Summer's not even officially here yet, and we're already starting to see some products that are planned for release this fall. The latest example is a premium Bluetooth 4.0 audio headset with some nice features and great design. The Tuis (pronounced two-wees) Wireless Headphones from Outdoor Tech are expected to hit stores in October, just in time for you to beg for a pair for the holidays.

Powering Tuis is a rechargeable Li-ion battery that will give you up to 16 hours of listening time or 19 hours of phone call talk time between charges. Tuis folds for portability, fitting into an included hard case for transport. If you're in a situation where you don't have access to Bluetooth, no problem -- there also a 3.5mm jack for that old-school wired look! Wired or wireless, you have full access to integrated music / call controls on the side of the headset.

Outdoor Tech says that Tuis will be available for US$149.99. If you happen to be attending CE Week in NYC later this month, be sure to check out Tuis in person.

Outdoor Tech Tuis audio wireless headset slated for October originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 04 Jun 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Outdoor Tech Tuis audio wireless headset slated for October originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 04 Jun 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Etón's alternative-energy accessories for Apple devices are a favorite here at TUAW, so when the company announced its new rukus XL solar-powered boombox (US$199.99) today, we just had to take a look.

Available at Amazon.com and Crutchfield.com, the rukus XL features a big 72-square-inch solar panel to fully recharge the internal battery in five hours and keep your tunes blasting for more than eight hours. Sound-wise, the rukus XL has eight speaker drivers -- two tweeters, two woofers and four passive radiators -- providing 22 Watts of audio power.

So you don't have to throw out a shoulder lugging your rukus XL, there's a built-in carrying handle. If you want to charge your iPhone from the battery pack while it's feeding your playlist to the rukus XL, there's even a USB connector for that.

Stay tuned to TUAW for a forthcoming hands-on review of the rukus XL.

Etón rukus XL: Bluetooth boombox for fun in the sun originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 04 Jun 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Etón rukus XL: Bluetooth boombox for fun in the sun originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 04 Jun 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple last week unceremoniously introduced a new, lower-cost iPod touch model. Priced at US$229, the new iPod touch comes without a rear-facing camera or the recently introduced wrist loop. Aside from that, the model is essentially the same as current fifth-generation iPod touch models.

That, however, didn't stop the industrious folks over at iFixIt from getting their hands on the newest iPod touch and tearing it upon.

Aside from the lack of a 5-megapixel, rear-facing camera, there isn't much that distinguishes the iPod touch fifth generation 16 GB from its (slightly older) forebear. So, for this teardown, we played a game of spot the differences. Here's what we found: there's a gap on the logic board where the camera cable used to connect, the microphone moved from the back of the iPod to the top, and the baffling post for "the loop" has been nixed.

While Apple will likely not divulge this information, it'll be interesting to gauge how the low-cost iPod touch sells relative to its higher-priced brethren.

iFixit opens up the new 16 GB iPod touch originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iFixit opens up the new 16 GB iPod touch originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The last Reality Absorption Field discussed how most of the big names in the PC industry tried to take on the iPod and the fates of their eventual efforts. This week's column will look at PC peripherals companies and how the consumer electronics giants reacted, while next week's final installment will finish a look at the CE companies as well as discuss some of the pure plays that competed with the iPod.

PC Peripherals Companies

Diamond Multimedia and Creative. For many years, these two companies were two of Apple's most tenacious competitors. Diamond Multimedia, primarily known for its video cards, introduced the Rio PMP300 that opened many people's eyes to the promise of MP3. It also bore the brunt of the labels' wrath, which sued it into bankruptcy. However, the Rio name would resurface under the SonicBlue.brand (I was particularly fond of the microdrive-based iPod mini competitor Rio Carbon, which felt great in the hand.). Most of its portable devices were flash-based (including models it built for Nike and Motorola) but it created hard drive-based fixed devices for the home (Rio Central) and car (Rio Car). However, SonicBlue eventually went out of business as well, ending the line.

Like Diamond Multimedia, Creative was early in the MP3 player market with the hard drive-based, Discman-shaped Nomad Jukebox. It produced a slew of hard drive and flash-based players, including some large-screen video players under the Zen brand. Creative was also noteworthy for a patent dispute with Apple that resulted in Apple paying royalties. The company is still around, of course, but mostly focused on its roots as a PC periperhals and speaker company. You can still find a few MP3 players listed on its site, including the Zen Touch 2 that runs an old version of Android.

Iomega. A footnote in the history of MP3 players, the creator of once-adored Zip drives tried to crack the market smaller devices with a 40 MB disk cartridge called PocketZip and, later, Clik! Iomega convinced Ricoh to adopt the format in a camera and made its own MP3 player, the HipZip, which could not only play back MP3s on the disks but funciton as a general drive for reading them. The format couldn't compete with flash memory, and thus the HipZip had to RIP. The company was purchased by enterprise storage giant EMC in 2008.

