Now if you’re looking for an inexpensive MP3 player from Sony, you might be interested in the newly announced E Series Walkman Video MP3 player. It has a similar design to the previously mentioned S Series Walkman and comes with the same “Clear Audio” technology for high quality sound. Other specs include:

• 2 inch QVGA display
• Support for MP3, WMA(DRM), AAC(non DRM) and Linear PCM for audio and WMV(DRM) for video
• 30 hour music playback battery life and 4 hour video playback battery life

As for the price, the 8GB E Series will be available for around $80 dollars while the 16GB model will be available for around $100 dollars. Both will be available in red or black.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Sony, E Series Walkman Video MP3 player

Ah.. innovation at its very best. (do you sense the sarcasm yet?)

Sony one-ups the competition today with the announcement of the new Sony S Series Walkman Video MP3 player which now features “high quality built-in stereo speakers”.  Yup.. that’s right folks – this new media player has built-in stereo speakers which according to Katie O’Brien, manager of the Walkman business unit at Sony adds “a new social element to the world of digital music and video.”.  Don’t you love it? Add a pair of speakers and your device is now “social”. 

Other features of the S Series Walkman (which are arguably much more respectable) include:

• Bright high contrast 2.4 inch QVGA LCD display with fast response time
• Clear Audio and Digital Linear Phase Speaker System for high quality sound
• Built-in FM tuner
• Headphones, mini USB cable, and hands-free stand included
• Voice and FM recording function
• Built-in alarm clock with sleep timer
• Supports wide variety of codecs including MP3, WMA (DRM), AAC (nonDRM), and Linear PCM.
• Video codec support includes AVC (H.264/AVC) Baseline Profle, MPEG-4 and WMV(DRM)
• Long lasting battery – 42 hours of music or 6.5 hours of video
• Available in 8 or 16GB capacities

The S Series Walkman will be available in several colors including black, red, violet and pink. AND OK.. if there’s one nice thing about the new S Series, it would have to be the pricing. The 8GB capacity will be available for around $110 while the 16GB model will be available for $130 dollars. Pre-ordering is available now at SonyStyle.com

Technorati Tags: Sony S Series Walkman Video MP3 player

Zune HD pricing is now official. Microsoft announced today that you can begin pre-ordering the 16GB and 32GB Zune at various locations such as Amazon.com, Best Buy, Walmart, and the Microsoft Store. Prices were originally leaked courtesy of Amazon.com earlier this week and guess what? Those prices were indeed correct (I know.. shocking). So here are the details.

As most of you know, the Zune HD will be available in two storage capacities – a 16GB model and a 32GB model. The 16GB Zune HD will be available for a mere $219.99 while the 32GB model will be available for a low price of $289.99.

AND in case you’ve been under a rock for the last six months or so, the Zune HD will feature a built-in HD radio receiver, support for HD video playback, multi-touch navigation, a beautiful OLED display, support for games, a built-in web browser, and of course Wi-Fi connectivity. The unit measures 52.7 x 102.1 x 8.9mm and weighs approximately 2.6 oz.

I absolutely love the pricing of the Zune HD. Microsoft’s gone ahead and done the right thing for once with the Zune – price it BELOW competing Apple iPod products. Let’s face it, if the 32GB Zune HD was priced at the same price point as the 32GB iPod touch, then folks will flock to the iPod touch if only for one reason – the App Store support. At $289.99, the 32GB Zune HD is $110 dollars less than a comparable 32GB iPod touch – a bargain for the flash storage capacity, touch screen display, and a friggin HD receiver!!! OK.. so with that I can probably live without the App store support (tho Microsoft, it would be cool if we could download third party apps for the Zune!!!).

OK.. so when is this all coming out? Pre-order is NOW and units will become available starting on Sept. 15th. Go get em!

[Pre-order the 16GB model at the Microsoft Store]

[Pre-order the 32GB model at the Microsoft Store]

Technorati Tags: Zune HD, Zune HD Price

Although Microsoft has yet to release the official price points for the upcoming Zune HD media player, this hasn’t stopped the folks over at Amazon from doing so.

