Harman, aka Harman and Kardon, has just dropped its new JBL speaker dock that fashions such wonderful features as AirPlay support and an LCD display. While some may question the color LCD due to the iPhone or iPod docked just above it, do note that the JBL On Air Wireless also packs in an FM radio (what, no AM? 
) with RDS and an alarm clock. See, you do need the display.
JBL also relies on the HALO for this new dock sound blaster. HALO, or horizontal acoustic level optimization, “delivers clean, powerful sound that JBL products are known for,” per the press release below.
If you didn’t catch the wireless in the product name, yes, that does mean it has built in Wi-Fi and can connect to your PC or Mac’s iTunes library and stream audio to the JBL directly without the need of your iPhone or iPod, hence the AirPlay.
Grab yours for your Apple beloved device from Best Buy or Apple for a mere $349.99 and fill your bedroom with tunes from your iTunes or iDevice attached player today.
Press Release
HARMAN International Industries, Incorporated (NYSE: HAR), today announced the new JBL On Air™ Wireless AirPlay® speaker dock, the newest in the JBL® lineup to provide music lovers an even more seamless music experience within the home. With AirPlay technology built in, the JBL On Air Wireless lets you play music from your iTunes® library on a Mac or a PC, and from an iPhone®, iPad® or iPod touch® device over your existing Wi-Fi® network. Users will enjoy album artwork and song information on the bright color display, and can use the included remote control to play and pause music, as well as navigate to next and previous tracks. AirPlay requires iTunes 10.1 or later and iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with iOS 4.2 or later.
Three advanced JBL transducers deliver rich, full-spectrum sound uniformly across a wide-listening area. Distinct stereo imaging is often less than ideal with desktop sound systems, but the JBL On Air Wireless dock’s unique HALO (horizontal acoustic level optimization) design delivers clean, powerful sound that JBL products are known for. It also employs proprietary JBL technology – digital signal processing – to maximize sound quality and output under any listening conditions.
“Since the unveiling of our very first iPod dock, HARMAN has always been at the forefront of creating the most cutting-edge products for consumers,” said David Slump, president, HARMAN Consumer Division. “With the new JBL On Air Wireless speaker dock, JBL will set the standard again by introducing a solution for music lovers to store, access and listen to their music content for an even greater seamless music experience within the home.”
Pricing and Availability
The JBL On Air Wireless speaker dock will be available in April 2011 for $349 MSRP at Best Buy and Apple online and retail store locations throughout the U.S. To learn more, visit http://www.onair.jbl.com.
Product Features
JBL On Air Wireless AirPlay Speaker Dock at a Glance:
· AirPlay wireless music streaming
· Color LCD screen
· Works with Wi-Fi networks
· iPod/iPhone dock
· Digital FM radio with RDS and 10 station presets
· Clock with dual alarms
· Three JBL transducers with 360-degree HALO acoustics
· Proprietary DSP technologies
Apple’s inclusion of the USB 3.0 protocol in the dock connector is most likely for support for many PCs that have been shipping with newest USB port for nearly a year while Thunderbolt will be an Apple exclusive of sorts for the rest of this year. Users of older Apple hardware, essentially anyone not owning the newest MacBook Pro, will have to opt for a USB 3.0 card for Mac Pros or upgrade to a newer Mac with the Thunderbolt port when available.
With support of the faster connectors, this could mean sync times will be reduced by half if not more in upcoming iPhones, iPods, and iPads. It is also possible that current iDevices will support the new high-speed traffic with a simple purchase of a new cable.
If Angry Birds has left you feeling like you need a new addiction then take a look at Evil Bricks. A game that reminds me of Minesweeper, Evil Bricks requires you to tap bricks to bring matching colors together to rid the screen of bricks. The above trailer shows you just how easy – and addictive – this game is. Give it a try…and don’t blame us for lost hours of your life.
Press Release
ONDON (March 8, 2011) — Portable Pixels has launched a colorful, fast-paced puzzle game for iPhone. In Evil Bricks, users enjoy a simple-to-learn but difficult to master game of matching colors on a wall of sliding bricks. Players swipe rows of multi-colored bricks to change their positions. When five bricks of the same color are lined up, they explode – but new bricks are spawned, some of which are Evil Bricks which can only be destroyed with a Bomb Brick.
Evil Bricks’ bright, colorful graphics make it engaging to users of all ages with swipe gestures which take full advantage of the iPhone’s touch screen. The game also integrates Apple’s GameCenter, which uses Leaderboards and Achievements.
