Pioneer is set to introduce a new functionality to a few of its stereos – including the much-hyped AppRadio – that mixes the songs on your iPhone, iPod or USB drive on the fly.

By measuring beats per minute and other data, MIXTRAX can supposedly beat-match and add effects and transitions into songs to create a seamless mix, all while animating the cover art to match the tempo. If you want to leave the mixing to yourself, Pioneer plans to offer a PC version of the mixing software that lets you save mixes to a USB drive or SD card, along with an iPhone app that lets you interact with the software and port your club masterpieces directly into your AppRadio.

MIXTRAX will be available this January on the aforementioned AppRadio and DEH-P7400HD, DEH-P8400BH and AVH-P8400BH AV receivers. You can get a taste of the system in action in the cheesetastic videos after the break. Read more…

Time for the usual disclaimer, since we’re taking a journey into the murky world of Cupertino’s patent applications — it’s just as likely we’ll never see or hear of this tech again as it is to wind up in the next iPhone. While everyone else is betting on NFC, Apple wants to use next-generation cameras and invisible ink to negotiate digital handshakes. Snap a picture of a cash register with a barcode and your iDevice will generate a unique ID to pair up — but in order to keep the technology secure, the codes would have to be painted on with “invisible” fluorescent coatings. When you’re pairing two iPhones (for example) to share contacts, the key could be generated on one of the screens while the other took a picture of it. If this all seems too complex, boring and pointless now, just think: this could be how we log into Foursquare in a decade’s time.

SOURCE via Patently Apple

We’ve seen a number of companies put a modern spin on the venerable boombox, but nothing quite like this new iP4 speaker dock from iHome. While it’s unmistakingly a boombox, it looks more like a circa-1980s attempt to create a futuristic boombox than simply a modern boombox — an unused prop from Back to the Future II, perhaps. It is decidedly modern when it comes to features, however, including a dock for your iPhone or iPod, an auxiliary input for your other devices, and a tiny remote. True to its boombox lineage, it can also be operated on six D cell batteries, and it even backs a five band graphic equalizer (updated slightly with an LCD display). Did we mention it’s also available in pink? Yey! Pinky and the brain, pinky and the brain. Look for this one to set you back $200.

SOURCE via iHome

Google has finally taken wraps off of its official iOS Gmail app. However, momentarily after being launched, the app was pulled by Google. Google’s confirmed on its blog that the Gmail app contains a bug that breaks notifications, and it’s pulled the app while it fixes it. A new version is promised “soon.”

Anyway, let’s take a look at the app first shall we? The new app offers a number of “time-saving features,” including push notifications for new message alerts, quick message search and email address auto-complete from your Apple device’s address book. The iPad version also offers up a split view, to read messages and check out your inbox at the same time.

On the efficiency side, the Priority Inbox shows your important messages first, and the app also lets you sort messages via labels and stars. Swiping down will refresh the messages and swiping right gives you a quick view of your labels. Gmail will work with devices running iOS 4 and higher.

SOURCE via Google

That Siri gal is certainly making the rounds these days. When she’s not answering your questions on a 4S, she’s showing up on iPads and elder iPhones. Not one to play favorites, Siri’s now lending her considerable talents to an iPod touch. Two enterprising young hackers, euwars and rud0lf77, are the ones who put Siri on the iPod, and you can see the results of their labor in the video after the break. Of course, Apple’s servers still aren’t as friendly as the virtual voice assistant, so Siri’s latest cameo remains a silent one — but some Siri’s better than foreveralone.jpg, right?

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Some folks get along just dandy with an iPod and a speaker dock, but if you need a rig that’ll handle more sources, Harman Kardon hopes to have you covered with MS 150 — which bears more than a passing resemblance to the Zeppelin Mini. This stereo system comes loaded with an iPhone dock, CD drive and FM tuner, along with a flood of auxiliary connections not limited to its headphone jacks and subwoofer output. It’s even sporting an LCD display so you’ll know what’s pumping out of its 30 watt drivers. The MS 150 is available now from Harman Kardon, but all of its functionality will cost you — it’s priced at a whopping $600. Hey, at least it comes with a remote.

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The long, winding and increasingly mind-numbing battle between Samsung and Apple has taken yet another turn, this time in Australia, and it’s the other way round.According to The Wall Street Journal, Samsung feels that the iPhone and iPad 2 both “violate a number of wireless technology patents held by Samsung.”

Spokesman Nam Ki-yung stated the following: “To defend our intellectual property, Samsung filed a cross claim for Apple’s violation of Samsung’s wireless technology patents.” The suit is being filed just days / weeks before a ruling will decide on whether the Galaxy Tab 10.1 can be legally sold Down Under, and in related news, Samsung is also appealing a recent ruling back in Germany. If ever the world needed an out-of-court settlement… this one will be so huge.

SOURCE via Wall Street Journal

It’s said that Apple’s iPhone is very magical, and there’s an app for everything. It’s so magical you can almost drink water from it. But let’s just admit it, playing Angry Birds and Cut-A-Rope and some Tap Tap Revenge may be abit boring after you’ve played finish em and replayed again for 3 times. Why not bring the fun outside?

Your iPhone isn’t limited to just making calls and some simple apps. You can even control your television with your iPhone. And today, we’re gonna show you one more thing that you can control – an RC helicopter!

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And you thought that the beef between Personal Audio and Apple has been solved, well think again. Everyone’s favourite patent licensing company is back, hitting Cupertino with another suit. You’ll recall an earlier ruling by a federal jury in Eastern Texas found the CE maker guilty of infringing upon PA’s playlist-related IP with an assortment of older iPods. This new filing alleges that newer Apple devices, like the iPhone 4, iPad 2 and modern day iPods — which weren’t part of the original 2009 case — also violate that same IP, in a move we’d surmise serves to pad Personal Audio’s coffers.

SOURCE via BGR

The thing above may look like some mutated Made-in-China Kinect device, but it’s not. In fact, those aren’t even camera sensors. What you’re looking at is Klipsch’s latest soundbar, the Gallery G-17 Air, and boy it looks sexy in a way.

Although not totally new, its full specs have been revealed and its price re-vamped from $400 to a slightly ‘Apple-ish’ $530. The bi-amplified stereo rig features four individually powered drivers that aim to deliver full-range sound via two Tractrix-horned .75-inch tweeters (10 watts each), and dual 2.5-inch, 20 watt woofers.

Although you’ll probably be streaming music over WiFi from iDevices or iTunes, the unit’s equipped with USB and 3.5mm inputs should you ever want to plug-in directly or juice-up your battery. There’s an ultra-svelte grill-cloth magnetically attached to the front, playback and power buttons on the side, and it also comes with a remote.

The system itself sits atop a tempered glass base, but if space is at premium it can be mounted to a wall. The G-17 is set to release this fall, but if your ears are already tingling you’ll find more info in the source link below.

SOURCE via Klipsch