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MP3 Player News & Headlines
Bandwidth Police Help Keep Corporate Networks Humming
(Investor's Business Daily)
Investor's Business Daily - Some are mission-critical, such as data traffic, corporate video streams and Web searches. Others are the more frivolous kind: online music, shopping and social networking.
iriver clix: iPod/iTunes Killer?
iriver has introduced the clix portable media player, a new media player that integrates with the new Windows Media Player 11 and the public beta of MTV Networks URGE digital music service
Man Destroys iPod In A Blender
Blendtec, a company that makes heavy duty blenders, is destroying iPods to help sell $400 blenders.
SpeckTone Retro Stereo Speaker System for iPod
The SpeckTone Retro is one of the few iPod accessories that has caught our eyes recently. The fifties look of the all-wood speaker cabinet is finished with a high-gloss lacquered piano finish, and is a surprisingly nice complement to the modern look of iPods.
Texas Instruments 3Q profit, sales decline
(AP)
AP - Texas Instruments' third-quarter profit and sales Monday inched past the improved expectations the chip maker issued last month, and its largest division, which makes analog chips used in digital music players and other gadgets, saw 20 percent growth for the second quarter in a row.
The Strangest iPod Accessory Ever?
Thanko has introduced a bizarre iPod box speaker that may be the strangest iPoc accessory ever.
Griffin Intros Hi-Way Case for iPod Hi-Fi
Griffin Technology today announced Hi-Way, a versatile, custom fit, roadworthy carrying case for the iPod Hi-Fi compact stereo.
MP3 Tech Commentary
Finders Keepers Finders Keepers originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Sunday, October 18th, 2009 at 12:40:00.
Sometimes, I feel like my relatives must be the most forgetful people in the planet. I've seen them forget where they put their keys, their cell phones, their game systems, their wits, the list goes on and on. They'd probably forget where their legs were if they weren't attached to their bodies.
True story: There was a big commotion once because one of my relatives wanted her knife back and the person who borrowed it couldn't remember where she put it. The knife would surface a few days later after another relative almost sat on the knife while getting into the backseat of the borrowing relative's car. I guess when you've got to peel an apple, ya' just got to peel it no matter where you (or your car) may be.
Needless to say, my relatives were the first people to come to mind after I found out about the EZ-Find tracking unit. The product comes with a "finder" unit and a set of tags that you can attach to stuff you don't want to forget. Knowing my relatives, though, they'd probably misplace the finder unit, which then makes the whole point moot. More "normal" folks, however, can find out more about the device by checking our EZ-Find review.
Do You Have The 'Audacity' to Make Your Own Ringtones? Instead of purchasing and downloading pre-made ringtones using one of the many services on the Internet, why not make your own for free? You may remember a while ago that we covered how you can Create Free Ringtones Using iTunes. But what if you don't use iTunes? Thankfully there are quite a few free audio editors that you can download to enable you to make MP3 ringtones. One of the most popular of these is a multi-platform audio tool called, Audacity. All you'll need is your existing music library and a little investment in time. It can be very rewarding to make your own free ringtones and you'll also save a lot of money too. If you've been frustrated by not being able to find the free ringtones you want on the Internet, then why not follow our tutorial on How to Create Ringtones Using Audacity. Related Articles:
Do You Have The 'Audacity' to Make Your Own Ringtones? originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Thursday, September 24th, 2009 at 09:35:06.
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Now That's 'Call Time' Now That's 'Call Time' originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Thursday, October 8th, 2009 at 17:32:25.
Back when I was still an innocent and &mdash if I say so myself &mdash incredibly adorable gradeschooler, I had a digital watch that transformed into a robot. Needless to say, it made me quite popular with my buddies.
Since then, I've worn a lot more sophisticated watches. But the "Robot Watch" was undoubtedly the coolest timepiece I've ever owned. Like Voltron pajamas, though, there comes a time when a man must face the fact that he can no longer indulge in his boyhood pursuits.
Then I ran across the "W."
Now before you start picturing a guy clearing brush at some ranch in Texas, I'm actually talking about Kempler & Strauss' W Watchphone. As its name implies, it's a watch that doubles as a phone. And a personal planner. And an MP3 player. And a camera. And a camcorder. (Talk about throwing in everything but the kitchen sink!)
Admittedly, there's something tacky about a watch that purports to do all these things. But the James Bond gadget lover in me can't help but think that the device sounds kind of cool. Besides being unlocked, it's also a GSM triband phone to boot &mdash quite useful when you're chasing Dr. No types across the globe.
Now I haven't tried out the device myself so I'm not sure how well it works. But if they just add robot transformation into the mix, then I might just be unable to resist.
Photo © Kempler & Strauss
FLO TV Expands Options for TV On-The-Go FLO TV Expands Options for TV On-The-Go originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 at 20:11:46.
Just wait until the "Turn Off the TV Week" folks hear about this.
TV on-the-go has yet to enjoy the same widespread acceptance that digital music has experienced in the last few years. But that isn't stopping Qualcomm from continuing to aggressively push for the medium in its own way.
The company's FLO TV subsidiary announced today that it will be releasing a new portable TV just in time for the holiday season. Unlike FLO TV's previous mobile TV offerings, the FLO TV Personal Television won't be tethered to a cell phone service. Instead, the device will be a dedicated 3.5-inch TV player that offers both live and time-shifted programming.
Viewing that content comes at a price. Besides the $249.99 cost for the device, users also need to fork over some dough for a subscription package, which starts at $8.99.
The monthly subscription for a limited number of channels may not sit well with folks who already pay for cable or satellite TV at home. For one, you can just stream all your content from home to a mobile device or computer via methods such as a Slingbox without a monthly fee. The fact that the Personal Television is a dedicated device also means you pretty much can't do anything else with it except watch TV.
Still, you never know what the free market would be willing to pay for. Just look at bottled water. And given the number of people who love television, FLO TV's device just might fill a certain niche. Here's hoping this ultimately becomes one step toward more affordable mobile TV in the future.
Photo © FLO TV
These Speakers Are Paper-Thin These Speakers Are Paper-Thin originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 00:37:18.
Yes, that paper-thin thing you see up there in the picture is a speaker. More specifically, it's Industrial Technology Research Institute's FleXpeaker.
ITRI sent over info about the speakers while company researchers demoed the product in the Bay Area and I must admit that it looks pretty cool. The Wall Street Journal apparently thought so, too, and named it one of its 2009 Technology Innovation Awards winners.
According to the company, FleXpeaker researchers basically found a way to create arrays of tiny, bendable speakers that can be put together to create high-fidelity speaker systems of basically any size. That gives the speaker plenty of potential for electronics devices, including tiny portable ones.
It can even be cut to any shape using scissors and incorporated to wearable clothing. So when somebody tells you that your shirt is loud in the near future, maybe it's because it actually is.
Photo © ITRI
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