Incase stepping up the iPhone and iPod Touch accessories game for the holiday season by introducing new Chrome Slider cases. Available in four different colors: Gold, Silver, Copper and Black. These slider cases are dope as they make it easy to slide your phone in and out of the case without worrying about accidentally breaking it, unlike one un-named brand I tried in store, I tore the cover off in half. Ease of use on their part, so it was a no brainer to go with the Incase joints. These chrome cases are dope and I definitely would love to add one to the collection. Cop these now at www.goincase.com or at your local Apple Store for $34.95.

When shopping for an iPod docking station, there are certain variables to consider.  But perhaps the first and foremost is size.  It may be safe to say we’re all hard-coded to think that a docking station should be as portable as the iPod itself.  Not with the docking station seen above.  The Wall of Sound by Brothers may be the biggest iPod docking station to date.  Jus don’t plan on playing a 92kbps mp3 anytime on this system.  The Wall of Sound is available for pre-order here.

* Dimensions: 950 x 1,250 x 300 mm
* Frequency Response: 40 Hz – 20,000 kHz
* Weight: 102 kg
* Max Amplifier
Power: 125 watts
* Sensitivity: 95 decibels
* Nominal Impedence: 8 Ohms
* Crossover Frequencies: 1000 and 5500 Hz

Image Source: Engadget via Geek.com

How wonderful will it be to power up your iPhone or iPod with the use of the sun’s energy? You can literally charge your phone anywhere and directly from the sun! NOVOTHINK has released product information about their hybrid solar charger case. Not only is the case’s design sleek but it is also sustains energy to charge the iPhone or iPod. The case comes in eight colors and available to pre-order here.

With 2 hours of direct  exposure to sun, the solar charger case gives 30 minutes of talk time on a 3G network or 60 minutes of talk time on a 2G network.

“Novothink has developed the Solar Planner App as a free resource for our licensed solar charging cases, the SURGE, specifically designed for the iPhone 3G / 3GS and iPod touch 2nd generation. The NOVOTHINK Solar Planner provides an estimate of how much time you need to expose your Surge to the sun to maintain the battery level of your iPod touch or iPhone.

It works by transforming the energy from the sun into a reusable form of electricity, a process known as Photovoltaic (or PV for short). Your solar panel acts as a collecting tray, helping you catch the sun’s rays. The bigger the panel, the more energy you can collect. The energy collected is stored for your future use in a battery.”

Coming soon from Incase is their hardshell case for the 13″ Macbook pro series. They had the hardshell cases for the 13″ unibody, but with the last update from Apple that left all new owners of the 13″ Macbook pro with very little to no options to protect their new purchase. Incase will be introducing five color options for you to choose from, and the cases will run you $49.95. Head on over to Incase, www.go-incase.com, for more information.

English fashion designer Gareth Pugh has teamed up with Incase, maker of all dope Apple accessories, to create a 13″ Macbook sleeve as well as an iPhone 3G(s) slider case. The product though will not be found at any old location, instead this collaboration is exclusively only available at AnOther Magazine, Colette and a few select shop locations around the world. The iPhone case will sell for £53.00 while the 13″ Macbook sleeve will be available for £76.00.

Visit www.goincase.com for more info.

For the most part, when I think of papercraft, I think of simple to complex DIY art pieces.   Julien Madérou is the genius behind this papercraft dock for the Apple iPhone and/or iPod Touch.  Simple, clean and effective.  Deciding on the stock and color of paper would be the only effort needed in assembling one of these docks.  Make several for your office mates and you’ll be the coolest kid in the cube farm.  Grab the template here.

Image Source: Dessine moi un objet

Here’s our obligatory Apple iPod post. On 9/9/09, Apple held an event in which they announced a few items here and there, but they also revealed this years updated iPod line. The iPod that probably sees the biggest change is the nano, pictured above and below, as you can see in the picture below it now has a small camera embedded into the back side of it.

Here’s a break down of the update:

iPod classic

• 160 GB of storage
• thinner hard-drive used

iPod touch

• 8 GB, 32 GB and now 64 GB
• 16 GB no longer available
• Comes with remote and mic on earphones

iPod nano

• 8 GB and 16GB still.
• Added Camera on the back
• 15 real-time special effects for camera
• shoots 30 frames with aac sound

iPod shuffle

• More colors to choose from
• 2 GB and 4 GB

By now this video has already been made several rounds on the internets.  But I can’t help watch over and over how quickly the thieves made out with all that Apple goodness.  In total, 23 MacBook Pro’s, 14 iPhones and 9 iPod Touch were lifted by a team of 5.  What I’m wondering is how the dudes will unload the stolen goods considering they don’t have power cables and boxes.

Source: Geekologie via Peggy Wang

New for the Fall, Incase has updated their line of popular iPhone slider cases and introduced the Monochrome color scheme. The colors you see above are: Pale Gray, Soft Pink, Jute, Celery Green and Sky Blue, all cases fit the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3Gs. In addition to them having a two-toned look, they also have a dual texture to the piece with the upper piece looking like smooth plastic while the bottom looks more like a matte material.

This Monochrome slider case series is a seasonal drop, meaning once they’re gone, they’re gone for good and at $34.95 this is a nice way to update the look of your phone while protecting it.

Link: Incase

Available for pre-order over at Sony is their newest PMP (Personal Media Player) dubbed the S Series Walkman. These units are available in either 8 or 16GB of storage and an array of colors including purple, red and pink. They sport a 2.4-inch QVGA LCD screen, voice and FM recording, built-in stereo speakers and support for audio and video. These are actually cheaper than Apple’s iPod line-up for the most part as they range between $110 – 130. Also these joints have what people have been wanting in iPods for a minute now, FM radio, external speakers, overall a great alternative.

