Archive for the ‘MP3 Players’ Category
Tried out the new iTunes 8 yet? Well if you’ve got a jailbroken iPhone or are attempting to jailbreak your iPhone, you may not want to give it a shot after all. As of right now the PwnageTool doesn’t exactly play nice with iTunes 8. While Apple can’t undo what the PwnageTool does through firmware updates, the new iTunes does make it currently impossible to restore your iPhone to an iPwned ipsw.
The DevTeam is working their hardest on making their next release handle this issue, but is it really needed? Considering you can’t yet unlock the 3G network, there’s not a whole lot of use for it besides customizing how your iPhone looks. Perhaps if that’s your thing you should avoid the latest iTunes.
iPhone and iPod Touch users are going to have quite the bit of extras on their hands in the coming months. The first of many interactive album applications has officially been dated for release! What this means for you is that future albums that you download to your iPhone or iPod Touch will come packed with a digital booklet, extra videos, lyrics, images, behind the scenes footage, and artwork. You’ll essentially have the limited edition junk you always wanted right on your iPhone.
The first band to go through with this is Snow Patrol. So check out their latest album release due out next month if this is your kinda thing.
While the iPhone and iPod Touch are the current glory hogs of the portably media player market as of late, Zune is still kicking around out there. We’ve got unconfirmed reports that there have actually been two new Zunes being released in the near future, the Zune 120 and the Zune 16GB model. Both offer an increased storage and slightly different look, but is that enough to keep Zune fans with Microsoft?
These are leaked screenshots compliments of Gizmodo. Check back for more details as we find out when and where we’ll be able to see these PMP’s live and with our own two hands.
Sony continues to make smaller and smaller Walkman devices for those of you who haven’t yet had the urge to go get an MP3 player with video capabilities. The Walkman NWZ-S639F is the latest in the line of Walkman and offers up an itty bitty little device that does one thing and one thing only: play music.
The sound quality is exactly what you would expect from a Sony Walkman, nice and clean. But that should be kind of expected when that’s all this 16GB portable music player can possible do.
If you have no need for video on your portable player, then check out the Walkman NWZ-S639F. If you do, go get a real media device!
The newest line of Sony Walkman’s have hit the New Zealand website, giving us a sneak preview of what’s to come. The three new models (NWZ-E435, NWZ-E436, and NWZ-E438) are all equipped with a 2 inch QVGA LCD screen, FM tuner, and are capable of playing MP3, AAC, WMA, and Linear PCM formats. The device itself is rather small, maxing out at 8.5mm with a total weight of 50g and comes in three different sizes: 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB.
Besides the NWZ-E438 coming in only black, you can have your pick of color variations for the new Sony Walkman line to give your device a bit more of a personalized/customized feel to it. As is normal with the Sony Walkman line, these PMP’s work very well with both Windows Media Player and iTunes, allowing you to easily drag and drop your files onto the device.
No final word has been issued regarding prices and release date as of yet.
It’s only been one short month since the launch of the iTunes App Store adn we’re already seeing that the projected number of downloades (including free and paid apps) have reached over 60 million. That figure also comes with an estimation that Apple has earned over $30 million from the sale of iPhone and iPod Touch apps in this short period of time. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Steve Jobs felt encouraged enough by these figures to say that “[the app store] will be a $1 billion marketplace at some point in time.”.
Jobs has high hopes of future apps being the customization that people need to make their phone unique enough to be their own in the same fashion that newer models and different physical styles had done for past phones. Only time will tell if this theory will catch on.
Just like the Nintendo DS, the iPod tends to be dressed to commemorate or simply take advantage of people willing to buy something just because of it’s pretty new exterior. So adding to the line up of Harry Potter, Madonna, and Tony Hawk, we can now safely exhale as the 90210 iPod nano is now available. The CBS store is apparently the only place that you can buy this 8GB nano for $269. There aren’t a ton of them, so you better act fast if you’re interested!
The color choices are black, pink, green, blue, or silver and they each include up to a 30 character engraving on the back.
I’m just waiting for the Get Smart iPhone!
Itunes competitor and music subscription service, Rhapsody has shoveled a little more dirt on the coffin of DRM.
DRM, for those who don’t know, is what prevents you from actually owning the iTunes tracks you pay for – which is totally awesome, by the way.
Well Rhapsody has just launched a new version of its service that is DRM-free. Tracks run the standard $.99/song and albums cost $9.99. But wait, there’s more! The first 100,000 sign-ups before July 4 get an album for free. Getting a sweet deal and sticking it to the man? Sign me up.
If you’ve got $400 to spend and you’ve already purchased your Eee PC and a PS3, then perhaps you’d be interested in the Sony Rolly. What apparently is the most shortsighted and expensive gadget to hit the shelves since gas prices were under $3 per gallon, this 2GB MP3 player boasts one unique ability.
IT CAN DANCE.
Apparently, it has it’s own unique choreography software installed with it to give you some custom dance moves depending on the song playing. Don’t expect this device to serve any other purpose though, as it’s missing a headphone jack and it also has less storage space then your cellphone probably does.
Microsoft has just announced that they will be releasing a limited edition Joy Division Zune player over the summer. There has been no official word on exactly what the Joy Division Zune will look like, but it is expected to have a design based off of the band’s Unknown Pleasures album.
The Joy Division Zune is scheduled to be released somewhere between June 5th and June 10th of this year so that the player will be available around the same time as the upcoming DVD documentary about the band that is expected to release on June 10th.