Posts by: Nate Lanxon, CNET.co.uk
Total 2 pages : [1] 2
Sony PMX-M70: Gadget giant hobbles PVP with flash
Nate Lanxon, CNET.co.uk | Aug 07, 2007
Sony rubbing our noses in its delightfully filthy electronic dirt with the very tasty-looking PMX-M70. We've got to say that while Sony sometimes gets things wrong these days, it can hit the proverbial nail on its proverbial head when it wants to.
That said, it's not all as excellent as it first appears. This new PVP, sporting a massive 4.3-inch screen and H.264 video support, maxes out at 8GB of flash memory. Why in silicon's name wouldn't you throw a 100GB hard disk in there? Sony, please stop retarding products that could otherwise be brilliant. Give the PS3 some exclusive games, give Blu-ray a significant price drop and give the PMX-M70 a freakin' hard disk.
Anyway, the other specs on this player are excellent: It's got a colour TFT display, MPEG-4 video support, direct video recording and expandability options via Sony's Memory Sticks.
This is an overseas effort at the moment, but Sony usually gives us the goods eventually. We loved the NW-A808, drooled over the NW-E013 and have much respect for the hard-drive-based NW-HD5. If we had only one wish, it'd be for the iPhone to come out right-piggin'-now. But if we had another, it'd be for the PMX-M70 to come over here before Christmas. If we had a third, it'd be for it to come here in September with a hard disk instead of flash memory... but we admit that's being hopeful
Sony NWD-B100: Good riddance, SonicStage
Nate Lanxon, CNET.co.uk | Aug 07, 2007
Okay, okay, two Sony products in two days doesn't mean we're all loved-up with the Japanese Walkmanites, but considering how much we bash its media-manager software SonicStage, we felt compelled to mention that the company's ickle new MP3 player--the NWD-B100--doesn't require it. About time, too.
The NWD-B100 is possibly the most respectable Sony Walkman product to see the light of day in 2007. Yeah, the NW-A808 is a superb piece of audio gadgetry, and the E series earned kudos points for including a system very similar to iTunes' Cover Flow on a tiny color display. But the B100 not only kisses a hate-filled sayonara to SonicStage, it also rebukes Sony's ATRAC audio format to the extent of vanquishing support for it altogether.
While this may not be good news for devout Sony fans who naively claim SonicStage is the hound's knackers and that ATRAC is, for the most part, a lovely bit of code genius, your learned portable media guru knows somewhat better. The B100 plays just WMA and MP3 (no AAC, though), sports a fairly poor 12 hours of battery life, an FM radio, voice recorder, built-in equalizer and, as we mentioned, is managed through Windows using drag and drop.
The NWD-B100 comes in 1GB and 2GB. Go on Sony, release the NW-A808 with drag and drop--we'd bearhug you right here and now.
Samsung YP-E3: Made for China
Nate Lanxon, CNET.co.uk | Jul 04, 2007
This morning we're directing your viewing spheres towards some fresh digital meat all the way from the 21st century Orient. No, it's not an oriental rug with sewn-in speakers. That would be stupid. We're introducing you to Samsung's YP-E3. It's a USB stick-styled MP3 player with a dinky colour screen and good old-fashioned FM radio functionality.
So far we've got no confirmation that this is going to make it onto any shores other than China, so excuse us for potentially giving you the same experience as almost sneezing and then losing it. That out of the way, we think the E3 looks pretty tasty--it's roughly only 50mm in length. We're looking at 1GB of memory, four lines of text (in two colors, no less) and about 11 hours of battery life.
There's support for MP3 and WMA and it'll come in a range of colours. If you're a sucker for good-quality sounds you'll appreciate the inclusion of DNSe audio-enhancement technology. Oh, and it'll display lyrics, too. Marvelous if you fancy making everyone else in your train carriage embarrassed.
Frankly we're a touch underwhelmed by specs alone, but Samsung doesn't really have a player that fits into this category, so the E3 has potential for the company. We'll keep you posted as to availability but don't pause your next purchase in hope of this player being out anytime soon. It'll sell in China for around 419 yuan. Go on, Samsung, bring that over here for that price and kick some, er, buttock.
Larger image of the YP-E3:
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LG's iPod washing machine: Convergence gone mad
Nate Lanxon, CNET.co.uk | May 30, 2007
Of all the things you shouldn't build an iPod speaker system into, a washing machine has to be up there with the chainsaw. Why in the world would anyone think they need to build a music system into an appliance designed to be left alone for great lengths of time? And that vibrates loudly?
Well, despite the obvious conceptual flaws of building a product that quite simply has no use whatsoever, LG has patented designs for the world's first washing machine/podcessory hybrid.
The docking system is built alongside two speakers, which are mounted into the machine's top. We can't speculate just how good this would sound, but if you're familiar with the sound a washing machine makes when it's working, you'll understand our prediction that this would sound truly horrible, and perhaps be more offensive to the ears than a Roy Chubby Brown witticism screamed after 10 pints of gone-off lager.
Unless the machine itself vibrates according to the music being played, to produce a subwoofer effect, we're distinctly unimpressed that someone, somewhere, was paid for designing this.
Thankfully, this design is just the concept art that accompanies a patent filed by electronics maker LG. We're sincerely hoping that this is just a case of patent squatting--the act of registering a potential invention on the off-chance that someone actually builds one in the future. Tut tut, LG. You should know that no one with even the scarcest ounce of common sense would ever build something so hopelessly doomed to failure.
Click here for a larger image.
Via CNET UK Crave
Samsung YP-U3: Hunting down the shuffle
Nate Lanxon, CNET.co.uk | May 15, 2007
A new week and a new MP3 player. This time it's Samsung causing our saliva glands to work more overtime than a Chinese sweatshop, with the unofficial announcement of the YP-U3. The U3 is a flash-based MP3 player and is the successor to the YP-U1 and YP-U2.
It comes in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB capacities and supports MP3, WMA and good old OGG-format music files. There's a built-in RDS FM radio (very nice indeed, Samsung), a built-in USB plug (less nice) and it still sports a trippy blue LED on one end (oh dear).
Samsung told us this morning the YP-U3 is definitely going to be coming to the UK within the next two months, at the same time as the US release, but no price point has yet been announced.
The U3 is going after a similar audience as Apple's iPod Shuffle, but it does so with a significantly larger body and, like previous models, by having a non-color screen. However, we get the feeling that while this is a nice-looking little guy it's just not outstanding enough to make a significant impact on the market, unless it a) costs significantly less than the Shuffle's £55, or b) comes with an 8GB capacity--the latter being a definite no-chancer.
We'd love to have seen an 8GB version and feel such a capacity would do very well in a player of this size. We guess we'll just have to wait for the YP-U4 for that. Either way, it looks lovely and if it's cheap enough it'll do alright. Watch this space, Samsungites.
Via CNET UK Crave
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