Ilounge 2010 Buyers' Guide
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THE ILOUNGE.COM 2010 IPOD IPHONE BUYERS’GUIDE Over 3500 Products Rated Expert iPod + iPhone Buying Advice Best Accessories: The Complete Guide The 100 Essential Apps + Top 100 Games © 2009 ILOUNGE Cash Values For Your Old iPod or iPhone The iGlossary, iPod History + More Experience the unmatched fidelity of this multiple award winning headset • In-line microphone for phone calls • Remote control for music and call end/send • Best sound quality and noise-isolation of all in-ear headsets Available in all Apple Stores, Apple Online and other locations THE SCIENCE OF PURE MUSIC ETYMOTIC www.etymotic.com hf3: all the features of hf2 headset with a mini, 3-button remote for music and volume control. hf3 will launch at the International CES 2010 • January 7-10 • iLounge Pavilion, North Hall 2010 IPOD + IPHONE BUYERS’ GUIDE IN TRODUCTION The iPod and iPhone families are at a crossroads. In late 2009, Apple acknowledged that the growth of the touchscreen-based iPod touch and iPhone, aided by the surging App Store, has eroded interest in its less capable non-touchscreen iPods - the iPod shuffle, iPod nano, and iPod classic. Yet these music-centric models remain extremely popular in an absolute sense: millions of people bought Click Wheel iPods in 2009, and will enjoy using them for years to come. All things considered, how is your money best spent in these changing times? iLounge’s annual iPod + iPhone Buyers’ Guide will help you answer that question, and many more. From the inexpensive iPod shuffle to the top-of-line iPod touch and iPhone 3GS models, we walk you through the good and bad of Apple’s current lineup, as well as the accessories and software that you can use with them. Inside, you’ll find the year’s best picks for everything from $5 games to $100 earphones and $600 speakers - plus freebies and budget-priced add-ons -- all honestly selected by our experienced editors without any influence from advertisers. Enjoy! The 2010 iPod + iPhone Buyers’ Guide is published by iLounge, Inc. and is Copyright © 2004-2009. All rights reserved. No part of this guide may be reproduced, sold, rented, or transmitted in any form, or by any means whatsoever, without the prior written consent of the publisher. Unauthorized sale of this guide is prohibited, and by accessing this guide, you agree not to violate these restrictions. iLounge, Inc. and its publications have no affiliation with Apple Inc. or any vendor of accessories or software. iPod, iTunes, iPhone, Apple TV and the logo are the registered trademarks of Apple, without rights claimed thereto. All other names and marks herein are the property of their respective owners. 3 (again) The world’s first FM transmitter for iPod® is now the first with its own app. ® iTrip NOW WITH APP SUPPORT Only from Griffin Technology connect to play. 2010 BUYERS’ GUIDE TABLE OF CONTENTS 6 From Our Editor 7 iPod, iPhone + iTunes Today 8 The iLounge Community 12 Sneak Peeks 18 The Top 100 App Store Games of 2009 38 100 Essential iPhone OS Apps of 2009 48 The iPhone OS App + Game Report Card 56 The iPod + iPhone Buyers’ Guide Our definitive look at the 2009-2010 iPod and iPhone lineup, plus top accessories for each. 68 New + Used iPod Price Guides + Tips 98 Know Your Colors + The Color Chart 104 The iPod + iPhone Accessory Gift Guide From speakers to earphones, cases and toys, we spotlight the best add-ons for every iPod + iPhone. 136 iLounge’s 2009 Best of the Year Awards + Readers’ Choice Awards 144 The Big Report Card Our complete list of over 2,300 iPod and iPhone accessory ratings, compiled since 2001. 158 Design The Apple Tablet Contest Winners 160 iLounge’s iD The iPods + iPhones Contest 164 iPods + iPhones Around the World Galleries 168 iPod, iPhone + iTunes History: 2001-2009 184 The iGlossary: Apple Jargon, Explained 194 The iLounge Pavilion At 2010 International CES Above: 196 Index to Advertisers Around the World Photo Galleries Note: All ads in this Buyers’ Guide are clickable. 164 197 Backstage Design the Apple Tablet Contest 158 199 Closing the Curtain 5 FO R M OUR EDITOR 2010 BUYERS’ GUIDE A long-time fan of Apple products, As with all of our publications, what Dennis Lloyd was a graphic you’ll find inside the 2010 iPod + iPhone designer and DJ before creating Buyers’ Guide is unique: a well-informed, iLounge, which remains the world’s honestly-reached collection of facts and most popular resource for iPod, opinions about the whole iPod and iPhone iPhone, and iTunes users. Dennis ecosystem. We have designed it to help Dennis Lloyd is happily married with a dog, cat, you make smart purchases, not to sell you Publisher many iPods, and a one-year-old anything; it shows what’s out there, and daughter. He lives in Seattle, WA. spotlights