MP3 Headlines & News for November 19, 2009

It didn't seem that long ago when the only news you seemed to hear about digital photo frames involved a pretty nasty virus that did nasty things to your computer. Even major retailers Amazon and Best Buy didn't escape that whole ordeal unscathed.

But the whole virus hullabaloo apparently didn't faze everyone as a recent report from market research and consulting firm Parks Associates now predicts digital frame adoption to exceed 1 in 4 households this holiday season. Actually, make that 1 in 4 U.S. households with broadband. For the math-challenged, that's an adoption rate of more than 25 percent &mdash compared to only 7 percent in 2007.

Still, activity in the market has apparently lost some of its sizzle recently.

"The meteoric growth rate of digital photo frames has cooled off," said Harry Wang, Parks Associates director of of health and mobile product research, in a statement. "(But) consumer familiarity and its appeal as a premium gift choice will keep demand healthy for the next few years."

You know what might cause demand to skyrocket again? Lowering prices, that's what. It actually isn't unusual to see some of these things reach triple digits in price. I've even seen some priced at $299! I don't know about you but I think that's a tad too expensive.

If you're interested in browsing for digital photo frames, you can check out this price comparison.

Photo © Sony

Digital Photo Frames Entering More Households originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 19:39:27.

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Seeing the words "car" and "mouse" together typically remind me of this one "Pimp My Ride" episode that featured an old beater with a certain "surprise" inside. Needless to say, it wasn't Mickey Mouse.

Which brings us to the "car mouse" from Four Door Media.

I ran into Four Door's car mice while surfing the Web for potential gift guide material. As its name implies the device is a computer mouse in the shape of a car.

Admittedly, part of me wonders just how comfortable a device shaped like a car would be as a mouse. Then my guy genes override all rational thought and make me go, "But dude, it's a mouse shaped like a car!" The fact that the headlights light up when you press the right and left buttons makes me even more irrational.

The car mouse line offers a wide range of both wired and wireless models to choose from, including Camaros, Mustangs, Dodge Vipers and Ford GT's. Other models are also in the works, including cars from my two favorite brands, Nissan and Lamborghini.

Still, I'm not quite ready to recommend it without giving it a test ride first. Expect a full review once I get the device. In the meantime, you can check out the car mice at www.roadmice.com.

Photo © Four Door Media

Baby You Can Drive My Mouse originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 00:24:41.

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Regular visitors to this site have likely noticed that there's been a preponderance of kids' gadgets on the site lately.

Now before folks start getting any weird ideas involving male biological clocks or what-have-you, there's actually a pretty simple explanation. I'm just getting ready to release a holiday gift guide featuring kids' electronics. But while there's certainly a lot of devices to choose from, I want to make sure that I at least give the items a try and seek feedback from the target audience before I recommend them.

On that note, here is the latest device to make the cut: LeapFrog's Text & Learn Kids' PDA. Now the device isn't actually a PDA in the real sense of the word. Giving something like that to kids would be just plain wrong. What it is, is a device that teaches kids about the alphabet, shapes, and even operating a QWERTY keyboard. Want to learn more? Then go ahead and read my LeapFrog Text & Learn review.

Photo by Jason Hidalgo

LeapFrog's Text & Learn originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 00:39:26.

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The material that iTunes U hosts is of a high quality and has been created mostly by universities, colleges, and other educational organizations. There's a 'Top Downloads' section too which is useful to see what the most popular downloads are and it can give you an idea on what you'd like to study next. One of the best things about using iTunes U for your studies is that all the files you download can then be viewed at your leisure - either on your computer or transferred to an iPod/iPhone for learning on the go!

For more information on using iTunes U as a free educational tool, read our iTunes U Guide on how to get started.

Related Articles:

• Top 5 iTunes Tutorials
• How to restore an iTunes backup
• iTunes crossfading: How to mix your songs like a DJ

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iTunes U: Free Educational Audio and Video Downloads originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 08:17:29.

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For folks who don't have a Ph.D in Kidology, picking a present for children can be a lot trickier than one expects. Don't believe me? Try giving a Barney-related present to someone older than, like, 4.

In fact, for a group that universally laughs at butt jokes, kids' tastes can be amazingly diverse.

However, there has been one item that has been universally received with glee by the young 'uns in all my years of gift giving. That would be Nintendo's DS system. From younger kids, older kids and every kid in between, the DS has always proved to be a smashing success. It's like the McDonald's of gadgets — every kid loves the darned thing.

Having the Super Mario and Pokemon franchises certainly helps with the DS's appeal to kids. Add a diverse stable of games and the fact that you can hack it to install all sorts of interesting programs and even "older kids" waaaaay past puberty end up appreciating it.

Now if you haven't been up to snuff on your DS news lately, there have been three versions of the DS released stateside so far. There's the original, bulky DS, which is also nicknamed the "phat." Then there's the DS Lite, which sports a slimmer profile and improved screen. Next is the DSi, which adds two cameras, Nintendo DSi shop functionality, and other features. The Lite retails for about $130 while the DSi goes for about $170 (check here for Nintendo DS price comparisons).

As a caveat, Nintendo is also going to release another new version: the DS XL (yes, "XL" means exactly what you're thinking). But that won't be out until the first quarter of 2010 so it won't make it in time for Christmas. Expect Nintendo to be laughing all the way to the bank once again next year when all the poor saps feel the need to upgrade their "older" DS systems.

Fortunately, I've stuck with my old, reliable "phat" so I can purchase the XL next year without feeling too silly (I really like my bigger screens). Unless, of course, Nintendo releases the DS XXL. Now that would be just plain mean.

Photo © Nintendo

Want to learn more about the DS? Then check out About.com's Nintendo DS site.

Holiday Gift Picks: The Nintendo DS originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Friday, November 13th, 2009 at 00:48:33.

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One of the things that surprised me most when I took over this site was how popular portable DVD players were. Visitors to the Portable Electronics site just love reading about this stuff.

Rocket scientist that I am, I thought, "Jason, ya gotta do more portable DVD player reviews." I'm such a freaking genius.

On that note, I've decided to review Sony's — take a deep breath now — DVP-FX930. You know, Sony's really got to start picking easier-to-remember names for their portable DVD players. This thing sounds like it races around Le Mans or fires missiles or something.

Weird naming aside, this particular player is actually popular for a reason. To find out more, read my Sony DVP-FX930 review.

Checking Out Sony's DVP-FX930 Portable DVD Player originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Saturday, November 14th, 2009 at 18:13:59.

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