MP3 Player Reviews

Archos has announced on March its audio only Archos 104 MP3 Player. It comes with 4GB of hard drive storage, yet manages a profile similar to the iPod nano. The difference is that the Archos 104 is a quarter of an inch thicker and an ounce heavier because of the harddisk. The Archos 104 will set back the shopper US $149, a hundred bucks less than the Ipod Nano. It sports a 1.5 inch OLED display and handles PlaysForSure media.

Targeted for a May 2006 release, the Archos 104 comes with standard stereo headphones, a neck strap and USB 2.0 cable.

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About.com

Samsung has delivered the YP-Z5, a new flash-based MP3 player that looks all set for a face-off with the iPod Nano. Apparently, Paul Mercer, the man behind the Apple iPod’s interface was involved in the design of YP-Z5.

To be available in 2 and 4 GB editions, Samsung’s new YP-Z5 portable audio player is capable of playing both MP3s and WMAs as well as displaying photos on its 1.8-inch colour screen.

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CNET Asia | EverythingUSB

Mitsubishi has just unveiled the iCar, a glossy white motor produced by Mitsubishi for the Japanese market and entirely compatible with the iconic iPod Nano, produced exclusively for the Japanese market. It boasts a 0.66L 12-valve, three-cylinder engine and comes in 2WD or 4WD versions.

On the iCar’s dashboard is a horizontally aligned slot built for the Nano. Slot your Nano in and you’re ready play your music. The player is controlled through the car’s built-in, hard drive-equipped satellite navigation system.

[via reghardware]

ANYCOM BluNa is the Bluetooth adapter specifically designed for the iPod Nano. It plugs neatly onto the iPod nano without a cable dangling around. The BluNa draws its power from the player to beam out songs using the Bluetooth 1.2’s Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP). It supports Bluetooth Audio Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP), so you can use any compatible headphones to control the player directly. The adapter weighs 10g.
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The talk of flexible pricing for iTunes tracks has been going on for months, but apprently Apple still holds the card, for now.

Apple has apparently succeeded in persuading the world’s major record labels to re-license their content for sale on its iTunes Music Store (ITMS) for a flat-rate 99 cents - 79 pence in the UK - per track. To date, label executives have been keen to stress their demand for variable pricing - higher prices for new songs, lower prices for older material - but they’ve clearly been willing to let it pass this time.

via reghardware

Cretive’s strategy was as simple to attack iPod by competing on price, and excellent feature set. The Zen players did just that. They beat iPod in feature-by-feature comparisons. The problem is, digital music and media players business is not that simple.

iPod music players has taken the storm on recent years, taking more than 70% market share in the portable music player business. Meanwhile, Creative is always a distant second with about 3% of the market share.

So what does Creative do? It sues Apple Computer, claiming that the popular iPod violates its patents.

Faced with the patent suit, Apple Computer countered this week with its own complaint against Creative. Apple filed the suit in a Wisconsin federal court on May 15. In the complaint, Apple claim that Creative is infringing four of its patents. Apple is requesting monetary damages and an injunction to stop Creative from using its patents.

1BOX is the flash MP3/WMA/WAV player from Sharp. It will be available in 512MB and 1GB memory. Features includes AM/FM tuner, USB 2.0 connectivity, 2Wx 2ch speakers, and a digital clock.

via techeblog

Laser and turntable doesn’t sound like a good match. In fact, it sounds almost the opposite. But ELP has just changed that. They created a laser turntable with a contact-free optical system and mechanically independent left/right lasers. The result? A turntable system that can read even broken records.

In some cases, the LT plays even broken records when all the pieces are placed on a tray without tape or glue…

Not only that, but this unit is also impervious to the sounds of “footsteps on the floor, door slamming, or other vibrations in the area that would cause feedback ”

via futurelooks

iRiver will release a portable DMB player called Pocket TV B10 on the Korean market in the near future. It has a 2.2″ QVGA screen and a DMB TV tuner. Rumours has it that it will be available in Korea end of May, just on time for the upcoming Fifa’s World Cup fever.

via Akihabara News

Available in Black and White, Inkel Widetouch 5.6 is a portable DMB cum GPS. It has a 5.6″ screen, a 400Mhz Samsung ARM9 CPU, an SD slot, and support for a number of audio/video formats. It is available only in Korea.

via Akihabara News