Tag: mp3 player
Sony Walkman X Series – hands on VIDEO
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.
No Zune in June but base specs for next Microsoft PMP revealed
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…
WM7 Chassis 1 Specification
Core requirements:
Processor: ARM v6+, L2 Cache, VFP, Open GL ES 2.0 graphics HW (QCOM 8k, Nvidia AP15/16* and TI 3430 all meet spec)
Memory: 256MB+ DRAM, 1G+ Flash (at least 512MB fast flash – 5MB/s unbuffered read @4K block size)
Display: WVGA (800×480) or FWVGA (854×480) 3.5″ or greater diagonal
Touch: Multi-touch required
Battery: Sufficient to meet Days of Use LTK requirements.
Controls: Start, Back, Send and End are required (soft controls allowed as long as they are always present).
Peripherals:
Camera: 3MP+, flash optional, 2nd camera optional (VGA resolution sufficient)
GPS: aGPS required
Sensors required: Light Sensor, Compass (3 axis, 5 degrees, 100 Hz sample rate), Accelerometer (3 axis, 2mg resolution, 100 Hz sample rate)
USB: High speed required, 20 MB/s transfer rate.
BlueTooth: BT2.1 required, must run MSFT BT stack, CSR BlueCore6 or later recommended.
Wi-Fi: 802.11B/G required, must run MSFT Native Wi-Fi stack, Atheros 6002 or Broadcomm 4325 recommended.
Connectors: Micro USB and 3.5mm Audio required.
Options:
FM tuner: If tuner HW is present it will be detected and supported by the Media application.
Haptics
SD Card (Micro SD recommended)
DPAD, qwerty or 12/20 key keyboards all optional
Nothing wildly stand-out going one here. There appears to be little to celebrate or complain about. Can’t see any 3G there, which might have been nice, but otherwise I reckon we’re looking good. So, when we going to get one then, Softie?
(via ZDnet & Neowin)
Danielle Bux as an usherette at Sony X Series luxury cinema
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
Philips NP2900 – MP3 streaming with sound engineering
Part of me thinks that Philips is too scared to give its products proper names in case we’re disappointed with what they produce. It’s a bit of a shame really because the quite dry sounding Philips NP2900 is actually a very nice piece of kit.
What we’re looking at is an apparently well designed, well engineered £249 machine that’ll work over Wi-Fi to play streamed MP3s from your hard drive and all billions of internet radio stations too.
Better still, the NP, er, what was that number again, comes with a new Philips technology they call LivingSound which aims to expand the stereo sweet spot of the system with a series of precisely angled drivers within the four speakers and specially levelled internal amps. The plan is to broaden the soundscape as much as possible.
Naturally, it also comes with Philips FullSound tech too which aims to unruin the ruin caused by MP3 file compression at the slight expense of having to guess what the music is supposed to sound like. Perhaps not a technology for the purist but then nor are MP3s.
Available from May ’09 (this month)
Philips Ariaz and Opus GoGear Review:
Sony W Series Walkman launches at £59.00 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:
SHINY VIDEO REVIEW: Nintendo DSi
Since its release in 2004, Nintendo has managed to shift nearly 100 million of the diminutive Nintendo DS handhelds. That places the device fourth in the best-selling-consoles-of-all-time list, behind the Playstation, (102m), Game Boy (118m) and the Playstation 2 (140m).
But Nintendo isn’t ready to give up just yet. The company will be launching the DSi on April 4th, which features bigger screens, a faster processor, two cameras and an MP3 player, among other things. I got my hands on it a few days ago, and above you can see what I thought.
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Apple unveils talking iPod Shuffle
When the Apple store drops off the internet for a few hours there’s only ever one reason and now that the curtain is up again we’ve got a new look 4GB iPod Shuffle to coo about. Coo coo…
Philips GoGear Spark: now with full colour screen, but little else
Philips has leant its range of budget MP3 players a long overdue refresh. Remember the GoGear? Well, ladles and jellyspoons, I give you – the GoGear Spark!
Yes, that’s right; gather round, gather round. What once was a rather plain Jane super brain of mini OLEDs has become a fully colour…
Sony X-series touchscreen Walkmans get priced
Sony’s forthcoming X-Series of touchscreen OLED MP3 players, which they’re still insisting on calling a Walkman, are now available on Amazon to pre-order.
There’s a 16GB model for £214, and a…
SHINY VIDEO PREVIEW: Philips Ariaz and Opus GoGear
Lucky old Zara's in Lisbon. Am I jealous? Yes, I'm jealous, but it's not the jet-setting, room service and warm weather that I'm annoyed about missing out on…well, sort of…it's that she gets to play with all the new toys.
The latest transmission she's beamed back to Shiny HQ is a little look at two new MP3 players from Philips with stereo Bluetooth, QVGA screens, noise cancelling…