Features of Evil Bricks include:
· Multiple game modes: Classic, Time Attack and Timed.
· Game Center integration with Leaderboards and Achievements.
· Optimized graphics for iPhone 4.
· The ability to share scores on Facebook and Twitter.
Evil Bricks is available in the App Store for US$.99. It is also available in German and Italian versions. A video demonstration of the game can be viewed at www.evilbricks.com.
About Portable Pixels
Portable Pixels is one of the UK’s leading iPad and iPhone developers with clients including Audi, Wallpaper magazine, Imperial College London and Lord Darzi. For more information, visit www.portablepixels.com.
Several Charging Options
TekCharge MP1860A connects to devices in three ways: to iPad, iPhone, iPod nano or iPod touch using the included Dock Connector/USB cable, or to any compatible device using the USB device cable or an adapter tip.
An Apple Dock Connector to USB cable is included for charging and syncing iPad, iPhone, or iPod, with Mini USB and Micro USB adapter tips included for connection to current models of BlackBerry, HTC, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson mobile phones. The included USB adapter tips can be used to charge Kindle2, Nook, MP3 players, PDAs, portable media players, pocket video cameras, portable routers, GPS, MP3 players, and other 5V devices that use a Micro or Mini USB cable to charge. Additional adapter tips are available from Tekkeon for a nominal fee.
Intelligent Design
Its intelligent design enables TekCharge MP1860A to identify and provide exactly the right output power for the connected device, from less than 100mA to a whopping 2.1A¾the precise output to fast charge iPad.
High-Capacity Rechargeable Battery
TekCharge MP1860A features a high-capacity rechargeable lithium ion battery. Designed the highest degree of safety in mind, it features multi-layer protection circuitry to help prevent over-charging, over-discharging, over-current, or short circuit, and flame-retardant plastics that exceed industry requirements.
Charge Battery and Device Together
To optimize charging time and luggage space, users can leave extra power adapters at home and use a single USB power adapter to charge the battery along with two connected devices overnight.
Battery Capacity at a Glance
A bright, color-coded LED on top of the battery quickly indicates the remaining capacity of the rechargeable battery.
Emergency Flashlight
As an added bonus, TekCharge MP1860A includes a flashlight to provide emergency light at a user’s fingertips.
“Made for iPod, iPhone, iPad” Certification
TekCharge MP1860A has been officially certified by Apple Inc. as a “Made for iPod, iPhone, and iPad” product. A certified Apple dock connector to USB cable is included in the TekCharge MP1860A box to ensure 100% compatibility with Apple products.
“While TekCharge MP1860A is certified by Apple for use with iPod, iPhone and iPad, this compact, high-capacity battery is universal to work with hundreds of popular mobile devices, including new tablets that are beginning to hit the market,” says Jerry Yang, president of Tekkeon, Inc. “And its unusually high 2.1 Amp output is ideal for fast charging most of these devices.”
TekCharge MP1860A includes:
TekCharge MP1860A Dual Port Power Pack
Retractable USB input/output cable (power only)
Dock Connector Cable for connection to iPad, iPhone or iPod (power and data)
myCharger™ USB power adapter
Mini USB adapter tip
Micro USB adapter tip
Adapter tip tote
User guide
The MSRP for TekCharge MP1860A is $69.95. The battery is available through retail and major on-line stores, including 3GStore.com, Adorama, Amazon.com, B&H Photos, CircuitCity.com, CompUSA.com, Newegg.com, and TigerDirect, and from the Tekkeon store at www.tekkeon.com. It comes with a one-year limited warranty.
Tekkeon offers a complete line of mobile power products for the iPhone, iPad, iPod, and other mobile devices. To learn more, please visit http://tekkeon.com.
VocaLive provides vocalists with a suite of 12 real-time professional vocal effects along with a capable recorder for studio quality sound in a portable package. When used with the newly announced iRig Mic, VocaLive gives singers an easy-to-use but extremely powerful music creation tool that provides professional results previously achievable only with expensive hardware or complex computer software.
VocaLive includes 5 Vocal Effects – Pitch Fix (for tuning correction or stylized quantization FX), Choir (a 3-part harmonizer), Morph (an X-Y pitch and formant shifter that changes the tonal quality of the voice from subtle deepening to radical gender bending), De-Esser and Double (Double effect gets unlocked by registering) – along with 7 Studio Effects – Reverb, Delay, Parametric EQ, Compressor, Chorus, Phazer and Envelope Filter – that together create the perfect vocal processing solution. The effects can be combined into a chain of three processors and saved as presets. A collection of dozens of Presets is also included to get you up and running immediately.