Consumer Electronics Giants

Samsung and Sony. These two premium TV market rivals represented different kinds of competition to Apple. Sony, a pioneer in portable music, sought to maintain its Walkman heritage as it initially positioned Mini-Disc against the iPod. But the discs required transcoding the MP3 format to Sony's ATRAC codec with poorly received software called SonicStage. The company gradually came to adopt MP3 natively and drop ATRAC across mostly flash-based players and eventually even brought its Walkman brand to a series of feature phones it created in its Sony Ericsson venture.

Sony remains in the category today with a relatively robust lineup that includes music-playing Sports earbud models, the E and Wi-Fi Android-infused F series that roughly correspond to the 5th-generation and current-generation iPod nano, and the Android-based Z series that competes with the iPod touch.

Today, Samsung is Apple's strongest competitor in the smartphone space where it operates its own media store, but it was less successful competing against the iPod with a huge array of music players under the Yepp brand that spanned six full product lines of different form factors. Samsung now mostly competes with the iPod touch as a smartphone variant with a handful of products under the Galaxy Player brand.

Ross Rubin is principal analyst at Reticle Research, a research and advisory firm focusing on consumer technology adoption. He shares commentary at Techspressive and on Twitter at @rossrubin.

Reality Absorption Field: iPod's trail of tears, part 2 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 31 May 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reality Absorption Field: iPod's trail of tears, part 2 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 31 May 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple doesn't typically break out sales figures for specific iPod models, but I suppose the 100 million mark is something special. Hot on the heels of introducing a revamped iPod touch, Apple told Jim Dalrymple of The Loop that the company has now sold over 100 million iPod touch units.

Since first launching in September 2007, the iPod touch quickly became Apple's most popular iPod model, often accounting for more than 50 percent of quarterly iPod sales. In a world where MP3 players are dying a slow death thanks to the smartphone, the iPod touch has proven to be a resilient member of Apple's product lineup.

As a final point of interest, it took the iPad just two and a half years to reach the 100 million mark.

Apple has sold more than 100 million iPod touches originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 30 May 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple has sold more than 100 million iPod touches originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 30 May 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has introduced a new model of its iPod touch. The new iPod touch comes in a 16 GB capacity and lacks the rear iSight camera of other iPod touches with Retina displays. This new model of iPod touch does still feature the front-facing FaceTime camera. With the introduction of this new low-cost iPod touch it appears Apple has discontinued the old fourth-generation 3.5-inch screen iPod touches.

Besides lacking the rear iSight camera, the new low-cost iPod touch with Retina display only comes in black or silver colors. Its siblings that have a rear iSight camera and come and 32 GB or 64 GB capacities are available in multiple colors. The new low-cost iPod touch does contain the same A5 chip and comes with the same Apple Earbuds as its higher-priced siblings, however.

The new 16 GB iPod touch without the rear iSight camera is US$229.

Apple introduces new iPod touch without rear camera for $229 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 30 May 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple introduces new iPod touch without rear camera for $229 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 30 May 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bloomberg is reporting that Apple will pay US$53 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleges the company unfairly denied warranty coverage to iPhone and iPod owners because of faulty water damage indicator tapes in the devices.

Like many companies, Apple uses water damage indicator tape inside its devices so it can tell if the device has been submerged in water. The tape, made by 3M, changes color when it comes into contact with liquid. However, the plaintiffs in the case successfully argued that the tape Apple used could change color while exposed to humidity or moisture in the air.

Though Apple has denied any wrongdoing and the court has yet to approve the settlement offer, users of affected units can expect up to a US$300 compensation per device. It's unknown if that compensation will come in the form of a check or a credit for a new device. Affected units are any iPod touches with warranties that were denied due to water coverage before June 2010, and any iPhones with denied warranties due to water damage before Dec. 31, 2009.

Apple to pay $53 million in iPhone water damage settlement originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 29 May 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple to pay $53 million in iPhone water damage settlement originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 29 May 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The recent celebration of iTunes tenth anniversary provided an opportunity to remember that it debuted before the iPod and was initially positioned as a way to get Macs to play well with the CD burners that had come to the iMac as well as to early MP3 players from rivals. Before and (mostly) after the iPod, it's surprising to see not only how many different companies sought success in the portable media player category, but the diversity and depth of their approaches. While some achieved a degree of success and implemented a few things that were ahead of Apple, none came close to matching Apple's success.

This column will focus on how PC companies approached the portable media player market while the next Reality Absorption Field will look at how competitors from other industries fared.

