The Nexus 7 may still be a hot tablet, but at close to 7 months old, it is definitely not one of the newest on the market. Despite being out for a while now, we have still yet to see an official dock for the Nexus 7. The good news is that according to a B&H product listing, the ASUS dock for Nexus 7 will be available on January 16, 2013. This date was bumped up from January 10th, the original release date shown on the product listing.

B&H has the tablet dock listed at $40 along with a few pictures. Judging by the picture shown above, the dock will make use of the 4-pin connector that the Nexus 7 has on its side.

In terms of design and also functionality, the dock looks to be similar to that of Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus Landscape Dock. With that in mind, you can expect ASUS’s dock to charge your Nexus 7 as well as play music through a 3.5mm audio output.

Will you be buying a Nexus 7 dock in the next 2 weeks if it is released? If not, have you already bought a dock from a third-party? Let us know in the comments below.

[ Source ]

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The dock has an antique Magnavox phonograph horn, though I’m not sure if this really is recovered from an older product or it’s a brand new creation made to look older. In any case, the horn latches onto a block of wood and on that same block of wood is a slot for your iPad. It’s not even an electronic amplifier, since it effectively functions as a giant megaphone.

The good news, then, is that it won’t need to use any source of electricity to work. The bad news is that it may not work quite as well as a conventional speaker. It also doesn’t help that the iVictrola carries a suggested retail price of $985. Ouch. In any case, it’ll be produced in limited numbers for sale this November.

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Think about most of the iPod speaker docks on the market. They either require you to use a power cable or they run on batteries. They also happen to take up valuable desk or shelf space that could be used for something else. And then, take a look at the Waldok.

No, it’s not going to be the more technologically advanced or loudest iPod speaker dock on the market, but think about its design for a moment. It plugs directly into the wall without any dangling cables, docks an iPod of your choosing, and plays the music through its single speaker. I’ve seen charging docks that use this kind of design, but not speaker docks. This is slick and would be great for background tunes in smaller rooms.

At least, that’s the idea. The HERNstudio folks want to get this idea off the ground so they’ve put the project up on Kickstarter to raise the necessary funds. Not familiar with Kickstarter? You might want to take a look at our KickStarter project too!

[Gizmodo]

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Maybe you’re on a budget and can’t afford one of those shiny new MacBook Airs. That’s okay. You already have an iPad and you can effectively transform it into an Apple iMac on the cheap. Well, sort of. At least it looks kind of like an iMac. Okay, no it really doesn’t but we can all pretend.

What you see here is the PadDock 10 stand. It’s a docking station for the iPad that comes equipped with some integrated speakers and, if you were to pair up your iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard, you can almost have a desktop-like experience. You know, on a ten-inch screen running iOS rather than the new OS X Lion.

Beyond the docking and the speakers, the PadDock 10 can rotate 360 degrees and it’ll charge and sync your iPad to boot. Realistically, this $100 stand might work a little better as an accompanying accessory to your existing iMac. That way, it’s almost like having a dual monitor setup with two separating operating systems.

And then you can have your iPhone 4 on your desk too, completing the Cupertino trifecta.

SOURCE: Giz via PD Stand

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Speakal iCrystal orb speaker dock

What floats, shaped like an orb and has a glowing blue light? Not a UFO ship, it’s the Speakal iCrystal docking station.  It’s designed to cradle all iPhones, even the new iPhone 4 and iPods through the Apple connector, or a 3.5mm headphone jack for unsupported gadgets.  The orbs glow with the music and the dual drivers project sound up a reverse volcano designed speaker shield that covers the entire room (360 degrees.)  It’s available in black, red and white, for $80 and available only to residents of planet Earth.

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Those crazy kooks at Speakal are back to their old tricks. Not content with right angles and square boxes, the company has always taken a more unique approach to the world of iPod speaker docks. They don’t want a conservative box like the Griffin Amplifi. They want to solicit a cuter response from its customers.

Following in this philosophy is one of the company’s latest creations, the iPom 2.1 stereo speaker system. Unlike the other products in Speakal’s lineup, however, this speaker system does not come with a standard iPod dock on the top. Instead, it is designed to take its musical influence from SD cards and USB memory drives. There’s still a 3.5mm stereo mini-jack in the back, however, so you could pump your iPod-fueled tunes that way instead.

While it is a 2.1 stereo speaker system like the iBoo iPod speaker dock that we saw earlier this year, the iPom comes with a more unique approach to the placement of the speakers. The main unit is shaped like an apple and is available in your choice of green (as shown), red, or white. That’s “normal” enough, given the context.

Where things get a little stranger is when you take a look at the pair of 3-watt stereo speakers. They’re shaped like flowers. I don’t see too many flowers growing out of apples, but that discussion can be saved for another day.

