Samsung have revealed details of a snazzy new personal media player, the YP-Q3.

Featuring wide-ranging file format support, including playback of H.264 and XviD videos and OGG and MP3 songs, it'll be more-or less compatible with anything you throw at it. It's also packing in an FM tuner if you'd rather someone else directs your listening habits.

Of course the elephant in the room is tomorrow's Apple music launch, which many are expecting to be a brand new iPod Nano model, complete with touchscreen. It's going to be no mean feat for Samsung to match the buzz surrounding what is expected to be yet another Apple circus.

The YP-Q3 will be out later in the year. No word on pricing or release date yet, probably as Samsung are looking to undercut the competition considerably.

Via: Samsung Hub

Sony have updated their Walkman range of MP3 players with a load of colourful new NWZ-E450 models.

Aimed towards the teen market rather than at audiophiles, the NWZ-E450 series comes in five different colours and has support for .lrc files, which lets the device act as a karaoke machine by dropping the volume of vocals on a track.

Optimised for use with Windows 7, the NWZ-E450 make use of the Device Stage UI to make transferring tracks to the Walkman as easy as possible. You can even pop a couple of pictures onto the player, and then use them to customise the device's screen wallpaper, as shown on the Walkman's 2 inch QVGA display.

Playing back both audio (MP3, WMA, AAC) and video (AVC - H.264, MPEG4, WMV), the devices should also provide some pretty tasty sound quality with a VPT, dynamic normaliser and an equaliser to tweak built in too.

Coming in either 4, 8 or 16GB sizes, you'll get 50 hours of audio playback and around 10 hours of video from a single 3 hour charge.

No pricing available yet, but you'll see these in shops come August.

Cycling around may be a refreshing (and healthier) change from driving into work each day, but you cant help but miss the rich tones of your in-car stereo when on your bike. If you're wary that your iPod headphone lead will get caught in your spokes, take a look at the Cy-Fi Wireless Sports Speaker.

Weighing just 4 ounces and measuring in at 12.2 x 10. 2.9 cm, the Cy-Fi sits on your handlebars attached by a robust clip. Compatible with all iPhone, iPod and iPod Touch models (excluding the Mini and Shuffle), it'll wirelessly blast out your tunes at CD-quality as you hurtle down the high-street.

Giving 6 hours of playback from 2 hours of USB charging, the Cy-Fi has a transmission range of 30 feet, and has front-mounted playback buttons meaning that you don't have to fumble with your MP3 player to navigate your tunes.

Available from IWOOT now, click here to grab it, priced £99.99

Sony have just announced two new additions to their range of Walkman MP3 players. The Sony B150 and W250 are budget friendly music players, with the W250 aimed especially at sporty types.

The W250 Walkman in particular is most interesting, thanks to its unique design that squeezes all the controls and on-board memory into a set of earphones, without any irritating wires to get tangled in whilst out on a jog. 2GB and 4GB versions will be available, playing MP3, WMA, AAC and Linear PCM files. The W250 sets are also waterproof, perfect for listening to the music in the bath or if you suffer from a bit of a sweaty head. Featuring a rechargeable battery, you'll get 11 hours of juice out of the W250s.

The B150s are a bit more conventional on the other hand. In a memory stick-style shape, they come with a 3-line LCD display and with familiar hardware playback buttons. In 4GB and 2GB models, again the B150s feature a rechargeable battery with enough power for a cool 18 hours worth of tunes, but you'll be limited to MP3 and WMA file types.

The W250s are expected to hit stores in May, with the B150s following in June. Pricing is yet to be announced.

Check out the gallery below for more images of the new Walkman ranges

August International have today announced the launch of the MB300 Mini MP3 Music Box.

The MB300 is compatible with SD/MMC cards and USB sticks, playing back any of your MP3s stored on the devices. There is also a 3.5 mm audio line-in jack if playing songs straight off of your MP3 player itself is more convenient.

The Music Box also doubles up as a clock radio. There's an FM tuner inside, as well as three alarm modes including buzzer, FM radio and MP3 wake-up calls.

The MB300 is fitted with a built-in Lithium rechargeable battery that will provide 5 hours of playback, whilst two AAA batteries can be inserted as back up power for the clock and calendar should you be away from a mains connection for too long.

The MB300 is available now, and seems a bargain at just £24.99.

