Posts filed under 'Portable Music'
Toshiba announced today the availability of its new line of gigabeat Portable Media Players.Based on Windows Mobile Portable Media Center Version 2.0 software, the two new models available in 30GB and 60GB capacities offer consumers a vast array of content and a stunningly simple device to enjoy it with. By partnering with four of the content industry leaders, gigabeat users are not limited to the entertainment selections from one content provider and are not locked into a single service.
“The new gigabeat line of Portable Media Players offer consumers access to hundreds of content delivery services,” said Yoshi Uchiyama, Group Vice President of Toshiba’s Digital Audio Video division. “Consumers are no longer tethered to one service with limited choices. We’ve partnered with the industry leaders and pioneers to ensure that consumers have immediate access and can choose the delivery service that is best suited to their needs.”
For consumers seeking full length movies for their gigabeat, Toshiba has partnered with Starz Entertainment Group LLC (SEG) to offer their new Vongo(SM) service. Unveiled at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show, Vongo delivers movies and other video content over the Internet for playback on Windows-based PCs, laptops and select portable media devices as well as on a TV. Vongo subscribers have unlimited access to more than 1,600 movie and video selections as well as a live, streaming Starz TV channel for a monthly cost of $9.99. Additionally, select popular pay-per-view titles are available for $3.99 a movie. Vongo began a universal 14-day free trial earlier this spring providing consumers with access to the service which can be downloaded by broadband subscribers in the United States at www.vongo.com.
The partnership with Toshiba fulfills Vongo’s promise of entertainment on the go by offering premium movie content on the Toshiba gigabeat, the first commercially available, next generation Windows Mobile-based Portable Media Center device. This groundbreaking partnership will enable consumers to simply download movies onto Toshiba’s gigabeat and access them whenever and wherever they want.
“Vongo certifying the gigabeat as its first approved portable device and associated agreement with Toshiba is a major development for Starz and the digital entertainment industry,” said Bob Greene, Executive Vice President of Advanced Services for SEG. “Vongo and Toshiba deliver together true ‘on the go’ portability for movies, TV episodes and concerts with a true next generation device. Even better, we do so at no additional charge for Vongo subscribers.”
In addition to movies, TACP is providing consumers with a simple way to obtain their favorite music for their gigabeat. This year, Toshiba will continue their relationship with Napster� and is pleased to announce two additional partnerships that offer consumers access to a broad array of musical content. Both eMusic� and RealNetworks’� Rhapsody� service have entered into joint marketing agreements with Toshiba for the gigabeat device.
In addition to the new Napster.com, an interactive music destination where music fans can hear and share over two million major and independent-label tracks for free, Napster also offers two premium music subscription services, Napster and Napster To Go. Napster subscribers pay one low monthly price and enjoy unlimited access to CD-quality music and advanced discovery, community and programming features. Napster To Go subscribers enjoy those same premium benefits plus the power to transfer an unlimited amount of music to compatible MP3 players, like the Toshiba gigabeat, without having to purchase individual tracks and albums a la carte.
eMusic will offer more than 1.2 million tracks from established and emerging artists in every genre from the world’s leading independent labels. Unlike other download services, eMusic is the only one to deliver music in the universally compatible MP3 format, which allows consumers to burn CDs, transfer music to MP3 players and make as many copies of songs or albums as they like for personal use.
“We’re excited to provide new gigabeat owners with a fantastic selection of great music and to welcome them to eMusic’s community of music fans,” said David Pakman, CEO and President of eMusic.
Rhapsody, RealNetworks’ award-winning online music service, gives consumers access to over 2 million songs from every major label and thousands of independents, along with thoughtful music recommendations and unique editorial content from some of the most experienced music experts around. With Rhapsody To Go, users can fill and re-fill their gigabeat Portable Media Player with music from this tremendous library using a fast and intuitive interface, creating the perfect solution for enjoying virtually any song on the go. Consumers can take advantage of a 30-day free trial of the Rhapsody To Go service with their gigabeat at www.rhapsody.com/toshiba.
The gigabeat Portable Media Player also has the ability to download recorded television content from a consumer’s Windows Media� Edition PC, or from their TiVo� Series2 DVR using the TiVoToGo� feature. Either method lets consumers take their favorite TV shows with them wherever they go for the ultimate in flexibility.
