I have linked to some stories about the knock off of the Apple iPod Shuffle called the Tangent. Some new information on that front. CNet Asia has a review comparing the two products.

Now Engadget has found yet another product that borrows heavily from the Apple design:

The Morestar MP270 really just looks like a shuffle with a 7 color 128×32 screen tacked onto it, like the EZ Tangent but even more blatant. Interestingly, you can supposedly get it in capacities as low as 64MB, which seems a little ridiculous but hey, it?s bound to be dirt cheap. It?s doing MP3 and WMA support, comes with an FM radio and recorder, voice recorder, 12-hour battery life and transfer via USB2.0.

Apple is prepping its lawyers after a Taiwan company Luxpro at the German show Cebit announceda product called the “Super Shuffle” which is a blatant iPod Shuffle rip-off. Luxpro did add an FM tuner and voice recording.

Since Apple released the iPod Shuffle a lot of people have been interested in checking one out. Patrons of the South Huntingon Public Library on Long Island can now do just that according to this Wired news story .

For the past three weeks, the library ran a pilot program using the portable MP3 devices to store audio books downloaded from the Apple iTunes Music Store. They started with six shuffles, and now are up to a total of 10. Each device holds a single audio book.

Make has an article about two alternative methods for powering the iPod shuffle (or other USB devices) using solar power or even a hand crank. Should I ever move to that tropical island and off the grid, this will come in handy. Who I am I kidding? I won’t move past the reach of broadband internet access.