Click below for a few more images of the MB300

The Apple iTunes store is now 10 billion downloads old! After a two week countdown, the milestone has been reached, which also awards one lucky customer a $10,000 Apple gift card.

"iTunes changed the way you buy music, making songs and albums available for download, day or night. Seven years later, we're about to celebrate our biggest milestone for music, yet -- 10 billion songs downloaded," said Apple on its website in the run up to the milestone.

Apple also revealed that the most popular band in iTunes history is the Black Eyed Peas, with two tracks in the top 20 all-time downloads chart. The most popular artist is Lady Gaga, with three tracks. Lady Gaga's position is particularly telling; only hitting the worldwide music scene in the last two or so years, it shows how rapidly the iTunes store has grown in recent times.

10,000,000,000 downloads is a massive figure, showing just how important a figure in the record industry Apple has become since iTunes first launched in 2003.

MP3, you better watch yer back. MusicDNA is the new music file-format in town, and it's here to take your crown.

Or at least that's what developer Dagfinn Bach hopes. His new file type can contain complete artist packages that include videos, pictures, merchandising links and access to official band blog and Twitter feeds. And, of course, music too.

"We can deliver a file that is extremely searchable and can carry up to 32GB of extra information in the file itself," Bach explained. "And it will be dynamically updatable so that every time the user is connected, his file will be updated."

Tons of labels have already signed up to get involved with the new format, including Beggars Group, which owns Rough Trade (The Strokes, Mystery Jets), 4AD (The Big Pink, TV On The Radio), Matador Records (Sonic Youth) and XL Recordings (Vampire Weekend, MIA).

It'll be interesting to see how this one shapes up against the iTunes LP format, which likewise groups together videos, songs and artwork. But to be honest, I still prefer to own something I can hold.

Via: NME

While we sit patiently waiting for the Zune HD to hit our shores, it looks like Philips are about to sneak around the back and pop a sweet 720p outputting PMP under our noses.

The old Muse has undergone a bit of a facelift. Silver is in and black is out, with a 3.2 inch touchscreen, SD card slot and HDMI output meaning you can get 720p quality video on your flat screen from just this tiny device alone.

Also getting a bit of an update is the Philips Cam. A small, still-and-video camera packing MP3 player, this 8GB PMP looks to go head-to-head with the iPod Nano.

US readers can pick up the new Muse for $149.99 (around £92), with the Philips Cam weighing in at $99.99 (£60).

With a blatant gap in the market left by the Zune HD, will Philips capitalise and send the Muse PMP in the UK's direction? It seems a missed opportunity not to.

Via: dapreview

Another day, another Tech Digest CES 2010 round-up. Fancy Tweeting hands-free in your car or controlling your PC by breathing? Check today's top stories below and find out how.

Twitter coming to Ford cars
The digital equivalent of drink-driving?

Motorola announce Backflip Android Phone
Hinged smartphone is Motorola's big CES 2010 offering

Ion launch the iType full QWERTY keyboard add-on for the iPhone
Making the portable unwieldy

Vuzix demo Wrap 920AR Augmented Reality visor
Turning your trip to the shops into a scene out of Robocop

Zyxio's new breathing-based PC controller, the Sensawaft
Affordable accessibility gadget, perfect for disabled PC users

3D gaming headed to the Palm family
Apple isn't the only mobile now capable of some hardcore gaming action

Is the Viliv P3 the underdog tablet to look out?
Dual-booting tablet is looking very tasty indeed

Razer and Sixense bring motion gaming to the PC
But will it catch on within the incredibly competitive PC gaming peripheral market?

UK getting the Dell Mini 3i
Android phone hitting UK shores in the not-so-distant-future

Video- Armour Home Q2 Tilt Internet radio
Innovative and simple radio from Brit-based Armour

Video - "World's smallest Windows PC" the UMID M Book 1
It makes a gnat's bum look big. Well...not quite. But you get the idea

Video- Casio's Digital Art Frame
Making all those dodgy Facebook snaps look good

Video - The coolest retro iPhone hi-fi ever, Lasonic's i931
Bring 80's boom box street-chic bang up to date

Video - Toshiba's Cell TV that is controlled by hand gestures
Innovative tech, but it makes you look a bit of an idiot; not sure I want a work out in front of the telly

Video - Sony's BRAVIA XBR-52HX900 3D TV
Their flagship 3D set is a stunner

Video - Panasonic's 3D camera
Bet the adult-entertainment industry cant wait to get its mitts on this one

Click here for more CES 2010 coverage from Tech Digest

Tech Digest at CES is sponsored by Best Buy. For more CES stories and videos go here

With CES 2010 now well under way, it can be pretty tough keeping track of all the latest announcements. Here's Tech Digest's round-up of the of best Day 1 at CES 2010 so far, including all the news from the LG and Toshiba press conferences.

