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Portable Audio
BudTrap – a $5 killer product with ridiculously complex distribution
By Mike Hanlon
02:14 June 8, 2009 PDT
Okay, hands up all those who spend too much time each day untangling the earbuds on their portable media devices? More than 200 million such portable media players are sold globally each year with numbers increasing, so it makes sense that there are a lot of man-hours being lost untangling earbuds. Now a simple and ingenious USD$5 device, named BudTrap, can save you those precious few minutes each day that you’ll never get back. There is, however, a catch … Read More
Sony X-Series Walkman packs OLED display and noise canceling technology
By Darren Quick
06:00 May 14, 2009 PDT
Sony has set its PMP sights firmly on the iPod Touch with the new X-Series Walkman. Sporting a similar form factor and much of the functionality of its Apple competitor, the X-Series manages to hold its own with the inclusion of an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) touch screen and integrated digital noise canceling technology. Read More
Podio – for playing out loud
By Jude Garvey
23:48 May 2, 2009 PDT
Taiwanese-based Agios Technology Company has spent two years developing the Podio - a portable digital Hi-Fi player made specially for bikes, but not exclusively. The cylindrical, pocket-sized music machine has been designed to produce a clear, natural sound, which is intended to be listened to without the need for earbuds. Read More
Nintendo DSi launches April 5 in the United States
By Darren Quick
06:13 February 19, 2009 PST
February 19, 2009 The third iteration of the all conquering Nintendo DS will be released in the US on April 5. The new Nintendo DSi, which has been going gangbusters in Japan where it was launched on November 1 last year, crams even more goodies into a package about 12% thinner than the Nintendo DS Lite. Built-in features include two VGA (0.3 megapixel) cameras, SD card slot, a new DSi Sound application and a new DSi Shop application, which is similar to the Wii Shop Channel. Read More
Sandisk releases Sansa slotMusic Player
By Darren Quick
21:34 October 15, 2008 PDT
SanDisk is looking to expand its market with the introduction of the Sansa slotMusic Player. The plug & play, portable music player was specially designed for use with the new slotMusic cards available today in the US. SanDisk are pushing slotMusic as a new format of high-fidelity, DRM-free MP3 music on a microSD card, which gives consumers the ability to listen to and quickly swap music between a mobile phone, personal computer, and any MP3 player with a microSD slot. Read More
Portable party: the BoomCooler
By Emily Clark
21:02 October 9, 2008 PDT
Take a 36" x 18" x 17 cool-box, add 2 x 240 speakers, a 10” Subwoofer, a 4-Channel Amplifier, then throw in wheels and a towing handle and you have yourself an ideal summer entertainment solution with which to terrorize the neighborhood. Read More
Sony updates Walkman range with thinnest Walkman ever
By Darren Quick
03:54 September 2, 2008 PDT
Thin is definitely in for the new S series Walkman Video MP3 players from Sony. At just 7.5mm thick the S series are the slimmest Walkmans, (or should that be Walkmen), ever. Read More
Clinton Foundation considers 5,000MW solar station in India
By Emily Clark
21:15 August 13, 2008 PDT
August 14, 2008 According to Treehugger and The Business Standard, the US-based Clinton Foundation is currently in talks with the Indian government to undertake the world’s largest single location solar project. Costing around US$475 million and with an estimated output of 5,000MW (5 gigawatts), the Gujurat-based “Integrated Solar City” would rival even the biggest coal-fired power stations. Read More
New ROKR range from Motorola
By Darren Quick
08:52 August 7, 2008 PDT
Motorola has expanded its ROKR range with the introduction of three new units in a range of styles. The lineup includes the candybar MOTOROKR EM30, clamshell ROKR EM28 and the slider ROKR EM25, plus there's two new portable speaker systems to complement the new phone’s music focus. Read More
GEAR4 DUO 2.1 iPod speaker system
By Darren Quick
09:07 July 29, 2008 PDT
The GEAR4 DUO is a 2.1 home stereo speaker system made for, yes you guessed it, the iPod. The versatile design of the DUO speaker system, which comprises the Bass Unit and the Satellite Speaker, means both can be used together as a home stereo speaker system, or the Satellite Speaker can be un-docked resulting in a portable unit for music around the house, garden or on your travels. While docked, the Bass Unit charges up the Satellite Speaker’s rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery, making it permanently ready for portable use. Read More
