HS ships Banshee iPod Media Speakers

Retailer Hammacher Schlemmer recently began shipping its unique Banshee iPod Media Speakers. Using a proprietary audio decoder, the company says it can simulate a surround effect across five connected 10W satellites. Hammacher Schlemmer also notes that the extra three speakers of the Banshee provide improved bass response over conventional stereo speakers. All Dock Connector- equipped iPods can connect to the system through an included but external cradle, but owners can optionally connect other sources through an auxiliary jack or add a subwoofer for dedicated bass output. Hammacher is already shipping the iPod Media Speakers in a piano-black finish for $130.

Will Apple be forced into licensing?

One ZDnet blogger believes that Apple's continued success--including the forthcoming release a rumored "perfect" iPone--could force some governments to file an anti-trust lawsuit against Apple, which could force the company to open up its proprietary iPod/iTunes ecosystem, but allow the company to profit handsomely. "Eventually, some governments will force Apple's hand under antitrust law. If not here in the US, then somewhere else. Apple knows this and the name of the game at this point is arbitrage. Somewhere, on Apple's general counsel's spreadsheet, is the cost of an antitrust settlement against the company — the sort where the company is forced to open up its interfaces on a fair licensing basis much the same way Microsoft has been forced to do the same. No matter how conservative the what-if scenarios in that spreadsheet are, Apple will still profit and very famously so."