Tag Archives: PMP

iPod marks its 15th birthday in a changed world

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If you're a gadget fan of a certain age (cough), you're about to feel ancient: Apple's iPod just turned 15 years old. Steve Jobs unveiled the first version of the media player at an event on Apple's campus on October 23rd, 2001. To say that it had a...

Sony launches two new E-series Walkmen with big batteries and bigger bass

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Sony launches two new Eseries Walkmen with big batteries and bigger bassi

Samsung and Apple aren't the only companies out there still making PMPs. (Well, there's also Cowon, but those are rarely seen in the west.) No, Sony is still a chip off the ol' dedicated media player block. Unlike its two biggest competitors though, Sony has forgone the addition of smartphone like features and a mobile OS with apps, instead choosing to keep the focus on the music... man. The introductory level model, the E380 (above), has a rather small 1.77-inch display, but that's plenty of room to navigate the up 8GB of music with the D-pad on the front. And you can be sure that while you're kicking out the jams for 30 continuous hours on a single charge your tunes will sound top notch thanks to the five-band EQ and bevy of sound-enhancing technologies like Clear Bass and Clear Stereo.

The E580 takes things up a notch, pretty much across the board: storage maxes out at 16GB, the screen moves to 2 inches and battery life more than doubles to 77 hours of audio playback. Plus, a pair of noise-cancelling headphones are included for blocking out the world around you. But, again, the big focus here is on audio quality. You get all the same sound-enhancing tech as you do on the 380, plus a few new additions like DSEE (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine), which tries to restore those precious high frequencies lost to audio compression. Though, if you'd rather not deal with audio compression at all, the E580 supports both Apple Lossless and FLAC. We're left guessing on price for the moment, but both models should land on European shelves before the months end.

Gallery: Sony Walkman E380 and E580

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Cowon iAUDIO 9+ 2-inch PMP launching July 12th in Japan for $118 and up

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Cowon iAUDIO 9 2inch PMP launching July 12th in Japan for $118 and up

Remember the days before portable media players sported touchscreens? You'll soon be able to relive that golden era with Cowon's iAUDIO 9+, a diminutive PMP that's launching July 12th in Japan. The device features a 2-inch QVGA (320 x 240-pixel) display mounted above a capacitive touchpad and comes in three capacities (and two colors) -- 8GB (white) for 11,800 Yen ($118), 16GB (black) for 13,800 Yen ($138) and 32GB (black) for 16,800 Yen ($168). It boasts a 30mW headphone amp, video connectivity (with an optional cable) and even a microphone and FM radio (to record voice and broadcasts). The unit measures 95 x 43 x 8.9mm (3.74 x 1.69 x 0.35 inches), and weighs just 40g (1.41oz). Battery life is rated at 29 hours for audio playback and seven hours for video content. Rounding things up are 48 (!) EQ presets and support for a plethora of formats (including such rarities as FLAC and OGG) along with USB mass storage.

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Via: AV Watch (translated)

Source: Cowon (translated)

How would you change Samsung’s Galaxy Player 4.2?

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How would you change Samsungs Galaxy Player 42

Last year, we asked you to examine Samsung's Galaxy Player 4.0, and your comments clustered around three trends -- better audio, better build and any OS that wasn't called Gingerbread. The Galaxy Player 4.2, therefore, offers audio that just isn't loud enough, a skinned version of Gingerbread and the sense that it was thrown together from leftover smartphone parts. As our reviewer judged, it's not a bad piece of kit, but one that was honed into being utterly mediocre. If you bought one, then it's time to play amateur PMP designer and tell us if you agree with our staff audiophile. What did you love, what did you hate and most importantly, what would you change?

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FreedomPop ships its 4G-enabling iPod touch case, lets us nearly go phoneless for $99 (update: plan clarifications)

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FreedomPop ships its 4Genabling iPod touch case, lets us nearly go phoneless for $99

FreedomPop's gamble on free WiMAX data launched in beta at the start of month, but early adopters had to be contented with conventional hotspots and modems at first; those of us with a fixation on data-only cellular handsets had to keep waiting. We can stay slightly cooler-headed now that the provider is shipping its iPod touch 4G Sleeve. Shelling out $99 grafts a 4G hotspot to the back of the fourth-generation media player that gives it independence from WiFi as well as connection sharing with eight other devices -- at least, for anyone willing to burn through that 500MB of free monthly data in record time. About the only catches are the $10 per gigabyte overage fee and a design that's just slightly behind the times for iPod addicts. While some of us will still cling to smartphones for coverage or legacy reasons, others who mostly communicate through Instagram food photos could have that excuse they need to drop cellular phone service once and for all.

