The Sony ICF-C05iP will charge your iPod or iPhone and wake you up with your tunes.

Sony say that the Sony ICF-C05iP is ” smart, beautifully simple, and brilliantly Sony.”, which seems pretty accurate as the ICF-C05IP is definitely Simple.

As you’d expect from an iPod alarm clock, the Sony ICF-C05iP has an alarm; the choice of a buzzer, your radio or your favourite tune from your iPod can be used to wake you up.

There is also an FM tuner with a digital tuner and 20 presets to save your favourite stations.

The other key features of the Sony ICF-C05iP say Sony are that the alarm is easy to set and that if there is now power, then your alarm buzzer will still go off on time.

The Sony ICF-C05iP should be available from April 2010.

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It seems that iPod Alarm Clocks are quickly becoming the must have for iPod owners. And there are a wealth of companies, who’ve used their skills in designing great iPod speakers to designing some cool iPod alarm clocks.

Edifier are one such company who have brought out the Edifier iF200 iPod Alarm Clock. The Edifier iF200 iPod Alarm Clock is a throwback to those long gone days when alarm clocks were wind-up and had actual bells to wake you up. It’s retro design is a fun nod towards those days gone by and a fun addition to any bedside environment.

For those not wanting to turn their bedside table in to tech central, with a feature packed iPod alarm clock like the Sony ICF-CL75IP Dream Machine the Edifier iF200 iPod Alarm Clock is a fun, but simple alternative.

The iPod dock on the Edifier IF2000 will fit most iPods and iPhones and allows you to wake up to your favourite tunes or playlist. It will also charge your device while it’s docked, so you can wake up with a fully charged device, ready to start the day.

There’s a Snooze button on top of the iPod Alarm Clock, so that you can get the all essential extra 9 minutes of sleep and a volume knob at the back, lets you turn your wake up call down if you just want to ignore it completely.

Cleverly, the Edifier iF200 recognises when your iPod or iPhone is docked and as a result, the clock always shows making it look like a proper alarm clock.

The Edifier iF2000 produces 6 watts of power, which is never going to get the party started, but is enough to get you up and about first thing in the morning.

Verdict – The Edifier iF2000 is a fun iPod Alarm Clock with a great retro design and enough noise to get you up in a morning.

Price: £29.99 at Amazon

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Philips DC10 iPod Speaker

The Philips DC910 is a smart looking iPod speaker.

It faces a lot of competition, competing in the same price area as the hugely popular Klipsch iGroove SXT and the increasingly popular Intempo RDI, so how does it stack up?

Philips traditionally do a good job with home audio products, so the signs are good.

First of all, it looks great. This exaggerated soundbar design is striking and the mounting of the LCD screen and control buttons at the bottom of the unit makes the Philips DC910 a sleek looking item.

My only question would be; ‘Does the exaggerated width make it an impractical device to put on a shelf?’ I don’t know.

Getting back to the positive stuff; the iPod dock on the front of the DC910 allows you to rotate your device round, through 90 degrees; so if you wanted to view some movie content you can always do it in the best aspect ratio possible.

The SD card slot and USB port also mean that you can also play stuff that you may have stored on other devices, which could well be movie content (but it must be in WMA format). If you want a change, there’s also an FM radio to keep you entertained.

Looking behind the metal grill on the front of the Philips DC910, you’ll find 2 x 3-inch drivers, 2 x 1.5-inch tweeters and 2 x bass radiators, which the DC910 can push up to 30 watts of power through.

The DC910’s 30 watts mean you’re going to have more than enough volume for a bedroom, kitchen or smaller living room but a big space might me a bit much for this Philips iPod speaker.

The sound quality is good. Overall the sound is warm and well presented. There is not a lack of bass (as with some smaller iPod speakers of a similar size), but sometimes the bass does blur the sound a bit, reducing some of it’s clarity.

Verdict – A good looking speaker with a good sound quality for this price range. Not as feature rich as the Intempo RDI, not quite as good on sound as the Klipsch iGroove SXT but a good compromise between the two.

Price: £114.99 at Amazon

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iGroove SXT iPod Docking Station

The Klipsch iGroove SXT was the best-selling iPod speaker of 2009, according to visitors of Compare Ipod Speakers.

In 2009, having read the news and reviews from the world of iPod speakers the most popular speaker dock that people when on to buy having visited this site was the iGroove SXT; and it’s easy to see why.

The SXT doesn’t have an FM or DAB radio, nor a shiny backlit display or any real tricks. It’s not in to tricks. It just concentrates purely on sound.

The Klipsch iGroove SXT comes armed with some serious sound goodies including dual 2.5-inch woofers and 3/4-inch MicroTractrix™ Horn-loaded tweeters – the Horn-loaded tweeters are a Klipsch speciality and they really bring the sound to life.