Dell and Gateway

Prior to the arrival of Microsoft's Zune, Dell was probably the most serious PC company in the media player space. Putting its own spin on Creative's internals, it released a few hard disk models of its DJ (Digital Jukebox), tapping out at 30 GB. It also released a microdrive line to compete with the iPad mini and finally the DJ Ditty line of flash players to compete with the first-generation "pack of gum" iPod shuffle . Dell even created a networked audio player based on the Rio receiver, a brand descendant from Diamond Multimedia's breakthrough iPod predecessor. The former stock market darling is now taking itself private.

Just as Gateway's PC line sought to keep pace with Dell's, so did its media player line roughly mirror Dell's interest with entries in the hard disk and flash categories. Gateway also had a networked audio player, a rebadged version of the excellent Turtle Beach Audiotron. None of these products ever competed effectively, though, and Dell's failure to take on Apple beyond the PC set a precedent for the company's struggles in other categories such as smartphones and tablets where Apple has excelled.

Compaq and Intel

Compaq and Intel both dipped their giant corporate toes in the MP3 player market and their one-hit wonder efforts were actually not too shabby. Both were early flash memory-driven efforts, Intel's Pocket Concert and Compaq-s iPAQ PA-1 (and its nearly identical follow-on, the PA-2). Intel sold a dock that allowed its blue-and-silver music player to work with matched speakers and Compaq's player -- while hardly a looker -- had a clip years before the first iPod shuffle integrated one. Intel retreated from the consumer device market while Compaq was acquired by HP.

HP

HP had what was perhaps the most unique reaction to the iPod. After holding back from the market after what was allegedly a poorly received prototype based on a partnership with Napster 2.0, it decided to try to join 'em if it couldn't beat 'em. HP iPods were identical to Apple's in nearly every respect except for the branding, which Apple also worked its way into since they were called Apple iPod+HP. HP tried to differentiate by coming out with a line of printable "tattoos" that could be affixed to the front of the devices, but in mid-2005 the strange relationship dissolved a year and a half after it began.

Microsoft

Microsoft tried to compete with the iPod in three main ways. The first of these was the launch of Playsforsure, a horrifically named digital rights management service that was to ensure compatibility between various music stores and music players. It drew support from many of the player makers, including Dell, SanDisk, iRiver, Samsung and others as well as subscription music services such as Napster and Rhapsody. The effort ultimately fizzled, though, and Apple worked to get even its digital rights management software removed from iTunes music.

Microsoft also tried licensing its software to power portable media players with a focus on video for devices called Portable Media Centers, a way to take TV shows and other media recorded Windows Media Center on the road via sideloading. Creative, iRiver, Philips, Samsung and Toshiba all hopped on that bus before it broke down.

Frustrated by the failure of these efforts and true to Steve Jobs' prediction, Microsoft jumped in itself with Zune. The first version, with its "double shot" coating and bulky, optionally brown exterior coating Toshiba's Gigabeat player internals, was unimpressive, but Microsoft made improvementst, adding the excelle "sqircle" touchpad that gave the click wheel a run for its money and introducing the sleek "full-touch" Zune HD, all with proprietary iPod-like connectors.

But the iPod touch inheriting the iPhone's avalanche of apps was the final nail in the coffin for the Zune device. And in fairness to Microsoft, the MP3 player market was already starting to move past its peak anyway. Microsoft kept the now curiously named Zune software around a while longer, but ultimately replaced it and the service to which it served as a conduit to Xbox Music. The confusing branding continues as much of what it serves today is Windows Phone devices.

The Portable Media Centers and Zune had at least one important legacy for Microsoft, though. They iterated what would become known as the panoramic Modern, nee Metro, touch user interface that Microsoft now uses on smartphones and PCs.

Ross Rubin is principal analyst at Reticle Research, a research and advisory firm focusing on consumer technology adoption. He shares commentary at Techspressive and on Twitter at @rossrubin.

Reality Absorption Field: iPod's trail of tears, part 1 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 24 May 2013 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reality Absorption Field: iPod's trail of tears, part 1 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 24 May 2013 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Macworld Senior Contributor Kirk McElhearn has several excellent tips for iOS owners looking to sync their large iTunes library with their iPad, iPhone or iPod. Their libraries are so big that they exceed the capacity of their devices, which forces them to pick and choose what items they want to sync.

McElhearn walks users through two methods for syncing an oversized library. Each method lets you control which tracks are synced and which ones are not. The most efficient method allows users to sync playlists, individual artists, specific genres and even selected albums with their iOS device. You can read about the two methods in the article on Macworld's website.

When your iOS device runs out of storage space originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When your iOS device runs out of storage space originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 17 May 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple last week released its earnings for the March quarter and posted revenue of US$43.6 billion along with a quarterly net profit of $9.5 billion. Product wise, the company sold 37.4 million iPhones, 19.5 million iPads, and 5.63 million iPods.

