techbites

Here we go again with another iPod dock. This compact curved CyrusLink LinkDock boasts 4 speaker units, touch sensitive volume keys, remote control of volume, treble and bass, iPod adapter, and line in and out. It features advanced Neodymium and alloy speaker technology as well as a built in amplifier.

It measures 11 x 21 x 10cm so is small enough to fit into luggage, and weighs just over half a kilogram. It does everything else a dock should do, charging and syncing your iPod.

It's actually been out for a little while, and received some decent reviews including a 5-star at What Hi-fi, who said "Quality, value and convenience - the CyrusLink iPod dock has them all. Plug in your player, and you're off."

It's priced at $95

via techdigest

aaHere we go again with another iPod dock. This compact curved CyrusLink LinkDock boasts 4 speaker units, touch sensitive volume keys, remote control of volume, treble and bass, iPod adapter, and line in and out. It features advanced Neodymium and alloy speaker technology as well as a built in amplifier.

It measures 11 x 21 x 10cm so is small enough to fit into luggage, and weighs just over half a kilogram. It does everything else a dock should do, charging and syncing your iPod.

It's actually been out for a little while, and received some decent reviews including a 5-star at What Hi-fi, who said "Quality, value and convenience - the CyrusLink iPod dock has them all. Plug in your player, and you’re off."

It's priced at $95

via techdigest

Here is another MP3 playing watch from Thanko Japan, the FMP3 looks like a normal analog watch with a chronometer but it packs in 512MB to 1GB of memory and can playback MP3 and WMA files. Apart from this it has a built in voice recorder which records via the built in mic in mono (64 kbps) MP3 or in stereo (128 kbps) MP3 via line in. Thanko has also managed to squeeze in a FM transmitter to transmit your favourite tracks to the car stereo. It connects to the PC via USB 2.0 and can be used as a data storage device. The battery provides around 9 hours of continuous playback.

via newlaunches

HP unveiled the new HP Pocket Media Drive, a portable external hard drive for conveniently backing up your music, videos and photos. This wallet-sized portable drive connects to your PC or laptop via USB, and in some HP Pavilion PCs, you can even save space by sliding it in the chassis slot.

The Pocket Media Drive offers a fast USB 2.0 connection for moving data. It is also backward-compatible with USB 1.0. The best part with it is that you don't have to reboot after connecting it.

The drive is bundled with Sonic Back Up My PC software, and you have the option to password-protect your files for security. The package includes the HP Pocket Media Drive, USB 2.0 cable, black carrying case and software CD-ROM.

Available in two models: 80GB (priced at US $149.99) and 120GB (priced at US $219.99).

via mobilewhack

Now that's what I call a good-looking DMB Phone! The new Motorola M800 is the latest handset to hit the shores of Korea and totally lives up to its 'Style' logo! The M800 apart from its extremely chic and stylized look also impresses with its onboard DMB capabilities and its other multimedia functionality. The phone has a Music player and one can see the dedicated touch sensitive music controls on the top of the LCD.

Since it has DMB capabilities the MMS800 has a swiveling LCD giving the user more freedom. Other features include; 1GB of memory, a MicroSD port, a 1.3Mpix camera, support for GXG (3D games) among others. No word on pricing or availability but we will keep you updated for sure!

Samsung has announced a 1.9cm thick slider handset that not only packs in phone and PDA functionality, but also manages to squeeze in Wi-Fi, digital TV reception and 5.1-channel audio.

Samsung's calling the handset the FX, though it also goes by the model numbers SPH-M4500 and SCH-M450, depending on which South Korean carrier you buy it from. Whatever it's called, the phone's standout feature is the 2.4in colour screen. It has both a front-mounted VGA camera and a two megapixel unit on the back.

The handset provides all the usual call and media playback facilities, augmented by DMB digital TV reception and Wi-Fi for fast internet access in a suitable hotspot. Then there's the virtual 5.1 audio support, which the phone can mix into two channels for a better-sounding stereo experience, Samsung claimed. Music and movies can be stored on the phone's memory or on Micro SD cards.

via reghardware
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Microsoft is to retail Zune, its first digital music player, at the same price as feature-equivalent iPods.

Microsoft today reveal a 30Gb Zune device will be priced $249.99 compared to a 30Gb iPod that is priced $249.00. Songs for Microsoft's player will start at just under a dollar - just like individual tracks on iTunes.

The only difference is you must use special Microsoft credits instead of actual money to purchase songs. Credits come in units of 80 that cost $1 and in a stroke of marketing genius one track will cost 79 credits. The alternative is to pay a $14.99 monthly subscription to the Zune service, which Microsoft promised will hold "millions" of songs.

Consumers will be invited to shell out between $19.99 and $99.99 for Zune accessories like AV cables and adaptors, cradles, dock, bags and "special" headphones.

Having matched Apple, Microsoft will make a loss on each Zune player sold. This is not the first time it has taken a loss on hardware -just ask the Xbox division.

Scott Erickson, who heads up Zune product marketing, justified the price by telling Reuters that Microsoft "needed to put a comparable price on Zune, even if it meant that the company will suffer a loss from the devices this holiday season."

