Created as a collaboration between musician Jason Forrest and Agile Partners, Star6 not only lets you record your own samples or play a variety of pre-loaded sampled sounds, but you can send your own sounds to your phone over a Wi-Fi connection. All you need is a WAV or AIFF file and a web browser and you can upload it to your iPhone for use in your sampladelic creations.

The Star6 engine lets you manipulate your sounds live, adding delays, filters and distortions to your tracks. You can even use the accelerometer to adjust pitch, speed, sample order, sample size and randomness by simply adjusting the angle of your iPhone. And while the sample pads don’t support multi-touch, the sound manipulation controls do, letting you layer multiple effects onto your sounds.

You can even record your live performances and turn them into samples that you can attach to one of the six playback pads, or easily download them back to your computer for further editing. Check out the video clip below to see Star6 in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Star6 is available now over at the iTunes App Store for $6.99 (USD). I already took the opportunity to download it and play with a copy on my iPhone, and it’s quite a blast. If you’re into electronic music, you should definitely check it out.

These ceramic pigs from Japan’s I.D.E.A. feature a full-range speaker in their bellies. The only thing tastier than pork bellies is amplified pork bellies! Mmmm.

They’re available in black, white, and shiny gold, but you really want the pearlescent pink one, don’t you? Of course you do. My favorite thing about the piggy speaker is the skinny little tail that doubles as the connector for your media player. Oink!

Currently, I.D.E.A. Pig Speakers are only available in Japan, where they sell for ¥4,725 (appx. $50 USD).

I just want to put that Spider-Pig song on my iPod, hook it up, crank it to 11, and put it on infinite repeat.

The FiiO can be powered using 2 AAA batteries, via USB, or through an AC adapter (sold separately). Ødegård tested the Walkbox on video to give us an idea just how loud it can play:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Is that worth $15 (USD) to you? FiiO thinks so, and Ødegård seems to agree. If you’re sold, head on to DealExtreme to pick one up. A 3.5 mm audio cable is included in every purchase. If you want, read Ødegård’s full review at anythingbutipod. I just mentioned Ødegård 5 times without knowing how to pronounce it. Writing is awesome.

The Big Bang Speaker (a.k.a. the “Sound Bomb”) has the look of one of those ACME cartoon bombs that blew up in Wile E. Coyote’s face after the Road Runner managed to leave him spinning in the dust. It connects to your media player using a bright red 3.5mm audio cable that looks like a fuse – a nice touch.

The orb-shaped bomb has two speakers for stereo sound, and can be powered by either 4 AA batteries or via USB. While I doubt that the volume levels from this compact speaker are going to live up to the “bomb” moniker, are you really buying something like this because you’re an audiophile? Then again, the product description says it’s “acoustically designed to deliver a crisp and clear sound” – so maybe the sound doesn’t actually suck.

The Big Bang Speaker should explode onto the scene early this August. In the mean time, you can pre-order one over at I Want One of Those for £29.99 (appx. $49 USD).

The sound card supports 16Bit 16KHz / 32KHz / 48KHz playback & recording with a THD+N at -73dB, and SNR at 85dB. Now I’m no engineer, but after conducting extensive research I can definitely say without certainty that the lower the THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) and the higher the SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) ratings, the better the sound quality will be. Bet you didn’t know that. I just dropped some knowledge bombs on you, courtesy of Brando. Of course I still don’t know just how good this sound card is without knowing the standard ratings. So. Maybe you can drop me some bombs of your own.

You can get the USB tube delight audio for only $32 (USD) at Brando. I’m content with seeing a well-thought out gadget from those crazy folks and their sources.

[via GeekAlerts]

Like the Scoutmaster, the Scoutmaster II will come equipped with VPI’s JMW-9, a “virtually friction-free” unipivot tone arm. Want to experience the “purest sound possible”? That’ll be ¥525,000 ($5,422 USD) please. Contact TEAC or visit their website for more details, written in Japanese of course.

[via Akihabara News via electrobeans]

The Stay-Puff Stereo Backpack sells for $60 (USD) at Fydelity and is available in four colors: Deep Space Blue, Black Gloss, Project Mercury and – I swear this is true – Rainbow Bright. My goodness.

[via 7Gadgets]

Mr. Smiling Caucasian must be listening to some R. Kelly. Feelin’ on yo booty. Yeah, that’ll massage him all right. All night. Anyway the MUR-01 has an analog input, analog output as well as a headphone output.

The speakers on either side of the chair have an output of 2-watts each; the 4.5-watt subwoofer and amplifier are mounted inside. The system plugs in to an AC power supply for power. TheMUR-01 will be available in Japan by mid-July for ¥19,800 ($207 USD). It also comes in black. Smiling Caucasian not included.

