BLOG

5 Rumored Apple Products We Wish Were Real

This past weekend, tech journalist Kevin Rose leaked a photo (above) of what he says will be the next generation of the iPod Nano. He also said that iTunes 8.0 will bring a number of significant changes and updates. What those changes and updates are, no one knows, but supposedly they’re coming.

This kind of rumor mongering ain’t new. In the world of Apple fandom, rumors are discussed and dissected on message boards like they read it on Steve Job’s Twitter feed. But more often than not, those rumors are just improbable hearsay. Check out a few products we wish would have come to fruition…

Muso Lets You Talk To Your iPod

MP3 peripherals are a dime a dozen, but we think Direct Voxx may have come up with a feature that’s actually useful: voice recognition technology for your iPod.

Dubbed the “Muso,” this hookup puts an end to the tedious practice of wheeling your way through thousands of songs. It uses voice commands like “Play Lil Wayne” or “Play some punk rock” to quickly connect you to what you want to hear. The only drawback we can think of is that your fellow commuters might change seats when you start screaming out the names of old Slayer tracks. Watch an instructional video about the Muso after the jump.

Record On Your iPod Like a Pro With The Alesis Multiport

With a handy microphone attachment like iTalk, recording on your iPod is pretty damn easy these days. But how good can these supposed “CD quality” recordings really be? If you want to take things to the next level, Alesis has created the Multiport, a recording interface that gives you way more flexibility and professional quality when it comes to iPod recording. The Multiport lets you monitor your levels and use multiple inputs for professional, phantom-powered mics. If you want to also record onto a computer, there are also USB and 1/4 inch stereo outputs. You can even play tracks from your iPod while you’re recording on it. After the jump, watch a video of an Alesis rep explaining the features.

The Ting Tings Get That iPod Money

Looks like the next “it” band to blow up from an Apple advertisement could be The Ting Tings. Although the British pair have never gotten a major commercial look, lead singer Katie White and instrumentalist Jules De Martino could very well become the new Feist, who blew the fuck up last year when “1,2,3,4″ was featured in a Nano commercial.

In addition to the Apple co-sign, the Ting Tings’ new single “Shut Up and Let Me Go” will appear on their debut album, We Started Nothing (due out May 19). After the jump, watch the commercial and a video of the duo performing the song live in LA.

Apple Patents iPod Goggles

Mac nerds have been gossiping about the possibility of “iPod Shades” since Steve Jobs toyed with the idea of using head-mounted video displays in a 2005 interview. Well, it looks like the company may have taken the first step towards making this into a reality when a recently filed patent for a “Head Mounted Display System” went public late last week. The “goggles” include a an integrated fiber optic line which acts as a lanyard that can be tightened to fit your head. The patent also includes several concepts related to the display, like an imaging device that splits video signals into a right and left image. Check out some more diagrams from the extensive patent after the jump.

Audiowrapz Will Blast Your iPod Case

Picture this scenario: You’ve got the latest mixtape banger from Maino on your iPod but your homey still refuses to believe that Maino is the muthafuckin’ truth. You have two options—(1) pass your iPod over and get his crustified ear wax all over your headphones; or (2) you and your boy can get on the prepubescent Asian couple steez and share the earbuds. Oh yeah, that’s gonna happen.

Thankfully, the good folks at ifrogz created Audiowrapz (for 3rd generation Nanos only), a protective silicone iPod case with built-in speakers to blast Maino…or whatever soft, weak, girly rap you kids listen to these days. Unlike other portable speaker systems, Audiowrapz isn’t bogged down by batteries, and it also has an earphone port if you prefer not to piss off your fellow subway passengers. Basically, it’s like upgrading your current iPod case with speakers. Dope.

See more on Audiowrapz on the ifrogz website. Audiowrapz will be available at the end of April for under $20 at Wal-Mart stores nationwide. And watch out for Maino…don’t sleep.

Complex Endorses: The ION LP Dock

WHAT: The ION LP Dock, a turntable which records directly from turntable to iPod.

HOW MUCH: $249

WHY: We’ve always been hesitant to convert our ginormous vinyl collection (word to Lace Da Booms, Hillfiguz, and Rawkotics) into MP3s—you know, dusting off the 1200, connecting it to the laptop, and then to the iPod…it just seemed like such a big fucking ordeal. Strike all that with ION’s new turntable, which has a built-in iPod dock. All you do is plug in your iPod, hit a button on the turntable that automatically enters the iPod’s Voice Memo recording mode, and then hit play and start recording. Even we couldn’t fuck up a set-up this easy. Of course it’s still vinyl, meaning the length of a song is the amount of time it takes to record it. Patience is required. But when the payoff is having “Up on Prospect” and “Magic Flute” to bump on the iPod, the shit is most definitely worth it. See how easy it is in a video after the jump.

Steve Jobs x Mark Parker = Takeover

Ever get the feeling that you don’t quite belong? Sure, we consider ourselves cool and all, but when Nike invited us to check out some top-secret shit that they were about to unveil, supposedly with Apple involved somehow, we didn’t expect this: we walked into a breakfast meeting of about 25 people, people being an understatement. We’re talking gods here, like Shawn Stussy, Hiroshi Fujiwara, Spike Lee, James Jebbia.

So who comes out to shed some light on these Nike/Apple rumors? Nike CEO Mark Parker, and the man himself, Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Holy crap. If someone dynamites this spot right now, we thought, nothing cool would come out for the next 5 years. In a word: Drowning in steez.

Messrs. Parker and Jobs then showed us the Air Zoom Moire Plus: a three-part component system of a sneaker, iPod Nano, and a $30 device that makes it the next big thing. The sneaker, the Air Zoom Moire Plus, has an embedded smart chip that communicates with your iPod Nano, and while you run you can access pace, distance traveled, and time all with the touch of a button. A nice woman comes over your music and lets you know everything you need to keep on.

That’s not all, though. When you’re done with your exercise, plug in your Nano and upload all the information onto a special website that will track your daily progress. It’s one of the coolest things we’ve seen in a while, and might just be the thing to get us off our asses.