Or just someone having fun with PhotoShop? Mmm. They were originally on CNET Australia's website a few hours ago - culled from the site of an accessory manufacturer called Cygnet. However CNET Australia's editors have since back tracked a little and wonders that they might be fake. Well we'll know soon enough. Whoever is responsible hasn't forgotten to add the cameras...

'Rock and Roll' is the name of the event, but you can bet Apple's press announcement tonight is much more about technology, product evolution and branding than hairy blokes with guitars. Still nevertheless with a few hours to go the jury is out on whether tonight will be like The Smiths reforming and playing Wembley or a Chas and Dave reunion gig in your local pub.

So to help you decide for yourself here are the top rumours of what Apple may or may not announce today. We do know there will be a new iPod Touch and a new Nano. But what else?

1 An iPod Touch with a built in camera - Well everyone thinks this is going to happen including US retailer Best Buy who even put it on their site yesterday. The theory runs that people would take their Touches out and about a bit more if they had a built in camera. So Apple will probably lob in the same 3.0 mega pixel one that is one the iPhone.

2 A Beatles iPod classic - Yep another limited edition iPod, only this time one worth having. The theory is that it would contain all the Fab Four's recently remastered albums and probably have Macca giving it the thumbs up engraved on the back.

3 The death of the iPod Classic - Well this is unlikely as Apple will probably continue to sell the old models, but by not announcing a new version Apple could well be consigning the iconic flagship of the Apple fleet (well circa 2005) to the dumper. Well where else can they take it? More storage? A bigger screen?

4 An iPod nano phone - Now this would be left field. A cut down version of the iPhone has been rumoured for a long time and with Android phone appearing every twenty minutes maybe now is the time to launch it. Btw Best Buy has apparently already confirmed a new iPod nano.

5 An Apple tablet PC - Another rumour that gets trotted out every few months. Again it would make sense to launch something that was somewhere between the iPhone and the Macbook Air. Alternatively Apple can unveil its own netbook - think a Macbook Air but half the size and even skinnier with a 10inch screen and running the iPhone's OS. Now that could work.

5 Project Cocktail - Like this one a lot, it's a way of repackaging albums on iTunes so they include interactive content including lyric sheets, photos, cover art, sleeve notes and other freebies. The iTunes store needs something innovative and different and this would fit the bill.

And one that is very unlikely, but you never know...

1 Apple pulling out of mobile phone market - Not as daft as it sounds. The iPhone has been a hit in the UK and US but not many other places in the world. Maybe it might make sense to licence the iPhone OS rather than offer the hardware too.

Today is going to be a big day for Apple. At 6PM UK time we'll get the low-down on the next generation of iPods with tremendous innovations such as a three mega pixel camera popping up on the iPod touch and maybe an iPod classic with even more storage. Well hopefully it will be a tad more exciting than that.

There's also a huge rumour that today is the day that The Beatles back catalogue finally arrives in iTunes.

The theory runs that...
• The remastered CDs are being launched today
• Beatles Rock Band edition goes on sale today
• It is the 9/9 2009. I am sure Lennon would have liked that

Oh, and Yoko Ono told Sky news it would be announced today.

Unfortunately EMI, which own the rights to the best back catalogue in the history of rock ever, have said it won't be happening and Sky News has started to back track. So is this is a disaster for digital music? Course not.

Personally don't give a fig whether The Beatles back catalogue is available on iTunes or not. Tunes as momentous as A Day in The Life, Tomorrow Never Knows and err Octopus' Garden deserve to be heard in the best sound quality and that does mean the remastered CDs. Besides, who really is going to buy The Beatles stuff on iTunes? I am guessing that anyone who has an iPod probably likes music and viz a viz probably has at least a few of The Beatles albums in their collection on CD. Ok, so iTunes might be good for grabbing a few of the good tracks from the weaker albums like Beatles for Sale, but really is this big event - don't think so.

I think it would be much more momentous if The Beatles tracks ended up on Spotify free for all. There's an argument that says the Fab Four have become so much part of our national psyche/heritage call it what you will, that like the FA Cup Final, The Last Night of The Proms, The Ashes, they deserve to be available freely to everyone.

At the moment I have strong feeling that tonight's Apple shindig might just be a bit of damp squib. I hope not, but for me anyhow a camera on an iPod Touch and even a few fab tracks on iTunes simply won't cut it.

What do you think?

The Sony Walkman B140 is very nearly a true MP3 player, except it plays WMA files as well. There's no poncey video screen on this 26g device, just a 3-line LCD that tells you what music's playing. What it does do, though, it appears to do very well.

