At the consumer electronics show last year I spent some time in the Eton booth and loved the Soulra XL. It wasn’t available at the time and now it is which is great news. The Soulra XL is an Apple  iPhone or iPod enabled boombox with a 72″ monocrystal solar recharging panel built in. In 5 hours you can recharge the system or your iphone in the sun and allows you to enjoy music at the beach, outdoor party, etc. The sound quality is excellent and with rubberized buttons and cover for phone you are protected against the elements. Perfect for playing itunes or streaming Pandora or Spotify you are ready to roll!

Side View
You will see a connector that is for the included strap.

Solar Panel View
The solar panel folds down onto the unit and a remote is included on the design.

Charging times:

• 5 hrs to fully charge in sun
• 8 hrs of playback
• 4 hrs to fully charge iPod/iPhone

Demo Video

The official specs are: Dimensions: 8.125″ H x 15.125″ W x 5.25″ D and weighs in at 7 pounds.

In summary, with 8 speakers (2x tweeter, 2x woofer, 4x passive radiator), portability, solar charging and sound quality this boombox makes it onto my favorite gadget list.

Want One? Check out the Eton Store

One day I was cruising through Best Buy and came across the Dr Dre® BeatBox iPod/iPhone docking station and had to give it a whirl. Dr. Dre® has a variety of branded headphones and was really skeptical of the sound. However, once I dropped my iphone into the top the sound was amazing (thanks Dr!) The speaker has pros and cons and haven’t purchased it yet (but close )

What I liked about the Dr Dre BeatBox iPod/iPhone docking station

• Excellent sound (able to handle rap, jazz, acoustic, etc without distortion)
• Docking station for iPhone, iPod and assume the iTouch.
• Sound control on top right of speaker (easy to turn up and down)
• External line input (use with laptop and perfect for various audio sources)
• Price is down to $349 from $399! Make it $299 and I am in.

What I didn’t like

• No Battery – corded design means your party must be near an ac plug.
• Should be redesigned to accomodate an iPad.
• Include a visual panel so you could adjust the system.
• Remote seems cheap.
• Would like bluetooth option to send tunes and to use iphone remotely to control music.

Check out the CNET Video

Overall, from Pandora to iPod tunes the Dr Dre® BeatBox iPod/iPhone docking station is an excellent addition to any home, office or hotel room! In comparison to the Bose or iHome speaker docks this is miles above in sound quality, performance and will soon be an owner of one! My suggestion is to bring your phone to BestBuy and see for yourself – instant party! Buy Online, Pickup in Your Local Best Buy® Store.

Recently I purchased the iHome iD9 portable sound dock and wanted to share my excitement over the device. As an avid listener of music on Pandora and owner of an iPhone 4 and iPad 2 I was looking for a self powered portable speaker that could be used anywhere. My other speakers would not support the weight of the iPad and required an earphone connection which wasn’t ideal.

In reviewing all the speaker docking stations, they always had a negative attached to them including poor sound, no battery, size, integrated iphone dock or software compatability issues. I can’t tell you how many times I placed my iPhone in speaker docks at Best Buy, Target, etc. and leaving the store disappointed.

Now, not all docking stations are poor and have my eye on some larger ones but let’s get back to the iHome iD9. First you should watch the ihome id9 video review I made for YouTube as a visual experience is always better.

Ihome id9 with iphone 4

What is good about the iD9 over others?

The iD9 was obviously designed by engineers who cared about design, sound and portability. The $99 price tag was fine with me because the unit while plugged in also acts as a charger for the iPhone or iPad which is a bonus.

• Excellent battery life (have it poolside for hours and crank up the tunes)
• Portable Size (not to large to drop into your suitcase for listening to tunes in hotels, office, etc)
• AC powered (important so it creates an extra charging station for ipad or iphone)
• Line Input (good for using other music devices or playing from laptop into the speaker)
• Lighted battery meter on front (helpful for knowing when the music will stop)
• ihome sleep application (download from app store) will wake you to music and enable features like weather, news and social media. I personally don’t use this feature but for the alarm clock seekers this speaker coupled with an ipad makes an outstanding duo next to the bed.

What isn’t good?
Ok, I do have one gripe about the unit as it relates to line in functionality. The speaker has a built in power saver that senses that if using line in without an ac power attached it will shut off automatically after say 5 minutes or so. Not a deal breaker for me but wanted to note that one.