In terms of functionality, you can plug these two flower speakers (red and purple) into the top of the apple or you can use the audio-out port in the back in tandem with the Y-cable base splitter to place the two speakers anywhere you’d like. The 12-watt subwoofer stays downward-firing in the base of the apple. Oh, and I’m sure Speakal had no influence from Cupertino when it came to this particular choice of produce. Right?

Looking to the back of the iPom, you see the assortment of input options. As mentioned, the primary audio sources are the SD/MMC card slot and the USB port. This makes for a fairly versatile configuration, but you will notice that there is neither a remote nor a display provided with the iPom. You don’t “see” the song that you’re playing, nor can you really navigate through your tracks other than a plain-old previous/next movement.

In this way, the iPom is really meant to be a “set it and forget it” source of music in your life. What I suggest is that you invest in a cheap 1GB memory card or USB flash drive, load it with your tracks, and let the iPom do its thing.

The instruction manual says that you need to place the files in the root directory, but I found that it still played tracks located inside of folders. From what I can gather, it just plays through the songs in order. There is no shuffle option.

In terms of size, the iPom is notably smaller than the Speakal iPig, partly because the stereo speakers are located externally in the aforementioned flowers.

The subwoofer is marginally more powerful than the 9W unit in the iBoo, but the difference in thump is noticeable. Running tunes from my iPod via the 3.5mm stereo input was decent, given the size of the iPom, but when I switched to USB or SD input, I was disappointed.

You start to get a substantial amount of crackle and distortion, even at lower volumes. It’s not nearly as noticeable on mellower songs, like jazz and classical, but anything with a bit of a punch gets crackled. I tried rock and rap, getting the same result.

If you’re expecting to get the same kind of sound quality as we enjoyed with something like the mStation 2.1 Stereo Orb, you’re going to be disappointed. The iPom is not meant to blow out your windows or blast your mind. It’s a cute stereo for a bedroom, playing your songs at a more reasonable volume.

Switching between the three audio sources (SD, USB, aux-in) is done by holding the pause/play button for about six seconds, but they could have just as easily included a “source” touch-sensitive “button” to go along with the rest of the controls on the top.

Sound quality left a little something to be desired, especially at the $99.99 price point. The lack of a remote is disheartening too, considering that both the iBoo and iPig came with remotes. As with other Speakal products, there’s no display and no “real” track control either.

The Speakal iPom is a fun little product that may be suitable for a young girl’s room, but you can probably find something better for about the same price elsewhere. I’d recommend the iBoo (at $20 less too) over the iPom.

Overall Rating: 6.5/10

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You won’t have to make a visit over to your local taxidermy office just yet, because you can get your hands on a decapitated panda head the geekier way. It’s not a real head, of course, but it may be more functional because the aptly named “USB Big Panda Speaker” pumps out the tunes.

Unlike the iPig iPod speaker dock from Speakal, this panda head doesn’t look very happy. It’s actually downright grumpy, despite playing friendly with both USB and 3.5mm inputs. You get treble and bass control to boot.

If you’re looking for something on the quirkier end of the equation, this Big Panda Speaker might be for you. Just don’t complain to me when you start getting nightmares of the panda family coming to extract their revenge. Find the Panda Speaker for $27 through Gadget4all.com.

Source: GeekAlerts

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Well, that’s not completely true. The JVC Victor XS-SR3 doesn’t really offer anything in terms of ground-breaking technology, but you have to admit that the design is beyond contemporary. It’s almost like the iPod is floating and it is wrapped in a semi-aura of aural excellence. Something like that.

Available in your choice of black or white, this iPod speaker dock comes with a wireles remote, analog input, Virtual Dolby Surround support, and a pair of 2.5-watt speakers. Strangely, they say that it won’t work with the iPhone, but it should work with every other iPod. The analog input also allows for gaming systems, DVD players, and other MP3 players.

As with so many other products, the JVC Victor XS-SR3 seems to be a Japan-only product for the time being. Look for it to ship next month for about $190.

Source: Crunchgear

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Don’t let its cute appearance fool you into thinking that it’s just some cheap toy for people who don’t care about how anything sounds. The iPig iPod speaker system from Speakal comes with a strong pedigree and it is perfectly capable of handling the entirety of your music collection.

Features and Highlights

Do you remember the iBoo iPod speaker dock that I reviewed a few short months ago? The iPig takes on much the same philosophy, except the Pac-Man inspired theme has gone hog wild, so to speak, tossing in a subwoofer and four stereo speakers to boot.

