This week at iLounge: In our push to help people realize just how important good earphones are to their iPod listening experiences, we focused this week on a massive earphones tutorial – the Complete Guide to Earphones. Last week, we started the Guide with photos and descriptions of 11 types of earphones, but this week, we radically expanded it: Part 2 walks you through buying basics, Part 3 focuses on the most critical earphone features and pitfalls, and Part 4 has our editors’ top picks at various price levels. If you want the short summary version, cut straight to Part 5, which includes a couple of cheat sheets so you can make a smart decision, faster.
Also: We looked at Griffin Technology’s new radio SHARK 2 AM/FM/Internet Radio recorder for PCs and Macs, and were surprised to find that the Mac accessory specialist left many of the best software features for PC users only. Reviews of two new waterproof accessories – Aquapac’s 100% Waterproof MP3 Player Case and Fire Fox’s canalphone-style Liquid Frequency earphones – also hit the site, along with First Looks at three new Harman Kardon/Etymotic earphones (EP710, EP720, EP730), and much more.
In the News: Forbes’ Taesik Yoon says Apple could struggle to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008; UBS analyst Alex Guana believes Apple will move its full-size iPod to NAND flash memory, offering 16GB and 32GB models; The European Union’s consumer chief backed off from her views of Apple’s closed music system; The Palms Casino Resort has teamed up with Apple to offer exclusive “Live from Las Vegas” performances on the iTunes Store; and Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says Apple is entering the digital living room market with a 10x lead over the next closet competitor, Microsoft’s Media Center, thanks to the large amount of iTunes users.
