MP3
Hard disk versus Flash MP3 players
June 10, 2005 The global love affair with the portable digital music (aka MP3) player continues to flourish with more players, larger capacities and cheaper prices, all the while fueled by more of the population exploring digital music and podcasts, and encouraging and showing their friends to try them. If you’ve noticed a proliferation of smaller, cheaper flash memory-based MP3 player siblings of larger Hard Disk Drive (HDD) MP3 players (usually with a mini or junior added to the name), it’s because flash memory has in recent times got MUCH cheaper. But while HDD MP3 players are now approaching 100GB, it’s the flash players that are emerging as the stronger growth segment. Read More
MP3 watch from Mercedes Benz
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June 1, 2005 Merchants of people mobility (also known as auto manufacturers) have been a little slow getting their brain cells wrapped around where the MP3 fits into the grand scheme of selling automobiles. The unanimous first step appears to be offering an iPod integration/interface kit, as VW, GM, Volvo, BMW, Mini and Mercedes have all done and we expect more to follow. Curiously, Mercedes Benz has just released a wristwatch incorporating an MP3 player, voice recorder and 512Mb of flash memory capacity, becoming the second auto manufacturer to have such a watch. Read More
Infusion WiFi Internet Radio, FM Radio and MP3 Player
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May 26, 2005 As convergence rampages onward, the area of audio content and how we will consume it in the future has been one with no obvious outcomes. While podcasting has been a major trend of recent times, liberating content from the desktop en masse, live internet radio is only just beginning to become unwired and the jury is still out as to what devices we’ll use to listen to streamed audio content. One possibility is the Infusion, a compact portable Internet radio that connects to the Internet via WiFi without the need for a PC. It has a range of features including Internet radio, a timer recording, MP3 player, FM radio receiver, news / sport / weather ticker-tape banner, and more. Around the same size as a credit card (58mm x 71mm x 16mm), the Infusion will reach market in time for the 2005 Christmas season priced “between medium capacity flash-memory MP3 players and high capacity MP3 players with built-in hard drives." Read More
The ButterFly2 MP3 Player - integrated MP3 player and headphones
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February 18, 2005 We really like this idea. Japanese company Thanko has integrated the MP3 player with a set of lightweight headphones to produce the ButterFly2 MP3 player. Ideal for gym, rowing, cycling and other activities where you just don't want wires getting in the way or the fear that your expensive Bluetooth headset might get smashed, damaged, lost of go for an inadvertent swim. Read More
MP3 player AND voice recorder could develop a new market
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January 5, 2005 Iriver's N10 hangs around your neck like a piece of jewellery and looks the part. The necklace also functions as a set of earplugs, and the N10 is an MP3 player with 512 MB of recording space. It is also a voice recorder and can be activated to record almost instantly. This makes taking lecture notes a breeze as the file can then be downloaded to your computer in Mp3 format, annotated and even transcribed. It also opens up the possibility of routinely recording verbal briefings, business meetings and instructions. Read More
Multi-channel MP3 Surround sound launched
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December 14, 2004 MP3, the world's most popular audio compression format is about to go multi-channel. Scientists and engineers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS, who developed MP3 together with colleagues from Thomson and Agere Systems, have joined to launch MP3 Surround into the consumer and commercial markets. This technology will enable 5.1 channel surround sound for a broad spectrum of applications including web-based music distribution, broadcasting systems, PC-related audiovisual or gaming applications, consumer electronics and automotive systems. Read More
Excentrique MP3 music necklace
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November 5, 2004 Jens of Sweden has released the ultimate music jewellery with Excentrique - a 24 carat gold MP3 player that is worn around the neck and can store up to 300 tunes.
"We live in an age when jewellery increasingly has more than one function. Jens of Sweden is not an electronic product to keep in your pocket, it is an accessory to adorn your neck, and this is the most exclusive music jewellery in the world today," says Jens Nylander, founder and CEO of Jens of Sweden.
The thumb-sized MP-400 Excentrique has a high-gloss, black polycarbonate front with sides and back in gold. When switched on, the backlit button at the front means that you can see the player in the dark. Excentrique weighs 34 grams including the battery, which gives a play time of 20 hours. It is the market’s smallest player with an OLED screen. Read More
Waterproof MP3 Player uses Bone Conduction Tech
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November 2, 2004 A waterproof SwiMP3 player that uses bond conduction technology has been released for swimmers, triathletes, surfers and anyone who wants to listen to music whilst in the water.