Link: Sony

I’m not certain how zen my cousin’s condo looks these days.  But with the thought of his dual monitors, I’m sure he would appreciate the existence of Twelve South’s BookArc for his home office.  With a sleek design that saves space, converts a MacBook into a psuedo desktop and maximizes its performance, this is a no brainer cop.  Currently BookArc is available at any Apple Store and retails for $49.99.

Image Source: Twelve South

Given any previous iPod whether it be Nano or Touch, the default headphones can easily be swapped out for an aftermarket counterpart for better quality sound and comfort.  And you’d want that considering the proprietary earbuds are not comfy whatsoever.  The 3rd gen iPod shuffle features a set of earbuds that also have controls for skipping tracks, playlist and the Shuffle’s latest feature, hearing track info.  It was only a matter of time before a 3rd party iAccessory brand like Belkin stepped in to saved the day.  With their 3rd gen Shuffle headphone adapter, all the functionalities of the Shuffle’s headphone remote are retained and can be mated to any headphones of choice.  Get it here.

Image Source: Belkin

Ok so its seldom that I ever speak about Mac products.  Simply put, I’m still a PC guy thats hesitant to buy a MacBook or take advantage of my company’s hookup with the iPhone.  But its hard not to take notice of this uber limited Stealth MacBook Pro by Colorware.  Which in my mind reminds me a lot of my favoite paint job on highly tuned European cars.  Dave first introduced me to Colorware when he was on a mission to reskin his Blackberry and his MacBook Pro.  According to my cousin, Colorware is the authority of customizing MacBooks and Blackberrys.  With the super limited 10 unit only Stealth MacBook Pro, I don’t doubt it.  Only catch is this guy costs $8k.  If you have the money to splurge, Colorware may be of service.

ColorWare Custom Stealth MacBook® Pro Specs

• ColorWare Custom Stealth MacBook® Pro
• 15″ Matte Widescreen Display
• 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
• 8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM (2×4GB)
• 256GB solid-state drive
• SuperDrive 8x
• Backlit Keyboard
• Zero Gloss Finish
• Custom Matte Screen
• Soft Luxurious Feel

Source: Colorware

Yesterday Apple announced that they were launching the MacBook Pro in a 13 inch model. The laptop will launch with an option of a 2.26GHz or a 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with ram and hard drive size varying in size, but of course those items can be upgraded. Pricing starts at $1,399.00 CDN and is available for order at the store. I have to admit, as soon as I heard this was being made available, I got a bit of nerd wood. I’ve waited for 2 + years for Apple to release a 13 inch model in the MacBook Pro family line. Head on over to www.apple.com for more info.

Here is an attractive piece of gadgetry I need in my life, or rather on my nightstand.  BlueLounge’s Sanctuary strategically charges up to three of your every day essential gadgets.  It also does all the housekeeping by hiding the wires within the unit.  With only my iPod and cell in need of charging,  I could actually make room to display a Dunny or three within the unit.  Currently, Turntable Lab has the Sanctuary in white and dark wood (price varies depending on finish).

Image Source: Turntable Lab

Available next month from iHome is a modern take on the boom box for the iPod generation.  The first eye pleasing feature is the smoked glass design.  The boom box comparison is ode to the 4″ woofers and accompanying 1″ tweeters.  Bongiovi references the proprietary digital signal processing that guarantees the highest quality of sound possible.  At $299, I am very impressed by the facade, but this is something I wouldn’t dive straight into and pre-order.

Image Source: iHome

So there’s always been a constant debate between aTek and I about BlackBerry vs iPhone, her being an iPhone lover and me being a BlackBerry diehard. Debating what’s better, what’s more popular and etc. Well, the results are in. The NPD Group, a leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information, has published a list of the top smartphones.

The list is as follows:

1. RIM BlackBerry Curve (all 83XX models)
2. Apple iPhone 3G (all models)
3. RIM BlackBerry Storm
4. RIM BlackBerry Pearl (all models except flip)
5. T-Mobile G1

There you have it aTek and fellow readers. As my man Jay-Z once said in a diss to Jim Jones, “Men lie, Women lie, Number’s don’t”.

Source: The NPD Group

If Apple ever decides to release a netbook, I’d love for it to resemble designer Tommaso Gecchelin’s ‘MacBook Touch‘ concept.  This mockup of a netbook features OLED touchscreen that is flexible due to Gecchelin’s iSpine technology.  Flexibity allows the ‘MacBook Touch‘ to take on the role of a tablet, touchscreen notebook, digital canvas and desktop all in one small package.  To keep this versatile notebook at its trimmest, all ports are housed under a peripheral device appropriately labeled, the “Magic Dock.”  Apple, are you taking notes?

Image Source: Yanko Design

I love Speck products, I specifically have the See Thur Hard Shell case, or I should say had before it busted, on my Macbook Pro. So when I went by their site to check out some new cases I noticed that this little gem. Speck has created a “Dexter” iPhone case in both a See Thru case and a CandyShell case. This is to be released in conjunction with Marc Ecko’s Dexter The Game for the iPhone, which is set to hit the Apple App Store sometime in the summer. The game is related to the Showtime TV show Dexter, so you can get your murder on, in the virtual world.

Now my only request for Speck, please come out with something cool and sexy for the BlackBerry Bold.

Link: Speck

Newest single and video from Franz Ferdinand for the song “No You Girls”, which people will most likely recognize from the iPod commercials that have been running recently. This is the second official video off of the latest album Tonight, cop it here at Amazon for $9.99. I have to say I’m loving this new album and one of my early favorites of this year.