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 when Person A adds a song to the online playlist it doesn’t become “official” until Person B syncs their player. The idea here is that the two players will always have the same playlist, so, presumably, you and your friend will always be listening to the same music. Perhaps you and your special girl have a song that reminds you of some important event in your relationship—well now you’ll always have that song with you, together. It’s designed by one Liberty Fearns, but the odds of it go into mass production? Eh. → 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 (they’re worthless now anyway). There’s almost too many features to even try to list, but here it goes: 2GB, OLED display, SRS WOW (lol)… Think iPod Shuffle, but one with a tiny screen. Much more exciting than new iPods or new Zunes. → 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 of a facelift than anything else, they’re not bad little DAPs. Microsoft brings something to the table that Apple couldn’t (or wouldn’t)—a 16GB flash model. I’m all about flash-based players nowadays—I walked into an Apple store ready to buy the 160GB iPod Classic, but the lag caused by hard drive access time was too much—so the roomier flash drives get, the happier I become. I’m also keen on Wi-Fi music syncing, partly because it frees up a USB slot, partly because it’s future-tastic. If I had a PC, I’d also be stoked to see that my DVR recordings easily transferred to the Zune. See? Zune doesn’t completely suck. Zune [Microsoft] → 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 readable, even more so in low light situations. In my experience with these FM transmitters, you really need to be in a remote area if you want it to work as advertised. Try using these in radio-heavy places like New York and Los Angeles and you’ll be putting up with more static than you’d care to. Product Page [Belkin via Electronista] → 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 of features with the ho-hum Zen V Plus, it might be skippable. It’s not the only DAP with speakers on the market—the Samsung K5 immediately comes to mind—so you’ll have to think long and hard if you’re to throw your money Creative’s way. I’m all about headphones, so I’m a little weary of letting people know where my questionable music tastes lie. Zen WAV [Wal-Mart via Anything But iPod] → 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, since they look awfully like the iPod’s. → 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 available in white and black (rest easy, Toshiba), uses a USB 2.0 connection to transfer MP3s and WMAs to and from a Windows-based computer. Why alternative operating systems aren’t listed as compatible should bother me, but then I realized that this is a two-bit DAP we’ll probably never see here. So why get angry? Product Info [Green House via Fareastgizmos.com] → 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 30GB iPod would shoot up some $75, coming out to around $460. O Canada indeed. But hey, Canada, if the price hike—excuse me, “levy,”—goes through, at least you’ll still be able to walk into a doctor’s office without your checkbook and giant stacks of money. New tax could raise price of iPods by $75 [Digital Home] → 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 against this. But go ahead, walk down Broadway in SoHo wearing these pretending to be Peter Parker from “Spider-Man 3.” You’re only embarrassing yourself. Product Page [Digital Cowboy via Akihabara News] → 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 wants to do battle with the iPod shuffle with this, what with it being sooo small and available in sooo many cool colors, but the clip that makes the shuffle so appealing is nowhere to be found. What am I supposed to put the ZS+ in my pocket while I listen to C + C Music Factory? No thank you. Unless I can clip my DAP—out of the box, mind you—onto my leather vest as I saunter about Chelsea I’m not interested. Product Page [Creative via epiZENter.net] → 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 one. And, like most lower-end DAPs, there’s no need to use any special software to load it with music: just drag and drop as much deep house as the player can fit. That the highest capacity model tops out at $150 should please people looking to get as much bang for their DAP buck. But I guess it’s sorta like the law of the schoolyard: if you don’t have [brand x], then you’re not cool. No, that doesn’t make sense past the age of 11. Product Info [Samsung via Fareastgizmos.com] → 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 hope. This week, I’m temporarily gettin’ religion, thanks to a photo someone forwarded me of an actual prototype of a crucifix-shaped MP3 player. No, not just a silly first-gen iPod shuffle cap — a real live (and snazzy looking) Jesus-pod. But WWJLT? So where’s my Ankh-phone, or my DAP of David? The possibilities abound for enterprising zealots. → 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 drive puts it in direct competition with the biggest nano—that is, unless Apple decides to surprise us and doesn’t launch new iPods at the WWDC next week. The EH308 plays all the normal file types: MP3, WMA, JPG, WMV and MP4. If nothing else, at least it doesn’t look like ass. Product Page [Thomson via Akihabaranews.com] → 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 manageable) 2GB. It plays MP3 and WMA files, lasting around 18 hours per set of AAA batteries. The machine-translated text doesn’t reveal how far under water the Zabady can go, but the pictures seem to indicate that it’s more of shower-proof than submergible at any real depth. This $130 player “drops” today of all days, the day that sees Liverpool face AC Milan in the Champions League final. A big “thanks for nothing” to ESPN2 for not showing the game in HD. It’s not like it’s a big game or anything, or the year 2007. Product Page [Twin Bird via Fareastgizmos.com] → 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 ill-fated toy. Acting as a pass-through between your headphones and your DAP, the drumsticks allow you to air-drum your own beat to Blonde Redhead with a full assortment of virtual drums and cymbals. Included is adjustable volume and optional background beats, for the lazy or armless. Find them for $29.95 from Hammacher Schlemmer. iPod Digital Drumsticks [HS] → 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 to my MP3/WMA/AAC of choice, I do not want to hear the din of New York. The battery seems to have gotten some work done, too. It lasts up to 80 hours when the noise canceling is turned off (60 with it on) and there’s a special power-saving charge mode that’s said to improve long term battery life. If you can’t already tell, the latest D-Snap is so “me, too!” it’s really just bothersome. I would bet that your cellphone plays MP3s nowadays. Just use that instead. Product Page [Panasonic via Fareastgizmos.com] → 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 this will do well in the crazy person market, ’cause only such a person would want to soak in a tub with a DAP floating around like an iceberg. At least it’ll calm them down. Product Page [JVC via Fareastgizmos.com] → 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 screen shows. that off its genuinely attractive UI (I’ve actually seen it in person a bunch of times—it’s very “slinky.”) Korea-only, run don’t walk, etc. etc. The Yepp K3 “COLOR” available in Korea [Akihabara News] → 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 and voice recording via its built-in microphone. A single AAA battery powers the T50—available in both black and white, mind you—for about 52 straight hours. Not bad, but non-Apple DAPs these days seem about as sensible as investing in the ice telegraph wires. That, and it just looks dumb. Product Page [iRiver via Akihabara News] → Read More
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