Ken Richardson

The Beatles: Love (Apple/Capitol). "The first Beatles album in 5.1"? Well, that's a bit misleading. Love isn't one of the Beatles' original releases; it's the "cast album" to the Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas, which does use the band's master tapes not only for full songs but also for new segues and mashups.

($499 for 4 gigabytes, $599 for 8 GB; apple.com) With hip-hooray and ballyhoo, Apple CEO Steve Jobs previewed the much-anticipated iPhone at the Macworld convention. Combining a 3.5-inch widescreen iPod, a Wi-Fi-enabled "Internet communications device," and, oh yes, a cellphone, it also includes a 2-megapixel camera.

Porcupine Tree: Fear of a Blank Planet (Atlantic). As personified by this concept album's young protagonist, the worldview of the Planet isn't just blank.