All in all, another impressive quarter from Apple. But one data point in particular that jumped out at me was just how insignificant the iPod has become to Apple's bottom line. In the quarter gone by, Apple's iconic MP3 player accounted for a paltry 2.2% of Apple's quarterly revenue.

Meanwhile, the iPhone and iPad together comprised 72.5% of Apple's Q2 revenue.

Think about that for a second -- the iPod, the device that fundamentally changed the musical landscape and raked in millions upon millions in profits for Apple is now nothing more than a footnote on Apple's balance sheet. In fact, during the quarter gone by, Apple generated more revenue from accessory sales than it did from iPod sales.

While pundits over the years have consistently questioned Apple's ability to generate new revenue, Apple has uniquely been able to anticipate, if not create, shifts in the technological landscape and react accordingly.

Apple's uniqueness in this regard becomes apparent when one looks at other tech heavyweights. Take Microsoft, for example. The majority of Microsoft's profits still come from sales of Windows and Microsoft Office. Meanwhile, the vast majority of Google's revenue continues to come from advertising.

Sure, both companies aren't shy about entering new product categories, but these new ventures, more often than not, fail to deliver any appreciable increase in revenue. In some instances, and Microsoft's Xbox comes to mind, new ventures ultimately become projects that bleed money rather than generate it.

From that standpoint, Apple's ability to generate significant revenue while moving from the Mac to the iPod to the iPhone, and more recently to the iPad, underscores the company's ability to successfully enter new markets in a way that most companies of comparable size and resources still haven't been able to replicate.

In what seemed like a rather natural progression, Apple was able to seamlessly transition from the iPod to the iPhone, and thereafter to the iPad. Impressively, Apple was able to completely revamp its product line so successfully that the product that once accounted for the bulk of its revenue now accounts for a measly 2.2% of their quarterly revenue.

All that said, I decided to take a look back at Apple's Q2 financial data over the past few years to track the steady demise of the iPod. It's also interesting to observe how Apple's primary source of revenue quickly shifted from the Mac to the iPod and now the iPhone.

Q2 2002

During Apple's second fiscal quarter of 2002, Mac sales comprised 80% of Apple's revenue.

Q2 2004

During Apple's second fiscal quarter of 2004, iPod sales accounted for 13.8% of Apple's revenue while Mac sales comprised 60.7% of Apple's revenue. Notably this quarter saw the release of the first-gen iPod Mini.

Q2 2005

By the second quarter of 2005, Mac sales comprised just 46% of Apple's revenue as the iPod continued to gain traction. Now, Apple's MP3 player was responsible for 31.2% of Apple's revenue.

Q2 2006

One year later, the iPod's share of Apple's Q2 revenue rose to 40% on the strength of 8.52 million units sold during a traditionally slow quarter. During the previous quarter (Q1 2006), the iPod accounted for 50% of Apple's quarterly revenue.

Q2 2007

At this point, the iPhone had been introduced to the world, though had not yet been released. During Apple's Q2 of 2007, iPods accounted for 32.08% of Apple's quarterly revenue even though unit sales from the year-ago quarter remained consistent.

Q2 2008

At this point, the iPhone was 9 months old and the toll on iPod sales and revenue was beginning to become apparent. During Apple's second fiscal quarter of 2008, the iPod accounted for 24.2% of Apple's revenue while the then nascent iPhone accounted for 5% of Apple's revenue. Mac sales, meanwhile, comprised 46.5% of Apple's quarterly revenue.

Q2 2009

By Q2 of 2009, revenue from the iPod was responsible for just 20.39% of Apple's bottom line while the iPhone accounted for 18.6% of Apple's quarterly revenue.

Q2 2010

One year later, the writing was on the wall. During Apple's second fiscal quarter of 2010, iPod sales contributed 13.7% to Apple's bottom line while the iPhone became responsible for 40.3% of Apple's quarterly revenue. Though Q2 2010 iPod sales year over year remained somewhat steady, the skyrocketing success of the iPhone meant that the importance of the iPod to Apple's bottom line was becoming more and more inconsequential, respectable sales figures notwithstanding.

Q2 2011

By this time, the first-gen iPad had been released and the iPod accounted for just 6.48% of Apple's quarterly revenue.

Q2 2012

By Q2 2012, the iPod was contributing 3.08% to Apple's bottom line.

Q2 2013

And again, during Apple's most recent quarter, the iPod, once Apple's crown jewel, contributed just 2.2% to Apple's bottom line.

Now that we've already seen six iterations of the iPhone and four generations of the iPad -- not to mention the first iteration of the iPad Mini -- tech analysts and pundits are once again expressing doubt that Apple can find new streams of revenue as its product line continues to mature.