VocaLive gives you the ability to record vocals or other instruments (single or multi-track) with effects, sing along with your favorite songs from your iTunes library (with a Voice Cancel feature for practicing over songs with existing vocals) and warm up your voice with the included Vocal Tools. VocaLive is an incredible professional vocal effects workstation that you can take with you anywhere.
For the best quality, use VocaLive on stage or in the studio with IK’s new iRig Mic. You can also have fun with it or record quick ideas using the built-in iPhone mic, or you can use VocaLive with earbuds that have a built-in mic.
With its 12 professional effects, Recorder and Vocal Tools, VocaLive is the most powerful vocal processing tool available on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad!
VocaLive features:
• Real-time vocal processor + recording app
• 3-processor vocal effects chain
• 12 professional studio quality vocal effects
• Single track Recorder expandable to a full 4-track studio available for in-app purchase
• Import and play songs from your iPod library or computer for use as backing tracks
• Voice Cancel feature lets you create sing-along backing tracks by removing the vocal track from existing recordings
• 50 Presets included with 4 Favorites for fast recall
• Includes metronome and vocal warm-up tools
• Low-latency for real-time vocal processing
• FREE version also available
Pricing and availability:
VocaLive is now available from the iTunes App Store at 19.99 / €15.99.
A Free, expandable version is also available that allows the user to purchase the individual effects a-la-carte inside the app. Vocal Effects cost $4.99 / €3.99 each, and Studio Effects cost $2.99 / €2.39 each. The 4-Track Recorder for both the Free and Full versions costs $4.99 / €3.99
For more information on VocaLive, audio and video demos, please visit:
www.ikmultimedia.com/vocalive
www.ikmultimedia.com/vocalive/videodemo
iRig Mic, the quality condenser microphone for iPhone/iPod touch/iPad to be used with VocaLive, costs $59.99/€49.99 (excluding taxes).
For more information: www.ikmultimedia.com/irigmic
Hey travalers, Navigon is giving away its MobileNavigator iPhone GPS app and iPhone Design Car Kit every day for ten days starting tomorrow March 3rd. If haven’t installed the best looking GPS application on your iPhone yet, then here’s your chance to do so for free…and dock it. Read the deets on how below.
Navigon Press Release
NAVIGON, a global leader of navigation applications, is about to launch a spring travel giveaway. The contest starts on Thursday, March 3rd, and will run for 10 days. NAVIGON’s iPhone navigation app MobileNavigator is the perfect travel companion, for international, domestic and even local travel. NAVIGON is giving away 10 ultimate travel packages that consist of an iPhone app version of choice (including all international versions for destinations that span the globe) and the new iPhone Design Car Kit.
How to enter?
It’s easy! Follow @NAVIGON_US on Twitter and Tweet #navigontravel.
Why is NAVIGON MobileNavigator the optimal travel companion?
MobileNavigator has many features that are tailored for travelers finding their way that make this app indispensable for getting around on foreign territory. The app offers maps for many countries around the globe and support of a wide range of languages, travel guides, local points of interest, speed warnings, no roaming fees when getting directions abroad (other than off-board navigation apps), social media integration and much more. MobileNavigator lets you leave your guidebooks, maps, and worries about getting lost at home.
NAVIGON will announce a winner every day at 5PM EST on Twitter between March 3 -12, 2011. We also have a dedicated page on our website that outlines details and terms & conditions. NAVIGON Contest Page.
Seems like news apps are dime a dozen in the App Store but some seem to stand out among the thousands available and News360 is one of them. Applying some Artificial Intelligence (AI) to figure out what is the freshest and most relevant news for your interests, News360 has been impressing many iPhone users with the results. Today, News360 comes to the iPad to fill the big screen with even more news.
Finding news that applies to you is a tricky job and a Google News search usually puts a news seeker through a frustrating task of clicking, reading, returning to the Google results, and looking for another possible link to your story you seek. For local news, the frustration is even more maddening. News360 uses over a thousand top news sources to aid in your search weeding out noise Google will often produce. This sets it apart from other news apps I’ve used that are just one source. In essence, you have a better chance of finding your article of interest. News360 even uses the iPads location finder to zero in on your local news.
News360 looks to be an interesting product that all news readers should give a look at.
Press Release
Palm Desert, CA – February 28, 2011 – DEMO Spring 2011 – News360 (Moscow) www.news360app.com – an emerging leader in applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) and semantic analysis technology to news stories – today announced the next generation of the company’s acclaimed news discovery and analysis platform for the Apple® iPad at DEMO Spring 2011.
