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

The Samsung P3 widescreen portable media player was launched last week at CES 2009 and recognized with a CES Innovations 2009 Design and Engineering Award honoree. Now I know what you’re probably thinking – yet another media player right? In some ways yes, but the P3 also comes with some rather unique technology including haptic technology and Samsung’s cool EmoTure touch interface which provides widget-type menus and interactive icons.

The player has a pretty impressive 3 inch display featuring a 16:9 aspect ratio and WQVGA resolutions. Haptics plays a big role in how you interface with the media player. Everything you do with the player – whether you’re swiping your finger across the screen, switching audio tracks, holding down a digital button, or fast-forwarding video, results in some sort of physical sensation to the user. There’s also a “Music Hot Touch Key” below the touch-screen display which is basically a shortcut way to important music features.

Other features and specs to the P3 include built-in Bluetooth, microphone, speaker, support for MP3, MPEG4, WMV (with DRM), WMA (with DRM), FM radio, JPEG, and text file formats, DNSe 3.0 sound enhancement technology, and a reinforced die-cast metal casing.

The P3 will be available in the first half of this year in the following storage capacities – 4GB, 8GB, 16GB and 32GB.

Technorati Tags: Samsung P3 widescreen portable media player, CES 2009

Archos introduced three new connected devices today as part of their new “Internet Media Tablets” product lineup – the Archos 5, the Archos 7, and the Archos 5g. These players offer many of the same features found in previous Archos models except now, there’s a large touchscreen display and even 3G connectivity on the Archos 5g model. The focus of these devices is clearly on the Internet – following the trend that Apple established with the iPhone and iPod touch. The Archos 5 is the company’s flagship product featuring a 5 inch display and a wealth of features. The Archos 5g adds 3.5G HSDPA support and the Archos 7 increases the display size to 7 inches while keeping the same resolution.

On the application front, the new Archos Internet Media Tablets support features such as:

• Web browsing via a free Opera browser
• Email application
• Web TV and Web Radio
• Widgets
• Video playback
• Music playback
• Photo playback
• Games
• Content streaming from a PC
• TV recording

Powering these new Archos players is the new ARM Cortex superscalar processor. These in fact are the first devices out there to use the new Cortex processor.

Some of the common specs include:

• 800 x 480 resolution display
• Video playback support for MPEG-4, WMV, MPEG-2 (optional on the Archos 7), H.264 (optional on the Archos 7), and M-JPEG. HD MPEG-4 and WMV support optional
• Audio playback support for MP3, WMA, Protected WMA, WMA pro 5.1, WAV, AAC, and AAC+
• Photo playback support for JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF
• Built-in PDF viewer
• Supports optional DVR station
• Supports POP3 and IMAP email accounts
• Wi-Fi support
• 3.5 mm mini-jack
• Built-in speaker and leg stand
• Lithium Polymer battery

The Archos 5 will be available in three storage configurations – a 60GB ($349.99), 120GB ($399.99), and a 250GB ($449.99) model while the Archos 7 will be available in a 160GB ($449.99) and 320GB ($549.99) model. The Archos 3G which comes with a SIM card slot and supports 3.5G connectivity will only be available in a 30GB model ($549.99).

[Check it out via PC Mag]

Technorati Tags: Archos, Internet Media Tablets, Archos 5, Archos 5g, Archos 7

Popcorn Hour has announced a new enhanced version of their popular A-100 model called the Popcorn Hour A-110. Major features and improvements with the A-110 include the following:

• Support for 2.5 inch/3.5 inch SATA Hard Drives
• USB Slave functionality
• Support for HDMI 1.3a
• Full support of HD Audio pass-through for DTS HD-HR, DTS HD-MA, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD (ha.. you know what this means!)
• USB port moved to the rear
• Optical S/PDIF instead of the co-axial S/PDIF connector in the first model
• Hardware reset button

As before, the A110 allows you to play content stored either directly on the device or streaming from the network. The device supports playback from PCs, NAS’s, digital cameras, USB mass storage devices, internal SATA HDDs, and even via the Internet through the Media Service Portal.

The supported codec list is just too long to write here.. so make sure to check out the webpage at popcornhour.com. I’ve yet to directly play with the device but a friend of mine has the A100 and absolutely loves it. The asking price for the A110 is $215. Well worth it when you consider what it’s capable of.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Popcorn Hour A-110

Creative Japan has a new portable media player out called the Creative ZEN Mosaic. One half of the ZEN Mosaic is covered by the 1.8 inch LCD display while the other half is covered by a patchwork of square and rectangular patterns (which also double as control and navigational buttons).  Spec wise, this is a flash based media player with storage options ranging from 2GB,4GB, and 8GB. Other specs include:

• Measures 79.5 x 40 x 12.8mm
• Weighs 43 grams
• Supports MP3, WMA, WAV, JPG
• Built-in speakers
• FM tuner

The ZEN Mosaic will be due out in August.