Overall, since I purchased the original unit I purchased 2 more as gifts and each recipient has loved the design and the sound it produces. Pick one up as this portable speaker is a winner! Want to buy one? I am a partner of iHome and you can buy direct here -> iHome’s iPod/iPhone Devices

Are you interested in having not only fantastic sound but something truly industrial and well-designed?These unique ceramic speakers from designer Joey Roth are made from porcelain, birch plywood, core aluminum and cast iron. Not your typical design and I really respect Joey for designing these.

What will they work with?

• Basically anything with an output as the device has an RCA or 1/8″ Input for iPods, iPhone, iPads, Laptops, TV and Turntable (if you’re using a phono preamp)

Industrial Design

• Ceramic speakers have a built-in 15W/channel amplifier encased in sheet metal
• Amplifier based on the Tripath 2024 T-Amp with gold-plated binding posts
• Sensitivity: 89 dB & Frequency 70 Hz – 20 kHz
• Cast Iron base
• 16 gauge oxygen-free copper speaker cables w/ banana plug termination
• 120-240V system

Use of Cork is Impressive!

Closeup View (see the cool slider?)


In summary, I have to say that I really admire Joey Roth’s design and can’t wait to get my hands on a pair of the speakers! The cost is $495 and have the link to the site below.

You can find me at @projectgadget on Twitter and Facebook. If you liked this post please subscribe the RSS Feed or receive new posts by Email. Click to return to projectgadget.com to see some more cool gadgets!  Cheers, Michael

While I was writing the review on the $15 iHome portable speaker I went to the main iHome web site and saw something that just went onto my list for Santa (hear that big guy?). The iHome Studio Series iP1 is an amazing speaker system for your iPhone or iPod that was developed by Bongiovi Acoustics (not Bon Jovi!). The concept of studio quality music coupled with the iPhone is a growing niche and love flexibility of internet radio.

What makes it Cool?

Bongiovi Acoustics is a patented technology that constantly scans your audio to restore harmonics and clarity lost to compression in today’s music. Now this is a really important point as MP3 is a compressed audio format so this must be a nice improvement!

What are the flaws?

The first flaw of the device is that although extremely sleek in appearance the company choose to include a large power brick that based on the reviews makes portability not a true option. Although may not be a big deal for many it is for me so have to downgrade the system just for that move. So if you don’t plan on moving the device than non issue but wanted to address it. The second issue was discovered on another review that spoke about less than perfect picture quality using the video out function to HDTV. The picture quality is not a deal breaker for me so still like this unit.

About Bongiovi Acoustics DPS (Digital Power Station) (from site)
The processor was developed by a team of audio engineers that have over 40 years of experience in the music and motion picture recording industries. Audio is digitally restored in real time, adding missing harmonics, improving clarity, presence, and bass resonance. Your music comes alive in ways never before possible. (Sounds great guys!)

Back of the Unit

CloseUp Shot of Back

CloseUp of Front Panel

Technical Specs

• Stereo, 2 way, bi-amped with digital crossover
• (2) 4″ wooferswith custom glass fiber diaphragms
• (2) 1″ tweeter
• Digital Amp – class-D
• 100 Watt
• 45 – 20,000 frequency hz
• Remote control

Heard of Speakal? Check out these cool iPod docking stations. The iPig Limited Edition in black is a speaker system that includes a 15W subwoofer, 5 speakers and a remote to control the iPig and iPod functions. Comes in 3 colors costs $119.99. Enjoy a 360 degree sound and with 3.5mm AUX input jack connect to TV, Gaming consoles, etc. Personally I have not tested the iPig but sounds interesting.

Other colors are available as well (Pink, Yellow & White iPigs)

If you would like to see more, check out the Speakal site

I have a portable JBL speaker and it has been fantastic, this is the upgraded model and thinking about buying it. The JBL portable dock is the ideal travel partner while on the road or to enjoy the sound on your desktop. Imagine pulling this out of your luggage and hearing your tunes while you relax. Uses 6 AA batteries for 12 hours of play or use AC cord.

The system is compatible with iPod, iPod Touch, iPod Classic, iPod Nano G3 and iPhone. A stereo mini jack connection also allows you to enjoy MP3 players, computers, satellite radio and laptops. Remote Control is also Included!

Back when I was a product manager we would put on large Comdex booth displays with audio, video and cool speakers. There were always large Mackie Self Powered Speakers and the sound was terrific. The Mackie HR824mk2 is a small format high-resolution Active studio reference monitor that would be an amazing compliment to your in house video or audio production room. For consumers, I am imagining them to play with Sirius, ITunes, Rhapsody and Pandora! I want these!