To complement the full array of content choices available, the gigabeat Portable Media Players are available with 30GB and 60GB of storage capacity, a 2.4″ diagonally measured QVGA color screen with 320 x 240 resolution, a new more tactile PlusTouch� button and thanks to the Windows Mobile Portable Media Center software, one of the most intuitive interfaces available today. An FM Tuner is built in and gigabeat also offers the ability to transfer digital images for viewing directly from most digital cameras. Finally, a TV Audio and Video output lets users connect their gigabeat to a television for the ultimate in convenience.
The gigabeat PMC models are available now at $299.99 (30GB - MES30VW) and $399.99 (60GB - MES60VK) respectively.
June 22nd, 2006
Doghouse Electronics has unveiled the first-of-a-kind RoverTv, a super smart, super skinny portable media recorder and player that records directly from TV without a computer.”RoverTv establishes a new category of handheld TV recorders and players,” said RoverTv designer Jim Howard. “We built RoverTv hard-drive-free to streamline it and make it durable. Hard drives are chunky and fragile - they were never made to withstand the day to day handling that’s a normal part of enjoying a portable media device,” said Howard, noting that RoverTv’s Flash drive and SD technology provide unlimited external memory. Built-in software allows easy transfer of video/music content to and from a Mac or PC.
Howard says RoverTv satisfies rising consumer demand for more ways to enjoy the media they purchase. “With cable, satellite, downloading and broadcast, people have instant access to record media. RoverTv adds value, opening endless options for recording, transferring and viewing the media they’ve invested in.” RoverTv charges no recording fees and no monthly fees.
Available in the 3.5-inch “Big Screen” ($299.00) and the 4-inch “wide-screen” ($349.00), RoverTv also offers another industry first-it’s the first of its size portable media recorder and player that fills the surface of the device with screen rather than controls. RoverTv’s unique design places the controls on the outer edge, maximizing display size. RoverTv allows consumers to record directly from TV, DVD, CD, FM or computer and accommodates MP3, MP4, WAV files and more. RoverTv supports TiVo To Go(TM) for viewing content recorded to TiVo(TM) and can download content from iTunes(TM), BurnLounge and other electronic media providers. RoverTv is equipped to store JPEG/BMP/GIF photos, videos and presentations.
RoverTv features a Samsung TFT screen, crisp video resolution (320×240 for the Big Screen, 480 x 272 for the Wide Screen), USB port, AV input/output and FM radio receiver. RoverTv is powered by a rechargeable, built-in lithium ion battery that lasts a minimum of 12 hours for uninterrupted audio or 6 hours of video. Video stored in RoverTv can be viewed on any television up to 42″ via the AV output, or on PC. RoverTv includes USB cord, battery charger, AV cable, premium TXB ear buds, one 1Gig SD card and one 2Gig SD card, enough capacity to store eleven hours of television or 4200 songs. RoverTv is available through Doghouse Electronics, http://www.rovertv.net.
June 22nd, 2006
What makes a U2 special edition iPod? It appears to be as simple as engraving the signatures of the band members on the back of a common or garden iPod and giving it a lick of paint.
Yes, for $329 you too can own the same iPod as everyone else, but with the scribblings of Irish rockers etched into the case. Oh, and the scroll wheel is red.
The new U2 iPod is based on the company’s fifth-generation 30GB iPod and holds up to 7,500 songs, 25,000 photos or over 75 hours of video. The USP, apart from the slightly different styling, is 30 minutes of exclusive U2 video downloadable from the iTunes Music Store. It’s described as a ‘free’ download, but read on to see what ‘free’ actually means.
We reckon that Steve Jobs must be a big U2 fan, because this deal really doesn’t add up. The premium paid for the U2 iPod is $20-30 over a standard iPod and, call us boring, but that’s $20-30 too much. Mind you, the red and black stlying is growing on us. Take off the factory-applied scratching and you might win us over, Apple!
This is the second generation U2 iPod. The first, which was released in October 2004, held 20GB, had a 12-hour battery life, and did not have video functionality. How things have moved on….
June 7th, 2006
Makayama Interactive has introduced Digital Camera Media Studio 1.0. With this innovative software, consumers can turn their Sony Cybershot or Casio Exilim digital photo camera into a media and movie playback device.
DVDs, recorded TV-series or any other video can be put on the camera using only three clicks, and can be watched on the LCD screen, or on a connected TV-set. It supports 120 Sony and Casio models.