News360 enables users to browse real-time information from hundreds of thousands of news articles (both local and worldwide), with the ability to achieve expert levels of depth on any given topic cited in the story. Each article is algorithmically evaluated for news “freshness” and source credibility in addition to a qualitative analysis of both text and photos. The previous iPhone-only generation of the platform was named by Apple as one of the top worldwide news apps in 2010 and became a best-seller in the App StoreSM.
The News360 app not only aggregates articles from more than a thousand leading news sources – it also uses semantic analysis and natural language processing to automatically identify and hyperlink more than 500,000 companies, people, brands and locations within the stories. A tap on any one of them leads the user to encyclopedic, interlinked wiki-like dossiers, filled with background information.
News360 uses the iPad’s GPS to show focused local news, anywhere in the world, and also allows users to connect to TripIt® and obtain news about upcoming travel destinations. The app also automatically generates live Twitter® feeds for each story, and allows the user to partake in the real-time conversation around a particular news event.
Users can use their Facebook® profile information to auto-create a personalized news feed based on their publicly-stated interests, or delve deeply into News360’s customization system, which allows them to create multiple customized feeds around varying preferences.
News360 allows users to manage the deluge of real-time news by bundling same-topic articles from different sources under one “story” umbrella and by providing a user-customized stream of headlines that have been matched with pictures identified by facial recognition and/or AI analysis as relevant to the story.
“News360 only gives you what you can consume at any given time,” said Roman Karachinsky, Chief Business Development Officer. “It doesn’t overwhelm you with a counter saying you have 5,000 unread articles, nor does it simply provide a pre-filtered magazine-style view with no deeper levels of content. With News360, you always feel in the loop because it delivers the cream of the crop in news – in the right sequence, in an entertaining and addictive format – from all sources. Tell it what you like, and it can become an indispensable tool, personally and professionally.”
“The events of the world, the news stories that shape and touch our lives both locally and globally, can become overwhelming,” concurs Matt Marshall, executive producer of DEMO. “News360 provides a level of not just clarity but understanding of the events, people and facts behind the news. The focus on iPad as a delivery mechanism for their new platform provides users with a truly mobile and innovative experience allowing them to not just read the news, but become immersed and interactive with it.”
Designed to work with Bluetooth-enabled iPads and iPhones, this ultra-slim, foldable keyboard brings a more familiar typing method to iPad and iPhone users by offering them a quick and easy way to compose e-mails and other important documents with their touch screen devices. Plus, users can play, pause and control iTunes music directly from the keyboard’s media console.
The ultra-compact Bluetooth Wireless Mobile Keyboard folds for maximum portability and comes with a premium carrying case and iPhone stand, which can be easily slid and stored into the keyboard body itself, for on-the-go convenience and protection. The keyboard works with 2 AAA batteries, also included.
Verbatim’s Wireless Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard is available now at Amazon.com and Fry’s Electronics for just $79.99.
I often marvel at people today. What happened to my generation? I won’t even ask about the younger ones from Gen X and down. Where did manners go to? I can’t believe how many people yawn without covering their mouth. Dude, major rude! Forget elbows on the table, we have people talking with food in their mouth! How about opening a door for a lady? I know I live in California where the liberals live heavy and some women can be confused for men by their look, but still, manners people.
Well, if you’re curious or just needing help yourself, then I would suggest you head over to the App Store now for your free download. Yes, there’s an app for that. Thankfully Lisa Gaché, CEO of Beverly Hills Manners (BHM), has released a free application that will help you with social graces, dining (forks AND knives please!), business, and even childrens etiquette. There’s even a spot for first impressions. Etiquette Tips fills brings news bits to the app keeping it fresh and fun to use.
Take a read of the Press Release for more deets.
Press Release
Leading etiquette expert Lisa Gaché, CEO of Beverly Hills Manners (BHM), announces the launch of the first “BH Manners” application for the iPhone and Android phones, currently available as a free download.
Gaché says, “Good manners are on the rise. People seem to be realizing that good manners and behavior are becoming a lost art, as ill-mannered celebrities are so frequently glamorized in the media. Releasing this manners app is our contribution to the many people seeking guidance for healthy personal interactions in the world.”
Having quickly established herself as the go-to-gal for all things manners—especially for parenting—Gaché’s straightforward and insightful commentary offers not only enjoyable entertainment, but also helpful tips and suggestions to improve one’s own presence and behavior.
The Beverly Hills Manners app is the ultimate etiquette coach for people who demand on-the-go expert advice. Chock-full of information for both personal and professional use, app topics include: first impressions, social graces, dining, party, business and children’s etiquette.
