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Company: Belkin

Price: $50

Compatible: iPod 3G, 4G, mini

Belkin TuneCommand

This RF remote control from Belkin regrettably appeared in stores only after Apple had discontinued the iPods (3G, 4G, and mini) that were compatible with its top-mounting receiver. That's a real shame, because the company did a great job with TuneCommand's design, developing a comfortable remote control with seven buttons (play/pause, track forward/backward, volume up/down, shuffled playback and repeated playback), and including a number of other features other companies hadn't thought of.

For instance, the remote and receiver connect together for convenient storage when not in use, and there’s a belt clip, lanyard, and adhesive car/wall mount in the package, allowing you to easily carry or mount TuneCommand wherever you prefer. It also claims a broadcasting distance of 150 feet, which like similar options (even ABT’s best-of-class iJet) it didn’t hit in our tests, but did work at distances and through walls better than the Infrared remotes we’ve tested. A docking version for 5G iPods and nanos was unveiled in January, 2006 and will be released in late March or early April.