iPod

New Apple Dock connector to be known as 'Lightning,' report says

Apple's iPhone 5 won't be the only product unveiled today at its press event.

The company today is expected to show off a new, 9-pin Dock connector to replace its current 30-pin option. That new Dock connector will be called Lightning, 9to5Mac is reporting, citing sources. The blog's sources say the name comes from the 9-pin connector's ability to more quickly sync with computers than its predecessor.

The 9-pin connector has shown up in some purported images of the iPhone 5's casing. It has also been met with some criticism from those who aren't … Read more

What the iPhone 5 event means for iPod

I think it's fair to say that the iPod is the most important product Apple ever made. It marked the tipping point between Apple's history as a computer manufacturer and its shift toward mobile consumer electronics. Without it, there would be no iTunes, no iPhone, no iPad -- none of the things people think of when they think of Apple today.

Which is not to say that the iPod is still an important part of Apple's bottom line. It could ax the iPod's whole division and still make more money from the iPhone and iPad than … Read more

iPhone 5: The last word in smartphone innovation?

Amid all the advance iPhone 5 hullabaloo -- and no, sports fans, we're not anywhere finished and there are still two days to go before the official announcement -- it's easy to forget that this was a family of devices "that, under the normal rules of business, should not have been invented."

The above is a partial quote from Slate columnist Farhad Manjoo who's must-read piece recounts the long and winding road taken by Apple before it came out with the first iPhone in June 2007.

Given the popularity of the iPod and its centrality … Read more

MorphCase turns your iPod Touch into an iPhone

If it looks like an iPhone and walks like an iPhone, it must be an iPhone, right? Yet the iPod Touch isn't quite there.

Sure, you can install a voice-over-IP app like Fring, Line2 (a personal favorite), or Skype and make calls over Wi-Fi, but you still have to plug in a headset or rely on the speakerphone -- you can't hold the iPod up to your head and talk into it like you do an iPhone.

Not yet, anyway. Indiegogo project MorphCase lets you use your iPod Touch like an iPhone, effectively replacing the need for a … Read more

Sony X Headphones have Simon Cowell's backing

If you've watched any "American Idol" the last couple of years, you've probably noticed a heavy dose of record impresario Jimmy Iovine's Beats headphones on the show -- from the hat that he always wears to the omnipresence of the product itself. It's awful in many ways, but that's what corporate sponsorship is all about. And it seems to be working as plenty of teenagers keep asking their parents for overpriced $300 headphones for their birthdays.

Well, Simon Cowell and Sony want in on the celebrity headphone action and have released the $299 … Read more

Rock stars put their ears in audiologist Julie Glick's hands

I met Julie Glick a few months ago with some folks from Ultimate Ears at a Head-Fi meeting in NY. UE was promoting a new set of custom-molded in-ear headphones, the Personal Reference Monitors, which are just now entering full production. In her NYC office, Glick can fully demonstrate these unique headphones, which are not only custom-molded to your ears but fine-tuned, soundwise, to your liking. Ultimate Ears technicians use the frequency curve you create to build your Personal Reference Monitors. I crafted my EQ curve in Glick's office; it was a lot of fun to design my sound. … Read more

Top games to play with friends on smartphones

There are several games on both of my iOS devices at any given time from just about every genre. But there are only a few games I go back to on an almost daily basis and that's because they are fun, addictive, and a great way to keep in touch with friends and family.

These "casual" games are turn-based and require you to connect with a friend to start playing -- there is no single-player option with this collection. They have also been around for a while, but that's kind of the point: these are the games I continue to play because it only requires a couple of minutes to take my turn and send it to a friend. While it is sometimes a pain to go in and complete my turns (especially when life gets busy), the overall experience of competing with your friends and family is a good one and acts as a way to stay connected, even in our busy everyday lives.… Read more

Apple claims dibs on new dock adapters, report says

When Apple moves to a more compact version of its dock adapter, it will initially be the sole company to offer compatibility with legacy accessories, a new report says.

Citing sources, iLounge today says Apple has not shared the upcoming spec with third-party accessory makers ahead of the launch.

What's more, the report claims Apple will be ready to go with an adapter of its own that will let people use their existing 30-pin dock accessories with the new spec. For a price, that is.

"According to sources, the Dock Connector Adapters will sell for approximately $10 each … Read more

Apple's Sept. 12 iPhone 5 event: What to expect

The wait is almost over.

Apple has officially announced a September 12 press event in San Francisco, confirming months of rumors. And the invitation (reproduced above) leaves little doubt that the event will be the rollout of the iPhone 5 (or whatever name Apple chooses for its sixth-generation iPhone).

Rarely has a product ever been so analyzed, so rumored, and so leaked as Apple's next-gen phone. Not a day, or even an hour, goes by without a new picture of the rumored case, screen, connector jack, even headphones. Has all the excitement already been spilled, or is there something … Read more