Toshiba Press Conference
Amazing new Cell Tvs promise to deliver real-time 2D to 3D conversion

Samsung ready N-range netbooks
Massive battery life makes this Samsung range stand out from the pack

LG Press Conference
3D tech is as big on LG's agenda as expected

Immerz KOR-FX acousto-haptic gear lets you "feel" your gaming experience
Slightly creepy, sort of cool new tech promises to fully immerse you in games and movies

Sony NW-A845 Walkman finally gets European release
Super-slim MP3 player hitting stores in February

Microsoft to unveil new HP built tablet?
Rumour has it Microsoft may be preparing to square up against the Apple iSlate

Brits get the Amazon Kindle DX from January 19th
Too little too late from Amazon?

PassivSystems heating control
Economise with this hot Brit-built energy management system

ZOMM Bluetooth leash for your mobile
Never lose your mobile again thanks to this Bluetooth alert system

Saygus VPHONE
New Android handset enters the smartphone fray

Parrot's AR Drone Quadricpoter
Augmented reality app controls this fun gadget copter

Iriver Story e-reader goes wireless and gets a proper launch
A long time coming, but finally the Story gets a happy ending

Six of this year's hottest products
Featuring such gadgetry delights as the Skiff e-reader

Why Apple is the real star of the show
Have Apple stolen the lime-light yet again, without even appearing in Vegas?

Will it be any good this year?
In a recessionary year, Ashley Norris gives his views on what to expect from this year's show.

Click here for more CES 2010 coverage from Tech Digest

Tech Digest at CES is sponsored by Best Buy. For more CES stories and
videos go here

Sony's super-slim, super sexy NW-A845 Walkman has been wowing music lovers in Japan for some time now, and now Sony are finally unleashing the flagship PMP upon European audiences.

Measuring just 7.2mm thick, the music player features a 2.8 inch OLED screen and is bundled with a premium set of EX earphones.

Perhaps best of all, the NW-A845 has a mammoth 29 hour battery life, more than enough to work through an entire one of those Time Life "Sounds of the Sixties" box sets always advertised on the telly.

The NW-A845 will be hitting stores in February. No word on pricing yet, but we'll let you know as soon as we do.

Click here for more CES 2010 coverage from Tech Digest

TechDigest at CES is sponsored by Best Buy. For more CES stories and
videos go here.

A new EU restriction may see the volume levels across all iPods and MP3 players capped.

EU officials believe that as many as 10 million EU residents risk permanent damage to their hearing from listening to music played too loudly from personal music players.

Officials are looking to bring the maximum volume level for all music players down to no more than 85 decibels, which they claim is equal to the noise produced by a busy city street.

However, Tony Graziano of DigitalMusic has dammed the restricitons. He said: "85dB would not be appropriate because noise coming from traffic, engines and so on would obliterate the sound. The solution must lie in a balance between safety and enjoyment of the product by the consumer."

However, the plans suggest that while such lowered volume levels would be the default setting for new players, users could override the cap in the system settings.

Apple has already lowered the maximum volume levels on its iPod range once before, bringing the maximum volume level down to 100db.

Via: T3

Logic3 today unveiled their new line of portable speakers, the iStationGo range.

The fold-away iStationGo speakers come in pink, blue, silver and black, with rounded edges that should make the speakers go easy on the lining of your bag. The speakers ship with a protective cloth carry case and four AAA batteries.

Thanks to a 3.5mm headphone jack, the iStationGo speakers will be compatible with a whole range of MP3 players and mobile phones. The four included AAA batteries will power the speakers for 15 hours, a pretty reasonable amount of time for portable speakers. The speakers also feature a cradle to place the iPod Touch, iPod Nano and iPhone either vertically or horizontally which should be useful for movie lovers.

The iStationGo speakers cost £19.99 and are available here directly from Logic3.

