MP3 Player

A lot of people like listening to music as they exercise, and swimmers are no exception. For them, there are waterproof MP3 players such as the UWaterG2 and the Speedo Aquabeat. For some people, though, nothing says “MP3 player” quite like “iPod.” Those are the people who Waterfi is targeting, with its waterproofed iPod Shuffles.  Read More

As the old adage says, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” And in an age when technology is changing at an unprecedented rate, that old saying is truer than ever. Looking to give consumers an easy way to recycle their unwanted mobile phones and MP3 players while also providing a cash incentive, ecoATM has developed an automated kiosk that can differentiate between various devices and provide monetary compensation on the spot.  Read More

The announcement of the iPhone 5 might have been the focus of attention in Cupertino this morning, but Apple has also shown some love to the line that set it on the path to becoming the most valuable company in history – the iPod. Like the iPhone 5, the new iPod touch boasts a slimmed-down profile and 4-inch Retina display, while the new iPod nano sports a new form factor with a 2.5-inch Multi-Touch display.  Read More

In the days before CD, MP3 or iTunes, when Sony's Walkman was just about the only mobile music player worth having, hip young music lovers engaged in the painstakingly intricate process of recording a 45-minute-per-side compilation of favorite tunes onto an audio cassette tape. A kind of forefather to today's MP3 playlist, the mix tape was about creating a unique musical identity, an expression of personality that could be shared with those near and dear. Technology marches relentlessly on and tapes are now all-but extinct, replaced by digital files on smartphones and media players. The essence of the compact cassette mix tape has now been given a modern update by the folks from the MakerBot Industries Applications team in Brooklyn, New York, with the launch of the 3D-printed Mixtape do-it-yourself music player kit.  Read More

Many people like to listen to tunes when they’re at the pool or beach, which are both environments where electronic devices could potentially get wet. While waterproof music players do exist, lots of folks now use their smartphone as their own little personal stereo. That’s the reason for the existence of Grace Digital Audio’s ECOXPRO Waterproof Speaker Case. It houses the user’s smartphone – along with some other odds and ends – while playing its music library through a full-range three-inch front speaker.  Read More

When you hear the word "Walkman" you probably envision an 80s and 90s-era cassette player with AM/FM stereo and headphones. It's a far cry from Sony's Walkman B170 line which features small (only 28g or 1oz) colorful, and sound-rich MP3 players bearing the Walkman logo.  Read More

Music lovers wanting to listen to digital music files on the move are pretty much spoiled for choice these days, whether keeping things personal with players like the Cowon C2 I reviewed earlier in the month, or sharing with friends using something like the FoxL v2 wireless loudspeaker. If commercial designs don't really appeal, though, there is another route - you could always build your own. Matt Keeter's Fab Boombox is just such a device, designed and built for a final class project and featuring laser-cut, snap-together panels housing stereo speakers (said to be loud in a quiet room and quiet in a noisy room), a custom main control board with an MP3 decoder and a 9V battery power source. Digital music is fed into the player via an SD card slot, with the user controlling playback on a touch-sensitive interface.  Read More

Although owners of the iPod Shuffle might have something to say about it, Singapore’s Bluetree Electronics has announced the launch of what it claims is “the smallest touch MP3 player in the world,” theKube2. The diminutive device has an aluminum body, runs for six hours on a one-hour charge of its lithium-polymer battery, and can store approximately 1,000 songs on its included 4GB microSD card. You can also buy replaceable skins for it, should shiny silver not be your thing.  Read More

Ever since Sony introduced me to portable music with its iconic Walkman series, my enormous collection of tunes has never been far from reach. I've been through tape cassette players, mini-Disc and CD players, and MP3/OGG/FLAC digital players but have stopped short of carrying my music around on my smartphone - preferring uninterrupted listening rather than risk being bothered by incoming calls and messages. My current digital music player has been giving me serious battery life issues of late, though, which shouldn't be an issue with Cowon's C2 MP3 player with its whopping 55 hours of claimed audio playback. So is there still room for the dedicated digital music player in a world dominated by media-playing mobile phones? I've been spending some quality time with the C2 and I think there is. Here's why...  Read More