ZN9 Dual Alarm Clock Radio
By Darren Quick
05:23 July 21, 2008 PDT
July 21, 2008 With all the third party devices released for the all conquering iPod it can be easy to forget that there are actually other digital media players on the market. Like Logitech’s iPod Pure-Fi Dream and Altec Lansing’s iM600, the new ZN9 Dual-Alarm Stereo Clock Radio from iHome turns a digital music player, this time Microsoft's Zune, into a clock radio so you can wake to the sounds of your music library. Read More
Parrot Party portable wireless audio system
By Emily Clark
22:05 June 26, 2008 PDT
Designed as a quality alternative to the often unsatisfying speaker systems in mobile phones, this compact and totally wireless sound audio system offers four hours of playback from Bluetooth devices to a range of 33 feet, as well as a plug-in solution for listening to personal media or CD players while you're out and about. Read More
ProTrack+iPod = handheld digital stereo recorder
By Darren Quick
21:01 June 25, 2008 PDT
Professional audio equipment and studio electronics manufacturer Alesis has announced the forthcoming release of the ProTrack, a handheld digital stereo recorder for iPods. The ProTrack provides direct-to-iPod stereo digital recording to iPod in a portable, handheld form factor. The ProTrack’s design integrates an iPod (Classic or 5th Generation), or iPod nano (2nd or 3rd Generation) into the recorder, with included sleds to securely mount the supported iPod models to the recorder. Read More
CD player design straight out of Johnny Mnemonic
By Darren Quick
21:49 June 24, 2008 PDT
While the Compact Disc may be on its last legs, usurped by Flash based personal media players, DVDs and now Blu-Ray Discs, that hasn't stopped South Korean designer Kim Yong Seong turning out an interesting design for a portable music player that supports CDs and MP3 files. Kim has dubbed his proposed design the DMP, short for Dual Music Player, which plays MP3 files in the compact closed position and then flips open to form two arms that support a CD. MP3 files and charging would come courtesy of a USB connection and the device would also do away with messy headphone cables through Bluetooth support. Read More
Solar charging PMP charges other portable devices
By Darren Quick
02:02 March 29, 2008 PDT
March 29, 2008 InventorSpot have reviewed eMotion’s new portable media player which is charged by solar panels built into the back of the device. The EM-SOL1GIG not only charges itself from the Sun, but with the use of a charger adapter the EM-SOL1GIG can be used to charge other portable devices such as mobile phones, MP3/MP4 players, laptops, digital cameras and other portable Lithium battery devices. The device supports a maximum SD card size of 2GB and files can be transferred on and off using the built-in SD card reader. The EM-SOL1GIG also comes with a long list of media capabilities including the ability to play music and video, display photos and books and play games – albeit on a 320x240 screen. Read More
Sansa Fuze rounds out SanDisk’s media player product line
By Darren Quick
18:20 March 12, 2008 PDT
March 13, 2008 SanDisk has unveiled the Flash-based Sansa Fuze MP3 player, a well specced entry level unit which joins the pint-sized Sansa Clip and the video-centric Sansa View in Sandisk's media player line. Read More
Iona Cube Wi-Fi internet radio
By Emily Clark
18:29 March 6, 2008 PST
March 7, 2008 The Iona Cube concept design from Cambridge Consultants is a low-cost, Wi-Fi enabled Internet radio that provides a novel, simplified interface through which users can access up to 10,000 internet radio stations. Read More
Ionhub's six port multi charger
By Darren Quick
15:24 February 11, 2008 PST
February 12, 2008 One of the biggest problems for travelers who love their gadgets is carrying around all the chargers to keep their mobile devices powered up. Even many a home desktop is covered with a tangle of cords leading back to an overtaxed power point or power board. Recognizing this IonHub has released the Ionhub multi charger, a charger that can simultaneously charge multiple devices including mobile phones, iPods, iPhones, Sony PSPs, Nintendo DS Lite, Canon and Sony camcorders, PDAs, GPS, digital cameras, Zunes, Sansas, Zens and Blackberries, to name a few. The patent pending Ionhub is a palm sized, multiple output port, multiple output voltage, universal multi charger hub that is capable of simultaneously charging up to six portable electronic devices from a single wall outlet, car or airplane outlet. Similar to the recently reviewed IDAPT, the Ionhub connects to the charging devices using interchangeable and self-locking charger tips called IonTips, which are sold separately. Read More
