Depending on the look of your home, certain things just won’t look right. If your house or apartment is meant to feel a little more vintage than other places, a wooden or metal cabinet just won’t do, just like a normal speaker just wouldn’t look right! The amp-style retro speaker is an absolutely perfect speaker for anyone who likes to collect unique things for their home, and it’s really cheap too for a speaker!

The quality is above most of the average speakers, and it’s easy to turn up and down. It is also extremely small, (about the size of your phone), so it hardly takes up any room. It’s even got a convenient little place for your phone to sit on top!

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Want to share your music with your closest pals? Here is a legal way to do it with the branching headphone splitter. Pop this into your ipod and start blasting your sounds into yourself and 2 friends. Available in 3 colors at Kikkerland for $10

Most of us would be happy with a standard pair of headphones, but then again an out-of-the-box standard issue pair might not be up to par with what discerning ears are willing to settle for. Nice to know that there are after market headphones out there which are capable of filling in the gap, and the Coloud Colors headphones are more than willing to step in and do the job. Of course, this has nothing to do with Care Bears (anyone remembers that cute little cartoon with plenty of love going around?) despite boasting series of 7 uniformly colored headphones, but rather, it is a tribute to the rainbow of sorts, but you shouldn’t expect traditional rainbow colors as it comes in red, white, black, green, blue, purple and pink. All Coloud Colors headphones will also ship with a microphone remote that will play nice with a range of smartphones including the almighty iPhone, HTC devices as well as BlackBerrys among other handsets that rely on a 3.5mm standard plug. Of course, while this is nothing near Harman Kardon levels of audio quality nor will it bring your listening experience to a totally elevated level, at least it should sound better than what you get with your handset purchase, which probably costs a couple of bucks to manufacture anyways. The Coloud Colors headphones won’t put a dent in your pocket either with a suggested retail price of $45. Also known as the C22M model, it allows you answer incoming calls thanks to the aforementioned microphone/remote function, pausing whatever music that is being played at that moment. Just like Apple’s iPhone which was designed in California but manufactured in China, so the Coloud headphones are developed in Sweden and produced in China. Hopefully there won’t be any sort of performance related issues due to the country of manufacturing, and we hope that stringent quality controls are in place to boot.

Get it here – Coloud Headphones

Ever heard of Warpia? Perhaps, or perhaps not. Regardless, this is definitely one company that is dedicated delivering single-chip wireless USB solutions to the masses, and they are certainly more than happy to announce the availability of the new and improved Easy Dock Pro. New and improved, eh? That basically means there is a predecessor to said peripheral (aptly named the Easy Dock), with the spanking new Easy Dock Pro enabling users to wirelessly connect to a notebook which in turn will be hooked up to your desktop monitor, keyboard, mouse, and speakers, or to your big-screen TV in HD quality. Unlike its predecessor, the Easy Dock, the Easy Dock Pro can display any online content in stunning HD quality. Playing nice with both Mac and PC platforms, it is also full well capable of supporting other monitors as well as displays of up to 25-inch in size with resolutions of 1920 × 1080 courtesy of a DVI or VGA connection. Bear in mind that the Easy Dock Pro might “mirror” your laptop screen, it will also be able to deliver the “extend mode” that lets you operate a couple of displays simultaneously, making it feel as though your TV was connected to your laptop. For those who love living out the wireless lifestyle, you would definitely appreciate the plug-and-play functionality of the Easy Dock Pro. You can pick it up from Amazon.com and on Warpia’s website for less than $150 a pop.