That’s not to say that the Speakal iPig is a 4.1 system, however. It’s still very much a 2.1 stereo speaker system; both the right speakers pump out the same channel, just as both the left speakers pump out the same sound. The downward-firing 15-watt subwoofer rounds out the package, bringing the total output to 25+ watts.

For the four speakers, we turn to the two eyes in the front, but underneath the ears is another pair of speakers. That’s a clever way to “hide” them while allowing the sound to still penetrate out into the environment.

The mostly spherical design of the iPig, along with the placement of the four speakers and the elevated position of the subwoofer, is meant to provide us with 360 degrees of sound. It’ll dock all contemporary iPods and iPhones, but there’s also a 3.5mm auxiliary jack in the back for game systems, TVs, other MP3 players, laptops, and so on.

What’s in the Box?

Looking inside the box, you’ll get everything that you’ll need to get started with a tune-filled summer. Aside from the iPig speaker system itself, you get the power brick, power cable, a series of iPod adapters, and an instruction manual. Not pictured but also included is a remote control.

The credit card-style remote is very similar to the one we saw with the iBoo, but it comes with a few extra buttons. There are two buttons for switching between the iPod and auxiliary feeds, another pair to adjust the bass, and another pair to handle the treble.

As before, you also get a set of buttons to control the iPod’s menu. This is so much more than going forward and back in tracks, because you can actually make your way through the menu for playlists and such without having to actually touch your docked iPod.

Peeking in the Back

The iPig is a little more expensive than the iBoo and it comes with a suitable level of upgrades as well. Rather than hiding the power switch on the bottom, the iPig places it in the back where it can be more easily accessed. There’s also the 3.5mm input jack, the bass dial, and the port for the power brick. It does take an external power supply, so the iPig isn’t quite as streamlined as its iBoo cousin.

I find it a little curious that the iBoo has a bass dial along with the controls on the remote, since the dial has a definite minimum and maximum.

Sound Quality and Usability

Remember how I said that you shouldn’t underestimate the performance of the iBoo? While the subwoofer doesn’t offer the same level of impressive bass as the mStation 2.1 Stereo Orb, I thought the overall sound output was very impressive for a speaker system of this size.

In going through some songs with heavier bass content, like “Stronger” by Kanye West, the speakers seem to get overwhelmed and there is noticeable distortion. Handling other songs, like “Disarm” by The Smashing Pumpkins, appears to be just fine. The speakers are loud, clear, and crisp.

With most speaker systems of this kind, the 3.5mm auxiliary input oftentimes leaves much to be desired. I am glad to report that the sound quality from this input is almost as good as the direct iPod input via the dock. That’s a definite plus.

It is unfortunate that the only on-board controls for the iBoo are for volume control (on the ears), without any touch-sensitive controls for switching tracks or play/pause. You need the remote for that.

Conclusion

Speakal has done a pretty good job with the iPig speaker dock for the iPod. The cute appearance and range of colors will make it a great complement to the bedroom of a child or even a teenager, though it may not be quite as appropriate for a grown-up’s home. That’s debatable and largely a matter of personal preference.

You do have to realize that you get what you pay for when it comes to speaker systems like this. The cheaper sub-$50 iPod docks aren’t much better than clock radios, but this $100+ iPig is just as good as many bookshelf stereos. The distortion with heavier bass is disappointing, but the overall sound quality and output level is impressive.

Overall, I rate the iPig iPod Speaker Dock a solid 8.0/10.

Where to Buy (and Coupon Code!)

The iPig, along with other Speakal iPod speaker docks, is available in Canada now via The Source. This is their first foray into Canada.

For our neighbors to the south, a better deal can be had through the Speakal online store. They’re currently offering free ground shipping in the USA and we have a special discount code for 20% off any purchase, including the iPig and iBoo. Enter mobilemag20off in the coupon area to get 20% off.

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It’s not quite the same as having a second iPod, but the touchscreen remote seems to better replicate the controls that you get on the iPod itself. The self-charging 3.5-inch touchscreen remote has what looks almost like a click wheel too, so you should have no trouble going through your podcasts, playlists, and all that.

The Sony NAS-Z200iR speaker system has a spot for your iPod, of course, but it’s also got a slot-loading CD player if you’re still into optical media. The whole thing has Wi-Fi and is DLNA compliant, and you can get your music through the available USB port too. The Wi-Fi side means you can stream tunes from your computer.

For the thump, you get a pair of 20W stereo speakers with double neodymium magnets. There’s no subwoofer, unfortunately, so I hope those 20-watters provide enough jump for your house party.

The Sony NAS-Z200iR stereo system with wireless touchscreen remote is listed at about $1,000. A less expensive version without the remote will launch next month.

Source: Gadgetreview

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