Sony Ericsson announces XPERIA X1 Slider-phone
21:21 February 10, 2008 PST
February 11, 2008 Headlining an array of new releases from Sony Ericsson, the XPERIA™ X1 marks the launch of a new brand for the company, one which it hopes will gain traction in the brave new world of mobile convergence where the term "phone" just doesn't cut it anymore. Featuring a 3-inch clear wide VGA display, media player and 3.2 mega-pixel camera housed in a metal-finish, slider-design body, the XPERIA X1 offers multiple navigation options from touch screen interaction to a 4-way key, full wide-pitch QWERTY keyboard or optical joystick with seamless switching promised between input modes. Read More
Callpod Dragon Bluetooth 2.0 Headset offers 100+ meter range
By Darren Quick
14:37 February 3, 2008 PST
February 4, 2008 Callpod Inc’s Dragon Bluetooth headset for mobile phones, PDAs, VOIP products and computers boasts a range of 100 meters or 328 feet – a big step up over the standard 10 meter or 30 feet range common for Bluetooth headsets. The Dragon also silences ambient noise and annoying pops and clicks with its proprietary Dual-Mic Noise Suppression technology, which isolates the user’s voice while removing background noise. In addition, the Dragon can connect with the PC for Skype calls while on a mobile call, allowing users to switch between the PC and mobile phone with a press of a button. Read More
SanDisk double the capacity of Sansa portable media players
By Darren Quick
18:16 January 14, 2008 PST
January 15, 2008 They haven't even reached their first birthday but SanDisk Corporation has announced capacity increases for two of its Flash-based digital media players at CES 2008. The diminutive Sansa Clip moves from a top capacity of 2GB to 4GB, while the Sansa View jumps to 32GB from a previous top capacity of 16 GB. Both units include a built-in microphone for voice recording, built-in FM tuner and support for MP3, WMA, WAV and Audible audio book formats. Read More
COWON introduces A3 portable multimedia player
By Darren Quick
14:22 December 16, 2007 PST
December 17, 2007 COWON America, Inc. has announced the shipment of their new A3 portable multimedia player. Featuring a wide-range of high-end audio/video capabilities, the A3 incorporates direct recording from external A/V devices such as a TV, VCR or camcorder and high-definition video decoding for viewing on the unit’s 4-inch widescreen 16-million color, 800x480 (WVGA), TFT LCD display. Digital video performance is optimized courtesy of the latest Texas Instruments DaVinci DM6441 digital media processor and hard-drive capacity has been upped from the maximum 30GB, found in its predecessor the A2, up to 60GB. Read More
Meridian/Ferrari collaboration yields versatile, all-in-one home entertainment system
By Darren Quick
15:26 December 13, 2007 PST
December 14, 2007 Combining the acoustic and electrical engineering smarts of Meridian Audio with the materials and composites technology expertise of Ferrari, the Meridian F80 is an eye-catching, all-in-one portable home entertainment system that delivers high-end sound and exceptional versatility. Its sculptured, high-tech enclosure design with a deep gloss lacquered finish house an FM/AM and DAB radio, CD player, DVD player and 80 watt, 2.1 digital loudspeaker system and yes - it's available in Ferrari's signature red. Read More
Nanomars dual-charge solar bags
By Darren Quick
17:32 December 12, 2007 PST
December 13, 2007 The proliferation of mobile devices in everyday life has given rise to a range of new technologies designed to keep portable hardware running when on the move - one such solution is solar powered bags. Like the recently reviewed Voltaic solar charging bags, the Juice Bags line of urban daypacks and the Soldius solar powered golf bag Taiwan based Nanomars line of solar bags utilizes the eco-friendly power of the sun to keep a range of mobile electronic devices charged up but also offers the option of charging from mains power. Read More
IDAPT provides a one-stop charging stop for mobile devices
By Darren Quick
16:04 December 9, 2007 PST
December 10, 2007 As portable devices such as mobile phones, MP3 players, digital cameras and handheld gaming devices proliferate in the home, so too do the number re-chargers and cables adding clutter to our benchtops. The latest solution to cross the Gizmag desk is the IDAPT "innovative adapter", a convenient multi-purpose charger with interchangeable connections that enables simultaneous charging of a wide range of mobile devices. Read More
Jonathan Cole
- November 6, 2009 @ 16:15 UTC