The software runs on a Windows computer, users pick any video file from their harddrive, CD or DVD and the Digital Camera Media Studio turns it into a compressed movie, which can be played on-the-go from the memorycard. Using a tv-out cable the content can be watched on any TV-set.
Digital Camera Media Studio is the only software on the market worldwide that can encode the Sony MpegMovieVX format. It provides direct DVD-to-Camera transfers and also the speediest. In less than 45 minutes, a movie can be transferred from DVD to digital camera. Digital Camera Media Studio is targeted at DVD and photography enthusiasts, frequent travellers and parents who would like to keep the kids happy in the back of the car. It can be used for video presentations, to watch tv-series on the go, or to take a favourite movie on a holiday or business trip.
The software captures media content from any drive and encodes it to Mpeg HQX/VX (Sony) or Motion-JPEG (Casio). The converted content can be sent to the camera via the cradle or to a memorycard reader. A 512 Mb memorycard is recommended. The online download price is USD 32.95 (EUR 29.95).
May 5th, 2006
Those volume-hating surrender monkeys in France may have realised it a long time ago, but now the rest of the world is waking up to the fact that the 104 decibel iPod might just be too loud. Amid reports of recent studies showing that excessive use of a personal music player such as the iPod at high volumes can damage hearing, Apple has decided to limit the volume on the standard iPod and the iPod nano.
Although Apple didn’t make a direct link with yesterday’s announcement it is likely to be related to a January 31 lawsuit filed against Apple in US federal court which alleged iPods are defective and don’t come with sufficient hearing loss warnings.
A software update will allow a preferred maximum volume to be set so that parents can ensure their children aren’t damaging their ears.
“With the increased attention in this area, we want to offer customers an easy to use option to set their own personal volume limit,” said Greg Joswiak, vice president of worldwide iPod product marketing.
This is not the first time that Apple has bowed to pressure on the volume issue. In 2002 it started selling models in France limited to 100 decibels to comply with local regulations. In the USA the iPod manual itself states that the iPod can reach 104 decibels. This is a volume level that is likely to cause hearing damage after only six minutes.
The new software update 1.1.1 is available immediately as a free download for the iPod nano and the fifth generation iPod from www.apple.com/ipod/download. The new Volume Limit feature works with any headphone or accessory plugged into the iPod headphone jack as well as the iPod Radio Remote. For further information on safe listening with iPod, visit www.apple.com/sound.
March 30th, 2006
Just as the capacity of flash memory is starting to infringe on hard drive territory, Seagate has unveiled a 12GB disc drive which is only 1 inch across. The company has even made it smaller than existing 1 inch drives by removing the connector and packaging, so we now have a 12GB drive that is smaller than its 8GB predecessor.
The drive is intended for use in mobile phones and portable music players. It uses perpendicular recording technology to cram more data onto the same size platter. Normal hard drives store data by placing charges horizontally on the disc. Perpendicular drives place the charges ‘upright’ meaning that more can be placed into the same area. The new ST1.3 Series also has 30% less power consumption than previous models.
“Portable, on-demand video is driving the next wave of revenue opportunity for the mobile phone and entertainment communities. As consumer adoption drives the demand for the availability of video content anytime and anywhere, the need for tiny, high-capacity hard drives becomes more apparent,” said Brodie Keast, Seagate’s general manager of consumer electronics.
However, at the same time as Seagate was trumpeting the ST1.3 at 3GSM in Barcelona, rival firm Cornice was unveiling 8GB and 10GB versions of its Dragon Series drives, which although smaller in capacity than the Seagate offering, have an even smaller form factor.
Look out flash ROM…hard disc technology isn’t quite dead yet.
February 14th, 2006
A new external rechargeable battery pack for the Apple iPod has been developed by Horizon Battery. Called the Ansmann, this rechargeable iPod accessory provides an additional 20 hours of listening and viewing time on a single charge. Add this time to the iPod’s internal battery, and you have ‘round-the-clock’ music and video pleasure without the need to constantly “dock and recharge.”
“The Ansmann rechargeable battery has just been introduced to the US market, and the response has been strong,” states David Schliep, VP of Sales and Marketing for Horizon Battery. “Considerable time and care went into the design, features, and function of this attractive, powerful and light-weight rechargeable battery. Compared to similar battery products, the Ansmann power pack is a ‘no-brainer’ that appeals to iPod users plagued with short battery life.”