[AVWatch via Fareastgizmos]

The Lavod Bikeman LFB-615 clips onto a sturdy mount on your bike, and lets you play your favorite digital tunes through its built in amp and directional speaker. Designed specifically for bike riders, the tubular sound system directs music right at your ears, and does away with the dangers of wearing headphones when biking.

The media player can play MP3 and WMA format files, and has 2GB of on-board storage for your tracks. The speaker is rated at 2.3 watts, and runs on a high-capacity lithium-ion battery pack that lets you listen to up to 10 hours of music on a single charge. And when you need to juice back up, just connect it to your computer’s USB port or the included charger.

In addition to playing music, the durable water-resistant aluminum music player doubles as a flashlight – just in case you need to see where you’re going in the dark. A bright 1-watt white LED should provide plenty of illumination.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

You can find the Bikeman MP3 Bike Speaker over at Lavod for $139 (USD).

Look at that demented frog’s face. He’s called Rap Frog by the way. There are four other pets available – House Dog, Jazz Panda, Classical Bear (who is pink), and Rock Lion. If Brando made this they’d have clams and anglerfish and centipedes as well.

The iMini Pet is equipped with a pair of 3-watt amps and also a pair of 4-watt drivers. As you can see it also has a backlit 64 mm LCD screen. The digital alarm clock also has a snooze feature as well as auto sleep. The FM radio has auto scan and can save up to 6 preset stations, while the dock can charge an iPod and play music at the same time. And the pets can move their mouth, hands and head. Except for Jazz Panda, who for some reason can’t move his head. I’m not kidding. Look at the spec sheet if you don’t believe me.

There’s a video of the iMini Pets moving awkwardly and mouthing along to the tune of Don’t Worry Be Happy, and I guess they’ve got that Sesame Street vibe goin’ on. I don’t know if it’s just me but the video is freakin tiny. Another touch of weirdness I guess?

Jeremy Horwitz of iLounge says that the iMini Pets will sell for $99 USD, but he didn’t say when or where will they be available.

Verdict: Cute. Until you make it dance to Lamb of God or Children of Bodom, that is.

The super mini cube has a built-in 3.5 mm stereo jack, so all you need to do is plug it into an audio player and you and your insect friends are ready to rock out. It’s rechargeable battery lasts for up to 5 hours, which is longer than the lifespan of some insects, so I guess that’s a good thing. It only has an on/off switch, none of that fancy volume control tech. Although if it had a volume dial I bet it would be something like “0 – 0.25 – 0.5.”

I’m amazed that the Super Mini Cube didn’t fall apart while busting out Rammstein. $10 USD gets you one at USBfever. Insect friends not included. Time to vote: Cute or Stupid? I vote Stupid. For $10 more you can get a decent 2.1 set. I know that that wouldn’t be portable, but come on. Let’s have some standards. Even the PSP’s speakers are better than this one. I hope.

[via audio junkies]

Okay ummm I don’t think Miffy is happy. Probably because that blue Miffy is stalking her.

That’s the controls on Miffy’s back. The audio player’s specs are still unavailable at the moment, but I’m pretty sure that Miffy’s fans aren’t concerned about such details. The point is, it’s a Miffy audio player. And look at the awwww-inducing dock!

That’s fan service right there. If you’re a Miffy fan or you became one just now, keep an eye on mobiBLU’s website for future news on the A50.

[via Newlaunches]

The HiFiMan packs a Burr-Brown PCM1704U DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter) chip and can play back AAC, FLAC, WMA lossless, WMA, OGG, WAV and of course mp3 files. Files can be transferred to the HiFiMAN via USB. Unfortunately, the HiFiMAN’s lithium polymer battery only lasts up to 8 hours on a single charge, which is quite short by today’s standards. Automagically enhancing music probably drains a lot of juice.

You can already pre-order a HiFiMAN HM-801, but the price tag isn’t easy on the ears: $600 USD at Head-Direct. That’s actually discounted, because when the player is released in June the price will be jacked up to more than $700 USD. At those prices, the HiFiMAN won’t be as famous as current PMPs, but I’m sure it’ll have its fans, dedicated audiophiles that know just how powerful music can be.

[via anything but ipod]

Setting the WD TV up is simple: just connect it to your TV – it supports HDMI and composite A/V – and then to a USB drive and voila, easy access to your stored media. The My Book external HDD in the picture is not included with the WD TV, but that’s a good thing since it helps keep the WD TV’s cost down.

The WD TV supports a ton of formats and codecs, like MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV/PCM/LPCM, AAC, FLAC, Dolby Digital, AIF/AIFF, MKA, JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG, MPEG1/2/4, WMV9, AVI (MPEG4, Xvid, AVC), H.264, MKV, MOV (MPEG4, H.264), MTS, TP, TS, ABCDEFG you get the idea. It also recognizes subtitle files. And of course, no HD playback device would be complete without full HD 1080p resolution.

Th WD TV looks like a nifty device for people who don’t rely too much on streaming content. You can order one now at Western Digital’s online store for $130 USD.

