Big things come in little packages, right? Well, Orb Audio is out to prove that old adage right with their new Class T amplifier, the Mini-T to go along with their small, but full of sound, handmade Orb speakers.

The Mini-T allows consumers to use high quality home speakers instead of poorly built, questionable sounding computer speakers. By pairing the Mini T with Orb’s award-winning speakers, consumers now have a simple, elegant audio solution that looks as good as it sounds. This is a great way to bring high quality audio to your desktop or TV without large, complicated surround sound receivers.

The Mini-T is based on legendary T-Class amplifier technology, known for its audiophile sound quality and low harmonic distortion (just .04%). Like Orb’s speakers, the Mini-T produces a rich, brilliant soundstage with detailed imaging. Together, the speakers and amp create an immersive listening experience that will not disappoint.

The Mini-T is also small, measuring six inches wide, one and a quarter inches high, and five inches deep. Finished in an attractive charcoal gray, with black gloss front, the Mini T complements any of the six available Orb speaker colors.

The Mini-T can be purchased by itself for $88 USD or can be purchased alongside a matching pair of Orb Audio speakers for $299, for a savings total of $29 off of MSRP. I’m personally digging the hand polished steel enclosure on the speakers.

The Mini-T can accept audio input from many sources including your iPod, iPhone, PC and many other sources.

[ Links: Orb Audio ]

My love for anything that MF DOOM (all caps necessary) is well known. So when Stones Throw Records came out with a 2CD limited edition lunch box of the original release of MF DOOM’s “Operation Doomsday”… I pre-ordered.

Doom’s label Metalface Record is releasing the first complete version of Doom’s debut album OPERATION: DOOMSDAY. The complete version contains the original album, alternate versions, b-sides and instrumentals – 42 tracks total, all remastered.

The bad news? You might have a bit of a problem finding these now. Good news? I have it. Well that and you might want to get in line for the MF DOOM DIME BOX.

[ Links: Stones Throw, DIME BOX ]

Every now and then there’s packaging that just screams out “I need that in my life” and The Alchemist and Oh No’s saw blade vinyl record EP “Sawblade”, with a few cuts from their upcoming November 22nd release “Gutter Water” is just that one time packaging and the content come together in a cool, creative, “DOWANT” way.

The tracklisting on the Sawblade EP is as follows:

Side A

1. The Sickness
2. Operating Room
3. Freshest Rhymes
4. Overdose

Side B

1. The Sickness (Instrumental)
2. Operating Room (Instrumental)
3. Freshest Rhymes (Instrumental)
4. Overdose (Instrumental)

With the creative genius of The Alchemist and Madlib’s younger brother (and just as creative) Oh No, Gangrene promises to be something altogether cool. The limited edition Sawblade EP costs about $20.

[ Links: Decon Records ]

Just got an update for your Zune software, didn’t see much of what it did? Neither did I until I started snooping around and found the above “Do More On The Web” option on the device portion of the options. It doesn’t do much more than state “This Feature Works Only With Windows Phone 7″ at the moment… and I’ve not one clue what else has been added.

[ Links: Microsoft, Zune, Windows Phone 7 ]

If you like hip-hop, rhythm and blues, a touch of jazz and folk, all wrapped up with adult themes and lyrics and music that’s as modern as it is a throwback to better times; Foreign Exchange comprised of Little Brother’s Phonte Coleman and Dutch producer Nicolay are coming out with their third album “Authenticity”.

Picking up where their 2008 Grammy-nominated “Leave It All Behind” set left off, “Authenticity” is the group’s most diverse work to date, with a tight, 11-track song cycle spanning the duo’s trademark brand of lush electronic soul, to stripped down acoustic pieces that recall the heyday of 70′s singer-songwriter driven folk.

Tracklisting:

• 01. The Last Fall
• 02. Authenticity
• 03. Eyes To The Sky
• 04. All Roads
• 05. Fight For Love
• 06. Maybe She’ll Dream Of Me
• 07. Don’t Wait
• 08. Make Me A Fool
• 09. Everything Must Go
• 10. Laughing At Your Plans
• 11. This City Ain’t The Same Without You

I don’t mind admitting that I’m a fan. I don’t need to listen to a whole bunch of “yeah’s” screamed at me nor way too explicit lyrics being in music that I’d rather relax with my friends and/or lady with. And from what I’ve heard thus far, Foreign Exchange will be Grammy nominated, if not Grammy winners this next time.

Click “Maybe She’ll Dream of Me” above for a free download and introduction to the latest Foreign Exchange sound which comes out tomorrow, October 12th in stores and iTunes.

[ Link: Foreign Exchange Authenticity ]

Ooh, looky, looky. Microsoft has a teamed up with SRS to bring SRS 5.1 Surround Sound to their Silverlight platform. What does that mean in layman terms?

SRS views this as a significant step forward in its quest to make top-quality surround sound available anywhere and to anyone. It is also a significant development for the industry as, the largest player in the streaming media segment, Netflix, utilizes Microsoft Silverlight for all the content streamed and downloaded to end-user CE devices for consumption.

Via the new toolkit, it means that enhanced Netflix, web media and video content for not only your computer but also all Silverlight enabled handheld devices.

[ Links: SRS Silverlight ]

With Apple TV and Google TV both vying for our attention from our desktops to our televisions, there’s plenty of more room for other media center devices, right?

The Amino Freedom is designed to support common Internet formats such as Adobe® Flash® and Microsoft® Silverlight® and is powered by the first generation of Intel and Nokia’s MeeGo for the TV – enabling us to innovate at Internet speed and keep you one step ahead of the next big thing.

