It’s that time of the year again.

Christmas is a time of giving and receiving, and every year at Techgoondu we want world peace and justice. This year I want to add to the list a fairer society, better public transport, and affordable public housing.

And in case those big dreams fall a little short of our lofty naive ideals, well, there’s always geek toys and gizmos that we can console ourselves with. And still keep dreaming big dreams — they are worth fighting for, aren’t they?

In the meantime, here’s what the goondus would like this Christmas:

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Treat your friends and loved ones to some great quality audio with these speaker systems this holiday season. These boom boxes will bring out the best in your favourite tunes and Christmas jingles, and are a leg-up over puny laptop speakers that often lack punch and musical detail.

Bowers & Wilkins Zepplin Air

This gorgeous audio dock from audiophile specialist B&W sports a signature design and promises punchy tunes packed with oomph. You can be assured of room-filling sound and strong vocals that will rise above accompanying music, whether you’re listening to jazz crooner Norah Jones or pop rock band Maroon 5. The speaker also supports Apple’s AirPlay technology that lets you play tunes from an iPhone or iPod over a wireless network. A front dock connector is also on hand for folks who wish to hook up their Apple devices directly to the speaker.

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Singapore’s digital radio stations beaming “CD-quality” music over the airwaves will be shut down next month, when MediaCorp pulls the plug on the once highly-touted digital audio broadcasting (DAB) technology.

The broadcaster said the effectiveness and reach of DAB, which once promised to replace FM radio with its higher quality digital audio, had diminished over time. This, it added in a statement on Tuesday, was made even more obvious with the popularity of  online streaming and mobile phone apps.

It elaborated: “Since the launch of the service some 12 years ago, the growth in listenership on MediaCorp’s DAB service has remained stagnant. On the other hand, the rapid growth in the number of listeners through online streaming and phone app MeRadio has shown that these platforms are serving the listeners more effectively than the DAB platform.”

Several DAB-only stations, like J-K Pop which plays Japan and Korean pop music, appear to be already gone from the airwaves. Soon too will be simulcast digital versions of FM stations, such as Symphony 92.4FM (classical) and Lush 99.5 FM (chill out, easy listening), which are a hit with audio buffs who enjoy high-quality audio while driving home or listening to the hi-fi at home. …

The usual sight of folks with trolleys of  flat screen TVs to printers in tow are back this weekend at Suntec City, thanks to the Comex 2011 show.

With bargain basement prices for items such as TVs – a Toshiba 42-incher for going for just S$549 – and laptops bundled with all sorts of freebies, the tech bazaar promises good deals for folks who brave the human jam at the halls in Suntec City.

Here are some hot deals that Techgoondu sussed out yesterday while there for a quick walkthrough: …

As far as reviews go, this is going to be a short one. There are really not many aspects of a Bluetooth in-car speakerphone you can delve into. But this particular unit is the Jabra Cruiser 2, and the company products have consistently received good reviews for its sound quality. …

Jawbone’s Jambox is an odd little device. The Bluetooth-enabled portable speaker is comparably tiny, but is capable of pumping out music at 85 decibels. And then there’s the price: at US$200 (S$252), this thing isn’t exactly cheap.

The thing also feels alive. It vibrates and gives a low rumble as you turn it out, and makes various strange yet familiar digital noises when completing various tasks, such as pairing with a Bluetooth device.

(UPDATE: The folks representing Jawbone in Singapore say the local distributor price here is S$328. That’s quite a markup, as was the case with the Jawbone Icon.)

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After years of sitting on the success of the popular Z-5500 PC surround speakers, Logitech is finally releasing a followup in the shape of the new Z906 in end-April in Singapore for a princely S$690.

The Z906 is probably the first time in years that such serious, high-powered PC surround speakers have been launched here since the Z-5500, which is still used by many gamers who value the boom of explosions and details of approaching footsteps in games. …

A few months ago, I did what was once unthinkable for many audio geeks and unplugged my Marantz CD player from a living room hi-fi setup that was beginning to get more complicated than it should be.

I had decided there was no turning back from what audiophile snobs once called “digital music”. Sure, the CD was digital but how could music encoded, stored and delivered from home computers be any good, compared to what’s played on a $20,000 CD player, they would say.

Well, thank goodness that type of argument is no longer the in thing now in audio circles, thanks to advancements that enable “bit-perfect” ripping and playback – with no detail lost. For me, the argument was settled by the fact that my Marantz CD6002 was no S$20,000 CD player, but a money’s-worth budget player that could be improved quite easily with a new digital music setup.

Thus began a sometimes unfamiliar – but ultimately fulfilling – journey to build a setup that could play high quality music using the affordable utility that everyday computing offers. …

Among the cool stuff we get to try out at Techgoondu, I’ll admit this isn’t the geekiest thing you’ll find on this site.

But this nifty gadget could be interesting to folks who spend hours on the couch with their laptops on their, er,  laps. The Philips CushionSpeaker, as its name suggests, is a cushion for your laptop that happens to have a speaker built in to play your songs while you surf the Web, for example.

So, it takes away the heat from your lap and plays music off your PC at the same time.

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Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Asus showed off a number of new notebooks featuring Bang & Olufsen’s Icepower audio amplification technology at a glitzy launch party here today.

The audio technology, which has been the talk of audiophile circles because of its use in a number of highly-rated power-efficient amplifiers, promises improved sound over existing laptop offerings.

Icepower will come in a number of Asus’ N-model laptops as well as its top-of-the-range NX90 Multimedia Notebook. There’s a reason why it’s called that, instead of a laptop, because you’d not want to place this 4.8kg machine on your lap (a small bag of rice weighs 5kg). …