Looking forward, there's really no way to know if Apple will, in fact, be able to deliver a mind blowing new product that will take its profits to even higher and more impressive levels. At the same time, Apple has a pretty strong track record of delivering innovative new products just as analysts deem it time to label Apple a 'has-been'.

During a December interview with NBC's Brian Williams, Apple CEO Tim Cook addressed concerns that Apple's past success was somehow turning off the company's spigot of innovation.

"Don't bet against us, Brian," Cook warned. "Don't bet against us."

The steady demise of Apple's iPod originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 May 2013 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The steady demise of Apple's iPod originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 May 2013 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I am not a fan of the Apple EarPods that come with the iPhone 5, so when id America sent a pair of their new Metropolitan In-Ear Headphones (US$29.95) I was eager to give them a try.

My main complaint with the EarPods is that they refuse to stay in my ears, preferring instead to pop out at inopportune times during important phone calls. Then again, I've never been fond of in-ear headphones either, since they're usually quite uncomfortable. But my frustration with the EarPods was enough to make me give the Metropolitans a try.

Design and Functionality

The headphones come with four sets of tips -- one made out of memory foam, the other three made of a rubber material. I tried the memory foam tips first, basically treating them like the pair of memory foam earplugs I own -- squishing them down, inserting them into my ear canal, and then letting them expand to fit.

The memory foam tips were tight and did a good job of blocking out ambient sound, but I found them to be quite uncomfortable. That left the rubber plugs to try. Fortunately, changing the tips is easy to accomplish -- it just takes a pull to take off a set and a good push to install the new set. The Metropolitan headphones are made from aluminum, so there's no concern that you're going to break them.

I must have the world's most narrow ear canals, as the smallest set of rubber ear tips worked beautifully. With the ear end of the headphones figured out, I plugged the gold-plated right-angle connector into the audio port of my iPhone 5 and started listening to music. The Metropolitan headphones are definitely stronger on the bass end than Apple's EarPods, so if you're a fan of really loud rock you're gonna love these. I tried several music genres, playing with the iPhone's equalizer (Settings > Music > EQ) to sweeten the experience on several albums. What I found was that the Metropolitan headphones also have really decent treble response, too.

The Metropolitan features a fabric covered cable, which I found to be somewhat noisier than the rubberized coating Apple uses on the EarPods. That's not an issue if you're sitting still listening to music or talking on a phone call, but it an be annoying to hear the rustle of clothing against the cable if you're moving a lot.

There's a microphone and remote on the cable in the usual spot. When on the phone, pressing the single remote button once answers a call; pressing it again hangs up. While listening to music, a single press pauses or restarts music playback. A double press is used to skip to the next track on a playlist, while a triple press skips to the previous track. Siri is just a long press-and-hold away, and rejecting an incoming phone call can be accomplished by holding down the button for about two seconds. My only gripe here is that there's no volume control from the headphone button -- you have to change volume on the device.

When used with the iPhone 5 to make phone calls (people actually do that on occasion...), my phone call recipients found the voice quality to be about the same as it was from the EarPods -- in other words, not that great. I think there's just something inherently wrong with the dinky microphones used in headphones of any sort.

If you're tired of Apple's white EarPods and cables, that may be worth the price of the Metropolitan headphones alone as they come in Brilliant Red, Navy Blue, Lime Green, Rose Pink, and Jet Black in addition to the Aluminum Silver I tested. In each case, the cable color matches the headphone hue.

Conclusion

Apple's EarPods are included with every new iPhone and the latest iPods, but they don't appeal to everyone's tastes. id America's Metropolitan cost about a dollar more than the Apple 'pods, and can provide a much more comfortable listening experience for people who don't like the feel or functionality of the Apple product. They're much less expensive than the $150 Beats Tour In-Ear headphones that I've tried before and offer sound quality that's not that much different.

Pros

• Excellent price point
• Fabric-coated cables don't tangle easily
• Includes a small cloth carrying bag
• One set of memory foam ear tips, three sizes of rubber ear tips included
• Sound quality meets or beats other in-ear headphones that are much more expensive

Cons

• No volume control on the button/mic
• Noise of cable bumping against clothing can be annoying when in motion
• Microphone isn't very sensitive

Who is it for?

• Anyone who finds the standard Apple EarPods to be uncomfortable or loose, but doesn't want to spend an arm and a leg for quality in-ear headphones.

id America's Metropolitan in-ear headphones offer comfort, great sound and a bargain price originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

id America's Metropolitan in-ear headphones offer comfort, great sound and a bargain price originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wired is reporting that Apple has agreed to a $53 million settlement in a class-action suit focusing on Apple's warranty practices regarding water damage in older iOS devices. The settlement agreement, which was leaked to Wired, has already been signed off on by Apple chief litigation counsel Noreen Krall and now awaits the official signatures of the remaining parties.