The Ansmann rechargeable battery is compatible with the original iPod, iPod Video, iPod Photo, iPod U2, iPod mini, and iPod nano models. The iPod accessory can be recharged 500 times either directly thru the Apple power supply or via a USB port on a MAC/PC with the supplied USB cable. Charging time is about 4.5 hours. The 5V lithium-ion battery packs a whopping 2200 mah capacity, in a sleek, white, light-weight design that matches Apple’s eye for style and elegance. Retail price for the iPod accessory is $49.
The Anmsann rechargeable battery is available online at www.horizonbattery and select iPod accessory dealers throughout the US. The Horizon Group is the authorized distributor of Ansmann rechargeable batteries and battery chargers for the US markets, including gaming batteries for Sony PSP and Nintendo DS, digital camera and camcorder rechargeable batteries, pro-audio/.video applications, and rechargeable mobile light.
February 8th, 2006
Apple today unveiled a new 1GB iPod(R) nano for just $149, offering the same features as the 2GB and 4GB iPod nano models and holding up to 240 songs or 15,000 photos.
The new 1GB iPod nano’s ultra-portable design is thinner than a #2 pencil and features Apple’s patent pending Click Wheel and the same gorgeous color screen as the other iPod nano models. In addition, Apple announced that the iPod shuffle is now more affordable than ever with the 512MB and 1GB models priced at $69 and $99 respectively.
“Now everyone can afford an iPod nano, with our new 1GB model starting at just $149,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPod Product Marketing. “The iPod is the world’s most popular digital music player
with over 40 million sold, and now even more music lovers can experience the unrivaled combination of iPod and iTunes.” iPod nano features an ultra-portable design and fits into even the smallest pocket, making it easy to take iPod nano anywhere you go. With its stunning, high-resolution color screen, iPod nano allows users to display album art while playing music, view photo slideshows or play games in full color. iPod nano also features the same 30-pin dock connector as the iPod and works effortlessly with a wide range of over 2,000 accessories developed for iPod.
Featuring seamless integration with the iTunes Music Store and the iTunes digital music jukebox, iPod nano includes Apple’s patent pending Auto-Sync technology that automatically downloads a user’s digital music collection, photos or Podcasts onto iPod nano and keeps it up-to-date whenever iPod nano is plugged into a Mac(R) or Windows computer using USB 2.0.
The 1GB white and black models of iPod nano for Mac or Windows are available worldwide immediately for a suggested retail price of $149 (US), through the Apple Store (http://www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. All iPod nano models include earbud headphones, a USB 2.0 cable, case and a CD with iTunes for Mac and Windows computers.
iPod nano requires a Mac with a USB 2.0 port and Mac OS(R) X version 10.3.4 (or later) and iTunes 4.9 (or later); or a Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows 2000 (SP4), XP Home or Professional (SP2) and iTunes 4.9 (or later).
February 7th, 2006
Business Week has started a raging inferno of internet rumours with an article predicting that Microsoft is to dip a toe deeper into the pool of hardware manufacturing by developing a handheld multimedia device.
At this stage there is absolutely no flesh on the bare bones of the story, with Microsoft reportedly putting together a group to look at the business case for such a move.
Gaming websites have become quite excited over the rumour thanks a comment by Peter Moore (yes, he of the quickly refuted ‘Xbox 360 will get a Blu-Ray drive’ statement last week) who said “Any Microsoft media device would have to leverage the company’s most significant consumer strength, video gaming.”
So we might be looking at something more akin to a PSP than an iPod. A device that combined the best of both worlds would be our favourite.
January 27th, 2006
The iPod has become such a ubiquitous part of the London commuter cityscape that it’s not surprising it has crossed over from being a gadget for the technically literate to a device also owned by the luddite.
Yes, it seems that the good folk of London are finding it so hard to actually use their iPods that world famous department store Selfridges is managing to extract £100 from its customers for a 40 minute iPod driving lesson.
That’s the instore price. If you want someone to come to your home there’s an additonal surcharge.
The lesson includes the use of iTunes, installing and deleting videos, creating playlists and downloading Podcasts.
TechSmec.com is firmly of the opinion that if you can’t work out how to use an iPod you should probably be banned from owning one, but we can’t fault the business sense of Selfridges. Being Londoners through and through, it pains us to put fingers to keypad on this story and we pray, for the sake of the rest of the world, that your citizens are a little cleverer than our neighbours.
January 16th, 2006
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