If you're looking to get your MP3 player or iPod out of its civvies and into something a little more battle-ready, check out Headfunk's Sidefunk Speaker bags.

Powered by 2 AA batteries, the camouflage-styled speakers have a frequency range of 20-20,000 Hz, connecting up to your player via a 3.5mm universal headphone jack. A durable EVA lining should protect your player from scratches or other mishaps, whilst a karabiner belt clip lets the speakers hang hands free whilst you're out and about.

They're not the prettiest casings out there, but camouflage on the front line was always intended to be frightening rather than fashionable we suppose.

Headfunk's Sidefunk speaker bags cost £24.99 and are available here.

Klipsh are ready to launch a new updated version of their popular iGroove SXT dock. This latest incarnation of the speaker system can accommodate all the latest iPod and iPhone models, including the iPhone 3GS.

The iGroove SXT employs dual long-throw 2.5-inch woofers in a ported enclosure and dual 19mm horn-loaded tweeters. Each driver is individually amplified to lessen distortion and Klipsch has also re-tuned the bass ports on the sides of the system to remove any "port noise".

The dock also has S-video out, allowing users to play videos on their TVs, and a 1000mA charger built into the dock to keep your Apple gadgets powered up.

"The iGroove SXT has always been our smallest, most affordable dock speaker," said Don Inmon, Klipsch director of marketing and product development for personal audio. "And even with all its new updates, we're keeping the original system price of £129.99. I think consumers will be really pleased with the results."

The iGroove SXT dock is available here from Amazon, priced £114.99.

If you're looking for a new iPod dock and want one unit to play music throughout the house, then the Evolve Wireless Sound System from Griffin could be just what you're after.

Completely wireless, the Evolve iPod dock features two speakers that can be used up to 150 ft away from the docking station. The speakers charge wirelessly too once placed on the dock's base, nicely removing the need for any unsightly chargers.

There's also a remote control, allowing you to play, pause, shuffle and control volume from any room. It's not a bad looking piece of kit either, with the simple box-shaped speakers fitting in in most homes.

You can pick up the Evolve Wireless Speaker System here, priced at £249.99.

Sennheiser's new Bluetooth headphones, the MM 100 will use multi-point connectivity to connect to two devices at once, perfect for those who always have their phones and MP3 players on the go.

Using Bluetooth V2.0 EDR, the headset can connect up to a MP3 player and a mobile phone, allowing quick switching between both devices.

The headphones will also support hands free and have a battery life of 9 hours, rechargeable via USB.

Sennheiser are always pretty reliable when it comes to sonics, with the MM 100 set to feature a wide dynamic range and natural sound reproduction.

The MM 100 will cost around £129.99, and will be launched by O2 in November.

For more details, click here.

A by-product of the digital age we live in is the need for untold different chargers for each device we own. Mobile phones, MP3 players, gaming systems; you name it, they each come with their own cupboard-filling charger. The Powermat is set to revolutionise the world of chargers, wirelessly powering a wealth of gadgets.

Requiring only a single mains connection and using wireless energy transfer, Powermat pairs an ultra-thin mat with a receiver that connects to your device. By simply placing an enabled device on the Powermat, the mat and receiver will work together to charge up to three devices at once. Incredibly, charging occurs at the same rate or faster than if the device was using a standard charger plugged into an electrical socket, even when multiple devices are placed on the Mat.

Price however may prove to be a big draw back. If you are the sort of person looking to buy a Powermat, then you will likely have at least two or three compatible devices that need charging. When you consider that many devices need a unique receiver to charge with the mat, each roughly around the £30 mark, a couple of charger leads suddenly don't look all that unattractive.

The Powermat is available from John Lewis, The Carphone Warehouse and Amazon. Powermats cost from £69.99, with individual receivers starting at £29.99.

Need convincing? Check out the demonstration video below.

YBA, the French designers behind 25 years of high end audio-manufacturing, have turned their attention to the iPod with their new iDW1 docking station.

Featuring a minimalist design inspired by architect Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe, the dock is made completely of aluminium and hides no plastic parts.

The iDW1 YBA iPod docking station features composite video output, a remote control with support for browsing playlists and albums as well as having the regular play, pause, stop, rewind and fast-forward commands and also includes an Apple Universal connector to hook-up the whole range of iPod products.

The iDW1 is in shops now for around the £150 mark.

For more information, check www.ybadesign.com.