The lawsuit alleges that Apple improperly refused to honor warranty agreements for iPhones and iPod Touch devices which were seemingly damaged by water.

As a quick primer, iPhone and iPod Touch models come with Liquid Contact Indicators (LCI) which change color from white to pink or red when they comes into contact with water. Apple's warranty coverage, however, doesn't extent to water damage. As such, when an affected customer would bring in a damaged device with a red LCI, Apple refused to honor the warranty agreement by refusing to repair or replace it.

The problem with Apple's bright line rule, however, is that the the LCI was prone to change colors when exposed to humidity. Though Apple on its own website explains than an LCI is designed not to be triggered by changes in humidity and temperature, 3M, who makes the tape, said that such factors can sometimes cause the LCI to change color.

The devices encompassed in the lawsuit include the original iPhone, the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 3GS and the first three generations of the iPod touch. The ballpark estimate for payouts is about $200 per claim, but that figure could either rise or decline depending on how many affected users actually submit a claim. The type of device affected will also influence the extent of individual payouts.

The reason the last iPhone model included in the suit is the iPhone 3GS is because Apple in 2010 began requiring employees to look for other signs of water damage when a user brought in a device with a red LCI. Whereas employees under the previous protocol would void the warranty of an affected device out of hand, court documents posted by Wired indicate that Apple's liquid-damage policies for the iPhone and iPod touch were made less stringent in December 2009 and June 2010 respectively.

As part of the settlement agreement, Apple also agreed to set up a website where users can learn about the case and access all documents needed to either submit a claim via the web or by printing out a mailable form. Interestingly, the agreement requires that Apple make a published notice alerting the public to the settlement agreement in both the USA Today and Macworld magazine.

Naturally, Apple notes that it enters into the settlement agreement "without in any way acknowledging any fault, liability or wrongdoing of any kind."

Apple agrees to $53 million settlement in iPhone and iPod Touch warranty class action originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 12 Apr 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple agrees to $53 million settlement in iPhone and iPod Touch warranty class action originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 12 Apr 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I don't know if you have the same problem with the EarPods that Apple ships with the iPhone 5, but I find that a lot of times the friction of the cable on my shirt has a tendency to pull the pods out of my ears. It's annoying, especially when I'm in the middle of a phone call and the right side of the cable -- the one with the mic -- decides to flop down on the front of my shirt. Well, there's a product to help out with that problem. Klingg (US$19.95) is a tiny and very useful earphone magnet that holds the main cable in place on your clothing, keeping the EarPods from popping out.

Klingg comes in a variety of color combinations to please just about anyone and is made in two pieces, each with a very powerful magnet inside of it. You put the main cable of your headphones into a slot on the front of the Klingg, then pull the rear half off of it. Put that rear piece under a piece of clothing, put the piece holding the headphones on the front, and now you have a strong, stable base holding your headphones in place.

When you're walking around and have the EarPods out of your ears, you don't have to put up with the pods banging into your body because they can be auto-magnetically attached to the Klingg.

Having part of my heritage from Italy, I have a hard time keeping my hands still when I talk, so my EarPods used to fall out a lot. Since I started using the Klingg, that doesn't happen very often at all. Klingg is a surprisingly useful product that solves a problem I didn't really know I had.

Klingg: That thing you don't know you need until you have one originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Klingg: That thing you don't know you need until you have one originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Anthony Scarsella is the Chief Gadget Officer at Gazelle, the online equipment repurposing company. Every quarter Scarsella publishes his reCommerce Report, a look at trends that the company is seeing in terms of devices submitted to Gazelle for recycling and resale. Among the fascinating stats in the Q1 2013 report is that the company saw a huge increase of almost 80 percent in iPod trades in December and January, leading Scarsella to speculate that we're beginning to see the "end of the iPod."

What's killing Apple's music player? To quote Scarsella, "When first unveiled in October 2001, many were astonished with the ability to have over 1,000 songs sitting in your pocket. Fast-forward almost 12 years later and we have the iPhone, iPad, iCloud, streaming, 4G and WiFi. Although the iPod is still around, the smartphone has become an easy replacement for the basic MP3 player from Apple."

The trend of high iPod trades has "remained fairly steady since February," indicating that as more smartphones are activated, more users are looking to Gazelle and similar companies to get cash for equipment they no longer need.

One other fascinating piece of information is that resale value of the iPhone leapt to record levels -- even for broken equipment -- and that devices from other manufacturers like Samsung are also beginning to hold their value over time. That wasn't the case several years ago, when a broken iPhone was often more valuable than a working Android device of similar age.

