It used to be that the iPod's signature white earbuds were a sign of being hip, but these days how do you set yourself apart from the rest of the 42 million iPod owners in the world? To express yourself, you've got to accessorize, and this year's Macworld Expo was packed to the rafters with cases, skins, chargers, remotes, and docks meant to let you individualize your iPod and use it for entertainment at home as well as on the streets.
Addressing the iPod's lack of an FM radio tuner, Apple announced the $49 Radio Remote, available now, which combines an FM tuner with remote controls for Nanos and fifth-generation iPods.
Belkin, Griffin Technology, and Digital Lifestyle Outfitters all showed docking stations designed to make it easy to play music and video from an iPod through a TV or stereo, and Apple offers an AV connection kit as well. The Griffin and DLO docks both provide interfaces that let you scroll through the iPod's menus from your TV screen; both are shipping in a couple of months.
ATO was demonstrating its ISee 360, a handheld iPod add-on that lets you capture TV and video, and plays it back on its larger screen or on a TV. It fits around an iPod like a sleeve and works with the Nano and full-size iPods. It will also ship in a couple of months.
For urban style, the folks at Lifepod had all the other exhibitors at Macworld beat. Their shoulder bags and backpacks with built-in speakers give you instant street cred and let you share your music with the block party. The CoolTunes series combines a soft-sided cooler with speakers and an iPod connector.
Many accessory makers, including Contour Design, offered hard cases, particularly for the thin and easily scratched iPod Nano. Leather cases were a near-universal offering, as were thin rubber or silicone skins. Perhaps the most tactile of the latter was from Speck Products, whose FunSkin Grass is made of a rubber-like material with a nubby texture like a massage sandal. Speck also makes the IGuy and IKitty cases for older iPods. The iGuy looks a bit like Gumby except he's white, and iKitty has a rather inscrutable expression.
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