Update: Thanks to reader (and early adopter) Penn who pointed out that overages are $20 per gigabyte if you're on the free plan -- it's only $10 if you're a regularly paying customer.

Continue reading FreedomPop ships its 4G-enabling iPod touch case, lets us nearly go phoneless for $99 (update: plan clarifications)

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FreedomPop ships its 4G-enabling iPod touch case, lets us nearly go phoneless for $99 (update: plan clarifications) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Oct 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fifth-gen iPod touch and nano now in stores and in the mail

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Fifthgen iPod touch and nano now in stores and in the mail

If you've been waiting impatiently to get your hands on the latest cellular radio-less iOS device, we've got good news. The fifth gen iPod touch with its elongated screen and colorful backplate is available today in Apple stores across the country. And, if you preordered the slinky aluminum and glass media player, it should already be in the mail. The latest edition of the nano, which is becoming more and more like its larger sibling the touch every day, is also popping up on shelves. The seventh generation of the tiny player, complete with multi touch screen and 16GB of storage, is cropping in Apple stores for $149 starting today. Let us know in the comments if you decided to pick up either device.

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Fifth-gen iPod touch and nano now in stores and in the mail originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 09:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung’s split personality patent conjures up a camera with detachable media player

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Samsung's split personality patent conjures up a camera with detachable media player

Samsung recently added some serious smarts to its point-and-shoot lineup with the Galaxy Camera, which -- if you're so inclined -- can also double as a personal communicator and multimedia player. As we discovered during our hands-on with the device, however, its bulky size could deter many who might've hoped to carry it at all times. A patent just granted to Samsung might change all that, however, which describes a camera that also acts as a multimedia player, only with one curious difference: the PMP unit is detachable. Naturally, this component houses the display and its own separate storage, but also contains the multimedia module that's necessary for the camera to record movies. Samsung applied for this patent back in 2007, which suggests this particular setup may never see the light of day. Then again, if such a split personality camera ever appears, there's a good chance that it'll carry the Samsung name.

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Samsung's split personality patent conjures up a camera with detachable media player originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 21:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung unveils Galaxy Player 5.8, pockets everywhere brace for impact

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Samsung unveils Galaxy Player 58, pockets everywhere brace for impact

We hope you wear baggy pants, because you're going to want big pockets to carry Samsung's giant new jukebox. The Galaxy Player 5.8 is dominated by its namesake 5.8-inch, 960 x 540 LCD -- a screen that makes the 4.8-inch AMOLED on the closely related Galaxy S III look downright modest by comparison. Android 4.0 and the latest generation of TouchWiz make their first appearances in a Samsung media player here, with the spin naturally on books and movies instead of the tasks you'd associate with a smartphone. You're otherwise looking at the kind of media player you'd expect in 2012: there's either 16GB or 32GB of built-in storage, a microSD slot, a front VGA camera for those face-to-face sessions and a huge 2,500mAh battery to compensate for the display. We're still waiting on a few details, such as the exact processor and the Galaxy Player 5.8's launch schedule, although the announcement's timing suggests we may get a peek at this behemoth when IFA 2012 kicks off later this week. In the meantime, we'd advise against buying a pair of skinny jeans.

Gallery: Samsung Galaxy Player 5.8

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Samsung unveils Galaxy Player 5.8, pockets everywhere brace for impact originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 00:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cowon’s X9 PMP now shipping, features up to 110 hours of music playback

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Cowon's X9 PMP now shipping, features up to 110 hours of music playback

The latest addition to Cowon's line of portable media players is reaching consumers' hands in the good, old US of A as shipping is now underway for the X9. The PMP -- which comes in either black or white -- measures 72.5mm wide, 114.9mm tall and weighs in at 159 grams. It also features a 4.3-inch touchscreen, your choice of either 8GB, 16GB or 32GB of internal flash memory, as well as a MicroSD slot. Although good sound quality is typically Cowon's calling card, the X9 also serves up a healthy helping of battery life with the company claiming up to 110 hours of music playback. Operating time when watching video is said to be up to 13 hours while charging time takes 4.5 hours via AC adapter and 6 hours when juicing through a USB connection. Supported file formats include MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, APE, WAV, XviD, WMV and ASF. Unlike the Plenue Z2 and the D3, the X9 opts out of using the Android OS -- which is either good or bad depending on one's preferences. Its 480 x 272 resolution is also decidedly lower than, say, the 800 x 480 seen in the Z2's 3.7-inch screen. As for cost, folks interested in getting the X9 will have to lighten their wallets to the tune of $229.99. For more details, check out the Cowon site via the link below.

Cowon's X9 PMP now shipping, features up to 110 hours of music playback originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Aug 2012 01:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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