Gaché adds, “This app provides users with timeless education on a modern device. It’s perfect for someone in a pinch that needs that last minute coaching before a job interview or a hot date!”
Gaché’s guidance covers everything from dating do’s and don’ts, to email etiquette, interviewing skills, the art of apologizing and the rules of re-gifting. She also frequently offers new advice on her popular blog, Protocallout (http://protocallout.blogspot.com/) and on her Twitter (@Protocallout) and Facebook(http://tinyurl.com/bhmanners) pages.
For more information, please visit www.beverlyhillsmanners.com.
NFC is the new big thing in mobile. No, I’m not referring to the National Football Conference of the NFL here in the States, but rather Near-field Communication. Much like RFID – another acronym for Radio Frequency Identification – NFC will allow devices to pass information to a near-by reader.
Google already employs this in its mobile operating system Android, as does Nokia in a handful of its handsets (see image). The most commonly used technology used for NFC is in fact that other lesser-known acronym, RFID. Found in key fobs for “Pay Pass” as well as Google phones to your passport, RFID has become the standard hardware for NFC. While many have become concerned with RFIDs security vulnerabilities, manufacturers have taken to it to like crack due to its affordability and its it-just-works aspect. While reports have already floated around between job offers at Apple and rumors of NFC devices being tested in the field by the iCompany, what Apple will choose is not clear.
One thing is clear, however: NFC is the next big thing.
With its heavy use in social media from services such as Google’s Lattitude, FaceBook’s Places, to foursquare and Gowalla, all which basically are employing NFC, we have seen just how popular this technology is already in its infancy.
A start-up based in Southern California wants to be the first to take shopping to the fullest with your iPhone and other devices to pay for things like groceries, shoes, coffee, and lumber. MobilePayUSA is currently working with major merchants and financial institutions in making payment with your phone a reality. MobilePayUSA is an immediate, simple, low-cost and viable alternative to NFC sidelining security concerns and costly equipment for the merchant. I spoke to founder and CEO Randy Smith about his company’s visions and use of NFC last fall, and he hopes to eliminate plastic (credit cards) and paper (receipts) with MobilePayUSA. Smith told me that the idea is that no one really forgets their phone anymore, but wallets still seem to sometimes not find their way into peoples’ pockets. With MobilePayUSA on your phone, you won’t have to worry about having your wallet, credit card, check book, or cash. As an added bonus, Smith said that reward cards we all love to lose will be built into the application and instantly give you discounts at the register and track your points for you with every purchase. Smith hopes to have a public beta available soon.
MobilePayUSA may beat Apple to the punch with its application, but Apple doesn’t seem to want to just go after the eWallet feature. No, like anything Apple, it wants to be the only one doing what it’s doing. It wants to go far beyond “There’s an app for that.” Think car security. Think home security. Think computer security. Think whereever you need a key – or password – and you’ll begin to understand just how huge NFC can really be.
Take a look at the tech landscape and you’ll find GM’s onStar app for nearly every 2011 model in iTunes. Unlock and lock doors with a push of a button. Start your vehicle with a push of a button. Lock and unlock your front door with one of the many wireless dead bolt locks available today. Turn on or off your home lights. All from your iPhone. But the trick is, you need to actively do something with your device.
Apple will remove that from the equation and, much like how keyless entry works on a Mercedes with its fob, you could simply walk up to your front door and open it…as long as your iPhone is on your person. Or go into the garage and open your car door and simply push the Start button to power up the engine. (I can say power up now since hybrid and electric vehicles are more common. )
This is would make the iPhone 5 the reason to ignore Droids and Windows 7 phones and all the others.
It’s not hard to see this technology coming to vehicles soon, either. Remember, Apple and Volkswagen openly admitted a few years ago that it was working closely on iPod integration and rumors even had an iCar in development before the global economical crash. It would be easy to bring auto-locks and authorize vehicle operations with an iPhone 5 to the masses with VWs bread-and-butter Jetta and Golfs. Since VW owns Audi, Porsche, and Bentley, upscale customers would be able to brag to their friends how their phone can start the car. Heck, how cool would it be to sit in a Lambo and just drive off without every grabbing for a key?
I could see GM jumping on board as well due to its onStar app already being in use. It wouldn’t take much for GM to integrate NFC with onStar. Between GM and VW, you would have 2/3 of the most sold vehicles in the world NFC ready for the iPhone 5.
Boy, wouldn’t that make Steve Jobs smile?