According to this Amazon webpage, the 16GB Zune HD will be priced at $219.99 while the 32GB Zune HD will be priced at $289.99. These price points are unconfirmed of course – especially when you consider that clicking on the links will get you nowhere on the Amazon website for now. So yes – don’t believe the text that says “Available for Pre-order” because they are not at this time.

Here’s hoping the 32GB model is indeed under $300 dollars tho!

[Check it out via ZuneSphere, PC Magazine]

Technorati Tags: Zune HD Price, Amazon

The new Sony X Series Walkman Video MP3 players are now available for purchase over at SonyStyle.com. Here’s a refresher just in case you forgot about these new touch-screen media players. The features and specs include:

• 3 inch OLED display with 432 x 240 resolution
• Touch-screen navigation – access your music, videos, and photos through simple flicks of your finger
• Wi-Fi
• Podcast support
• Slacker Radio support
• Digital Clear audio technologies including S-Master digital amplifier and digital noise canceling functions
• Premium EX noise canceling headphones
• 33 hours of music playback or 9 hours of video
• Measures 2-1/8 x  3-7/8 x  13/32 inches
• Weighs 3.5 oz
• 5 band equalizer
• Audio support for MP3/WMA/AAC/L-PCM
• Video support for AVC(H.264/AVC)/MPEG-4/WMV DRM
• FM tuner

The 16GB X Series (model NWZ-X1051FBSMP) is available for $299.99 while the 32 GB X Series (model NWZ-X1061FBSMP) is available for $399.99.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Sony X Series Walkman Video MP3 player

Sony finally let the cat out of the bag with the introduction of their new flagship Walkman Video MP3 player today called the X-series Walkman (NWZ-X1000 models). The media player features Wi-Fi connectivity, a beautiful OLED touch-screen display, Sony Digital Clear Audio technologies, and support for Internet content. Let’s spend a bit of time on each of the new features found in the X-series.

Display:

• 3 inch OLED touch-screen display
• 180 degree viewing angle
• Movie image can be adjusted based on user preferences
• New scene scroll navigation feature allows users to easily scroll through a movie. Simply select your preferred time increment and then swipe across the screen to scroll fwd or back through scenes

Audio technologies:

• First video MP3 player to feature integrated digital noise cancelling (DNC)technologies to help block out ambient noise
• Comes with 13.5 mm EX headphones which also have an embedded small microphone to measure “intrusive noise”. This allows the software-based DNC filter to create an “optimal inverted sound wave” that reduces the noise up to 98 percent.
• User can select custom settings for different listening environments (e.g. airplane, bus/train, office etc)
• Turn on DNC feature even without listening to music for peace and quiet

Content

• Supports popular audio and video codecs including WMV files, AVC Baseline (H.264) and MPEG-4
• FM tuner
• Supports Slacker radio. When you’re near a Wi-Fi hotspot, content can be refreshed and buffered on the player
• Comes with Content Transfer software for easy drag and drop transfer of non-DRM music, videos, podcasts, and playlists etc

Other notable features:

• 33 hour battery life for music playback
• 9 hour battery life for video playback
• Wi-Fi support
• Internet web browser
• Subscribe and refresh podcasts
• Search/playback content on YouTube
• Related Links function when playing your favorite songs allows you to quickly search complementary content via YouTube
• Buttons for volume, play/pause, rewind/fast forward, lock, and noise cancelling

Not too shabby eh? Now let’s talk about availability and price. You can pre-order the new Walkman players now over at SonyStyle.com with models expected to ship in mid-June. As for pricing – it’s basically the same as iPod touch pricing. The 16GB NWZ- X1051 is priced at $299 while the 32GB NWZ- X1061 is priced at $399.