Gazelle Chief Gadget Officer looks at resale trends, sees the end of the iPod originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 26 Mar 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gazelle Chief Gadget Officer looks at resale trends, sees the end of the iPod originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 26 Mar 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A French 3D printing company by the name of Sculpteo has begun offering 3D printed iPhone dock adapters for third-party iPod speakers. The adapters allow users to use Lightning connector iPhones and iPods in older dock connector speaker systems.

The beauty of this system is that it allows Sculpteo to offer these adapters for a wide range of older speaker systems without the upfront costs of hiring a factory to manufacture thousands of units. From a user perspective, it's advantageous because, theoretically, any old iPod speaker system they have could have an adapter made for it quickly so it's compatible with new Lightning connector iOS devices.

Currently the adapter made by Sculpteo will fit over 15 iPod speaker systems. Users will still have to buy the Lightning to dock connector separately from Apple, but when used with Sculpteo's adapters new devices will fit snugly in the old speaker systems. Sculpteo's adapters currently cost US$17.

[via TechCrunch]

3D printing iPhone dock adapters originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 17 Mar 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

3D printing iPhone dock adapters originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 17 Mar 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Have you heard the news? There's this pretty successful Apple product -- starts with an "iP," ends with a "d" and has a vowel in the middle. And its average prices have dropped. Apple is (cue ominous music) doomed (cue evil cackle). Doomed, I say, repeating myself loudly so as to be heard above the sound effects.

That product is called the iPod. For now, let's confine its definition to the dedicated media players, not the iPhone-without-a-radio that will likely live on for quite a while. The iPod has proved remarkably tenacious and dominant since its introduction in 2001, smashing competitive products and leaving only a handful of cheap players such as the SanDisk Sansa Fuse in its wake.

You don't hear too much about it these days, especially beyond the annual product revision. Incredibly, the iPod classic, despite not being revised in years, remains on sale, and the Shuffle seems to have settled into a pretty familiar form factor. The nano went back to a big screen last year and incorporated a home button as well as Bluetooth (finally).

While Apple's seeking to keep the product fresh, though, the market for standalone media players continues to decline. The iPod may still be refreshed for many years to come, but it is sliding away from view -- and that is a good thing for Apple.

The iPod was unveiled in 2001 as the first major new product category from Apple since the doomed Newton. While the iMac had been a promising harbinger of how things would improve in the post-Amelio Apple, the iPod really started the virtuous chain going that resulted in the juggernaut built over the past decade.

Apple's franchise in digital music and iTunes helped beget the iPhone and app sales, and the iPhone, of course, helped beget the iPad. The iPod's slow decline has come against a backdrop of Apple showing transition from one product arc to the next. It has helped to prove that the product Apple has been best at revising is Apple itself.

What's next? A television? A watch? The iBed? When? Cynics have a point that it will be difficult to top the smartphone opportunity, but that is a constraint that Apple's competitors face as well. And so, returning to the idea that the iPad mini is reducing Apple's tablet margins in exchange for volume when it must compete with $200 (or sub-$200 in the case of the new HP Slate 7) smaller Android tablets, those concerns were voiced about the iPod as well. And that was when market share didn't have the broader implications of furthering an operating system to attract, retain and expand the developer opportunity. Despite cheaper competition, Apple maintained its dominance in media players. However, it also moved on to other categories and other opportunities. Perhaps some of the skeptics will as well.

Ross Rubin is principal analyst at Reticle Research, a research and advisory firm focusing on consumer technology adoption. He shares commentary at Techspressive and on Twitter at @rossrubin.

Reality Absorption Field: Apple's best product revision originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 16 Mar 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reality Absorption Field: Apple's best product revision originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 16 Mar 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you have an old iPod kicking around, TechHive has some ideas that'll help you breathe some new life into these vintage devices. Each upgrade mentioned in the post are warranty-voiders, but that doesn't matter anymore because the devices are so old.

The lists of mods include changing the backlit LED, swapping out the drive and installing the Rockbox firmware. You can check out the full list on TechHive's website. If you have some mods of your own, please share them in the comments.

Six cool upgrades for an old iPod originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Six cool upgrades for an old iPod originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As if supersized sodas weren't a big enough target, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg has a new target in his quest to improve the health of New Yorkers -- the earbud. As reported in the New York Post, Bloomberg is kicking off an educational campaign to warn city dwellers about the dangers of pumping up the volume to 11 when you are wearing in-ear headphones.

The US$250,000 initiative doesn't target the iPhone or iPod directly, but the original iPod and its successors are the devices that kicked off the earbud movement. Apple's website already hosts an FAQ about safe volume levels, and parents can control the maximum volume their kids' devices will climb to if they choose. Earbud.org also offers parent and teacher resources for preventing hearing loss.