Unlike other waterproof players that rely on traditional air conduction technologies, often producing a muffled sound, the SwiMP3 player uses bone conduction (the direct transfer of sound vibrations from the cheek bone to the inner ear) to provide the swimmer with exceptional sound clarity. Bone conduction hearing is a safe, well-established hearing mechanism in humans that the SwiMP3 player leverages to enhance aquatic activity. Read More
World's first 100 GIGABYTE MP3 player
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October 29, 2004 The publicity advantages of being the first MP3 player to reach the 100GB mark has pushed MP3 storage to breakthrough levels with the world's first 100 GB MP3 player announced recently from Digital Mind Corp. The DMC Xclef 500 can store up to 3,500 hours of music (based on Windows Media format at 64kb/s) - that's a whopping 145 days of recorded music or a whole summer of portable jukebox entertainment! Its internal battery provides over 20 of hours of play on a single charge and can be recharged 500 times to 100% capability. Its USB 2.0 interface also allows for data transfers of any kind at lightning-fast speeds. It is both PC and Mac compatible, and needs no software of any kind - just plug it in to your computer and it shows up as a regular hard drive. The DMC Xclef comes in five models, a base with no drive (US $149), 40GB (US $249), 60 GB (US $299), 80 GB (US $349) and 100 GB (US $449). Specs on the company website suggest the current design may extend to a further record of 132 GB in the near future. Read More
'Thump' sunglasses with integrated MP3 player
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UPDATED November 12, 2004 Oakley has announced the introduction of 'digital audio eyewear' - aka MP3 sunglasses. Named "Thump", the new sunglasses have the audio circuitry built seamlessly into the glasses frame. Oakley's digital music player mounts the speakers to the eyewear frame with miniature extendible booms, enhanced with pivots. They allow the wearer to adjust speaker position for optimal ear placement and to reposition the speakers away from the ears whenever necessary. Read More
Vivitar TV/video recorder/player/MP3/still camera
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Vivitar has launched its own take on the convergent multimedia device with a new and versatile multimedia recorder/player. Due for release on September 23, the Vivitar DVR 390H combines an XVGA MPEG4 video camera, 3.1 megapixel digital still camera, TV/video recorder, digital photo frame, MP3 player and voice recorder in a compact handheld device just 106mm wide x 71mm long x 32mm deep. The price? AUD$999 Read More
Iriver appropriately launches underwater MP3 player
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Music has been land-locked too long so we can all be thankful of today's announcement in the US by iRiver that it will launch, in conjunction with H2O Audio, the H2O Audio SV i700, a fully waterproof MP3 player accessory. The H2O Audio SV i700 is designed specifically for iRiver iFP-700 series flash-memory music players. Read More
Creative Zen Portable Media Center based upon Microsoft Software
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A new era could potentially begin this week with the release of the AUD $999 Creative Labs Zen Portable Media Center (PMC), a tiny device with a 3.8" colour LCD screen and 20GB hard drive that will play Windows Media Video, Windows Media Audio, MP3, JPEG, and TIFF files. Such devices have been coming to market from lesser-known manufacturers over the last 12 months but have not become mainstream as yet, largely because only the very earliest of adopters have embraced the concept. Read More
JumpGear-MP3 uses flashdrive storage for flexibility
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Digital Media manufacturer and marketer Lexar has released the JumpGear-MP3, a digital audio player that uses Lexar's JumpDrive Sport USB flash drive as its storage medium. Priced at AUD$99 including a 64MB flash drive, the player can be used with any of the JumpDrive Sport USB flash drive, and the drives can be used as data storage and transfer mediums, making it an ideal and flexible solution for both music and data. Read More
Harley MP3 gives new meaning to Solid State
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The Harley Davidson brand packs a whallop - currently rated in the Top 50 most valuable brands in the world, it's most potent attribute is loyalty. How many other brands does one find tattooed on a customer's chest? So if you wanted a solid state, industrial strength, no-sissies, reliable, dependable, chromed MP3 player for your motorcycle, where would you go?
The genuine Harley Davidson Road Tech MP3/WMA Digital Music Player is designed so it can be operated while wearing thick leather gloves while riding a motorcycle.
