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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Every once in a while, a technology emerges that makes you wonder why you haven’t thought about it before. The Singapore-made Orastream app is one such example.

It enables music players to stream the songs at as high a quality as possible, depending on the network that is delivering the songs. This means you always enjoy the highest quality music, without worrying about the dreaded break in transmission – a boon to future music services on the go. …

Despite being one of the first with an Android phone when it released the Droid and Milestone about two years ago, Motorola has not had a top-end phone that stood toe to toe with offerings from rivals such as Samsung, HTC and even Sony Ericsson of late.

That changes now with the new Razr, which brings the Android pioneer up to the speed with not just the latest hardware but also a surprisingly nifty software experience. …

Google has launched a dedicated YouTube site for Singapore in a bid to grow its inventory of localized video content. Prior to this, the search giant has been offering localized YouTube services in 34 other countries including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, India and more recently, the Philippines.

Users can visit the localized site by choosing “Singapore” as the location setting at the bottom of the YouTube.com homepage, or by heading directly to youtube.com.sg. …

Anyone who’s ever gone jogging or biking with their music will know how irritating it is to have wires dangling and getting in the way. You can have a short cable, say, with sports earphones that hook up to an iPod strapped to your arm, but there’s still that bit of wire that often gets in the way if you are sensitive to these things.

For such active folks, you’d be pleased to try out Jabra’s Sport earphones. These Bluetooth headphones receive music wirelessly, doing away with cables other than one between the earphones which you’d hardly feel on the go. I’ve tried a number of Bluetooth stereo headsets before this, but Jabra Sport ranks as one of the best yet. …

Gym rats and music lovers now have two new Sony Ericsson smartphones to choose from. Making its debut yesterday is Xperia Active, a ruggedized model that sports a dust proof and water resistant shell. While sweating it out, you can continue to swipe on the screen, which SE says works perfectly even when the screen, or your finger, is smeared with water and sweat. But before you take to the pool, be warned that the Xperia Active is only water-resistant, not water-proof, so the usual precautions apply. …

Jabra, that brand better known for its Bluetooth headsets, has come up with a rather solid pair of sports earphones that are both light on the ear and firm enough to stay in place when you run or cycle.

The Jabra Sport receives the music wirelessly via Bluetooth from your smartphone or a compatible MP3 player, doing away with the annoying cord that usually runs down to your MP3 player in your shorts pocket or an arm pouch.

At a launch in Singapore yesterday, reporters were shown how the earphones come with a number of useful features for those sweaty moments, starting with the specially-coated, flat cord linking the two headsets that are said to be less susceptible to stick to your sweaty back, or get tangled that easily. …

Bought a new iPod/iPhone/iPad and looking forward to buying music for your new device? Local users have always been out of luck in that respect, as despite being the market leader for years, Apple has failed to bring its music download service to Singapore.

Now, a new software update to Research in Motion’s (RIM) BlackBerry PlayBook tablet will certainly be discord to Apple’s ears. The former has stuck a partnership with online music store 7digital to bring more than 9 million high quality MP3 tracks for Singapore residents to purchase.

The new Music Store app will allow users to search for songs, albums, and artists, as well as receive recommendations through a music discovery feature. Not sure whether a particular artist suits your tastes? The music store lets you preview tracks before plunking down the cash.

The cost of full albums on this new music store will range from S$8 to S$12, although users can also download just one or a few tracks if they don’t want the whole album.

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Bring up Bose to your audiophiles friends and they’d probably let you know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, while pointing out that there are better-sounding options that cost a fraction of what it asks for.

The United States company’s SoundDock systems, though, are hugely popular because they appeal to iPod and iPhone users who desire not just the Bose design but also a bit of oomph lacking in other plain vanilla iPod docks and speakers. The latest high-end SoundDock 10, costing a cool S$1,299, is no difference. …