It takes just 3 minutes of USB charging to get 90 minutes of listening time but, if you're not in any hurry, it'll offer 18 hours of playback after a 70 min's wait. They come in 2GB and 4GB models, in pink, orange, red and black, and even with an FM radio too.

Features-wise there's a very early 90s sounding Bass Boost but, best of all, I'm just glad to see small MP3 players sticking to the USB roots for both charging and music transfers. Cables are so two Tuesday's ago.

The "MP3s are a bit rubbish" spiel is almost getting as tired as the "megapixels do not a camera make" lecture but all the same it's nice to see a gadget that's doing its best to iron out the kinks in your crushed up music tracks. That's the job of the Radiopaq Sound Jacket which is a rather swish, brushed metal looking add-on for the 4th gen iPod Nano.

It works as a dynamic graphics equalizer, reacting automatically to the music played from the mini-pod in order to bolster and enrich the sound in all the right places and with any luck should make them sound good. A lot of players - like the Philips GoGears - have these kind of features built-in, so you'd hope Radiopaq has got something really special going on here or I'm likely to pan the hell out of when I get to try one out for review.

There's all sorts of graphs explaining how you get more frequencies through it and that it improves the quality of sound by 60% but it rather smells like nonsense to me. Not saying it doesn't work, just that quantifying an audio sensory experience by numbers is utter tosh.

The jacket powers off the pod which is both good and bad. No annoying batteries or charge time but your Nano is going to go flat quicker; 12 hours listening time is what they say.

It's yours for £69.99 as soon as they get it on the Amazon shelves and, with any luck, it'll actually be worth it.

Radiopaq

Not content with unleashing their latest mini-PC range, Archos also used today's launch event to announce the arrival of three PMPs to add to their line-up.

The vision range's flagship PMP is the touch-screen Archos 3 vision. It's just 9mm thick and it only weighs 56g. The touchscreen is 3-inches with a resolution of 400x240.

It has 8GB of storage and supports multiple media formats including...deep breath...MP3, WMA (non protected files), WAV, OGG, FLAC, MPEG 1/2/4, WMV (non protected files), FLV, AVI, RM, RMVB, JPEG, BMP and GIF. It ships with a cable for TV playback and it also plays FM radio.

Playback time is 14 hours for audio and four for video. A cool feature is the FM transmitter which allows you play back your audio via any radio you can sync with it - iTrip stylee.

The real good news with regards to the Archos 3 vision is the price. £89.99 is very reasonable for a touch-screen PMP.

Sony has announced a range of mini USB-based MP3 players that should more than rival the iPod shuffle in the gym bunny market.

The Zappin name comes from its functionality which allows users to listen to a five second clip of a song before deciding whether or not to play it. Handy if you're working on your guns and you need to find the exact tune to pump you up when you're unable to move your head to look at the LCD screen.

The players have 2GB of storage, can play WMA as well as MP3 and also have a built in FM radio. The battery life is an astonishing 18 hours from a single charge and the Zappin only weighs 26g. Drag and drop is supported so no need to install any software.

No price has been confirmed by Sony. Sorry about that.

(via Akihabara)

Reports from Japan indicate that Sony is looking at more than just mobile phone handsets in terms of utilising Google's open source operating system, Android.

Rumours of an Android based Walkman and also a personal navigation device (PND) are true, according to an analyst speaking to Japan's Nikkan, and should hit the market next year.

The thought of two of the biggest tech institutions teaming up may seem terrifying for some but it could be great news for consumers. With Sony already attempting to connect the user experience between its existing products, the possibilities when you throw Android into that mix could be monumental.

(via Engadget)

Tomorrow is Free Music Friday, well, if you're a Vodafone customer it is.

Vodafone is marking the release of unlocked tracks on it's music store by offering eight songs for free! Eight whole freaking songs!

Want to see the songs? Ciara featuring Justin Timberlake - Love Sex Magic; Daniel Merriweather - Change; Lady GaGa - Poker Face; Lily Allen - Not Fair (Style Of Eye remix); Pixie Lott - Rolling Stone; Simple Minds - Rockets; Tinchy Stryder feat N-Dubz - Number 1; Clubbers Guide 2009 Mixtape.

Awesome yes? What a reward for Vodafone's loyal customers. Finally, you'll be able to listen to song's you've, you know - bought, on whatever you like, not just your phone. And to celebrate that momentous victory of consumer over company, you can listen to Dappy and his buddies making raps and what have you.

That is what you do isn't it - make a rap? I mean rap isn't a verb, unless you're rapping someone across the knuckles - surely...surely!

