30 Year Evolution: Sony Walkman

This year marked the 30th anniversary of the Sony Walkman. Here's Sony's thirty year journey in less than 3 minutes:



[akihabara]

The Slimmest Walkman: Sony NW-840

The NW-A840 is a slim 7.2mm thick and features a 2.8 inch OLED display, digital noise cancellation, and 16 GB, 32GB, or 64GB of flash storage. Also onboard is 720 x 480 resolution video out.

Battery life is estimated at 29 hours of continuous music or 9 hours of video playback.

They come bundled with Sony’s premium MRD-EX300SL earbuds. Available in Japan on the 31st of October.

[mp4nation]

Enjoy Your Digital Life: Game 800 PMP

The GAME 800 PMP is an odd looking pmp that features a built-in emulator that not only plays emulated NES/Fami-com games, but also Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and even SFC and MD Rom games (32-bit Rom Games). Other features include a 3.5-inch 320x240 LCD, 4GB of memory, SD card slot (4GB max), TV-out, eBook, and speaker.

The Game 800 supports MP3, WMA, WAV, APE, FLAC, RM-Audio, AMR, AAC+ music; AVI video with RM, RMVB, AVI, WMV, ASF, MPG, MPEG, MPE, MP4, DAT, MOV, DAT conversion formats; JPEG, GIF, BMP with zoom pictures; WAV record format.

[China Grabber via gmp3]

Top of the Charts: Viliv S5

The Viliv S5 pmp is an XP-based MID with 4.8-inch touchscreen, 60GB hard disk, Intel Silverthorne-class 1.33GHz Z520 CPU, GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, and 1 GB of memory. Since it runs XP, you can install any application including iTunes as shown the video. It is due in the US at the end of March.

[Engadget]

Sharp at Mumumusic: RAmos T9 iMovie 2 PMP

The RAmos T9 iMovie 2 pmp is the follow-up to the iMovie T8 pmp. It features a 640 x 480 resolution 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen display, a polished aluminum alloy frame, and 16GB storage. Not much more is known at this time.

[Engadget]

For the F1 Fan: Aigo Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Car PMP

Aigo launched the Aigo Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP5 player or the MP5-MK3510 on October 18. The device features a 4.3-inch 480 x 272 pixel screen, an e-Book reader, a photo viewer, and FM radio. Battery is estimated at 10 hours of audio and 4 hours of video.

It supports of up to 720P (1280 x 720) HD resolution. It plays RM, RMVB, AVI, FLV, DAT, MPG, MPEG and MP3, WMA,FLAC, APE with BBE, and SRS files.

[PMP Today]

Objective Net: SFR Archos 5 3G+

Archos and SFR were to announce the SFR Archos 5 3G+ this week but Stuff magazine has jumped the gun. The November issue of the high tech magazine unveiled the device and revealed a cost of 279 euros with a 29,90 euros a month membership (surfing and unlimited mail). The SFR Archos 5 3G+ device features a black case with 30GB capacity and a personalized SFR interface. The 3G antenna is visible as the "bump" on the right.

In conjunction with the announcement, SFR will also release the SFR MI Pocket PC. This device features an Intel Atom processor with 128MB RAM, 30GB hard drive, a slider keyboard, and GPS. The proposed price is 349 euros with a 29,90 euro per month membership.

[Le Journal du Geek]

All in One: BenQ S6 MID and PMP

The BenQ S6 which, apart from looking positively stunning, not only serves as a highly "pocketable" 3.5G touchscreen MID (Mobile Internet Device) but is also a fully fledged PMP (Portable Media Player). The BenQ features 4.8-inch 800×480 pixel touchscreen, an 800MHz Intel Atom CPU, integrated G-Sensor motion sensing allowing users to scroll through web pages and transition between landscape and portrait modes by merely titling the device, 512MB DDR2 SDRAM, built in 2GB SSD storage, integrated microSD card slot, Bluetooth 2.0, +EDR and USB connectivity, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, UMTS/HSDPA (Band: 2100), GSM/GPRS/EDGE (Band: 900/1800/1900), WLAN.

The device supports WAV, OGG, MP3 and Midi audio; OGG, MPEG1, H.264, MPEG2, MPEG4, DivX 5/6, VC1, WMV9 video; and JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP and TIFF images.

[TFTS]

Award for Outstanding Innovation & Technology Products Finalist: Shiro SQ-S PMP

The Shiro SQ-S pmp is a finalist of the HKEIA Award for Outstanding Innovation & Technology Products. The device features a 1.8-inch LCD, an FM tuner, voice recorder, and has 16GB of memory. It supports MP3, WMA, WAV, FLAC, APE and OGG audio.

What makes it special is that it features a solar battery that's capable of fully recharging in only 4 hours. Battery life is estimated at 35 hours for audio and 7 hours of video.

It'll come in silver, red, and blue.

[Le Journal du Geek]

Here Come the Clones: iPod nano 4G Clone

There are a good selection of iPod Nano 4G clones out there but this one boasts a 4 megapixel camera on the specs. Other features include a 2.4-inch 320 x 240 pixel TFT screen, max 2GB built-in memory, and a miniSD slot for extending capacity. It's strictly wholesale for now.

