in iTunes video | Subscribe in RSS audio |  Subscribe in RSS video… Read more

Altec Lansing has a long history of producing some stellar little speaker systems designed around the iPod. Their latest portable speaker, the inMotion Classic, continues the company's tradition of delivering quality audio in a compact and stylish design.

I've reviewed a number of Altec Lansing's iPod speakers, including last year's inMotion Max and im600, so I thought I had a pretty good idea what to expect from a seemingly basic, $149 speaker dock. I was wrong.

So far, my initial impressions of the inMotion Classic are excellent. For a budget-minded portable speaker that stands only 4 inches high and measures just 2 inches thick, this thing cranks. Sure, it's not as thin as the im600, or as impressive-looking as the inMotion Max, but the engineers have juiced the two 3-inch speakers on the Classic for all they're worth.

There are no EQ settings on the Classic, but the overall sound is crisp with a surprising amount of meat on the low end compared with other fold-flat speakers we've tested from Logitech and Griffin.… Read more

As first reported by Paul Thurott of SuperSite for Windows, Microsoft is discontinuing the current generation of Zunes.

Leaving aside all the easy insults--yes, we all know Microsoft never sold many of the things--and the possibility that your candy-apple red Zune 80 may someday be a collector's item, this means Microsoft has basically ceded the low end of the MP3 player market.

While the current Zunes start at $80, the Zune HD, which becomes available on September 15, will run you at least $220. This is great news for competitors such as SanDisk, whose Sansa Clip+ suddenly looks like … Read more

Periodically, readers will need to access files off old computers that they have kept stashed away for years (I still have my PowerBook 150, and will probably never get rid of it). If you are one of these people and have protected your old Mac with OS 9's password protection, there may be a chance you have forgotten your log-in password and cannot access your system. As with OS X, in order to get around the password protection in OS 9 you will need a boot CD, in this case preferably one that's loads the classic Mac OS.… Read more

Vinyl is back, big time, but the fact is most folks, probably close to 99 percent of the under 40-set, haven't heard records.

For them, music is about portability and vinyl is a stay-at-home deal. Vinyl has more of a hands-on work ethic: you've got to cue the tonearm, lower the "needle," and when the side's over, turn it over or play another LP. Digital requires almost nothing from you; no wonder it's dominated the music scene for the last couple of decades.

Me, I'm having something of a vinyl fling right now. I've always owned a turntable, but there were times I played only CDs for months on end. I guess I didn't want to deal with the extra work of playing vinyl. Sad, but true.

As for LP vs. CD comparisons, I didn't do any. Trust me, you don't have to be a golden-eared audiophile to notice the two formats sound very different. Records are "warmer" and sound more like the sound of real instruments and voices; CDs almost always make them more detailed and brighter-sounding than they are in real life. … Read more

The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance event Sunday featured dozens of decades-old cars in pristine condition in a competition and show that's been held since 1950 at the prestigious golf course near Monterey, Calif.

The show draws thousands of attendees, who also get to see a number of cutting-edge concept cars. Here, though, is a look at some of the historic models.

Following in the footsteps of PC classics like Doom, Myst, and SimCity, Sid Meier's legendary Civilization just landed in the App Store.

Not only has it arrived, but also it's on sale for $4.99--but only until tomorrow (Aug. 12), at which time the price jumps to $9.99.

Of course, die-hard Civilization fans (of which there are a few hundred bazillion) would probably pay any price for a mobile, iPhone-optimized version of the beloved game. If you're new to the world-building party, there's a single-scenario Lite version available for free.

Civilization Revolution for the iPhone … Read more

Before I get to this week's apps, the folks over at Public Radio Exchange let me know there's a new version of Public Radio Tuner (which I've featured here before). Now called Public Radio Player, this new version has been redesigned from the ground up with a new interface, added station schedule information, and new On Demand radio shows you can stream. Past episodes of This American Life, Fresh Air, and many other popular public radio shows can now be streamed whenever you want to listen.

At the iTunes Store, I noticed a lot of the comments … Read more