At least one audiologist who spoke to NYC's CBS affiliate believes that the iPhone and iPod are the most hazardous earbud-bearing products out there. Dr. Won Choe said "I'm seeing a whole host of young teenagers who are coming in with early signs of noise-induced hearing loss," and cited Apple's products as problematic.

Of course, the good doctor may be seeing more iDevice-associated hearing issues because more New York teens have iDevices than other brands. The Post also noted noted that the iPod can be cranked up to 115 decibels (if you don't enable the volume limiter), which is well over the maximum safe level of 85 decibels.

So, iPod-using New Yorkers, are you going to listen to your mayor and turn down the volume or do you think he should just "bud" out and let you decide how to listen to your tunes?

Updated to clarify the initiative's target of high-volume earbuds.

[Via CBS 2 New York]

NYC mayor kicks off anti-earbud hearing safety campaign originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

NYC mayor kicks off anti-earbud hearing safety campaign originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As expected, Staples is now an authorized Apple reseller. Starting today, the office supply store is selling accessories for the Mac, iPad, iPod and iPhone. The products popped up on Staple's online storefront with a big popup banner announcing their arrival.

You'll find cases, keyboards, chargers and more for your iOS and OS X devices. Pricing is on par with other resellers and Apple's own retail stores. You can check out all the goods on Staples website.

Staples now selling accessories for the iPad, iPhone, iPod and Mac originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Staples now selling accessories for the iPad, iPhone, iPod and Mac originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I use my iPhone a lot to listen to music when I'm out and about. And I have a really great pair of earphones to use for this purpose. However, they are high-end in-ear monitors. And while they sound amazing, they are not always practical for day to day tasks like going for a run or shoving them in my back pocket when I arrive at my destination. They are expensive, and therefore require special attention.

So I've been in the market for a second pair of great sounding earphones that don't break the bank and can take the beating of daily life. And that's why I was excited about Apple's EarPod headphones. I thought they would be the answer to my easy listening requirements: A budget pair of earphones that are well designed and produce a great sound. However, we all know they turned out to be somewhat of a disappointment. And that's where RHA's MA150 noise-isolating earphones come in.

Released in January of this year, the MA150s can be bought for US$19.95. They are designed to be affordable, yet provide uncompromised sound and function.

Design

The MA150s look like a standard pair of earphones. They come with a 1.2 meter Y-shaped cable with a slider to stop tangles, a 45 degree angled, gold plated, 3.5mm connector and a high performance, 10mm Mylar driver in each earphone. The earphones come with 6 silicon ear tips; two each for small, medium and large sizes.

Gallery: RHA MA150 earphones

Impressively, it's clear a great deal of attention to detail has gone into these earphones, from manufacture to the simple-yet-tasteful eco friendly packaging.

The MA150s speakers utilize an aerophonic, trumpet bell inspired design for delivery of audio, the same used in its more expensive MA350 and MA450i variants:

Functionality

I was very impressed with the performance of the MA150s. After getting the right size ear tip on each earphone, the MA150s fit easily and snugly in my ears. Straight away I was impressed with how well the earphones stayed in my ears, even when running.

With regards to sound, the first thing I noticed was that the sound was very warm, with a strong, punchy bass presence, which I assume is aided by the snug fit of the earphones, resulting in good noise isolation. For budget earphones, this was not what I was expecting.

As far as I can describe (in my limited and humble experience), the mid range was energetic and the treble was clear. Basically, I was immediately pleased with the reproduction of sound.

For some comparison, I tried the MA350s ($39.95), and my in-ear monitors (around $200). The MA450s provided a clearer and more balanced and detailed sound, and as expected, my in-ear monitors even more so. But going back to the MA150s, I was still very satisfied with the sound, surprisingly so -- especially at the price point.

Conclusion

According to their website, in designing the MA150s, RHA set out to combine "outstanding audio, minimalist design and affordability... at an entry level price to offer a new market of listeners exceptional audio quality." And I have to absolutely agree, that is what they have done.

In comparison to budget earphones like Apple's EarPods at $29.99 (and granted, they have a mic and remote built-in), the MA150s outperform EarPods in every way. Though they are budget earphones, no corners have been cut. These are minimalist earphones, but they don't feel cheap or tacky, just good value for money with fantastic sound quality.

If you're after an affordable, but solid pair of no friills earphones that don't compromise on sound quality, the MA150s are certainly worth jumping for. You'll be surprised at just how well they perform.

If you're after RHAs with built-in mic and remote check out the RHA MA450i

Review: RHA MA150 low cost, high quality earphones originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 15 Feb 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Review: RHA MA150 low cost, high quality earphones originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 15 Feb 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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