How many iPod docks are able to make you sound much smarter than you are? The Einstein Sound Master Photon Ball iPod Dock is certainly one of them, but when you realize that the final product is nothing more than a fancy electro-static orb attached to a dock, you'll realize that the real Einstein are the folks behind this who are now $34.99 for your foolishness. Well, at least the colored ball is able to pulsate and flashe to the beat of the music. Apart from playing tunes off your iPod, you can also tune in to the AM/FM radio to find out what the local DJs are spinning, while a built-in alarm makes sure you can wake up on time for work each day.

JBL partnered with Roxy to launch these headphones a month ago and I have tested them for a few days. I like the bright and fun design that for sure is appealing to the young generation and might be targeted to the female audience, given the color palette (pink and orange) and the picture on the product page, however there is also a green and blue version, for the boys who do not dare to wear pink. The product comes with a cool looking pouch ornamented with bright colored drawings (see gallery), I like the subtle organic design that "grows" on the headband as well.

Archos 9 will be one of the next device that will hit the US later this month, where this Windows 7-powered device will come with a 9" touchscreen alongside a virtual keyboard. Folks who are more used to navigation with a mouse, the right side of the device contains an optical trackball and buttons. The Archos 9 will resemble a Mobile Internet Device more than a netbook, where it will run on an Intel Z515 Atom processor, 1GB RAM, Wi-fi connectivity and a 120GB hard drive. There is no word on pricing, but it will arrive later this fall between the $500 to $700 price range.

Most of us would expect any device these days that take on the Transformers theme to, well, transform into a secondary mode of sorts. Unfortunately, this USB Optimus Prime speakers do nothing but blare out your favorite tunes and movie dialogue. Guess the only transformation you'll see is that of your spouse's face when you tell her that you blew $50 of your hard-earned money on a pair of desktop speakers when you already have a lovely 5.1-sound system attached to your computer.

Pioneer has rolled out a quartet of new home theater receivers that make up part of its flagship Elite lineup. These include the high-end SC-27 and SC-25, alongside the slightly lower-tier VSX-21TXH and VSX-23TXH. All four will share a customized USB/composite cable that enables integration with iPhones and iPods into home theater audio systems. When hooked up, these iPods will be able to be controlled using the systems' remote controls, where content can be sent to 2nd and 3rd zones that have been set up in the home. The SC-series units are powerful enough to reproduce uncompressed Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks which are found in movies recorded on Blu-ray discs. As for the Elite VSX-21TXH and VSX-23TXH models use Direct Energy Class A/B amps with hand-picked DSPs. The Pioneer Elite SC-25 and SC-27 will be out this August, retailing for $1,700 and $2,000, respectively, whereas the Pioneer Elite VSX-23TXH and VSX-21TXH will be out later this month for $900 and $700, respectively.

The classic iPod Lego Speaker has been given a new coat of paint - two, actually, as they now come in silver and gold metallic colors, retailing for $25 a pop. Perfect for you to add some much needed bling to your desktop, and best of all is they won't need any batteries since they'll act as power vampires, sucking up juice from your iPod when plugged in via USB. The product description did mention that it is perfect for your bathroom - don't tell me they're waterproof?!

Funny how it took the death of the King of Pop to get everyone raving about how this star burned so brightly at his peak, and even until now there really isn't any performer as electrifying as Michael himself who can sing and dance to a frenzied crowd that well. No idea on the timing of the release of this Michael Jackson Thriller headphones, but it sure as heck is one of the more unique ones out there although you might be victim of some laughs when you put these on.

The sweepstakes' first prize winner will get two tickets to the Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY concert with the San Francisco Symphony July 18, 8pm at Davies Symphony Hall, an iPod touch (32 G) with the Smule applications Ocarina and Leaf Trombone, an Altec Lansing external speaker, a free night’s stay at The Westin St. Francis in San Francisco and a $50 Zipcar voucher.

There is a second prize as well, to enter the sweepstakes, join the San Francisco Symphony’s Social Network at http://community.sfsymphony.org and join the Smule Group sometime between June 30th and July 15th, 2009. Learn more about the contest in this video and on this page (prizes, terms and conditions).

After the concert, Smule will host an Ocarina Master Class, contest winners and other concert attendees will be invited to learn Ocarina techniques and play with other fellow musicians on their iPod Touches and iPhones in the first Ocarina Orchestra.

The Hoon X headphones offer something unique as it is covered in phython skin, and is also known as The Perfect Unison. To animal lovers, however, they'll probably be livid to know that some perfectly healthy phythons were actually stripped of their skin for vanity's sake, and a pair of these will swallow up to $1,639.54 from your bank account balance if you're adamant on being at the cutting edge of fashion where technology and peripherals are concerned.

No, the USB Tube Delight Audio is not some sort of nixie alarm clock or radio, but is actually a pluggable USB sound card for computers. It will hook up to your speakers/headphone and microphone, coming in the visual form factor of a transparent vacuum tube. When plugged in, it lights up in a lovely blue color for added effect. No idea who would pick this up these days since just about all computers already come with integrated audio, be they netbooks, notebooks or desktops. Still, if you want something different, this $32 gizmo ought to do the trick.

The classic Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin is back this time round where it offers iPhone 3GS support just to keep up with the times. It will still maintain its iconic shape that has led to its name, although you will have to fork out top dollar for it - to the tune of $600, to be exact.

The Cowon S9 is one venerable portable media player, and it has just gotten much better from its already lofty heights with the firmware update 2.31b. Strangely enough, this firmware update misses out on support for M3U playlists, but that blemish aside, we do get the following.

• Playback support for damaged AVI videos
• Gapless playback for FLAC, APE, Lossless WMA, Ogg Vorbis and WAV
• M3U support
• Support for AVI containers
• Notepad with keyboard

What you see in the video above is OTTO - an electronic musical instrument for realtime manual beat slicing of audio samples. Developed by Luca De Rosso, this started off as a thesis project for his Masters degree in Visual and Multimedia Communications at IUAV University of Venice, and is powered using the Arduino open-source hardware platform and Cycling '74's Max/MSP software. Pretty zany stuff which mere mortals cannot comprehend, but audiophiles should check out the quality of his work.

Edifier has rolled out the iF500 iPod dock entertainment system Stateside, where it looks as though the top has been bloated due to some Photosop effect. The large dome, in fact, is able to house five separate speakers and was specially designed with vibration and resonance control in mind. When launched in Europe earlier this year, the iF500 was able to accommodate both iPods and iPhones, while other portable audio players can also be plugged in using the auxiliary input. Each speaker produces up to 10W of juice, while the 5.75" subwoofer pumps out 32W of power. Other features include an integrated digital FM tuner and LED-lit controls located along the device's base. You can pick up the iF500 for $249 a pop.