It's the little iPod speaker that could. The Orbit iM207, Altec Lansing's inexpensive mobile iPod speaker, has a new design and new name: the Orbit MP3 iM237. The new model's got a handful of little upgrades that make it a bit better than its predecessor.
This single speaker is about the size of two hockey pucks stacked on top of each other and weighs only 6.7 ounces (with batteries). That shape doesn't quite make it pocket friendly, but it takes up very little room in a bag when traveling.
The Orbit runs on three AAA batteries for about 24 hours and has a hideaway cord that plugs into the 3.5mm headphone jack on just about any portable electronic product--any MP3 player, all iPods and iPhones, laptops, and portable DVD players. The $40 speaker ships with a protective carrying case (with a convenient belt-clip carabiner) and a lanyard to strap around your wrist (at least, we think that's what it's for).
The understated Orbit iM237 now features an on/off button that lights when the speaker is on. On the earlier model, some people complained that without a light it was easy to forget that the unit was on and the batteries would run down.
The Orbit iM237 is designed to sit on a flat surface (there are rubberized feet on the bottom) and fire upward, but you can also prop it up on its side and have it fire forward like a traditional speaker.
