Random thoughts and news on MP3 portable audio players
techlizard » iriver ifp-180t 128 mb mp3 player
… The IRIVER IFP-180T 128 MB Portable Music Player is on sale for $38.89 after rebate, and ships for free. … It features a sleek, silver/gray triangular design that s just a little over 3 inches tall and weighs only 1.1 ounces. … The player has a 4-line, backlit LCD and a joystick for navigating through songs or control volume, forward, and reverse.
Complaints Pile Up Over Nano’s Display (Ziff Davis)
Ziff Davis - Owners of Apple’s new iPod Nano device say the display can be scratched far too easily.
Cingular to launch music download service in 2006 (Reuters)
Reuters - Cingular Wireless, the No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier, plans this year to sell a “walkie-talkie” style phone and launch a service next year that will let users download music on their mobile phone, a senior executive said on Thursday.
Or so they think…
While the article does make some good points about hardcore MP3 users not foregoing extra features that phones would leave out, over time there will be more consolidation of the two.
After all, everyone said the camera phone wouldn’t catch on either!
But regardless, those who want a quality camera or MP3 player will never find those in a phone.
Here’s the scoop on it.
Looks like Sony is trying to bring back the Walkman name by itself, of course in the MP3 player format.
It does look slick though, if you like that kind of thing. 
The Motorola ROKR E1 Apple iTunes phone was finally released.
Of course it’s space for only 100 songs is a bummer, it still is a start for those wanting to take their iTunes songs on only one device.
Personally, I’d just go for an iPod nano or Shuffle.
All of Apple’s competitors, that’s who.
Especially Korean MP3 player companies who said Samsung gave Apple a sweetheart deal on the flash memory units inside the iPod nano.
“Samsung says that they did not give an unusual deal to Apple. They just adjusted the price based on the volume Apple was able to purchase. ”
I first found out about the Apple iPod nano via TUAW and I must say I’m impressed.
Certainly you must be living in a cave if you haven’t heard of it yet.
It does look pretty slick though; definitely very sexy.
It comes in a 2gb and 4gb models, built on flash technology and not a hard drive. The iPod mini is being discontinued, though.
Looks like KaZaa is the new Napster, as record companies focus their cross-hairs on them. By a court order, this file-sharing network is being forced to modify its software to prevent piracy.
The problem is, most users have shifted from KaZaa to other platforms; just how users of Napster moved on.
Honestly, this sounds like a cycle where you cut off 1 head and 10 spring up in it’s place.
Now if record companies were serious about providing cheap songs in a legal fashion online with few listening restrictions, then things would began to look up. They’re focusing on a side-effect and not the actual problem.
As reported earlier with Microsoft, it appears that Apple may have infringed apon a patent held by Creative Labs, the believed number two producer of MP3 players in the world.
This certainly could mean royalities heading from Apple to Creative, although the appeals process will take some time to sort out.
With the Microsoft incedent and now the Creative Labs one, it appears as though Apple has just ripped everyone else off to produce the iPod. Stay tuned for future updates.
A device Sirius is to debut allows subscribers of their satellite radio to record satellite radio music and store their own MP3s.
Certainly these emerging trends weren’t expected, although they may be happening sooner than expected.
The device, dubbed the S50, is a little pricey at $360.
