ipod
iBand d3o iPhone Protector Case
March 12, 2010
There are plenty of iPhone covers out on the market these days with it being such a popular smartphone and all, it only makes sense. But here’s another perhaps a more novel and better one, the iBand d3o iPhone Protector case.
So what makes this one so different to the others? I hear you ask. Well, here’s the answer. The case fits seamlessly around the edge of the iPhone or iPod Touch to create incredible impact protection, in fact 100% more protection than a standard plastic case.
It has all the usual cut outs so functionality is not restricted at all, and the soft(ish) nature of the material (d3o) creates massive shock absorbance meaning you can hurl it around till your heart’s content and it probably won’t break for at least twice as long as it would do in a normal case.
Continue reading »Wall Of Sound: The Biggest iPod Speaker In The World!
March 9, 2010
So when exactly could an iPod speaker be considered over the top? When the neighbours come knocking? When the police get called? Nope, now it seems there is a new benchmark – size.
Introducing the Wall Of Sound which dwarfs any personal speaker I have ever seen in my lifetime. Weighing in at 225 pounds and completely handmade, the Wall Of Sound can be purchased for mammoth price of $4,495.
Continue reading »Nike+ Running Sensor & iPhone App Review
March 8, 2010
Nike paired up with Apple to produce, what I think, is a great piece of running kit to encourage you to get out and about, walking or running.
What is the Nike+ Sensor for?
The Nike+ sensor and iPhone app track your running progress while you’re out and about through distance, speed and calories. It’s a little like the stats given to you while running on a treadmill. It’s great to have those milestones to help you keep going, even while listening to music. The app gives you stats to take away and feel good about.
Continue reading »Sony Walkman A845 Review
February 27, 2010
A few weeks ago we had a quick preview of the new Walkman A845 from Sony – the main selling point of which was its incredibly thin form which at 7.2mm makes it the thinnest Sony Walkman yet – and now having had time to give it a thorough ‘going over’ were back to see whether or not it lives up to expectations.
Perhaps the most obvious thing to look at first with the Sony Walkman A845 is exactly that: how it looks. Whilst I have to say that I found the design a little bit off putting to start with (the screen seemed a little too big which in turn made the silver bottom look a little odd) but as with so many things it doesn’t take long to grow on you – although once you’ve noticed it you won’t forget the fact that the buttons look oddly like Mickey mouse!
Moving onto the rest of the device and the quality does continue: whilst the back is worrying proficient at picking up scratches (and even better at getting fingerprints) it likewise looks stylish and exactly what you would expect from a Walkman.
Continue reading »Altec Lansing InMotion Max Portable iPod Speakers Review
January 13, 2010
I was absolutely delighted to receive these Altec Lansing InMotion Max Portable iPod Speakers for Christmas. After comparing what was on offer for a long time, there were several options that interested me but in the end, all but this just had something missing.
The first thing that struck me about these speakers are their sharp edges and stylish touch sensitive buttons. In the iPod speakers department it is one of the best looking I’ve come across. It has an interesting colour scheme with mostly black mesh covering the speakers themselves with a subtle orange labelling the buttons and lighting the mini LED screen. Unfortunately (perhaps a little pedantic), it has trouble displaying names such as Bublé, with an accent. Instead it gives you an unintelligible splatter of symbols.
The LED screen is one of the features which set these speakers apart from the crowd. OK it’s not a must have feature, but it is a nice addition and provides some extra functionality. Particularly as most iPods dim the screen after leaving them for any length of time. It’s nice to know the song information as you listen to them.
Continue reading »Sony Walkman A845 – Ultra Slim MP3 Player
January 7, 2010
As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before the tech industry has a tendency to try and get either bigger or smaller (or both) until it reaches the limits of practicality at which point manufacturers try and push the boundaries in a different axis – and that’s what’s happened with the Sony Walkman A845.
Having realised that MP3 players already have got small enough, have more than enough memory space (who realistically listens to more than 50 albums at one time?) and screens that are big enough to allow video watching but don’t make the player too big Sony are pitching for the crown of the next dimension – width – with their thinnest MP3 player yet.
With a thickness of only 7.2mm (although only just thinner than the thinnest laptop) and a weight of only 62g Sony have pushed the boundaries of what defines ‘Ultra-Slim’ and this really is the MP3 player for those of you who are very weak, supermodels or obsessed with technology. Unfortunately I do feel obliged to point out that I can’t remember consciously thinking “Oh, this MP3 player is too heavy!”, and in fact the iPod Nano beats it for ‘skinnyness’ at 6.2mm, but I’ll let that pass for the sake of progress!
Continue reading »iTunes 9 Review
January 4, 2010
It isn’t that long ago that iTunes was simply Apple’s audio player. Somewhere to stash and organise your MP3 files and sync them with your iPod. That was pretty much it. Nowadays however, it manages your video files organising movies and tv shows, as well as podcasts, apps for your iPod/iPhone. You get the picture. The name iTunes really doesn’t do it justice anymore.
Many of you may have updated to iTunes 9 already, in fact you probably will have done after being prompted by the software update at the time of release. But in case you haven’t, or in case you’ve missed something, this is what’s new in iTunes number 9.
Continue reading »Technology Of The Noughties: Apple’s iPod (MP3 Players)
December 31, 2009
Remember this? The incredibly thin, high capacity MP3 player from Apple, otherwise known as the iPod was most definitely one of the biggest impacts we saw this decade.
Taking the market for digital music players by storm, Apple revolutionised digital music and continue to innovate and update their line of iPod’s.
Before the iPod, the market was screaming out for someone to create an easy to use, functional device. The original iPod, released in October 2001, did just that with its huge capacity of 5GB or 10GB. Consumers went from being able to store maybe a few hundred songs to their entire CD collection on one device and take it with them wherever they went.
Continue reading »How To Setup Xbox 360 Media Player ‘Ecosystem’ Guide: Part One
December 23, 2009
As promised in my How To Setup Xbox 360 Media Player Guide teaser, with this help of this guide you should be able to stream everything. Play anything. Hundreds of HD movies. Thousands of songs. No DVDs, no DRM, no getting up from the sofa. No need for your PC to even be on and above all, no fruit! I told you I’d show you how to do it, so here it is. From scratch.
Part One: Infrastructure and Software
I recommend that you follow this guide with a clean installation of Windows 7 on a modern, Intel, dual-core or better native PC (ie. Not VM or Boot Camp), with at least 2GB of RAM, an internal SATA HDD, wired Ethernet and USB2 onboard.
Continue reading »Archos 1 Vision Portable Media Player (Just £25)
December 16, 2009
The market for 4Gb Portable Media Players is a little crowded, and mostly dominated by Apple’s iPod as we all know. However, there are so many alternatives that in some cases, including this one, the Archos 1 Vision that offer more functionality as well as stylish aesthetics that rival that of the iPod.
The new Archos 1 is probably the best value media player I’ve come across. Costing just £25, it can store up to 2,000 compressed songs; however the feature I was most impressed with was its compatibility with lossless music FLAC files which provide much clearer, uncompressed audio than the standard MP3 alternative.
The down side to this though, being songs can reach over and above 50mb each so you would quickly fill up a 4Gb player. It also plays MP3, WMA, FLAC, APE and WAV music files which provide a lot more compatibility than the iPod. Your audio library is organised in the usual manner, being by artist, song name, genre etc.
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