My word, actual innovation coming for a digital audio player. It’s certainly been a while. It’s called the Twinned MP3 player, and its gimmick is that it’s actually two separate players joined at the hips, so to speak. Each half of the player is a fully functional player; both half contains the same playlist of music, a playlist that’s controlled by an online server. So… → Read More
Some of you thought our Zune 2coverage went overboard yesterday. Then again, I seem to remember hearing similar complaints regarding our recent iPod coverage as well. Can’t please ‘em all, I suppose. But hey, here’s a DAP that has nothing to do with Apple or Microsoft, the RAmos MiniQ. I mean, if you can spot the DAP in some of these photos I’ll give you one dollar… → Read More
Microsoft launched the Zune 2 family last night while I was dreaming about being a New York City police officer (that’s real, btw), to, nearest I can tell, nearly zero fanfare. (That’s what you get when you inform no one about its launch.) As much as I’d love to needlessly hate on the new Zunes, they’re not all bad. Sure, there’s no touch screen and they’re more… → Read More
Belkin continues to move ahead with its TuneCast line of FM transmitters for DAPs. The TuneCast 3 shares much, if not all, of its features with the TuneCast II: broadcast to any unused FM station, auto power save, compatible with all iPods and other DAPs, etc. Obviously they look different and I’d have to say that the TuneCast 3 looks much better, especially the display. It’s more… → Read More
Creative’s Zen WAV is slowly making its way into stores, and can already be found on Wal-Mart’s well-designed Web site. The WAV is Creative’s first DAP to include built-in speakers, sure to be useful to a few of you. (Those guys who perform on the subway platforms, for example.) Its $80-for-2GB and $100-for-4GB price is more than reasonable, but that it shares so much in the way… → Read More
Designers are crazy. That’s the only way you could explain the description of Dimple, a DAP that invites us, humans, to touch its dimple. That little, oh-so-tantalizing depression in the center of the player controls volume and fast-forward/rewind. (Well, if it were real; it’s just a concept.) Apparently the designer, one Priscilla Lui, didn’t bother improving the headphones… → Read More
This KanaSD DAP from Green House Japan follows the “B.Y.O.S.” mantra—bring your own storage. As the name implies, it uses SD cards as its storage medium, with no hard drive—flash or otherwise—to speak of. This keeps costs down (it’s only around $27), but does necesisate that you carry around pockets full of SD cards everywhere you go. The KanaSD, which is only… → Read More
Poor Canada, no one cares about you, hockey or the fact that you very well might have to pay additional taxes every time you buy an iPod. It seems like the Copyright Board of Canada has green lighted the tax on DAPs and flash storage cards. (It can’t be any worse, ideologically at least, than the $1 Microsoft pays Universal per Zune sold.) If the tax actually goes into effect, the price of a… → Read More
Ta-da! The iRiver Mplayer, the DAP in the shape of America’s most beloved Disney mouse. Nothing out of the ordinary as far as specs go—1GB of storage, MP3, WMA, etc.—but seeing as though it’s in the shape Mickey Mouse, I have reason to believe it’ll sell well. In Korea, that is. → Read More
Who wants to look like a complete creep this summer? If you wear these Digital Cowboy MP3-playing HX-01 sunglasses not only should you be punched in the face for being a tool, but you should be forced to forfeit your right to vote and pursue happiness. OK, it has 1GB of built-in memory, great. So does an iPod shuffle or any number of other, normal DAPs. The lack of AAC support is also a knock… → Read More
Good for Creative, coming out an update to its Zen Stone DAP not even two months after its initial announcement. The update, which adds a small OLED screen and doubles the storage capacity to 2GB, has been christened the Zen Stone Plus. Other goodies include a built-in FM tuner and voice recorder. Fun for everyone! Too bad it’s not listed as coming out over here. I’m sure Creative… → Read More
Believe it or not, but Samsung actually makes it some fine DAPs, but it’s hard to notice them in a world full of iPods and iPod accessories. The U3, which first crossed our path several days ago, looks to be simultaneously taking on the iPod shuffle and iPod nano with storage capacities of 1, 2 and 4GB. Unlike the shuffle, the U3 actually has a display, even if it’s only a four-line… → Read More
In my Brooklyn neighborhood, I’m surrounded by Christians, Hasidic and non-Hasidic Jews, Rastafarians, Santeria initiates, and the occasional Sikh. The MP3 player market must have similar diversity, right?naïveriffic! Well, not quite… in fact, I was disappointed at the dearth of religious zeal wrapped in a shamelessly commercial product–though Kosher cell phones do give me some… → Read More
Thomson’s a fairly small player in the DAP world (and who isn’t compared to Apple and Microsoft?), but its shiny new EH308 could draw some eyeballs if it plays its cards right. It’s a tiny little guy with a 1.8-inch OLED display. Despite its diminutive size, and owing much to that OLED display, battery life is comparable to some of the bigger guys at around 15 hours. The 8GB hard… → Read More
I guess summertime in the North brings about an influx of waterproof gadgets. Japan’s latest is the SD Zabady from Twin Bird, a waterproof digital audio player that sticks to the basics in order to bring you, the customer, a pleasurable waterproof experience. Its built-in 128MB of storage is offset by the inclusion of an SD card slot, bringing its total capacity up to a more mainstream (and… → Read More
Remember Hit Stix? Sure you do. It was a poorly-executed good idea in the early days of motion-sensing toys. It was a pair of plastic drumsticks connected to a belt-holstered speaker. You moved the stick, and an actuator inside would make contact to a lead, sending a short “snap!” of static to the speaker. That was Hit Stix. The iPod Digital Drumsticks are the updated version of the… → Read More
If you look very closely, you’ll see that Pansonic has updated its D-Snap line of digital audio players. The new kid on the block is the SD850N, an SD card-based DAP that comes with a 1GB card thrown in for good measure. Just like its SD800 forefather, the 850N features noise canceling voodoo, which blocks out up to 83 percent of unwanted outside noise. Good, because when I’m listening… → Read More
JVC has perhaps the strangest digital audio player right now and it’s currently floating around Japanese bathtubs. The XA-AW33 is a waterproof DAP that’s supposed to cause you to relax. When music bellows out of its mono speaker, it generates water ripples; a blue LED is also said to enhance the calming effect of the DAP. It’s got 265MB of flash and plays MP3s and WMAs. I predict… → Read More
Samsung knows that the perfect way to give a consumer electronics product more life or buzz is to dip it into a giant can of paint. Behold, the reborn Yepp K3 digital audio player, now in [Christmas] red and green. Like always with these fruitily-colored devices, the specs haven’t changed at all. Not that they’re bad or anything, with storage capacities of 1, 2 and 4GB and a 1.8-inch… → Read More
iRiver keeps fighting the useless fight against the iPod, this time trying to convince us that its 1GB T50 is as cool as the shuffle. How you could think otherwise is beyond me, what with its little knob navigation thing and tiny 1.01-inch screen. Like everything else iRiver, it does support nerd-friendly audio formats like OGG (and MP3 and WMA, natch). Other useful gems include FM radio support… → Read More
Austin, TX
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
San Francisco, CA
Berlin, Germany
