For long journeys, only two things can be reliably called on to relieve commuting boredom: Inflight entertainment or some shut eye. For traveling geeks, it's always the former. Why dream about Nicole Kidman when we could catch her in widescreen glory in a Stanley Kubrick flick? The Zen Vision W does just that… brilliantly. And with 5 hours 6 minutes worth of video playback time, it's almost enough to watch it from beginning till end, twice.
In our recent visit to Beijing, we noticed that video-enabled MP3 players are a big thing in China, especially in Zhongguancun, a district in Beijing famed for its consumer electronics mega malls. Teclast, a China-based manufacturer of MP3 players, has recently introduced the TL-T29, a slim offering (73.5 x 42.1 x 9.8mm) that according to initial reports will be capable of displaying video on a 2-inch TFT screen. It has a rated audio playback time of 24 hours, comes in varying storage capacities (1, 2 and 4GB) and will have picture-viewing and FM functions.
Who would have thought MP3 playback would cost a pretty penny? At the recently concluded IFA consumer electronics show held in Berlin, German officials took the opportunity to pay the SanDisk booth a visit and removed most of its new MP3 players. The reason? According to BBC, Italian patents company Sisvel had alleged in a lawsuit that SanDisk had not purchased MP3 licenses for its new breed of MP3 players.
Don't fret, SanDisk. You are not the only one to suffer the wrath of patent-wielding owners. Learn from your MP3 manufacturer compatriot, Creative. US$100 million is not too tough a sum, no?
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Charging an electronic device has never been more fun. Out of juice? Give it a few flicks (10-12) and your MP3 baby's all charged up to go. There's nothing to it. Though still a conceptual device, it looks pretty grand to us. With a set of Bluetooth headphones and a seemingly simple user interface, the trick is figuring out how to skip songs while spinning your yo-yo all over the pavement.
Pay peanuts and you get monkeys. Same goes for these nutty speakers. For a fair bit of chump change (US$30), you get a pair of too-tiny speakers shaped like a peanut. Useful? Well, that depends on how acute your hearing is. Else Phil Collins may just sound like a squeaky monkey to you.