Prophecy

I should state for the record that I love my iPod Touch. My Android phone is great for work and communication, but I can't shake my preference for the way my iPod Touch handles music, podcasts, and games. That it can go a few days without charging is also a plus. When it comes to portable media players, there's no product I could recommend more highly than an iPod Touch. The trouble is, no one asks me for recommendations anymore.

When people catch me using an iPod Touch, I'm met with mixture of awe and confusion. The awe comes from the assumption that it's some kind of svelte concept smartphone from the future. At less than a half an inch thick, the iPod Touch makes the iPhone 4 look like a hamburger.

But it's the inescapable confusion that should have Apple feeling uncertain. When I explain that it's an iPod, I can hear the synapses misfiring.

"People still actually buy those?"

Sometimes, reactions can even steer toward concern.

"Is it possible that no one told Donald about the iPhone?"

Rest assured, my credit is fine. I'm perfectly capable of buying one of those newfangled phones that have iPods in them. Personally, the combination of Android work phone and dedicated iPod media player has served me well. Unfortunately, it seems that I'm a rare specimen. … Read more

I'm a little worried for the iPod. The poor guy has been out of the limelight for years now, desperately vying for attention against the iPhone and iPad. The iPod Shuffle had an identity crisis and lost its button (it's back now, don't worry). The iPod Nano had a case of touch-screen envy. And the Classic, well, just stayed the same.

Now, press invites for Apple's October 4 event have gone out, and there's no mention whatsoever of the iPod.

Historically, Apple's product announcements are like clockwork. There's a new iPad in April, a new iPhone in June, and a new crop of iPods in September. This year, though, Apple threw a wrench in the works. Summer came and went without a new iPhone, and here we are at the end of September without a single new iPod--not even a rumor of one.

But if you can put sentimentality aside, it's really not a bad time for Apple to stick a fork in the iPod.

For starters, this year (October 24) marks the 10-year anniversary of the iPod. That's quite an achievement, but it's also a nice place to bookend things. I can imagine Apple saying, "It had a great run, now go buy an iPhone."

Also, the iPod just isn't the moneymaker it once was for Apple. In the fourth quarter of 2010, iPod sales made up just 8 percent of Apple's total revenue, and they have been in a steady decline ever since the iPhone's introduction.

Finally, there's Steve Jobs' famous advice to Nike CEO Mark Parker back in 2006: "Just get rid of the crappy stuff and focus on the good stuff."

A big part of Apple's success is because of its focus on making just a handful of great products and curating an experience around them in its famously minimal retail stores. If today's iPod is just taking up space without paying the rent, maybe it's time to go. … Read more

OK, let's cut to the chase, folks. Apple's rumored October event is around the corner, and we're all expecting an iPhone 5 and a new crop of iPods, right?

Now, it's no mistake that I gave iPods second billing in that sentence. The iPod line doesn't print money for Apple the way it once did, especially now that the iPad and iPhone have entered the spotlight. Still, the iPod Touch continues to sell well as the often overlooked third pillar of iOS.

Apple needs to do more to bolster its star iPod, but what more … Read more

You know something is good when it feels illegal. Such is the case with Spotify, the on-demand music-streaming service that seems too good to be true--or, certainly, too good to be free. Yet, here it is, the "celestial jukebox" we've been dreaming of since the days of illegal gorging on the original Napster. It's called Spotify, it's finally available in the U.S., and music fans have reason to cheer.

What it does What Spotify does is so simple and seemingly harmless, it's actually a sad comment on humanity that it counts as a … Read more

The iPod Touch has always played second fiddle to the iPhone. Most people can't even get the name right. More often than not I hear it referred to as the "iTouch." When asked to describe it, though, the explanation is invariably the same: "It's an iPhone without the phone."