Vodafone clearly hasn't realized since Spotify appeared everyday is Free Music day.

As a mark of protest can everyone on Vodafone please download all eight songs and then delete them.

Vodafone: Why. Even. Bother.

Philips has launched the wallet-friendly MP3 (et al) player known as the GoGear Opus. We saw a little something of the 8GB/16GB device - well Zara did - out in Lisbon and now we hear it allows you to pay downloaded BBC iPlayer content too. Nice touch.

The Zune HD will be launched in the US on 5th September according to Microsoft guru Paul Thurott.

But as the American launch edges palpably closer, a UK launch is beginning to seem impossible rather than improbable.

The Zune's HD radio wouldn't work in the UK where we use DAB and the ZunePass music subscription service, used in the US, is none-existent in Europe.

Pipe smoking, tech high-brow, Jack Schofield writes on Guardian.co.uk, "Sony is already offering much better sound quality than Apple, OLED screens, built in FM radio and better file support at reasonable prices. Admittedly it still has to re-educate a market that still thinks Sony supports ATRAC and requires horrible SonicStage software, but that's probably an easier job than establishing the Zune brand from scratch."

Which he's right about. Well, the Zune thing, not the iPod thing: The sound quality on Sony Mp3 players is simply not any better than the iPod's. That's just not true. The thing that has made the iPod successful is how seamless it is. From it's beautiful design, across every device and generation, to its amazingly simple and balanced UIs and a sound quality that's as good as any personal media player out there.

That's what has made the iPod ubiquitous, it's simplicity. And that simplicity isn't something Microsoft has ever been good at (ie... Vista). That being said, I'd be sad not to see the Zune HD launched here in some form, purely because it looks like a good product. I'm sick of these US only products. What have they done to deserve them? I want the Kindle 2 and Zune HD on these shores by the end of the year - got it.

(Via SlashGear)

Microsoft has announced the arrival of the Zune HD, portable media player. The new Zune will aim to be a web surfing, digital radioing, multi-touch screened thorn in the side of the smug iPod touch.

Boasting a yummy 3.3 inch OLED screen (with 16:9 ratio) and HDMI output, it looks like Microsoft are finally getting serious about taking on Apple's iPod, although no comment was made as to the capacity or pricing of the new Zune.

You'll be able to use the Zune to watch 720p HD video on your HDTV too, which is pretty neat. But looking at the release pictures, it doesn't look like the Zune is going to rival the iPod in the sexyness stakes. Although an improvement on the original Zune which was undeniably hideously proportioned, the new Zune is still far from sexy.

Think of it as going from Nora Battie to Sonia Jackson - it's only a bit better.

Microsoft might have done better by spending all the money they've splashed on developing the Zune HD trying to tempt Jonathan Ive to go over to the dark side. Sorry, did I say dark side, I meant Microsoft, easy mistake to make.

(Via TechTree)

Intro

Apple's iPod touch has some serious rivals in the form of the Sony Walkman X Series and Samsung P3 PMPs.

Which one stacks up as the best for music, video, and all round appeal? Read on as the Tech Digest guide pits these mighty touchscreen handsets against one another.

Battle of the Specs: Feature Comparison

Let's leave aside fanboy love for Apple and Sony (does Samsung have fanboys too? I'm not sure) and take a look at how the main features stack up.

This is top-of-the-line stuff. If you want detailed specifications you'd better skip to the end of the page.

Display

For pure real estate, the iPod touch trumps both the Walkman X Series and the P3, with a 3.5-inch display compared to just 3-inch for the others.

However, when it comes to aspect ratio, the Samsung's screen is 16:9 -- perfectly suited for widescreen video -- whereas the Sony has a rather bizarre 9:5 aspect ratio and the touch 3:2.

That means, in raw resolution terms, the touch (480 x 320) trumps the P3 (480 x 272) which trumps the X Series (432 x 240).

Having said all that, Sony's screen is based on OLED technology for a much brighter, crisper display than the other two handsets.

It used to be a fairly obvious choice if you wanted a high end MP3 player. Like them or not, Apple seemed to be making all the good looking ones. Then along comes CES 2009 and suddenly we have two contenders in the form of the Samsung P3 and the one that hits the shelves today - the Sony Walkman X Series as modelled by Zara.

There's no denying the specs of the thing but the reflection and smudge factor on that screen could be an issue in the sunlight after a good thumbing. We all like a good thumbing.

The price is also depressingly in line with the iPod Touch, so keep an eye out for the P3. That's my tip.

