30 Oct 09 Zune HD vs Competitors

Hello dapreview, I’ve been very busy with college but I just wanted to make a quick post on the splendid Zune HD I just picked up. Click the jump for more.

30 Oct 09 Cowon W2, Atom-based MID leaked

It looks like Cowon is the latest company to stake a claim in the mobile computing industry. A certification page from Bluetooth.org leaked out recently revealing the Cowon W2. The Design name entry tells us exactly what kind of product it is, a MID, Mobile Internet Device. The only other pertinent info listed is that it’ll be powered by an Intel Atom processor.

I never really put much thought into it, but the PMP market has slowly transformed into a convergence market. Archos is the best example of this, transitioning from big and beefy PMP’s to a more refined “Internet Media Tablet.” The saying “Jack of all trades, master of none” comes to mind when I think about these all-in-one devices. Hopefully the W2 won’t sacrifice any of the great audio/video capabilities that Cowon is known for.

via GMP3

26 Oct 09 MPIO is still alive, announces new touchscreen PMP

It’s been a while since I’ve heard the name MPIO. The Korean company was never a big name in the DAP industry, but they made some good players with some unique designs. Today they announced the V7, a touchscreen player not unlike the millions we’ve seen already this year. Check out the specs below:

Features:

• Capacity: 4, 8, 16GB
• Display: 3.0″ Touchscreen (400 x 240 resolution, 580K colors)
• Audio: MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, APE, ACC
• Video: AVI, WMV, MPEG-4, FLV, RMVB
• Built-in Accelerometer
• Extras; FM Tuner and Transmitter, Voice Recorder, Text reader
• Battery Life: 15 hours for Audio, 5 hours for video
• Dimensions: 98 x 51 x 10.5mm

Looking through our news archive, this is actually the third year in a row that I’ve announced MPIO’s comeback. It seems like they announce a new player then vanish back into obscurity for another year. Well no more! MPIO is officially dead to me, even if they release new players in the future. It worked for 2Pac.

LINK

21 Oct 09 Someone tries to scratch the Zune HD…Fails miserably

We’ve all seen plenty of videos of iPods being intentionally scratched, stepped on, and whatever else these dap sadists can think of . We’ve even seen someone giving the Cowon S9 a once over with a variety of metal utensils. It’s like some sort of sick initiation ritual that all touchscreen players have to go through. Now it’s the Zune HD’s turn. The poor little player was subjected to coins, keys, various pens, and one giant knife. The end result? Well see for yourself:

I’m impressed! the Zune HD appears to have come out relatively unscathed. For those that picked one up, how’s yours holding up?

16 Oct 09 Sandisk Sansa Clip+ Announced in Canada, “soon”?

Thanks to the forum postings of one of our Canadian DAPreview goers, ExZen, it turns out Sandisk’s successor to the highly praised Sansa Clip will “soon” be available up that neck of the woods. Good news I suppose, or no news at all if you think about it. Hopefully “soon” means pretty not too distant-maybe sometime next week-future, of course it could also mean “soon” as in not that soon…it’s all relative really.

I’m not too sure why the Clip+ isn’t available in Canada already, logistically speaking, and as our Canadian friends are still waiting maybe those of us farther afield might yet get the clip+ before them. Of course, there’s always ebay.

Source: Yahoo Canada

Thanks ExZen

15 Oct 09 The”Complete iPod Collection” doesn’t include the Classic

A few days ago, Apple sent out an email with the subject “The complete iPod collection. Only from the Apple Store.” Naturally, it included info about the shuffle, nano, and touch. It’s what’s missing that was the problem. The iPod Classic received no love, and that’s probably a good indication of what’s to come.

The Classic is one of the few remaining HDD players still available. After it’s phased out, the only ones left will be from Archos, and they’re moving more and more towards flash themselves. The transition to an all flash lineup is inevitable, but sadly, it’ll be a long time before we see a 160GB flash iPod, especially for the price you could get a Classic for.

Thanks zip22

13 Oct 09 Relax with some Free Classical music from Amazon MP3

12 Oct 09 Cowon iAudio E2 Specs and New colors revealed

After a few months of teasing, it looks like the iAudio E2 has officially been announced. Well, I still can’t find it on Cowon’s website, but I’ll take MovePlayer’s word for it. Due to the vague teaser images, and and player’s unique design, Cowon fans let their imaginations run wild. Some even thought the E2 was a camera! But at the end of the day, it’s just another screenless DAP designed to compete with the Shuffle.

SPECS:

• Capacities: 2 or 4GB
• Audio: MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, and WAV
• Battery life: 11.5 hours of Audio playback
• DimensionsL 26.6 x 64.2 x 7.7 mm

The player is apparently coming next month, but no specific date or pricing info has been released yet.

09 Oct 09 Sony W-series gets Artsy

Sony Japan is celebrating the arts with an event called “Canvas @ Sony 2009″ (Oct. 28th - Nov. 3rd). The event is in its third year, and brings attention to up and coming artists in the area. Not only will these talented people have their works displayed on the walls as Sony Style Osaka, they’ll be featured on a few products as well.

Being a DAP site, we’ve highlighted the W-series Walkman above, but they’ll also be on a Vaio netbook, a Sony Ericsson phone, and a pair of headphones. I love seeing things like this. I’d rather have a unique design on the back of my DAP, than some corporate branding any day. It’s one thing I have to give credit to Microsoft for doing as well, with their Zune Originals line.

Canvas @ Sony 2009

via moveplayer

06 Oct 09 Lego Headphones

Well, it was only a matter of time. It’ll pair nicely with this DAP brick too.

LINK

(via AV Watch)