iLounge Releases Incredible 2011 iPod / iPhone / iPad Buyers' Guide

IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- iLounge, the leading independent authority on Apple's digital media products, today released the 2011 iPod / iPhone / iPad Buyers' Guide - the world's most popular compendium of accessories and apps for iPods, iPhones, and iPads. Now in its eighth edition and newly expanded to a record-breaking 208 pages, iLounge's 2011 Guide covers every iPod, iPhone, and iPad model ever made, while spotlighting only the very best accessories and software for Apple's latest devices. It can be downloaded immediately from iLounge.com in the widely compatible PDF format, for free.

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"This is our magnum opus, and the first publication to cover everything from top iPad speakers and stands to the year's best iPod games and iPhone protectors," explained Jeremy Horwitz, Editor of iLounge and its Buyers' Guides. "The scope of iLounge's 2011 Buyers' Guide has grown beyond anything we could have imagined even three years ago. Readers are going to find days worth of details to explore and enjoy inside."

This year's Buyers' Guide includes impartial reviews, pictures, and ratings of the 34 different iPod, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV variations currently on store shelves, starting with the new $49 iPod shuffle and continuing through the $829 iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G. In addition to store-specific shopping and eBay reselling tips, iLounge offers detailed comparisons with past versions, including photos showing changes in Apple's colors and designs over the past nine years. Expert guidance helps readers focus on the best values in the large lineup, and decide whether to hold off for now on versions that will likely receive important changes in the next year.

Key to each Buyers' Guide is iLounge's industry-leading coverage of iPod, iPhone, and iPad accessories, this year within a 50-page section devoted to the thriving Apple add-on ecosystem: speakers, headphones, and travel accessories lead off the Accessory Gift Guide, which continues with brand new batteries, cases, gifts for kids, and luxury picks made from classy metals and exotic woods. There's something for everyone inside, ranging from $15 stickers to a $300 camera-laden iPod helicopter and rare, top-shelf $1350 headphones. In the 2010 Best of the Year Awards, iLounge's editors and thousands of readers selected the year's top 22 products and developers, now including innovative iPad and iPhone applications for kids.

Two separate sections feature the 100 Essential Apps of 2010 and Top 100 Games of 2010, each looking at the best software releases in Apple's massive App Store. Additionally, iLounge offers the iGlossary, a comprehensive and clearly-written explanation of the jargon and marketing phrases used now for Apple's products, as well as a timeline depicting the 2001-2010 histories of iTunes, iPods, iPhones, iPads, and Apple TVs. Smaller sections also look at great new Mac hardware and accessories, beautiful international reader-submitted photography, and the future of iPads and iPhones.

"We are extremely proud of the 2011 Buyers' Guide," said Dennis Lloyd, Publisher of iLounge and the Guide, "and thrilled to once again offer it to both current and prospective Apple users at no charge, as a hassle-free PDF download that can be read on PCs, Macs, iPads, iPhones, and iPods."

iLounge's past Buyers' Guides and iPod/iPhone Books are the world's most widely read publications covering Apple's digital media products. Last year's Buyers' Guide alone was downloaded over 2 million times by a global audience of readers, and is part of a family of 15 semi-annual magazine- and book-style publications released by iLounge since 2004. All of these publications are available from iLounge.com/library for free, and are published as a service to the Apple community without any editorial involvement from advertisers or Apple itself. The 2011 iPod / iPhone / iPad Buyers' Guide can be downloaded from iLounge.com/2011bg starting today.

About iLounge: As the exclusive partner of the Consumer Electronics Association for the iLounge Pavilion - a collection of Apple hardware, accessories, and software that is now the largest dedicated exhibition area at the International Consumer Electronics Show - iLounge, Inc. is the world's leading provider of iPod, iPhone, iPad, and iTunes information. Fully independent from Apple and vendors of related hardware, software, and services, iLounge has offices in Irvine, California and East Amherst, New York.

Founded only days after Apple announced the first iPod in 2001, iLounge has exploded in popularity, today boasting millions of visitors and tens of millions of page views each month. Its editorial content is in no way influenced by advertising, paid placements, or other unsavory practices. Praised for years as "the ultimate in product reviews and tutorials on all things iPod," iLounge and its team have been spotlighted by the Associated Press, CNBC, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and many other leading publications.

SOURCE iLounge