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Release Date: August 05, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: May 22, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: August 29, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: March 27, 2009
Release Date: August 07, 2009

iTunes New Music Releases

Release Date: September 29, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: September 20, 2009
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: August 25, 2009

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Release Date: April 22, 2009
StickWars $0.99
Release Date: March 31, 2009
Genre: Games
Bloons $0.99
Release Date: April 05, 2009
Genre: Games

Discover New Music

  • 2112

    • 10 out of 10
    • Rush
    • We all know it, right? Well, ya just gotta have it. 2112 finally showed Rush out on their own, doing their own thing, and doing it well, IMHO.
  • Every Day: The Best of the Verve Years

    • 8 out of 10
    • Joe Williams
    • Joe Williams was Figure Two in my three-man education in singing. A brilliant vocalist, scatter, and interpreter of jazz and blues, Williams produces music that's totally unique, yet sounds so effortl
  • One Word Extinguisher

    • 8 out of 10
    • Prefuse 73
    • It's an album about a breakup, done with beats instead of mopey lyrics. But the beats are raw, and the emotions are there, even if there aren't many words on top of it. While possibly not Scott Herren
  • Is This It

    • 10 out of 10
    • The Strokes
    • The Strokes set the music world on fire with this 2001 album, with headlines declaring that the New York band was here to save Rock and Roll. While the band hasn't made as much of a splash since t

  • An Evening with George Shearing & Mel Torm�

    • 10 out of 10
    • Mel Torm� & George Shearing
    • Of the three men who taught me how to sing, the last was Mel Torme. Apparently, Mel Torme is a joke to anyone more than a decade older than me, a living parody of a Vegas crooner. But I stumbled on th

Reader Specials

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In-Depth Review

iPig (a.k.a. Digital Active Loudspeaker for iPods)

It would be tempting to write off the Speakal iPig, a docking speaker for iPods that looks like a little pig, as goofy, silly, or a bad joke. It would also be a mistake -- the iPig is a robust little iPod speaker system with surprisingly good audio quality, a full-featured infrared remote control, and several other features you wouldn't expect from such a dorky looking device.

We received ours shortly before Christmas, but after a quick glance I stuck the box in the pile of items "to be reviewed, perhaps, someday." I made the mistake of judging a book by its cover and assumed it was just another goofy, overpriced, mediocre iPod speaker. But it's my job to test this stuff so a few weeks ago I diligently set it up in my office and vowed to test it thoroughly over the coming weeks.

I did and was pleasantly surprised by almost everything about iPig. It turns out iPig has quite a decent 25W amplifier driving five speakers -- a downward-firiring 4-inch subwoofer, plus a pair of midrange drivers and a pair of tweeters. Coupled with separate bass and treble controls the result is that a speaker that sounds pretty darn good at all listening levels and its unique shape and speaker placement provide 360 degree distribution that sounds pretty good from any angle. And, you can crank this little piggy up nice and loud without distortion.

iPig

As you see, the iPig is available in four shiny colors: White, black, pink, and yellow.

The full-featured infrared remote was a pleasant surprise, with volume and tone controls, plus more iPod controls than most remotes offer including play/pause, next/previous track, and basic menu navigation commands.

iPig remote

Another nice touch is that the pig's ears double as soft-touch volume controls -- just touch the right ear to increase or the left ear to decrease volume. And the green light in the iPig's mouth blinks when you adjust the volume or send any command from the remote.

iPig is compatible with pretty much any iPod with a dock connector and comes with 6 dock inserts. There's also 3.5mm cable so you can connect non-iPod audio devices to the Aux input jack on the Pig's backside.

iPig Extras

I only have a couple of little nits to pick with iPig. One is that while the remote is surprisingly full-featured it doesn't offer fast-forward or rewind to compliment the next and previous track controls. And it's not really designed to work with an iPhone. Even in Airplane mode you'll hear occasional interference. Plus, its remote menu navigation controls don't work if the phone is locked or sleeping. Finally, iPig seems just a tad pricey at $129.99.

The Bottom Line

If you need a small, cute iPod charging speaker system and don't mind its premium price, iPig is a good choice.

Just The Facts

Pros:

Sounds better than you'd expect, full-featured remote, 360 degree sound.

Cons:

No fast forward or rewind, mediocre iPhone support, expensive.

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