The Yamaha NX-A01 Natural Sound Speaker is so irresistibly cute that it's hard to decide whether to listen to it or pet it.This single speaker ($100 in black or white), not quite a 3.5-inch cube and weighing 11 ounces, is one of two diminutive sound systems from Yamaha I've been auditioning lately. The other, the NX-U10 USB Power Stereo Speaker ($179 in black or silver), is more conventional, more versatile and, ultimately, more useful.But who cares about any of that when you have the adorable Natural Sound Speaker in your palm, ready to introduce it to its latest plaything, an iPod?The speaker's sturdy plastic build makes it kidproof, and its simple set-up -- a power cord and a minijack connection for your music player -- makes it virtually adultproof. All controls, for on-off, volume and mute, reside in a single, big-dimple button atop the cube.The interior is almost as basic: a 1 1/8-inch titanium cone driver that fires out through a plastic grille on the left side of the cube, an unpowered driver facing out of the opposite side and a minuscule amplifier that puts out, maybe, four watts.

The E-Book Revolution

In just a few short years, MP3 downloads and the iPod changed the face of the music industry. CDs are going the way of the dodo, and high-street music stores fear for their future. Now there's a new revolution on the horizon; this time in the realm of books.

These come in a number of formats, the most ubiquitous being PDF, which is readable on computers and mobile devices (including Palm (Nasdaq: PALM) handhelds and the iTouch), as well as on dedicated e-book hardware such as Iliad Reader. .

Amazon introduces Kindle e-book reader

U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon.com Monday introduced a wireless electronic book reader designed to be used without ever connecting to a computer.

The $399 Kindle, which weighs 10.3 ounces, lets users browse Amazon's online store, download and pay for a book directly through the device and then read the downloaded book.

"Whether you're lying in bed or riding a train, you can think of a book, and have it in less than 60 seconds," Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos said in a letter on the retailer's Web site.

Kindle also lets users download songs, like Apple Inc.'s iPod portable media player, although Amazon does not let customers buy music directly from its store through Kindle.

Amazon said it currently had 90,000 books, blogs, magazines and newspapers for sale.

Cover Dylan To Win

(Filter) Are you inspired by the plethora of musicians taking on Bob Dylan's back catalogue, or the array of actors taking on his enigmatic persona for I'm Not There and its soundtrack? Well here's your chance to put your own unique talents to the test by entering the official Bob Dylan Covers Contest.

Inspired by the music from the soundtrack to the new Todd Haynes biopic I'm Not There, Sony BMG and MySpace are on a hunt to find the best ever Bob Dylan cover - show us what Bob Dylan means to you by interpreting his music and sharing with the world!!

You Can Win ...
* $2500 gift certificate from Guitar Center * Dylan print from Icon Collectibles * Customized Dylan 2GB ipod nano * Dylan CD Deluxe Box Set * Bob Dylan - The Other Side of the Mirror DVD * I'm Not There Soundtrack CD

All you need to do is� 1.

Leopard will have Mac-users purring

Apple's new operating system draws on the success of the iPod and iPhone to make using a personal computer fun and straightforward.

Several of the most exciting features come directly from iTunes, the music program that works with Apple's music players and cellphone.

I tested the new operating system, Mac OS X Leopard, on a MacBook Pro laptop with a 17-inch screen. Leopard comes pre-installed on all new Apple computers and sells for $129 for a single-user license.

Apple says Leopard has more than 300 new features, but I'm going to focus on three key areas: organization and time saving, backup and mail.

I don't always do the best job organizing documents, pictures, music and other files on my computer, so I sometimes waste a lot of time looking for what I want.

One way Leopard tackles this issue is with "Stacks," a handy new way to store items you access often.