An alternative to Apple's Shuffle Armband, the DLO Action Jacket's neoprene material is comfortable on the arm and offers protection against sweat in addition to allowing full access to the Shuffle's controls.

Unlike other programs for the iPod, iPodSoft's Pod Player doesn't load new information onto your device. Instead, it gives you a another way to access your iPod from a different computer. Imagine that you sync your iPod at home, but you want to play your music through your work computer's speakers. You can't do it using iTunes since it would pair with the iPod and overwrite the music stored on it. But with the iPodSoft Pod Player, you can access your stored music and play it directly from the iPod.

If you're seeking a stylish and functional way to share your iPod Mini's tunes in the car, search no further than Belkin's TuneBase FM. This futuristic-looking FM transmitter plugs directly into your car's cigarette lighter and features an adjustable steel arm for optimizing your view of the screens on both the TuneBase and the Mini. Atop the arm sits the base into which the Mini fits perfectly. An ample LCD on the base lies directly above a control pad, which has up and down buttons, for scanning all usable frequencies, as well as four numbered buttons for programming your most-used stations. We like the fact that you can keep the Mini's backlight on, since the TuneBase recharges the iPod Mini while it's docked. The TuneBase FM can transmit to nearly every frequency, including even numbers such as 98.2. Unfortunately, the signal is not the strongest we've seen in an FM transmitter, which is bad news for city drivers. Still, the TuneBase FM's nifty design and extra features pave the way for safer driving, so its $80 price tag is a good deal.

Apple's first cases for the iPod Nano look strangely similar to EzGear EzSkins. The Tubes ($29) come in a pack of five neon-bright colors and are straightforward in their design and function. Slipping your Nano into the case protects it from dirt, rain (kind of), and other harmful objects flying at your iPod, but it lacks the plastic screen protector that comes with most of these flexible-style cases. The case itself is constructed with soft treated silicone that repels dust and gives full accessibility to both the connector and the headphone port. Although the Tubes for the Nano might initially look clean and bright, once you find your player at the bottom of your backpack, you're going to wish you had that EzSkins screen protector.

The DLO Jam Jacket does a great job of protecting your Shuffle and maintaining its stylistic elements with its several color options.

We've said it time and time again: There's no shortage of speaker docks for the iPod. However, a speaker-cum-case is a bit less ubiquitous, and one that's also fully waterproof is even more of a rarity. The EGO Waterproof Sound Case for iPod from Atlantic combines all of these features and adds shock protection for the player for a fairly reasonable price of $149.99. If you want to listen to your iPod poolside--or heck, in the pool--this speaker case is a perfect fit.

The XtremeMac Audio Kit aims to be your one-stop solution to enjoying your iPod Shuffle at home or in the car. It comes with a cable for connecting your Shuffle to your home stereo's RCA jacks, as well as one for connecting it to small desktop speakers. There's also a headphone splitter (allowing two people to connect to the same Shuffle), a car charger that works from your car's cigarette lighter, and a cassette adapter for playing your music through your car's cassette player. The components all worked well in our testing, although we question the quality of the materials; the battery charger's cord started coming apart while we were first wrestling the piece out of its restrictive packaging. For 50 bucks, we expected better.

The Macally TunePro crams an AM/FM radio, alarm clock, and iPod speaker dock into an attractive 13x4.5x5 inches of space. The TunePro's most stunning feature is its semi-opaque, mirrored flat-panel speaker design. A light-blue LCD clock readout is located in the upper-right corner, clearly visible behind the mirrored surface. Buttons (14 total) for various functions are located on both the front and back of the TunePro. Although the many buttons afford a luxurious amount of control, a simple task such as setting the TunePro's alarm can be overwhelming at first. If you need an alarm clock that can be set during those comatose hours of the night, the TunePro is a poor choice.

There's no shortage of protective, stick-on skins for the iPod available on the market, but GelaSkin has taken that existing idea and put a fresh twist on it. The thick, textured stickers are decked out in cool art by well-knowns (such as Van Gogh) as well as up-and-comers (such as Aaron Kraten). You can choose from more than 50 designs, depending on the iPod you have. (GelaSkins makes the stickers for the 4G, 5G, Mini, Classic, Touch, and all of the Nano generations.) I had no trouble finding multiple designs to suit my taste--particularly the colorful and fanciful doodles of Alex Noriega. If you have trouble deciding yourself, If you're having trouble deciding, I fully advocate buying more than one--why not change it up every few months? Keep an eye out for the promotions GelaSkins run from time to time, and you might even get a deal.

Kensington is more than familiar with the peripheral and accessories game, and the company doesn't appear to be stopping anytime soon. The latest iPod-ready product to come off the Kensington lines is the SX 3000R Speakers with FM Radio. This $170 audio unit offers an understated design and decent sound quality, but the imperfect control set and poor radio integration spoil the fun.