Apparently quality of sound is what matters to those looking to buy a new iPod docking station, pure and simple and that’s what the iGroove SXT delivers.

So good is the sound on the SXT that it out classes many other more expensive speakers for sheer sound quality so I can completely understand why people are snapping it up.

It’ll be interesting to see what Klipsch bring out in 2010, but for now the iGroove SXT reigns supreme.

Price: £129.99 at Amazon

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MagicBox Nocturne XP-2 iPod Alarm Clock

The bar might just have been raised for iPod speaker makers, with the announcement of the Magicbox Nocturne XP-2.

The Magicbox Nocturne XP-2 is everything in a box… or nearly.

The Nocturne XP-2 is an iPod speaker dock, alarm clock, DAB radio and Internet Radio as well.

There aren’t many iPod speakers that offer this many different services all in one unit.

So looking at things in a bit more detail. The speaker dock is a retractable and with the help of 7 adapters will fit most iPods including the iPhone and iTouch.

You’re able to control all the Nocturne XP-2’s clever features and services via the sleek looking touch sensitive buttons that sit either side of the control panel and work very well. There’s also a nice remote that you can do much of this from as well.

The DAB radio has good reception, 30 presets available and automatically scans and programs in the stations with no fuss. Great.

The best news though is that the Nocturne XP-2 comes with built in Wi-Fi internet radio. So as well as listening to your favourite iTunes from your iPod or iPhone you’ll have the choice of thousands of internet radio stations to listen to as well as the option to stream music from your PC via your home’s Wi-Fi network.

To get all this great music out to you the Nocturne XP-2 has 2 x 7 watt speakers and a 20 watt sub-woofer. Plenty for your bedroom or kitchen; not quite enough for a living room ipod speaker system.

The Nocturne XP-2 is packed with features; much more than many of its rivals. But my worry is that the Nocturne XP-2 runs the risk of being a Jack of all  Trades and master of none.

Those wanting truly great sound at this price range go straight for the Klipsch iGroove SXT

Those wanting good sound and a DAB radio look at the Intempo RDI.

So will people look at the Nocturne XP-2 which isn’t as great as these other iPod speakers for sound?

Verdict – Undoubtedly yes. How could they not. The Nocturne XP-2 has so many features, so many entertainment options and all for a very reasonable price. For those people who want as much choice as they can get, the Nocturne XP-2 could be a good option

Price: £149.99 at Amazon

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Intempo RDI iPod speaker

People who use iPods are obviously comfortable using technology. My guess is that iPod users are actually those in our society who enjoy using technology and embrace it.

That’s why it amazes me how few iPod speakers have DAB radios built in to them.

So right from the start the Intempo RDI gets a thumbs up from me as it is one of those few.

The Intempo RDI’s built-in DAB radio means that when you get bored of your itunes you can enjoy the great selection of digital radio stations that are available.

Secondly it looks good. A nice gloss black finish and a smart black cloth finish covering the drivers gives it an elegant look that I think most people would be very happy to have in their homes.

Talking of the drivers. There’s quite a bit of kit on the RDI -  a 15w woofer, 2 mid-range driver and 2 tweeters. All of this kit helps the Intempo iPod speaker generate 30 watts of sound.

30 watts of power is not bad. It’s a bit on the puny side perhaps to be a living room speaker, but it’s more than adequate as a great kitchen or bedroom iPod speaker system.

And when it makes this sound, it’s not bad at all. Slightly strong at the top end, but if you’re mostly listening to music with vocals then it means the Intempo RDI makes a good job of it.

Some other speakers in this price range have few features, if any. But the Intempo RDI comes with a handy remote control that lets you access your iPod’s features, an alarm clock and a retractable iPod dock that retracts nicely inside the iPod speaker so that you’re left with ultra sleek lines.

Verdict – The Intempo RDI is a good iPod speaker system. It’s glossy finish looks great, the sound is good and the DAB radio is a big plus. If you’re not bothered about features, you just want good sound, then you might want to look at the Klipsch iGroove SXT, but if you want DAB, good looks and handy features then the Intempo RDI is a good bet.

Price: £129.99 at Amazon

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JVC SP-A130 iPod speaker

Its been a busy few months for JVC. It wasn’t long ago that they launched the new SP-SC3 and announced the SP-SC4 iPod speaker. Now just a couple of months later we hear that they’re launching the JVC SP-A130 iPod speaker.

Recently, we’ve seen a trend for manufacturers designing iPod speakers especially for iPhones and the Touch, like the Livespeakr, but the JVC SP-A130 has been designed especially with the new iPod Nano 5G in mind, or so JVC tell us.

The SP-A130 is available in 4 Nano 5G colours and there’s a 3.5mm input that you use to connect your iPod Nano or any other audio device of your choice.