X Series on Amazon

There's been some degree of toing and froing regarding the launch of the Microsoft Zune HD or Project Pink and after some excitement it seems there will be no Zune in June. In fact, there's a very good chance that we won't see the this cult PMP get a refresh until 2010. I know one man who'll be shedding tears tonight. (not me, honest.)

What has been rescued from the barrel of circumspect are some pretty solid looking details for something known as the Windows Mobile 7 Chassis 1 which is apparently what has been driving all the Pink rumours. Detailed spec list over virtual leaf...

Sony is launching the X Series Walkman today along with a luxury cinema to show it off complete with Welsh lingerie model Danielle Bux dressed as an usherette. Why did I let Zara go to this event?

The X Series has a 3.0" OLED touchscreen and comes in 16GB and 32GB versions, and Sony reckons the audio-video experience on the 432 x 240 display is like having a cinema in your pocket, hence the event which is open to the public and takes place on a specially converted Tube carriage.

I doubt Ms Bux will be there all week but from tomorrow (13th May) you can get yourself down there to experience the popcorn, films and, of course, the X Series itself if you drop the organisers a line.

The X Series is available to buy from tomorrow. It's £209 for the 16GB version or £279 if you'd like the full 32GB. Both will play all the standard files including WMAs and non-DRM AACs but don't support the lossless FLAC.

They have FM tuners and Wi-Fi for access to iPlayer and YouTube and they also feature noise cancelling technology and Sony S-Mater. I recommend picking them up a little cheaper here and here.

Sony Style Store

A company in Kalamazoo called Rapid Repair has started running an iPod upgrading service. Currently, the largest pod that Apple supplies is the 120GB classic which'll only bag you 24,000 tracks at the most - not really enough for any true file junkies out there.

What RR does is to remove the old, small Apple HDD and, unfortunately, the guarantee with it, and replace it with a much more advanced but same sized 1.8" Toshiba 240GB storage unit. Hey presto, a doubly big MP3 player.

It'll cost you $300 plus whatever the postage might be to Michigan and back. With any luck someone this side of the Pond will clue up to the business which is turning a very tidy 25% profit incidentally. In the mean time, Rapid Repairs are looking into Zunes and other MP3 machines. Doubtless, the original manufacturers will be thrilled.

(via Small Business)

Word has it that Microsoft is preparing for the launch of a Zune phone. Yes, we've heard these kinds of rumours and seen all sorts of mock ups before but this time it's slightly different.

Microsoft has apparently put the cat amongst agency pigeons by searching for an advertising team to work on something known as "Pink". Now on the one hand this could just be the colour scheme for Stevie B's next bathroom suite but sources say that it's most likely software for mobile phones.

Now it sits rather odd that The Soft would undermine Windows Mobile like that, despite what many consumers think about the platform, so it's not out of the question that Pink could in fact be a Zune phone unto itself.

What we do know for sure is that the ad agencies are in a frenzy trying to get the account and in one shape or another, it looks like decent gaming might just be coming to mobile phones by CES 2010.

(via PMP today)

One in 10 people have accidents at the gym involving the wires of their music players. So says Sony as the launch their W Series Walkman, sans cables of course.

The head wearable set holds 2GB-worth of MP3s, AACs and WMAs and will play them back for a 90-minute stretch through the 13.5mm EX headphones - and all after just a three minute quick charge. A full charge buys you 12 whole hours of playback and if you chose to spend the £59 at the Sony store you can take your pick from either black,
white, pink, green or violet. Gallacher not included.

Top five male exercise tracks

1. Queen - Don't Stop Me Now (17%)
2. Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run (11%)
3. Snap! - The Power (8%)
4. The Killers - Mr Brightside (8%)
5. Bodyrockers - I Like The Way (7%)

Top five female exercise tracks

1. Girls Aloud - Jump (16%)
2. Lady Gaga - Just Dance (11%)
3. Duffy - Mercy (8%)
4. Salt 'n' Pepa - Push It (8%)
5. James Brown - I Feel Good (8%)

CES 2009 Sony Walkman Preview:

On Barack Obama's official visit to Buckingham Palace last night, he handed over an iPod to the Queen as a gift, stuffed with video of her 2007 visit to the U.S. and a bunch of tracks from Broadway musicals including "Cats", "South Pacific" and "Oklahoma!".

Not that impressive, really, is it? It wasn't even engraved with the Royal Seal. She's already got one, too - a 6GB iPod Mini, which Prince Andrew suggested she buy in 2005. Her Maj was a little more classy - giving Obama her traditional gift of a framed photograph of herself and Prince Phillip.

(via Telegraph)