Thanks to Rosenred for the tip:D

The aluminum enclosure is compatible with 3.5″ SATA drives and even has a built-in fan to ensure your hard disk stays (relatively) cool. But as I said, what’s different about this device is that it can play digital media files – cheap. Its product page says that it supports “MPEG 4 MP4 WMA WAV AAC DVD VCD MP3 CD and more AV formats and JPG.” So I guess we could call it an HTHDDE.

The enclosure can be connected to a TV via a component AV cable; unfortunately it doesn’t support HDMI, so no hi-def watching with this one. Once you’ve connected it to your TV, you can navigate and play your files using a remote control that comes with the enclosure. And yes, the screwdriver is included in the package.

Like most other HDD enclosures, it also connects to computers via USB, but it also has a couple of USB ports built-in. Amazingly, it can also read SD and SDHC cards. This brandless box is quite the device, isn’t it? The best thing about it is that it’s dirt cheap.

You can buy this surprisingly versatile HDD enclosure at Deal Extreme for only $33.20 USD. If you have any spare hard drives lying around just plug it in the enclosure and voila: you have a cheap Apple TV-ish device. Well it can’t record, download or stream multimedia, and there’s the lack of HDMI support, but for $33 it looks like a good buy. Although I don’t know how well its built-in media player performs. So, you know, it may not be a good buy. I don’t know. What do you think?

The X doesn’t win on all fronts though: Ashcraft found the touchscreen a bit unresponsive, and its interface won’t win any awards for style.

In the end though, the X is a media player, and judging from the review, its audio and video quality make it more than a match for the PMPs that are currently out today. You can check out T3’s review and hands-on video here.

Head on to Sony Style’s website to pre-order the X-series Walkman; detailed specs are also available there. The 16 GB model sells for $300 USD, while the 32 GB model is $400 USD.

At the heart of Myka’s hardware is Sigma Designs’ SMP 8635, which “provides CPU and digital signal processing capabilities.” Like the Apple TV, Myka has both wired and wireless internet connectivity, a USB port and the customary HDMI/composite/SPDIF ports. Unlike the Apple TV however, Myka’s internal hard drive capacity can be as large as 500 GB. If you’re wondering if it’s already supported by major content providers, the answer is no, not yet. So what are you going to put in all that hard drive space?

Easy, just torrent ‘em. That’s right, Myka has a built-in BitTorrent protocol – or can be installed with one of your choice, it’s open source remember? No need to use a separate computer. The company also says that they Netflix support may be available soon.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

To match all the stuff that you can download or stream, Myka supports a boatload of audio and video codecs, some of which have yet to exist. Kidding. Some of you probably know that support for various media formats is another weakness of the Apple TV.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I could go on and on about the features and possibilities that Myka offers, but we’ll just have to wait and see if the device lives up to its potential. Support from both the big industry players as well as community developers will be equally crucial in Myka’s rise or burn out. You can order one now at the company’s website; the 80 Gb Myka costs $300 USD, the 160 GB costs $350 USD, and the 500 GB version costs $460 USD. Myka are slashing $20, $30 and $70 USD off the respective prices for the first 1,000 buyers.

[via Home Theater Blog]

The Muji CD player is US-only, and at $178 USD it’s quite pricey too. Order yours at Muji’s online store.

[via Uncrate]

BUG runs on open-source software – BMI (Bug Module Interface) and a Java-hosted component runtime called OSGi. Users can create apps for their BUG gadgets using the Dragonfly SDK, which can be downloaded from Bug Labs’ website.

Like LEGO blocks, you can also buy additional modules and combine them with what you already have to create new BUG gadgets. Pictured below is a BUG gadget made of a BUGbase (as its name implies, its the base for all BUG gadgets), a BUGview touchscreen LCD module, and a BUGSound, an audio module equipped with a speaker, a mic and 4 mini stereo jacks. In other words, it’s a BUGPod Touch.

The only downside to BUG is that its a bit expensive: the BUGbundle costs $579 USD; additional modules sell for $60 – $120 USD depending on the module. But I think its a worthy product for those with the right skills and the knack for modding and inventing. Ben Heck can probably create the gadget equivalent of a Swiss Army Knife with the BUG system. Here’s a video of BUG in action from OhGizmo.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

You can buy the BUGbundle at ThinkGeek or at Bug Labs’ online store; additional modules are available at Bug Labs’ store as well. For more info and more geek porn, check out Bug Labs’ website, community, and Flickr page. It’s what? Oh Mother’s Day. Huh. Hmm. Maybe you should get a Mom Translator instead. Or make one using BUG.

The article also uses specific MP3 player models (other than the iPod) as examples to help you narrow down your options; last time I checked there were about 1,523,907 models of MP3 players out there. You’ll probably end up buying an iPod, but hey, at least you can say you thought things through.