The four large soft-touch buttons are back-lit and the unit has an illuminated LCD display so that if you really do need to take your eyes off the road to scroll through the playlist or turn it up for "Born to be Wild," you can do it at night too. Read More
New Surround Sound System by the
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A new spatial, immersive sound system called IOSONO, which creates an unparalleled listening experience, has been previewed by Prof. Dr. Karlheinz Brandenburg, the often called "father of MP3". Developed by a team at the Fraunhofer IDMT (part of Europe's largest applied research group) under the lead of Brandenburg, IOSONO is the first system to project sounds as if they are coming from a specific spot inside or outside the listening area. It provides a perfectly balanced "sweet spot" for every spectator, no matter where they are positioned in the audience. Read More
Wearable miniscule MP3 player has a colour screen
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Korean electronics company Eratech has begun showing a miniscule wearable MP3 player known as the EMP-Z II, which weighs just 24 grams including the battery and includes a 4096 pixel full colour display. The flattened-egg-shaped Eratech marvel measures just 45x53x17mm and comes in 128mb or 256 mb capacities. Read a review of the Eratech EMP-Z II at i4u. Read More
World's First Underwater MP3 Player uses bone conduction
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A final year design student at Brunel University (UK) has created an underwater MP3 player. Showcased at the Brunel University Design Show, the underwater music machine which has been dubbed 'Soundwaves' has already won inventor Sam Jones an AOL Broadband Innovator Award. Read More
MP3 Jukebox built into AK47 Ammunition Magazine
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AudioBooksForFree.Com, the No1 UK online mp3 audio book publishers has released a one-of-a-kind MP3 portable jukebox - built into the ammunition magazine of a Kalashnikov AK-47 Assault rifle. The "AK-MP3 Jukebox" comes with 20GB storage capable to hold up to 9000 songs or 3000 hours of mp3 audio books. The manufacturers claim that the stainless steel body of the casing makes this new player uniquely suitable for the outdoors. As the advert says, the 'player could be used on its own or it could be attached to the Kalashnikov machinegun instead of the ordinary magazine.' Read More
Bluetooth MP3 Snowboarding Jacket from O'Neill
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Infineon Technologies and O'Neill Europe unveiled the result of a joint product development project on January 14 - their first 'wearable electronics' snowboard jacket with functions such as an MP3 player and mobile telephony by Bluetooth.The jacket will be known as "THE HUB" and technologically clued-in snowboarders will be able to purchase the jacket when O'Neill's 2004/05 winter collection goes on sale later this year. Read More
Coin-sized wearable MP3 player
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Saturday October 4, 2003: A "coin-sized" MP3 player has been unveiled by digital audio specialists Eratech. The EMP-Z squeezes in 128MB of storage capacity into a casing just 42 mm diameter by 10mm thick and weighing 15g and can be used as a portable HDD... Read More
Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen NX
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Monday September 15, 2003: The latest Nomad Jukebox MP3 player has been redesigned to accommodate up to 30GB in-built memory (enough for 1,000 hours of music) and advanced navigation and search functionality in a pocket-sized anodised aluminium casing 22mm thick and weighing just 226g. Read More
Creative Digital LX200 MP3 player
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August 2, 2003: Featuring a built-in memory of 256MB, FM radio and voice recording capabilities, the LX200 is the latest in ultra-portable, multi-functional MP3 Players from Creative Digital. Read More
Dual Sports wearable MP3 + heart rate monitor
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Friday June 27, 2003: Dual Sports has integrated a heart rate monitor, digital watch, FM radio and voice recording capabilities into an MP3 player that can be worn during athletic activity. Read More
iRiver's thumb sized, 512MB, voice recording MP3 Player
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The new iRIVER iFP-195T is the size of a thumb, has a built-in FM Tuner and voice recorder and 512MB of memory capable of holding 17hrs of MP3 music. Read More
Smallest MP3 Player in the World
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June 3, 2004 This two-piece MP3 player is small enough to fit on a key ring and can store one hour of music as well as doubling as a storage device... Read More
iRiver MP3 Player / Burner
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The iDP-100 functions as a digital music player, recorder and media burner with the ability to store up to 11 hours of music per 500Mb dataplay disk... Read More
Ingenious Dual Play MP3
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The most ingenious MP3 player we've seen in a long while is the Dual Play Multi Format Digital Audio Player - an MP3 player that can be played in the tape deck of your car... Read More
Apple iPOD MP3 System
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Apple's MP3 is one of those products you WANT! It's gorgeous in acrylic white and chrome, and is a terribly convenient size, being roughly the equivalent of a pack of cards. Read More
SlimAudio MP3 Player
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At roughly the size of a credit card, the SlimAudio MP3 player is the smallest available at just 61mm x 91mm x 5mm and it weighs just six grams. It won a 2002 CES innovation award due to its size & compression algorithm which trebles equivalent storage capacity. See www.lucktechnology.co.kr. Read More
Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 2 MP3 System
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Combining advanced technological function with exquisite form is this new MP3 system from Bang & Olufsen - the BeoSound 2. Not much larger than a piece of jewellery and equally as beautiful, the Beosound2's tiny screenless stainless steel case fits in the palm of a hand, and the functions behind the control buttons were immediately evident. Apart from an exquisite tactile quality, it has the best set of three-way adjustable earpod headphones we've ever seen. Read More