[PMP Today]

A Swanky Screen: SmartQ TAO PMP

Improvements to SmartQ's latest PMP include a 3.3-inch 480x320 pixel touchscreen, a 500mhz Blackfin processor, 16GB of internal memory, SDHC/SD/TF/MMC memory card slot, a USB 2.0 port, and a built-in 2000mAH Li-Ion rechargeable battery that provides up to 20 hours of audio playback/6 hours of video playback.

It supports MP3, OGG, WMA, FLAC, APE, AAC, WAV (PCM, ADPCM) audio; AVI (XVID/DivX3.11), RM/RMVB, FLV, WMV, ASF, 3GP, MPEG, DAT and MP4 video.

[Today's Gadgets, Engadget]

American Toy with a Korean Heart: Samsung AT&T HomeManager

Samsung developed the HomeManager system for AT&T in the USA . Simply put, this solution is a set of a wireless router, cordless phone, and a PMP all from Samsung. The PMP allows access to the Yellow pages, weather, news channels, visual mail, and syncs with some AT&T phones...

[AT&T HomeManager via akihabara]

RCA Lyra is Back: RCA Lyra Slider PMP

As an owner of an ancient RCA Lyra mp3 player, I'm pleased that Audiovox hasn't abandoned the RCA Lyra moniker entirely. The Lyra Slider comes with 4GB or 8GB of capacity and plays back audio, video, FM radio and photo slideshows. Furthermore, it has an integrated voice/media recorder, USB 2.0 port and a rechargeable battery good for up to 50 hours of music playback or 8 hours of video playback. I'm tempted...

[Engadget]

For Korean Market: Oracom W30 PMP

The Oracom Korea has introduced its W30 PMP that feature a haptic user interface. The W30 has a 3-inch WQVGA resolution screen, built-in radio, electronic dictionary, 4GB of memory storage and integrated DMB TV tuner. It's available for the Korea market.

[zinkalo]

IFA 2008: Egoman MP810RSTX PMP

Egoman unveiled a new pmp at IFA 2008. The MP810RSTX pmp features a 4.3-inch TFT touchscreen, microSD/T-Flash card slots, optional FM radio and FM transmitter, TV-Out, and G-sensor.

It supports MP3, and WMA audio; and AVI, RMVB, APE, FLAC video.

[AVING]

"Funnest" iPod has Bluetooth Chipset: iPod touch 2g

I posted about the new iPod touch yesterday. The curious minds at iFixit uncovered a Broadcom Bluetooth chipset inside the innards of an iPod touch 2g, something that was withheld from the general public during the device's launch. It isn't listed down on the product page. The Broadcom Bluetooth chipset supports 2.1+EDR although there is no confirmation as to whether it does A2DP as well for you to enjoy your music over a pair of wireless stereo headphones.

According to MacRumors, the Nike+ functionality on the iPod touch 2g utilizes the same 2.4GHz frequency as Bluetooth which explains the presence of this chip.

[ubergizmo]

The Funnest iPod Ever: iPod touch 2g

The iPod touch just got updated, bringing its case design in line with the iPhone 3g's (though keeping the steel backside) and adding a couple of new features.

Available in 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB storage sizes, the iPod touch now has external volume controls on the side and integrated Nike+ support, which means the hardware that used to require a transmitter plugged into your iPod is now built in. It uses the accelerometer to follow your workout, playing music in time with your running and helping you keep track of your workouts over time.

The touch also gets Genius playlist support, which was announced for the new version of iTunes. You can now have your iPod Touch come up with smart playlists on the fly for you.

[DVICE]

GPS, Wi-Fi, and YouTube Uploadability: Sony Ericsson G705

The new Sony Ericsson G705, said to be announced within two weeks, is a slider that features Wi-Fi, a built-in GPS receiver, a 3 megapixel camera with geo-tagging, a LED flash, the ability to capture video with upload directly to YouTube under a new partnership with Google. It has 128MB of internal memory and a M2 expansion memory card slot.

[newlaunches]

More "Funner": iPod nano 4g

After weeks of rumors, the new iPod nano is out. It comes with a new aluminum body and an accelerometer, so that it can detect when you're watching a movie in landscape mode and rotate the display accordingly. Apple has also introduced "shake to shuffle", which is a convenient way for going to a random song, without having to press a button or look at the screen. It also features "Genius" or what Apple calls a "virtual DJ" - Genius will try to analyze your tastes and propose songs that you might like (that might also boost sales).

The new nano measures 3.6 x 1.5 x 0.24 inches, has a two-inch 320 x 240 pixel diagonal colour LCD with LED backlight, 8GB or 16GB of storage, and offers up to 24 hours of music playback or four hours of video playback on a single charge. It comes in nine colors.

Check out the interface:

[Apple via ubergizmo]

Cute and Cheap: Sony PMX-U55 PMP

Looking a little like an iPod nano, the Sony PMX-U55 pmp features a 2.4-inch 320 x 240 pixel display, audio and video playback. Battery is estimated at 12 hours for audio and 5 hours for video.

It supports MP3, WMA, AAC audio; and MPEG4, H.264/AVC video. It's only available in China.

[ubergizmo]