[Check it out via Akihabara News]

Technorati Tags: Creative ZEN Mosaic, Portable Media Player

Prices are set for the new Creative Technology ZEN X-Fi media player here in the U.S. The 32GB model has an MSRP of $279.99, the 16GB an MSRP of $199.99, and the 8GB goes for $149.99. Not familiar with the new ZEN X-Fi? It’s the first Creative media player to feature their X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity Audio technology designed to help restore the quality of compressed music. There are basically two models – one with wireless LAN and one without. The 16GB and 32GB models feature Wi-Fi while the 8GB lacks it. Here are the major specs to the player:

• Measures 3.3. x 2.2 x 0.5 inches and weighs 2.4 oz
• 2.5 inch TFT display with a resolution of 320 x 240
• Video support includes MJPEG, WMV, MPEG-4, DivX, and XviD
• Audio support includes MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, Audible 2,3,4
• Picture support includes JPEG support
• 802.11 b/g for 16GB and 32GB models
• FM radio with 32 preset stations
• Equalizer with 8 presets and 5 band custom EQ
• Calendar, Contact, Task List
• USB 2.0

[Check out the ZEN X-Fi with wireless LAN]

[Check out the ZEN Xi-Fi]

via SlashGear

Technorati Tags: Creative ZEN X-Fi, Prices

Now here’s a truly interesting new product from Kodak. It’s the new Kodak Zi6 Pocket Video Camera which is Kodak’s first dedicated pocket digital video camera. This unit is designed to make video capture fun and simple to perform as it captures 720p 16:9 video at 60 fps. According to PluggedIn Kodak blog site, the Zi6 features:

• 2.4 inch TFT LCD screen
• Comes with dedicated ARCSOFT video software
• Built-in USB connector
• SD/SDHC card slot
• Cables for viewing videos on an HDTV
• Pre-charged AA Ni-MH rechargeable batteries and battery charger
• Play back video in slow motion

The ARCSOFT video software allows users to quickly edit, personalize, and share videos as well as easily upload videos to YouTube. It’s due out in September although no word on pricing.

If the price and the video quality is right, this can truly be a compelling product for the average consumer.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Kodak Zi6 Pocket Video Camera

Sony announced that the mylo COM-2 Personal Communicator has a new video upload tool that allows users to capture and upload MPEG-4 videos without the need of a PC. Videos can be recorded using the built-in 1.3 megapixel camera and then uploaded using the built-in Wi-Fi support.

With the mylo, users can listen to digital music, video videos, and play games. However, when they’re near wireless hotspots, they can also view multimedia content online, chat with others using Skype, IM with users using AIM, Yahoo!, Google, and Skype, and read/write email through AOL Mail, Google Gmail, and Yahoo! mail.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Sony mylo COM-2 Personal Communicator, video upload

Sony brings noise-canceling and Bluetooth technologies to three new Walkman video MP3 models here in the US with the new NWZ-S710F, NWZ-A720 and NWZ-A820. All three of these players feature Sony’s EX series in-ear buds with 13.5 mm drivers which passively block out ambient noise. Common features include:

• Sony clear audio technology are included which improve sound quality when playing back digital music files
• QVGA LCD displays that show video at 30fps
• Support for WMA, AAC, Linear PCM, MP3, JPEG, AVC(H.264/AVC) Baseline profile and MPEG-4 files

NWZ-S710F

• 33 hours of battery life for music playback
• 9.5 hours of battery life for video playback
• Built in noise canceling system which can reduce 75 percent of ambient noise
• Five clear audio technology built into device
• 1.8 inch QVGA (320×240) LCD screen
• FM tuner with 30 presets
• Comes in two different capacities and three colors:
• The NWZ-S716F player has approximately 4GB of internal storage; comes in silver, red and black and will cost about $150.
• The NWZ-S718F player has approximately 8GB of internal storage; comes in black and will cost about $200.

NWZ-A720

• 36  hours of battery life for music playback
• 10 hours of battery life for video playback
• 2.4 inch QVGA display
• Slim body
• Comes in three different capacities and two colors
• The NWZ-A726 player has approximately 4GB of internal storage; comes in black and pink; and costs about $150.
• The NWZ-A728 player has approximately 8GB of internal storage; comes in black and pink and costs about $200.
• The NWZ-A729 player has approximately 16GB of internal storage, comes in black, and costs about $300.

NWZ-A820

• 36  hours of battery life for music playback
• 10 hours of battery life for video playback
• Same look and feel as the A720
• Bluetooth technology
• 2.4 inch QVGA LCD display
• Users can manually delete videos directly from the device’s internal memory without connecting to PC
• The NWZ-A820K comes with EX-Series earbuds and the DR-BT21G Bluetooth headphones
• The NWZ-A828K comes in black, has approximately 8GB of internal storage, and costs about $270.
• The NWZ-A829 comes in black has approximately 16GB of internal storage, and costs about $320.

The new models will come out in March with presales beginning now.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Sony Walkman, NWZ-S710F, NWZ-A720, NWZ-A820