mp3 player
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 »Eye-Controlled Earphones For MP3 Players?
February 17, 2010
Occasionally you stumble upon things that just look too weird, futuristic or downright bizarre that you have to look around to double check that it’s not just someone having a joke, and the new ‘eye sensing’ earphones which have been demonstrated by NTT Docomo Inc fit into that category quite well.
The two earphones effectively track the movement of the eye, which is then recorded and used to do whatever it is you had in mind using some pretty nifty technology borrowed from the methods used in the medical fields to achieve the same outcome – measuring the movement of the eye.
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 »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 »CD Art Display Review (Minimalist iTunes Interface For Windows)
December 29, 2009
CD Art Display is a fantastic program for Windows which is free for download and is a nice addition to your desktop and iTunes library. Although it is not stuffed full of features and functionality, it does exactly what it promises and all in all, it does it very well in a similar way to CoverSutra on Mac OS X.
Basically, the application is designed to simply display your album artwork and song information on your desktop. Pretty much exactly as the name suggests. It is neat and compact so does not clutter your desktop at all.
By default, the text is displayed clearly, on a transparent background, therefore it blends in even more to your desktop. Depending on the extremity of colour on your desktop wallpaper, the text should be clearly visible.
Continue reading »Foobar2000 Review (iTunes Alternative)
December 17, 2009
Many call Foobar an audio player, but that really doesn’t do it justice. In truth it is so much more than that. Although, it can be said that programs such as iTunes are more than audio players. However, do not be mistaken, this is no iTunes.
On with the review. Firstly, the first thing that impressed me with Foobar2000 is that upon installation, you are left with a couple of options. The first is a standard installation of the application; whereas the other, the portable version which allows you to run it on the move from your pen drive, much like the apps mentioned in the review of PortableApps.
Personally, I chose the standard installation as this was what I required. Upon loading the program for the first time, you are faced with a menu allowing you to change the basic layout of foobar. This is useful as it allows you to customise the display to show such panels as visualisers, playlists and also the colour scheme of the entire program. I liked this feature as it means you can almost make the program your own from the start.
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.
Continue reading »iPod Touch 3rd Generation Review
December 13, 2009
When Apple released the original iPod Touch back in 2007, I don’t think even they knew what it would become. One button, a touch screen for navigation and a “Mac OS X” operating system… Well, the release event was the only time we ever heard the iPhone OS referred to as Mac OS X by Steve Jobs, but nevertheless, it was still an impressive device!
It was clear that Apple wasn’t taking full advantage of this powerful mobile device however, and when the jail-breaking scene took off things got a lot more interesting. With the apps that soon followed, the iPod Touch became less of a music device and more of a portable computer that could handle e-mail, web surfing and even light gaming device which was an area Apple certainly “played” up at the press conference where they announced the 3rd generation iPod Touch. Since 2007, Apple has sold over 20 million iPod Touches and 34 million iPhones, but if you were an early adopter, is it worth splashing out on the 3rd generation iPod Touch?
Continue reading »Foxit eSlick FE-01 eBook Reader (Kindle Alternative)
December 6, 2009
The market for e-book readers is becoming increasingly congested these days. The Foxit eSlick eBook Reader is competing against devices such as the Amazon Kindle, COOLER eBook Reader, as well as Sony e-Reader products, which as usual are not what you would call great value with some devices being well over £200.
However, competition is rightly good for the consumer and rightly so the Foxit eSlick ebook readers are just £189.99 which is far greater value for money when you consider the quality of the product. It is slim and stylish and extremely functional. Weighing just 180g, it is lightweight, yet still boasts a decent size screen to provide you with an easy reading experience. It’s also available in either black or white models.
Continue reading »CoverSutra Review (Minimalist iTunes Interface For Mac OS X)
November 2, 2009
I love music and have a huge iTunes library to prove it, but having to go into iTunes every time I want to view what’s playing, select a new track or rate a track I’m listening to gets annoying! Especially when I’m listening to music for a long time while I’m working on something…
For quite some time I was looking for a more minimalist interface (or application) that could manage my music without as much hassle, and I came across an application called CoverSutra, from a small developer called Sophiestication.
When running, CoverSutra sits on your dock, displaying the artwork of whatever’s currently playing, and gives you a larger album art in a CD case template, with song and album information on your desktop. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing on your desktop, but it’s also a very functional application, compatible for Mac OS X 10.4 through to 10.6, although newer versions only support Leopard and Snow Leopard.
Continue reading »