The question for all of you to decide is – do you get the iPod touch or do you get this Sony X-series Walkman. Right off the bat – the mere fact that the iPod touch has an incredibly diverse App Store gives the media player an edge over anyone else out there. So .. Sony – if you want to stay competitive, you’re either going to need to add many MANY more features or you’re going to need to price the X-series at an even lower price point down the road.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Sony X-series Walkman

“What the hell…”

That was my first reaction when I saw a picture of these devices. For a second, I thought these were fancy looking mallets for air hockey tables or something. However, they are in fact the new mobiBlu UFO MP3 players.

No.. they do not fly, nor do they levitate (though Fox Mulder might like a pair of these for fun). They are in fact just portable MP3 players with built-in NXT flat panel speakers.

Measuring a mere 90 x 42 mm, the UFO MP3 player is available in storage sizes ranging from 512MB to 8GB. There’s a USB port allowing you to connect the player to your PC, a 3.5 mm audio jack for other devices, and built-in Bluetooth wireless for pairing with other devices. File format support include MP3, WMA, ASF, and OGG. Battery life is 6 hours in speaker mode and 15 hours in earphone mode.

mobiBlu also has a Bluetooth speaker only model of the UFO (without the built-in MP3 player).

[Check it out via DAPreview]

Technorati Tags: mobiBlu, UFO MP3 player, MP3 player

If you’re looking for a truly portable speaker solution for your iPod, iPhone, mobile phone, or MP3 player, then you should definitely check out the new Altec Lansing Orbit MP3 and Orbit M speakers. These tiny wonders can easily be stored away in your pocket, purse, or backpack and then brought out to provide a 360 degree sound field wherever you’re at. The units also come with an integrated cord storage system that allows you to wrap the cord around the speakers for storage and protection. As for the difference between the Orbit MP3 and Orbit M -  the M includes a 2.5 mm adapter for music-enabled mobile phones.

The Orbit speakers run off of three AAA batteries which provide up to 24 hours of power. You can further customize the Orbit speakers by skinning it with designs provided by Skinit.com. Pre-designed skins can be purchased for $14.95 while custom skins can be created for $19.95.  Here are some pictures of skinned Orbit speakers.

The Orbit MP3 and Orbit M can be purchased for $39.95.

Technorati Tags: Altec Lansing, Orbit MP3, Orbit M, portable speakers, iPod, iPhone, MP3 players

For the sports fanatics out there comes the new Versus Scoreboard. Yes.. this is indeed a boombox crossed with an electronics scoreboard system. Great for use at sporting events, at home with family or friends, or at personal sporting events where you want to show the score as well as offer up a few taunts to opposing friends/team members. The boombox (featuring MP3 playback) comes with a digital scoreboard, a time keeping device, and special audio effects that bring the “feel of the stadium home”.

The full summary of features includes:

• Home and guest score counter
• Period tracker
• Countdown timer and buzzer
• RF remote controller
• A/C and Battery operated
• Customizable faceplates
• USB port for playing MP3s on flash drives
• Analog line-in 3.5 mm jack
• User-controlled crowd noises and taunt effects
• Two 10 watt speakers
• Versus microphone
• Customizable team-specific chants

The Versus Scoreboard will be available this month. You can pre-order it now for $179.99.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Versus Scoreboard, Boombox

Philips has overhauled their GoGear digital audio player product lineup with the introduction of three new products – the Raga, Spark, and LUXE. Engadget has the following details about the new DAPs.

The Raga (pictured above) features the following:

• Flash player with 2GB/4GB storage space
• Small multi-line display
• 27 hours of battery life
• Price between $35 to $45 dollars

The Spark (pictured above) brings it up a notch by featuring:

• 1.5 inch OLED color display
• Clix-style navigation
• Support for Rhapsody
• Fullsound EQ
• Price between $50 to $60 dollars

Finally, there’s the LUXE (pictured above) which adds:

• Bluetooth connectivity
• Support for Rhapsody
• Fullsound EQ
• Pairs with your mobile phone and turns off music when incoming calls come in
• Price between $90 to $100 dollars.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Philips, GoGear Digital Audio Players, Raga, Spark, LUXE