The truth is that the iPod Touch lacks much more than just the iPhone's ability to dial phone numbers. It's missing a GPS receiver, a high-quality camera, a native text messaging app, and most of all, it's missing a cellular data connection. Still, considering that the device sells for as little as $200 with no contract and offers 90 percent of the iPhone's features, it seems inevitable that Apple would close the gap some day by integrating 3G.

We've seen products like the ZTE Peel attempt to address the iPod's lack of 3G, but the result is bulky and still burdens you with a two-year contract. The same goes for MiFi-style 3G/4G puck solutions. They're inelegant, require separate charging, and always come with a contract attached.

Will 2011 be the year Apple integrates 3G into the iPod Touch? The skeptic in me thinks that no carrier would agree to it and that Apple wouldn't cannibalize iPhone sales to make a 3G iPod Touch happen. But then again, the steps the company has made with the iPad's data plan, and the advancements it has shown for iOS 5, set the stage perfectly for just such a product.… Read more

Today at San Francisco's annual Music Tech Summit, Gracenote Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Ty Roberts hinted at a few announcements the company will make at CES 2011.

Speaking on a panel that tackled the subject of "connected devices," Ty mentioned that Gracenote (a division of Sony) is gearing up to unveil a service for delivering streaming mood-based music playlists to connected devices such as TVs, along with accompanying artist photos and album art.

Apart from the "mood-based" angle, the combination of streaming music and artist images sounds similar to Microsoft's Zune … Read more

Before today, the TDK brand meant only one thing to me: mixtapes. Just the mention of it makes me nostalgic for peeling the cellophane off a 5-pack of cassettes, like a fresh pack of cigarettes.

It's been at least 15 years since I dubbed a tape, and honestly, TDK has been off my radar ever since. That is, until today, when they dropped by CNET to show off the coolest-looking portable speaker I have ever seen in my life.

When I saw TDK's latest Three-Speaker Boombox (seriously, that's their name for it), I think I may have squealed a little. Priced at $499, set for unveiling at CES, and due out in January, this sonic beauty hits on all cylinders--combining sound, features, and design in a way makes my audio nerd heart swoon.

Under the hood, you have three drivers: a 15-watt woofer at the center, flanked by two 10-watt stereo speakers with edge-driven tweeters at their center. Because the speakers aren't covered by a grille, TDK utilized woven carbon fiber speaker cones that can stand up to the elements. All together it's 35 watts RMS, which doesn't sound like much--but you feel every watt. Turned up just halfway, it's a house party.

Feature-wise, you're looking at iPhone/iPod support (via USB), AM/FM radio, USB stick (MP3, AAC, WMA), and a slew of aux input options, including RCA, minijack, and a 1/4-inch instrument input that can be blended with the other audio for instant karaoke/block party high jinks. The unique audio support for iPhone and iPod takes the digital signal from the dock connection and decodes it to analog using TDK's own integrated converters. The company also throws in an EQ with 5dB of cut and boost, represented on an OLED display on the front and controlled using the system's oversized aluminum knobs.… Read more

The biggest disappointment with The Beatles arriving on iTunes is that there's no satisfying way to give music downloads as gifts. There will be special Beatles-branded iTunes gift cards, undoubtedly, but who really wants to unwrap a holiday present to find a plastic card?

No, if Apple has any sense, we'll see a repeat performance from 2004, the year Apple made the special U2-edition iPod.

Of course, with iPod sales on the decline, special Beatles-edition iPhones or iPads are just as likely. In fact, it's the best reason I've heard yet for the delay of the … Read more

Around this time last year, I was reviewing the Zune HD, Microsoft's last valiant effort to unseat the iPod as the dominant portable media player. This year, instead of a shiny new version of the Zune HD for the holidays, Microsoft is keeping last year's model on store shelves (though a 64GB version was added this year) and focusing its attention on Windows Phone 7. Arguably, it's the right move for Microsoft, especially considering that even Apple admits that iPod sales are on the decline while iPhone sales are skyrocketing.

But as the Zune HD hardware fades … Read more