Product News

An idea that may be as popular as the silkscreen shirt itself, Griffin and Threadless have announced that they have partnered up to offer Griffin cases with Threadless designs on them. The first two cases to come out of the partnership, "Birds of a Feather" and "Clouds Within The Thunder" are available for a limited time now through Griffin's site at $34.99 a piece. The shirts can also be found on the Threadless site.

More cases and accessories are planned for the future, so keep your eyes peeled. A video about the partnership and the two new designs follows after the break!

Sonos has recently started shipping the Sonos ZonePlayer S5, a wireless speaker dock specifically designed for the iPhone and iPod touch. The unit allows you to stream music from any computer in your house, controlled by the free Sonos app which we reviewed a little while ago. The beauty of this unit is that it doesn't require you to dock your iPhone to play music, although it doesn't actually play the music you have loaded on your iPhone. However, this means that you're free to take a call or use other apps on your phone while music is playing. When you want to change the music, just pop open the app. In addition to playing music from your iTunes library, the S5 can access music from web services such as Last.fm and Pandora.

At $399, it seems a bit pricey for a speaker dock so this may not be for everybody. Sonos promises that they'll send us one to evaluate so you should see a review from us sometime this month. For an in-depth demo, check out the video below!

IvySkin has announced its first case with an integrated battery pack for the iPhone 3G and 3GS. The SmartCase features an integrated battery which they claim provides 200% more battery life and a protective case. The case is made of a polycarbonate hard shell, coated in a polysilicon material and a glass "touch-thru" screen. If you don't need the extra juice, the battery can be removed from the case and replaced with a slim backing, slimming it down for extra pocketability.

The IvySkin SmartCase will cost $79.99 when it's available later this year.

Contradicting previous rumors, TomTom has stated that their recently launched TomTom GPS Car Kit will not add GPS capability to Apple's touchscreen handhelds that do not have GPS chips of their own, namely the first generation iPhone and all current and past models of iPod touch. The car kit has a GPS unit built in that it uses for navigation with the iPhone 3GS to enhance functionality, leading some to believe that it could be made to work with non-GPS devices.

Accessory maker Belkin has issued a special product recall regarding some of the company's TuneBase car docks. The products specifically affected are the TuneBase FM with ClearScan, the TuneBase FM with Hands-Free, and the TuneBase Direct with Hands-Free. As a result of a problem with washers, versions of the docks bought on or after April 1st may produce smoke or fire when plugged into a car's power port.

The TomTom car kit has appeared once again on the online Apple Store for $119.95, this time in the US store. The kit not only puts your iPhone within easy view and of the driver, but also enhances its GPS capabilities. It also provides hands-free calling and an audio-out connector to plug it into your car's audio system, though the cable is not included.

You can get the TomTom car kit in the US Online Apple Store for $119.95.

On Monday, accessory outfitter RadTech announced the introduction of its Dock Extender Apple Dock 30-pin Male to 30-pin Female cable, which allows you to dock your iPod or iPhone from a distance, or while in a case. The cable provides connection pathways for power, audio output, USB data sync, play controls, accessory power and composite video but does not support S-video output or input for recording audio.

For those of you hankering for an iPhone GPS system in your car, GPS outfit TomTom has announced that its car kit for the iPhone will ship in October for $120 (or €99 if you live on the other side of the Atlantic from me). Per Macworld, the kit will include a powerful GPS chip, built-in speaker, power cable, and more.

TomTom's highly anticipated hardware accessory for the iPhone and iPod touch with an external GPS receiver recently became available in several European Apple online stores. They are priced at £99.95 (US$164.10) in the UK and 99.95 Euro (US$147.90) in other European countries, and includes the companion iPhone application.

Griffin has introduced the iTrip FM Transmitter for the iPhone and iPod touch. Some of you might be wondering what's so special about this little gadget, and it's not just that it will let you listen to the music on your iPod or iPhone on your car's FM. The really cool thing is that this is one of the first hardware accessories you can plug into your handheld and control it with a companion app in the App Store.