In life, it helps to have someone who can hold you accountable for your actions. In the case of electronics companies, it seems that Greenpeace is their accountability partner. The organization has recently released the current company rankings in its Greener Electronics Scale. To find out how certain companies fared, get "green-minded" and turn to the full article after the jump.

Newsflash: you might want to upgrade your digital audio player to support the AAC format. After all, this is the format to be used by Apple in selling their non-DRM music from EMI from now on, with lots of major music labels expected to follow suit on the months to come.

AAC is known to be the better digital audio format in terms of sound quality compared to the more popular MP3. Yesterday, Apple and EMI announced that they will be selling non-DRM tracks for US$ 1.29 per song. Such songs will be available in the AAC format.

Will your digital audio player support AAC? As of now, Microsoft, Nokia, Sandisk (e200 line), and Sony already include AAC playback on their devices. Those that don't have AAC format support are players from Creative, Toshiba, Cowon, Philips, etc.

Thankfully, upgrading your digital music player to support AAC can be done via firmware update. Just check your manufacturer's support if you want an upgrade.

This is definitely for the food and music connoisseurs out there. Enter the Philips DCD778 Docking Entertainment System. Perfect for your posh kitchen.

The Philips DCD778 Docking Entertainment System features an 8.5-inch widescreen LCD display, where you can watch DVDs, MP3 CDs, and VCDs. It has a ATSC/NTSC TV tuner, AM/FM tuner, plus it's compatible with fourth and fifth generation iPods - along with iPod mini and nano - to play both audio and video.

Since it's bound to be mounted underneath one of your kitchen cabinets, it also sports a cooking timer and clock (just so you don't lose track of time and burn whatever you're cooking), wireless remote, and two 2-inch speakers.

Anyway, the Philips DCD778 Docking Entertainment System starts shipping next week and will retail at around US$ 400.

The publicity on the whole Apple's stock option practices fiasco still hasn't died down, and now Apple CEO Steve Jobs is now fast becoming the target for further investigation. Now the question is, will Steve Jobs be graduating from the Apple board and walking down the hall of shame?

In previous interviews with Jobs, he claims that he doesn't know nor understand anything about the accounting implications. But IF the investigation finds that Jobs knew more about the company's practices than he's letting on, particularly about the accounting, recording, and reporting of grants, there's gotta be somebody to take his place right?

So who would be the possible replacements for Jobs? Over at AAPL, they have posted up a list of possible candidates to take the CEO position and they are:

• Phil Schiller - long-time head of global product marketing. He has been with the company since 1997 and has been critical in most product launches.
• Tim Cook - The company's COO, has had a long career at IBM and heads the Mac division.
• Tony Fedell - One of the fathers of the iPod; has an engineering background and is a former executive at Philips Electronics.
• William Campbell - One of Apple's leading directors. He has run a large public software company, Intuit.
• Jerome York - Although he is over 70, York has experience operating troubled companies. He was CFO of IBM and a member of that company's board. He is also on the GM board.
• Jim Allchin - Head of platforms and services at Microsoft, and plans to retire with the the launch of Vista. Also has an engineering background.
• Sue Decker - The highly regarded CFO of Yahoo! She has a Wall St. background and now runs several key divisions at Yahoo!
• John Thompson - The highly-regarded CEO of Symantec, has a background in running a large software company and is well liked on Wall Street.

How about you, who do you think would be the best replacement for Steve Jobs?

If the European Commission had its way, MP3 player owners in Europe would be facing a  tax revision that will jack up the iPod's price by a wallet-burning 25 euros ( USD).

The law, already under fire from companies like  Nokia and Philips Electronics, was introduced back in the 1960s on tapes to compensate musicians for privately copied music. It's undergoing revisions this year, and would include blank CD's and MP3 players (phones included, since they can store tunes, too) in its revised itinerary.

Dirk Visser, attorney for the electronic industry, had this to say regarding the revision. "This will lead to double or triple taxation. Soon, a consumer will pay rights to the artists when he buys on iTunes, then again when he buys a blank disc, and undoubtedly it will be extended to mobile phones which can also store music."

The law is expected to collect 1.57 billion Euros (roughly billion USD) in its corresponding states this year, and a further 4.67 euros (roughly $ 6 billion) next year. Some countries like Britain are yet to implement these taxes. The European Commission is expected to publish their views by the end of the year, though countries like Denmark are already going through the motions of implementing the tax law.

By the "i" before the BlueTube, you know it's an iPod accessory. From Thanko Japan, iBlueTube is an amplifier with remote control and also serves as a recharging station for the 3rd Gen iPod and iPod Nano. We're sure there are a thousand other similar iProducts out there so what's new with iTube? It uses 2 Philips "6922" vacuum tubes and gives off a soft blue glow around the amplifier when in use. The iBlueTube also has a USB terminal, S-video out, and a RCA stereo out.

About 295 x 130 x 68mm and 650 grams, practically any table can accommodate it. It will be available in Japan by the end of the month for about $565. Don't worry, it comes with a pair of JBL speakers.

An article in Playful asks whether Microsoft would be wise to unveil a portable entertainment device, which would reportedly compete directly with the Apple iPod. Though Microsoft has made a splash in the gaming world with its Xbox and now with the Xbox 360, the author questions whether Microsoft has what it takes to compete in the portable arena.

After 6 years, the iPod continues to dominate the MP3 players market, despite the efforts on more entertainment-focused companies, such as Creative, Philips, Samsung, iRiver or Toshiba. For Microsoft, the digital entertainment market is still something new and even the fate of Xbox 360 is still unclear, until Sony will unveil its gaming console, PlayStation 3.

According to Peter Moore, one of the big-wigs at Microsoft, the company is poised to compete in the portable video game world as well, competing against Nintendo and Sony in a very competitive market. I don't know myself, but with shortage problems still plaguing the Xbox 360, and Microsoft with its hands plenty busy launching Windows Vista, I just can't see them launching a portable to compete with ANYBODY at the present time. What do you guys think?

[Via, Playful]