Memorex Enters iPod Accessories market

Fla Memorex Electronics is entering the iPod accessory market with a line of docking speaker and video products.
Shipping this month is the iFlip, a portable video player that docks with any video iPod. Similar to a clamshell-style portable DVD player, but without the DVD, the iFlip has an 8.4 inch display, built-in speakers and a tilting universal iPod dock. It comes with a lithium-ion rechargeable battery that lasts up to five hours. Memorex claims the iFlip has one of the largest screens on the market for this type of player. Suggested retail is $199.
Memorex also recently began shipping a new iListen home speaker docking system for all iPods at $199 with AM/FM radio and universal adapter. It has a detachable stand so it can be wall-mounted. It is joined by the iMove boombox with an AM/FM radio and iPod docking system at $99 suggested retail. The iMove offers six hours of playback using standard batteries.

Microsoft presents ipod concurrent : zune

Microsoft has been laying a little low on the Zune front in the past few months since they encountered a bit of fallout when spy photos revealed that the first Zune player was actually a re-branded and slightly altered Toshiba 1089, also known as the Gigabeat S30/S60. That's not necessarily a bad thing actually, and now that Apple has apparently been unable to get a widescreen video iPod ready for a holiday release, the Gigabeat / Zune's very nice 3 inch screen looks rather appealing. Microsoft will also be partnering with the usual iPod accessory designers like Griffin Technology for all kinds of Zune add-ons this holiday season.

Miuro – the semi-autonomous robotic boombox

It’s been billed by some media as an over-the-top iPod accessory which is being somewhat unfair to the JPY108,000 (US$924) Miuro robot. Yes, it does accept the iPod, but as it’s much smarter than the average boombox, and it has its own wheels, it can be summoned from wherever it might be by remote control. Equipped with Kenwood speakers, it will stream any audio format (MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC, AIFF including web radio) wirelessly (802.11 b/g) from your home computer, has AM and FM radio, can follow set routes around the house, or remember the optimum spot to position itself in each room. It’s a new concept – a mobile, semi-autonomous boombox, which combines your MP3 collection, AM/FM and web radio and brings it to you.

The result of a joint venture between Japanese robot company ZMP (makers of Pino, e-nuvo and nuvo) and audiophilic icon Kenwood, Miuro can be reserved via the internet, as of yesterday, but only if you’re living in Japan. They’re promising delivery before Christmas 2006, with overseas availability expected in the second half of 2007 – we expect there’ll be shopping outlets on the internet with it the minute it becomes available in Japan.