Get it here – Warpia Wireless USB Easy Dock PC Pro

Those who have used Bluetooth headsets right from the very beginning with their then technologically advanced cellphones would definitely have come across the brand name Jabra, as the company has rolled out a fair number of decent Bluetooth headsets in the past. Well, they don’t really have any standout device like Aliph’s Jawbone series, but then again they don’t need such a distinctive device considering the fact that most of the money comes from the average cellphone user who wants a decent performing Bluetooth headset that is priced correctly. Well, today we’ll look at the Jabra Cruiser Bluetooth wireless speakerphone, where it is the first of its kind that features Noise Blackout technology when used with cellphones. Noise Blackout technology involves a dual microphone system which is capable of removing virtually all street and traffic sounds while optimizing voice quality simultaneously to make sure you get your message across in a crystal clear manner. Of course, this does not guarantee that the person on the receiving end will follow through with whatever instructions you provide since that is out of Jabra’s hand, but at least it does do away with the excuse of the line “being not clear” during a conversation.

The Cruiser is able to bring superior audio quality in a sleek design alongside in-car convenience that makes it possible to keep both hands on the wheel while discussing about a multi-million dollar deal. Another interesting aspect of its proprietary Noise Blackout technology would be the ability to identify the direction of various sounds, where among them include traffic and backseat chatter. This technology helps to reduce only surrounding noise without distorting a user’s voice. With Multiuse connectivity, you can hook up the Jabra Cruiser to a couple of Bluetooth-enabled devices, and they are not limited to just cellphones but can also encompass smartphones and MP3 players among others. The inclusion of a built-in FM transmitter makes it possible to store both calls as well as MP3 files on a mobile device, where you can play it back on the Jabra Cruiser via a vehicle’s stereo system later on. Interested? The Jabra Cruiser comes with a price tag of $99.99, but you can get it on amazon.com for less than $80. Not too shabby for all those neato features.

Buy it here – Jabra Cruiser Bluetooth Speakerphone

IPEVO is well known for their range of VoIP devices, especially those that function in tandem with Skype. Well, the company’s back at CES 2010 yet again with their latest release known as the Tubular. The Tubular comprises of a couple of three-watt speakers which can be hooked for two-way stereo sound. Apart from that, you can also live out the wireless lifestyle since Tubular is Bluetooth-enabled, where it can be used with just about any Bluetooth-enabled music player. This would mean PCs, notebooks, netbooks, cellphones and iPods are fair game to the IPEVO Tubular Wireless Speakers. It is pretty evident where the Tubular receive its name from – via the special design of its interlocking left and right speakers. Both speakers can be locked together in a tube shape, and when they are required to see action, they are easily separated. Rejoining them does not require any rocket science – all you need is a gentle twist and you’re good to go. Featuring a lightweight, compact and modern design, the speakers are highly portable as we’re pretty sure you can always make more room in your luggage to tote around another 9.5 ounces of items.

Bluetooth pairing might get a little bit tricky for first timers, and it would be best to have an experienced hand guide you through it. The multifunction button on the primary speaker helps you achieve a Bluetooth connection, in which it also doubles up as an On/Off button, with a couple of other separate buttons for volume control. When paired with selected Bluetooth devices, all three buttons can also function as a method of navigation through tracks while performing play and pause functions. It features standard Bluetooth performance boundaries including the 10 meter radius, but goes one up as you can use your own portable media player as the remote control. Capable of running up to 8 hours on a single charge with a standby time of up to 100 hours, the Tubular Wireless Speakers from IPEVO will retail for $79.

Buy it here – IPEVO Tubular Wireless Speakers

Pioneer’s back into its groove not with another GPS navigation system for vehicles or DVD/Blu-ray player, but this time round they aim to raise the bar (and seem to have done so successfully by the time you reach the end of the post) with their new range of high powered A/V receivers, where the quartet of these are targeted to enhance clarity, detail and dynamic “quick response” from uncompressed Dolby True-HD and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks that can be found in Blu-ray Disc entertainment.