The main feature of the SP-A130 is its ’slide’. The SP-A130 is very compact and perfect for taking with you wherever you want to go. To protect the speakers while you’re travelling , the SP-A130 has a sliding action that  allows you to slide the 2 speaker drivers inside their compact case for easy transportation.

There’s also a built-in storage area for the connecting cord and the kick stand, so it packs away nice an small.

Another really useful feature is that you’ve got a number of choices for how you’d like to power the SP-A130. You can of course connect the device to a mains power supply, or run the device off 2 AA batteries, but you also have the choice of powering the speakers from the audio device that you’ve connected to it, which sounds like a good idea to me.

If you have a portable or travel speaker, you want it to be as flexible as possible and the power options on this new JVC iPod speaker offer you this, maybe giving it the edge on the likes of the Cygnett Micro.

Verdict – Funky looking travel speaker that looks fun and is easy to carry around.

The JVC SP-A130 has already been launched in Japan and should be available in the US in March 2010 priced at around $30. There is no news yet on when we’ll see it in the UK.

Leave a comment and let us know what you think of the SP-A130 and if you see it available in a UK store, please leave a comment and let is all know. Thanks.

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Altec Lansing inMotion Classic iPod speaker

Altec Lansing have a wealth of experience making portable iPod speakers in the under £200 range.

So it’s no surprise that this is the territory the Altec Lansing inMotion Classic is competing.

This Home/Portable speaker dock  category is hard fought though and Altec Lansing have made some bold claims about the inMotion Classis saying: “Outdoors, indoors, with friends, alone; with the inMotion Classic the world sounds better”.

Forgetting the sound for a second, the inMotion Classic looks good with its compact and angular design and does edge its way ahead of rivals like the Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere.

An interesting feature is the kickstand that’s a key part of the inMotion Classic’s design.

It locks in to 3 positions. The first is ‘down’ position, which basically tucks the stand in so that the speaker dock is easy to transport. The second position props the speaker up, which is its standard position. The third position is a ‘carry’ position, which Altec Lansing say is so that you can ‘effortlessly take your sound wherever the party goes’.

If you wanted to be a true 1980’s throwback, I think you’d be better off with the full Boombox experience of the Altec Lansing IMT800 though, truth be told.

The Altec Lansing inMotion Classic comes with a built-in FM radio, a handy remote control and a few other handy features that some of its similarly priced rivals are missing.

The most significant of these is that it’s designed to be used with an iPhone as well as iPods, something which other iPod speakers aren’t always set up for.

The speaker dock has GSM shielding, so iPhone users won’t have to put their phone in to Aeroplane Mode when using the inMotion Classic and the Altec Lansing speaker dock also automatically pauses the music and plays your ringtone through the speakers whenever you receive a call – although it can’t be used as a hands free device for talking on your phone.

The sound on the inMotion Classic is pretty good, especially considering its modest dimensions. The sound is crisp and has a surprising amount of bass in the sound profile and the volume levels aren’t bad either, although there is a little bit of distortion right at the top end of the inMotion Classic’s volume range.

Verdict – A good looking iPod speaker which has some nice features that are missing on some of its rivals. Sound is respectable for a device of this size, but if you’re buying just on sound you may prefer the Klipsch iGroove SXT.

Price: £129.95 at John Lewis

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Sony TRiK iPod speaker

The new Sony TRiK was announced today at CES 2010, or is it a Triq.

Apparently Sony aren’t too sure at this stage whether it’s the Sony TRiK or the Sony TRiQ.

Either way the new iPod speaker from Sony is going to be loud.

Firstly, the TRiK or TRiQ will pump out a very impressive 75 watts of power, which is a lot of volume, especially for a speaker dock that should arrive in shops at around the £100-£150 mark.

Secondly, Sony have teamed up with SkinIt so that TRiK owners can choose from literally hundreds of ’skins’ or designs, some of which are pretty loud in their own right.

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iHome IP49 iPod and iPhone Alarm clock

Last year iHome launched its highly impressive IP1 iPod speaker, as the first in its new Studio range of iPod speakers.

Then at this years CES 2010, iHome launched the new IP2 speaker and now hot on the heels of that, we hear about the new iHome IP49 iPod/iPhone alarm clock that will be launched later this year.

The new iP49 Rechargeable Audio System and Alarm Clock for iPhone/iPod looks again, look to be another smart bit of kit and very practical.

The iHome IP49 has a folding design so that the speaker dock is easily transportable and boasts an alarm clock, FM radio, programmable snooze, stereo sound, and an internal rechargeable Lithium battery, making it great as a bedroom alarm clock and speaker dock or a great travel accessory as well.

iHome IP49 in its folded position

The iHome IP49 should be out in the Spring of 2010.

Let us know what you think of the new IP49 and if you see it for sale anywhere in the UK, please leave a comment and let us all know. Thanks

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