Was it ever possible that a product is designed and produced by not the same person or company? Sounds creepy right? But you wouldn’t believe the result of the tandem of Vestalife, the award-winning lifestyle electronics company, and world-recognized strategy and industrial design consultancy RKS.

The metal rings on the base, front, and rear of the Firefly add a refined, sophisticated feel. Angled, hidden hinges allow the Firefly speakers to open, not just to the sides, but also moving slightly forward, in a welcoming and embracing posture. In front of the iPod dock, there’s a subtly-curved, touch-sensitive volume control. With the speakers open, a “billboard” area is revealed on the center face of the Firefly. The Firefly will come with interchangeable faceplates to allow for personalization. Factory customized faceplates will also be featured in limited edition models of the Firefly. (Insert picture of firefly)

For the Jewelbox, the RKS design team was inspired both by the velvety, rich textures used in the Ladybug and by the famed Fabergé eggs. A symbol of the height of luxury, Fabergé eggs are known for their artistry, rich detail, and for the promise of a hidden surprise. In this case, the hidden magic is the opening of the Jewelbox to reveal the speakers and the iPod dock. The touch-sensitive power and volume controls give the Jewelbox a friendly smile whether opened or closed. The speakers are designed to accommodate factory-changeable graphics for special edition models. (Insert picture of jewelbox).

This will only show that with great tandem comes a very great creation.

Half the size of its predecessor, the new Shuffle packs 4GB worth of songs – that’s 1000 songs to you – and lasts up to 10 hours. So where does the irony lie?

Because smaller is always better

Well, making a music player as small as your ordinary house key is not exactly as awesome as you think. Sure, it is cool how you can fit it anywhere in your body – in your armpit, inside your mouth, between your butt cheeks, between your boobs – but you have to deal with the ports and operational buttons of the device.

What did Apple do? Thank God they were able to retain the standard 3.5 headphone jack. We still have the option to ditch the unreasonably priced Apple headphones for other more affordable or more stylish pieces.

However, the control buttons is what will probably make this generation a bit more complicated that the previous. Apart from the Off, Play in Order, and Shuffle switch on top beside the jack, the new Shuffle is totally empty. So where are they?

You will be surprised to know that they are placed in the earphone cord. That is just what makes it annoying, isn’t it? Your headphones have to have them else your cool little player is as useless as a piece of unchewed gum that jumped out from the wrapper and on to the ground.

Because they consider the blind

Apple has good marketing strategy; you have to give them that. They knew that anytime during their presentation, a thin old man wearing thick glasses would raise his hand and ask why in hell should we shell out our hard-earned dough to purchase a device that has no control button present on its own body.

The answer is VoiceOver technology – a new feature that was introduced in 2005 but is, as of the moment, only made to be available in this new generation of iPod Shuffle. The VoiceOver feature in your iPod enables quick access to menus, playlists, artists, and song titles by reading them aloud. The feature is available in 14 different languages, and you can be sure that Tagalog is, as predicted, not available. (Who doesn’t understand English in our country anyway?)

It is especially useful because the iPod Shuffles have no display screen where users can navigate their data. On a more innovative note, the technology is said to aid to those who are vision impaired.

Because technology changes at a fast rate

It is too early to tell if Filipinos would like the new iPod Shuffle or embrace the VoiceOver technology that that this little fellow offers. It is indeed amazing how something so small could be so powerful. However, if you think of it, nobody asked for smaller Shuffle. Maybe it is just a manifestation that we have to keep on coming up with something different and something new. Always out with the old and in with the new. In my opinion, it is still better if the controls are on the device itself. The VoiceOver technology, on the other hand, promises to fetch in more sales for Apple but is still not sure to be as convenient as most would think. After all, even Apple admits that a well-organized playlist is still the best way to navigate easily through your iPod Shuffle.

The new iPod Shuffle is already available in the Online Apple Store for Php 4,190.

esource :TechNewsWorld, Photos Courtesy of CNet