the very best options. Jeremy Horwitz has written about Hands-on testing is the basis of our iPods, iPhones, gadgets, games, findings. We spend hours pushing the and the companies that make boundaries of every new iPod and iPhone them for everyone from Electronic before publishing the world’s most Gaming Monthly to The New York comprehensive reviews of each model, Times, in addition to practicing and have access to a massive pool of new Jeremy Horwitz law. Today, Jeremy focuses his days Editor-in-Chief accessories, applications, and games so on iLounge, its Books, and Buyers’ that we can tell you what’s great, good, Guides. He lives with his wife, okay, and bad. That, we do. Even though daughter, two dogs, and lots of this Buyers’ Guide focuses on the new add-ons in East Amherst, NY. products that are most worthy of your attention, we’ve tested lots of mediocre ones to save you time and money. Bob Starrett is iLounge’s Senior Editor. Based in Orlando, Florida, where he lives This has been an unusual year for iPod and with his new wife, Bob braved lines for an iPhone add-ons. Hardware took a back seat iPhone 3G, and alternates between other to software - games and apps - as the iPod iPods, including an iPod touch. touch and iPhone reached new heights of popularity. New accessory releases slowed, Bob Levens is iLounge’s Chief Forum and some developers faded away. Yet the Administrator. Living in Cambridge, U.K. flow of new iPods, iPhones, and add-ons with his wife, Bob has served in both continued, and we look at them all: new the Royal Air Force and the Ministry of iPod shuffles, nanos, touches, and iPhone Defense, and worked as an engineer. 3GS, plus tweaked iPod classic and iPhone 3G models, as well as leading accessories and apps for each. Jesse David Hollington is an iLounge Forum Administrator and Contributing We hope you enjoy this Guide. It is the Editor, responsible for our Ask iLounge product of many months of hard work, columns. He lives with his wife, baby thoughtful consideration of the entire daughter, and cats in Toronto, Canada. Apple marketplace, and a devotion to helping you get the very best value for your money. We are confident that the Contributing Editors, Forum Administrators, and products featured here will bring you many Moderators: Jerrod Hofferth, Mike McKenney, Alicia happy days of entertainment. Bankhofer, Albert Tan, Audrey McGirt, Brett, Jed, Robert, Tom Levens, and Stuart VandeVenter. 6 2010 BUYERS’ GUIDE IPD O , IPHONE + ITUNES TODAY Clockwise from left: Released in March, the third-generation shuffle received new colors in September, as Apple added video cameras and glossy bodies to iPod nanos. The iPhone 3GS bowed in June, adding speed and video recording. iPod nano, iPhone 3GS Record Video, Others Lag Odd tweaks to iPod shuffle + touch raise questions as classic, iPhone 3G remain alive With CEO Steve Jobs on a six-month leave of the white and black plastic bodies of the iPhone absence, and the iPod and iPhone division 3G - kept alive at 8GB for $99 - while adding switching engineering chiefs, Apple’s pocket an improved still and now video camera, more devices saw a string of surprising changes in memory, and better chips for faster gaming, apps, 2009. They started with the March introduction and web loading. Rumors hinted that both the of the third-generation iPod shuffle (2GB/$59, fifth-gen iPod nano (8GB/$149, 16GB/$179) and 4GB/$79), a small but buttonless slate that new iPod touch (32GB/$299, 64GB/$399) would added the ability to speak the names of songs get video cameras, as well, but only the nano did, and multiple playlists, pilloried for its limited with the touch receiving only speed and memory controls and headphone incompatibility. Soon boosts due to component problems. Apple also thereafter, Apple introduced the iterative iPhone bumped the iPod classic to 160GB for $249, and 3GS (16GB/$199, 32GB/$299), which preserved dropped the slower 2008 8GB iPod touch to $199. A Redesigned Store, App Interface, and Home Sharing Features Enhance iTunes 9 Cleaner, simpler, yet more features for albums and powerful: that was the theme movies, and the now behind the September release roughly 100,000 applications of iTunes 9, which notably in the App Store, which received a streamlined new iTunes 9 now manages iTunes Store interface with more effectively with Home a top-of-window navigation Screen settings. Apple also bar, as well as more animation added Home Sharing, to let and pictures. It now promotes 5 computers wirelessly and iTunes LPs and iTunes Extras, easily swap music, videos, Apple’s DVD-like bonus and apps, a great feature. Far more information on these and other topics of interest to the iPod and iPhone community is available from the iLounge.com news archives at ilounge.com/index.php/ilounge/archives/.