With identical pricing, storage and video capabilities, Microsoft is gambling on Zune's ability to share music over a wireless connection to get an edge on Apple. Microsoft's price announcement came with the promise Zune is "putting the social into digital media."

If this is the sharing age, though, then the Zune makes Microsoft look like the Grinch. Zune users will get just three days in which to listen to other users' songs up to three times - that's it. Neither, will Zune play Microsoft-protected Windows Media audio or video purchased or rented from Napster, Rhapsody, Yahoo! and other online media services.

With a November 14 launch planned, Microsoft should be able to say it got a consumer product out in time for the Holidays.

via reghardware
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Aimed at schoolchildren, The idea is to attach these colourful units to your keyring or phone to store and retrieve documents, photos, music or school assignments anytime. They also come pre-loaded with Atlantis and Magic Vines gaming software by Big Fish Games. Atlantis is an adventure game to - you've guessed it - the long-lost city of Atlantis, while Magic Vines is a location-based puzzle game. Yes, both sound quite educational.

Available now, prices for the drives range from £6.30 plus VAT for the 256MB drive, through to £12.60 plus VAT for the 1GB model.

Following the controversy around Tuesday's Top 10 Reasons To Hate Zune, here's the promised second installment taking a more positive spin on Microsoft's multimedia device. Because hey, it's not all bad by any means. Zune is big news in the consumer gadgetry market, with Microsoft clearly hoping it'll do to Apple's iPod what they hope Xbox 360 will do to PlayStation 3. If that makes sense.

Anyway, here's ten reasons to roll out the bunting for Zune. And in the interests of fairness after Tuesday's Wi-Fi hoo-ha, one of them is entirely false. Enjoy.

1. Everybody loves an underdog. And let's face it, iPod could do with some competition. It's not as if the other manufacturers – including those licensing Microsoft's own platform - have made great inroads into Apple's market share. Healthy competition should spur even more innovation on both sides.

2. Mmm... widescreen. I'd rather watch movies on this baby, even if I have to turn it sideways to do it. Hopefully Microsoft will have some good deals with the movie studios by the time Zune launches.

3. Microsoft is smart. They launch, learn and improve. Remember the days when Xbox was just a big ole whirry box with rubbish games? And now look at Xbox 360. Whatever you think of the first-gen Zune, subsequent iterations will be better.

4. The brown Zune. Maybe all those people who said brown was The New Black had a point. And it does go nicely with my corduroy jacket...

5. It's got Wi-Fi. And yes, that means you can send full-length tracks, not 30-second samples like some fool the other day was claiming. People have been wishing Apple would bring out a Wi-Fi iPod for ages, but Microsoft got there first. Simply having it in Zune gives potential for all manner of cool features. Over-the-air downloads, streaming live TV, 64-person Minesweeper battles. It's all good.

6. Worthiness. For everybody who buys a Zune, Bill Gates effectively gets a few more dollars to spend on good causes. Which is better than giving Steve Jobs more moolah to spend on polo-necks.

7. Goblins. Zune is powered by little green goblins pedalling minature bicycles. Trust me, it is. And that's cool.

8. Good relations. Apple's negotiating tactics have rubbed the music industry up the wrong way, although it's too early to tell if the same is true of the movie studios. Microsoft could steal a march by going in as the good guy with these people. Especially if Bill leverages his multimillionaire contacts and calls up Paul McCartney. "So, about those Beatles albums that haven’t ever been sold digitally..."

9. The buttons look nice. Look, you can't look down on superficiality in this market.

10. The FM radio. Who'd listen to radio when they had their entire music collection to hand? Plenty of us. How else are we supposed to keep up with The Archers?

via techdigest

The Sony PRS500 e-book reader is the latest for those into the growing phenomenon of e-books. The screen carries a six-inch display with 160 DPI. This is more than enough to give any reader clarity of words without squinting.

Even though the reader does not have any color, it is capable of playing all sorts of text formats including RTF and PDF. It is very good at converting color items into Black and White or Grayscale items. A reader can bookmark his or her page with the "Mark" button, and then come back to it just like a regular book. Other controls are two sets of Page Up/Page Down triggers, as well as a line of numerical keypads that correspond to menu options.

You can save and replay files using a memory stick or SD card. The PRS500 reader can also save replicated images as JPEG files, and can even play audio files in MP3 and AAC format. A reader is able to charge from a USB port for six hours or a power adaptor for four hours. A full charge is good enough for up to 7,000 pages worth of reading, but it will drain faster when it comes to audio files.

If that isn't enough to make you rush out and buy this device, here's another motivation: it donates money to a good cause. That's right, Sony Electronics has stated that for every e-Book reader sold through October at SonyStyle and otheronline shopping web sites, $10 dollars will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF). Apparently, Sony found out that most of their e-book readers were purchased by women, who are avid supporters of BCRF.

The device should retail for about $350 and includes $50 worth of material from Sony CONNECT, an online store where you can purchase e-books. On the site is about 10,000 books all available from publishers worldwide.