Cool thing, it’s powered by the Intel/Nokia operating system, MeeGo. Bad part, it’s not due out until 4th quarter of this year. Well that and pricing is also to be announced.

[ Links: Amino Freedom ]

Apple today unveiled their new Apple TV device, which as rumors had suggested costs $99, tops out playback at 720p and is focused on renting TV episodes for a dollar or new films for five dollars.

There’s no hard drive in this incarnation, with everything streamed via either 802.11n Wi-Fi or Ethernet connectivity. The unit also comes with Netflix streaming service embedded. As rumors also suggested, broadcasters are still afraid of cannibalizing their traditional TV cash cow, so Apple scrapped a more interesting subscription-based TV service for this fairly standard rental model, which only features content from ABC and Fox.

Great price, great option if you were looking for one that has no internal storage is basically a “rent only” device; however it is not for me.

Link to the original article…

At the Apple Keynote today, Steve Jobs pulled out the oft-rumored $99 Apple TV (finally) and the long awaited update to the Apple iPod Touch that brings the best parts of the Apple iPhone 4 to the music player. Think about all of the good parts of prior Apple iPhone 4 announcements:

• Facetime – forward facing camera
• Retina Display – 960 x 480 high-density pixel display
• 720p HD Video Recording via improved, 5mp back camera
• Apple A4 SoC chipset for improved performance and battery life
• 40 hours audio playback, 7 hours video playback
• 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz only)
• Bluetooth

And the inability to also make phone calls! har har

Showing up at 8, 32 and 64GB sizes, at $229, $299 and $399 respectively, the Apple iPod Touch just upped the ante for the mp3 players with extended abilities. Not bad at all Apple. More on the Apple TV later.

[ Links: Apple, Apple iPod Touch ]

Just got word that Foreign Exchange, comprised of Phonte Coleman of Little Brother and Dutch producer Nicolay are coming up with a follow-up to their Grammy nominated “Leave It All Behind”. “Authenticity” promises to be expand on the soulful sounds that got them nominated for their last album.

Lead single “Maybe She’ll Dream Of Me” is a playful, synth-driven hip-hop groove featuring a rapped verse from Phonte that evokes the band’s “Connected” era, while the epic opener “The Last Fall” finds Phonte singing some of his most cynical lyrics to date (“Love is at worst an excuse/at best it’s a truce…”) over a frenzied Nicolay production jammed with layers of strings, guitars, and dense choral harmonies.

Head over to the Foreign Exchange website to view the track listing and for other news about this upcoming release, here.

I cannot wait for this to drop.

[ Links: Foreign Exchange Authenticity ]

After seeing such Apple iPad and iPod Touch accessories like a jacket just for carrying an iPad or even putting an iPad into the front of a shirt, I figured it was going to be no time that it would be used as a wall-mount.

I didn’t have to wait long:

iPort®, the inventor of the world’s first in-wall system for the Apple iPod®, is once again poised to advance the integration of Apple products into the home. Since its inception, the iPort brand has helped consumers experience Apple’s products in new and exciting ways allowing them to listen to, and experience their music and video libraries throughout their home. As Apple’s products have evolved from entertainment sources to intuitive touchscreens with the iPhone® and iPad™, iPort has continued to innovate new ways to incorporate them into consumers’ lifestyles.

Continuing the tradition, iPort has introduced two new products in its Control Mount Series for the Apple iPad and iPod touch®. The CM2000 Control Mount for iPad and the iPort CM100 Control Mount for iPod touch both integrate the handheld Apple touchscreen products in an attractive in-wall frame, transforming them into in-wall touchscreens for display of weather, news, stocks and many other preferred Apps.

The CM100 also transforms the iPod touch into an in-wall Internet radio source, and easily connects to any stereo or audio/video receiver. Users can download their choice of any Internet radio apps available in the App Store and play the audio back through any connected stereo system.

The CM100 for the Apple iPod Touch mount kit costs $250 and the CM2000 mount kit for the Apple iPad costs $499.

[ Link: iPort ]

Televisions, computers, DVD players, VCR players, video game consoles, compact disc players, external hard drives, stereo components, speakers… they all just end up creating a bunch of ugly wires that some people try to stash behind stands, hide under cases or wrap up in cable wraps and it can get downright frustrating. To add to the wire count, imagine wanting to play your downloaded content streamed over to your television or stereo. Seems like Wisair has come to the rescue.

The Wisair Wireless USB Audio/Video Adapter Set — an easy-to-use USB adapter system that allows home and office users to “cut the cord” and wirelessly stream content from their laptop—including pictures, movies, presentations and online media—to any HDTV, projector or monitor without the tangled mess of cords and complicated setup.

Featuring HDMI video/audio support and VGA connectivity with stereo audio support through a 3.5 mm audio jack, the Wisair Wireless USB A/V Adapter Set delivers 32-bit True Color depth and up to 1400×1050 screen resolution for high-quality images. With 48 kHz, 16-bit stereo sound and HD video resolution up to 720p, movies (Blu-ray excluded) and videos look sharp and sound crystal clear for an optimum viewing experience.

Although limited to only 720p and excluding Blu-Ray, invariably due to needed bandwidth, the Wisair Wireless USB Audio/Video dongle system seems to allow for ample room for downloaded music, movies and other streamed media that normally resides on your PC for viewing and enjoyment in your living room setting without the need or use of wires.

By now it should be known that I truly hate wires and avoid them at all costs – this definitely probably warrants further research. I’m not sure about the lack of Blu-ray support – but it still looks interesting nonetheless. Priced from $129 – $149 at various online retailers, the Wisair Wireless USB dongle will hopefully remedy having wires run from your PC to your TV.

[ Links: Wisair ]