August 6, 2008
Sony NW-E016
The Sony NW-E016 is a digital media player, with 4GB and is available in multiple colours, including violet, pink, gold or black.
The portable player comes with a Lithium-Ion quick rechargeable battery with a battery life of around 30 hours. It can work for about 3 hours after charging for just 3 minutes. The system uses SonicStage 4.3 software, which helps you manage songs easily and transfer your favourite tracks. The Sony NW E016 offers an enhancement of the Clear Stereo and Clear Bass sound. The popular audio formats MP3, ATRAC, AAC (non DRM) and WMA (non DRM) are all compatible with the system. The 3 line colour LCD screen also allows you to view album cover art on the player. With dimensions of 83,1 x 22,8 x 14,2, the player perfectly fits the definition of portability. Plus, it is incredibly lightweight at only 29 grams.
Posted by pajaro at 1:08 PM
MF Digital and Ripfactory to Demonstrate Ripstation
MF Digital will be demonstrating the Ripstation 7000 Series System which provides a powerful and automated digital music conversion solution. With this system you can easily convert a complete audio CD collection with metadata management features and configuration tools to control the exact CD ripping quality. In addition, the Ripstation will encode multiple file formats - even simultaneously. All metadata or tag information, including album art, is retrieved from your choice of up to three on-line databases. Add to the mix our Media Grabber video ripping option and the Ripstation 7000 provides the ideal solution for automated CD and DVD ripping.
Advanced features include full Codec support on CD ripping to MP3, FLAC, WAV, WMA, AAC and WMA lossless audio file formats. To ensure music information content is consistent and accurate, the metadata tag information is pulled from a variety of database resources, such as: GD3, FreeDB, AMG, and Amazon. Loading your iPod, MP3 player or media server has never been easier with the MF Digital Ripstation. Using advanced features like direct-to-device support you can upload automatically to MP3 manufacturers such as the Apple iPod, Creative, SanDisk, Nokia and others.
MF Digital will also be showcasing the new Ripserver product from Ripfactory. Ripserver is a world first - a NAS (networked attached storage device) with a built in CD ripping engine.
With storage capabilities of up to 1 Terabyte (10,000 albums in MP3 format), Ripserver has taken the world of digital music by storm and industry experts have described it as 'a must-have for every digital home'. Compatible with any media player which can browse a network share, Ripserver is the ideal companion to systems such as Sonos, Logitech, Linn DS, Slim Devices, Xbox and many more.
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Posted by pajaro at 8:49 AM
August 5, 2008
GRNA Saber
Global Recording Network Australia of Castle Hill announces the arrival of the SABER hand-wind mp3 audio player.
Designed primarily to tell people the good news of Jesus Christ in every language and dialect, the SABER will bring help and hope to many people who live in remote locations. It is simple to use and important messages in any language can be easily loaded from the Internet or a computer onto the 1 GB of onboard memory – enough for 40-50 hours of recording or more! An SD card slot enables even more material to be stored. The built in amplifier and 3-inch speaker make it possible for scores of people to listen together.
The SABER never runs out of power! Built in batteries can be recharged from solar panels, mains supply, an external battery pack or by winding the crank handle.
The SABER will prove an invaluable tool for the developing world, especially in the areas of evangelism and Bible teaching, health and general education, communicating community or government announcements, audio books and stories, teaching songs and literacy development.
More than two thirds of the world’s population are oral communicators; they don’t make use of books to any great extent. They learn by hearing. “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” (Rom 10:17 NLT)
The SABER is the brain-child of Ray Mackaway of Winston Hills and is manufactured by a team of dedicated volunteers from the North West of Sydney.
Posted by pajaro at 7:34 PM
August 5, 2008
Dell DJ Ditty
Dell has decided to give the music market one more try with another attempt at its own MP3 player, but having failed once before it may prove even more difficult to penetrate a maturing market where the Apple iPod reigns supreme.
As Dell announces plans to bring a brand-spanking new MP3 player to market, one hopes it in no way resembles its previous failed attempt: the Dell DJ Ditty – a small, clunky, monochrome-screened gadget with a dodgy name.
Dell originally had a DJ series of hard-drive based MP3 players that were of the same ilk as the Creative Zen but they were all replaced in February 2006 by the Flash-based DJ Ditty, which was suddenly put to rest in August of the same year, ending Dell’s brief foray into the digital music market.
The Dell DJ Ditty, which was roughly the same size as the iPod shuffle, may have died within a few months of its release but Dell still sells accessories for the ex-MP3 player.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the new player will be similarly priced to the old one, probably around the US$99 mark, and will have the ability to connect via WiFi to download music straight to the device.
Strangely, Dell decided to withdraw the DJ Ditty following what it saw as a disappointing market share of 3%, but according to Bloomberg, with Apple holding 72% of the MP3 player market as of April 2007 and Samsung and Microsoft each holding about 2.5%
Posted by pajaro at 5:02 PM
Etymotic Research hf2 iPhone Stereo Headset
The earphone upgrade market is becoming ever more crowded with quality products, but if you've just bought yourself a shiny new iPhone and don't already have a decent set, the Etymotic Reseach hf2s make a very good case for themselves.
If you're an iPhone user you won't need much convincing that the hf2s represent the perfect replacement for the awful set that comes in the box. The sound quality is a little light on bass, but impressive nonetheless, while the microphone makes taking calls a breeze, even in noisy environments. The ability to pause your music and skip tracks without taking your iPhone out of your pocket is also a bonus.
If you're major concern is sound quality, then you're probably better off looking at a set of Shure SE420s and a Shure Mobile Phone Adapter to go with it, but that's going to cost you far more. For most users though, Etymotic has produced the perfect companion for your iPhone.
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Posted by pajaro at 3:28 PM
Harrods and Selfridges Cubo mp3 player
Packing in a CD player, DAB radio and a 3.5mm jack for hooking up your MP3 player and firing out tunes. The radio can take up to six presets.
It’s even got a speaker, so you can stick in the spare room or your office without hooking it up to some swanky sound spitters.
It’s out now for £269 from Harrods and Selfridges.
Posted by pajaro at 1:05 PM