Posts by: Donald Bell, CNET.com
Commodore lends geek cred to MP3 players
Donald Bell, CNET.com | Aug 07, 2007
Could Commodore's rise out of vintage computer obscurity also mean that we should expect a line of portable media players? We certainly hope so. Apparently Commodore is developing a Wi-Fi equipped PVP called the Gravel In Pocket and a more basic MP3 player called the Gravel C200. The photos are a bit blurry, however, and the Website doesn't create much trust--but the concept alone holds enough retro '80s gadget magic that we wouldn't be surprised if Steve Guttenberg and Johnny 5 walked up behind me and plopped one on my desk. Let's hope there's native support for C64 chiptunes!
iPhone nano? Nope, it's a Slickr
Donald Bell, CNET.com | Aug 03, 2007
At last, we have the Venzero Slickr MP3 player in our cold, gadget-lusting grip. The German gadget manufacturer has been taunting us with images of their Slickr MP3 player for months now. We've only just opened the box, but we wanted to share a pre-review glimpse with our loyal readers.
The Slickr sports 2GB of built-in memory along with an SD memory slot. Despite its iPhone-like design, the Slickr does not use a touchscreen, but instead uses button navigation located on the top of the player. The audio player supports MP3, WMA and WAV files, but it doesn't look like it'll take DRM-protected files (we'll see). There's also a radio, built-in speaker, JPEG photo viewer and an AVI movie player. Another selling point on this guy is the built-in MusicMarker feature that records a 10-second sample of any music source and later identifies the artist and title of the song when the Slickr is connected to your computer. I'm not sure how much we would use that feature, but we're curious to see how well it works.
The Slickr will be available in the US later this month for US$129. If you just can't wait, you can order the Slickr directly from the Venzero Web site--expect international shipping fees, however.
More images of this iPhone lookalike:
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Cowon iAudio 7 Flash MP3 player announced
Donald Bell, CNET.com | Jun 15, 2007
One of our favorite MP3 players is getting an upgrade. Cowon announced the iAudio 7 today in Korea, updating its micro-drive iAudio 6 player to a lighter, leaner flash-based player. The update includes a significant jump in battery life, from 20 hours to a remarkable 60 hours.
The iAudio 6 supports standard audio formats such as MP3, AAC, WMA, ASF, WAV, and even beloved (yet rarely supported) formats such as OGG and FLAC. It looks as though many of the great features of its predecessor have been maintained, including line-in recording, voice recording, video playback, BBE sound enhancer, and its unique touch-scroll interface.
Korea will see the player mid-July, unveiled in 4GB and 8GB capacities, and priced at US$182 and US$246, respectively.
Via CNET Crave
Toshiba announces 16GB flash memory chip
Donald Bell, CNET.com | Apr 18, 2007
Toshiba announced today that they have created a 16GB flash memory chip intended for consumer products such as cell phones and MP3 players.
This is the highest capacity NAND flash memory chip to date, doubling the existing ceiling of 8GB. The 16GB chip is set to ship in the Fall of this year (just in time to make Apple's flash memory-based 8GB iPhone seem cramped).
The chip is designed around eight 2GB chips and boasts a copy speed of 6 MB/sec, with a 15 MB/sec read speed. Expect a wave of tiny 16GB flash MP3 players for the holidays.
This article was orginally published on CNET Crave.
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