For instance, the all-new Pioneer Elite SC-25 and SC-27 A/V Receivers do feature a Direct Energy HD Class D amplifier that boasts ICEPower technology to ensure unprecedented reproduction of high resolution multi-channel, stereo as well as compressed audio and provide premium home entertainment that would even fool some into thinking that they’re at a movie theater. As for the Pioneer Elite SC-27, this model will leverage the full advantages of this emerging amplification technology, as it holds the position of being the industry’s first Class D amp design to achieve THX Ultra Plus and AIR Studio monitor certifications.

Entertainment purists will definitely be more pleased than punch to find out that the SC-25 and SC-27 utilize Burr-Brown analog to digital converters (ADC) and renowned Wolfson digital to analog converters (DAC), working in tandem to maintain high resolution performance throughout the entire digital signal processing chain from input to output. DAC performance is further brought to another level with the SC-27 as it boasts a professional-grade Burr-Brown 192kHz / 24-Bit sampling rate converter (SRC) for ultra-wide dynamic range and advanced jitter reduction. Guess all of your recently purchased Michael Jackson records are going to sound even better on this, just make sure you have a well defined room to maximize the effect of the audio output.

The other two models would be the Pioneer Elite VSX-21TXH and VSX-23TXH that are lower end and yet pack a punch with its Direct Energy Class A/B amplification, integrated video signal conversion, 1080p video scaling and an abundance of connectivity solutions for current and new high definition as well as standard definition entertainment sources. The Pioneer Elite will begin shipping sometime from this month onwards for $700 and $900, respectively, while the Pioneer Elite SC-25TXH and SC-27 will ship out next month for $1,700 and $2,000, respectively.

More Pioneer Receivers

The market seems to be saturated with the latest gadget that promises to save your life and make it easier in one fell swoop. There are so many out there it can get complicated, and in today’s hectic society, all in one gadgets are becoming increasingly popular. This is precisely why you will love the Powermat. The Powermat will let you toss out or put away all of the chargers you have on hand, lying on your floors and carpets and making things look unorganized and cluttered.

With the Powermat, you can put your iPod, your cell phone, and your whatever else you want all on the mat and charge it all at the same time. They’re mats that can be plugged in and will simultaneously charge a whole heap of gadgets, all at the same time, wirelessly. That’s no more chargers cluttering up your house, no more tangled wires and no need to use multiple plugs when you need to charge up more than one thing at the same time. The Powermat uses magnetic induction and, according to the website, “When a Powermat-enabled device is placed on the mat, a “handshake” process synchronizes the mat with the receiver and electric power is generated to meet the specific energy needs of the device.” They’ll then monitor the power in the device and disconnect power to each device once they’ve finished charging.

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Asus is a name that most, if not all of us, have heard before, and they not only deal with motherboards and lately netbooks, they also have extended their reach to the world of smartphones and speakers as well. The new launch from Asus is one of the most complete all in ones that we have seen to date when it comes to your listening pleasure. This time round we are privy to the launch of the Asus AIR3 that brings together the functionality of a speaker along with an iPod dock, complete with Internet radio to further extend your entertainment options for your humble abode. Despite being able to cater to a wide variety of entertainment sources, the AIR3 is still able to fulfill the needs of a discerning audiophile .

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For those of you that like to both listen to and play music this gadget will delight your inner guitar hero. The First Act DK1000 Stereo Docking Station functions as both a T combination hi-fi docking station for your iTouch as well as a guitar amplifier. And it looks way cool! Connect your axe to the DK1000 and you can jam either right along with your iPod, or play on your own while your iPod charges. The gadget works with both electric guitar and acoustic as well, and even offers you built in pickups. The kind of power you get from this is about 40 Watts of RMS all through the array of full range speakers and the built in tweeters on its 2.0 Stereo System in tuned, ported enclosure. Most iPods with 30 pin connectors will charge on this docking station and if you are playing along with your charging, the built in V Stack powered amp will provide enough juice to crank your guitar up to eleven. It’s stylish classic rugged wooden cabinet construction works well with your musical decor as well, and its hand wrapped vinyl covering is durable around the amp style corners and handle.

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