Portableaudio -- Engadget

Insignia NS-HD01: first-ever portable HD Radio on sale at Best Buy

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 12th 2009 at 12:01AM

Remember that first-ever portable HD Radio prototype we peeked back in May? Turns out Best Buy just let loose the real-deal, today announcing immediate availability of the Insignia NS-HD01. Needless to say, the big box retailer and supporters of HD Radio alike are hoping that this subscription-free player will finally put some much-needed wind behind the sails of the format, and while it's pretty simple in nature, the sub-$50 price tag could place it squarely in the "impulse buy" category. The relatively brief specs list includes a color LCD, rechargeable Li-ion battery, a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack, a bundled armband and ten user-selectable preset memory channels. You can catch the full release after the break, and the player itself in your nearest Best Buy.

Gallery: Insignia NS-HD01: first-ever portable HD Radio on sale at Best Buy

Continue reading Insignia NS-HD01: first-ever portable HD Radio on sale at Best Buy

Image of Zune HD's marketplace surfaces, leaves much to the imagination

by Ross Miller, posted Jul 11th 2009 at 6:16PM

Clamoring for even the tiniest morsel of Zune HD news? This might just do the trick. Xbox 360 Program Manager "Fitret" has posted on Twitter a pic of his new Tegra-infused portable that happens to show a glimpse of the marketplace section, specifically an artist sub-menu for The Hold Steady. Like we said it isn't much, but it is a mighty attractive design, and certainly a menu we haven't played with yet. Now how about a firm release date and price, eh Steve?

[Thanks, Taylor]

How would you change Sony's OLED Walkman?

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 11th 2009 at 12:42AM

Sony's OLED Walkman is something else. Literally. In many ways, it's Sony's first formidable iPod rival to emerge in quite some time, and with its striking OLED panel, tastefully appointed graphite casing and absolutely amazing audio quality, it's certainly worth a look. For those of you around the world that have picked one up, we're curious to see if you think you made the right decision. For many, anything sans an Apple logo is the right choice, but we're wondering if the UI, design and value here were up to snuff in your mind. Are you digging the overall look and feel? Do you mind not having an App Store? Are you floored with audio / video performance? Have at it in comments below -- don't hold back now, okay?

Samsung's YP-R1 spotted in the wild leering at kids

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jul 10th 2009 at 3:26AM

We like bubble-gum icons and ginger bread men holding "Touch Me!" signs as much as any predator. It's just not the first motif that comes to mind when choosing an interface for what otherwise looks to be yet another mainstream digital media player. Perhaps Samsung's YP-R1 is targeting 9-year old Korean girls -- however, that sure looks like a brushed metal box to us, not teddy-bear taffeta affixed to a Mickey Mouse effigy as we'd expect. Otherwise, the YP-R1 is the same 2.6-inch touchscreen 400 x 260 pixel player with up to 32GB (€149 for 8GB model) of storage we've already seen only now with an expected September ship date, at least in France. One more shot after the break. What can we say -- this is what you get when we hope to be surprised.

Continue reading Samsung's YP-R1 spotted in the wild leering at kids

Memorex hears the cry of underserved female gadget hounds, delivers the pink

by Laura June, posted Jul 10th 2009 at 2:39AM

Memorex recently had a study carried out on its behalf, which found that roughly 70 percent of women feel "underserved" by electronics companies. Women, who buy about 40 percent of electronics, think (according to this study) that most products are made and marketed for men. Memorex ingested that data, and decided to offer up some new options for the ladies... and they came up with a neon pink, purse-shaped iPod dock. The miniMove Boombox would be just another crummy looking piece of gadget noise, had it not come swaddled in such a spate of condescending mumbo jumbo. Kasia van Hall (a woman!) of Memorex told the Times of London that "women want to know about technology, but only just enough to get a taste of it," adding that the majority "simply don't have time or energy to read long instructions and play with cables." The device, in similar, less-pink form, has been on shelves since last December.

Now, it's true, we of the Engadget nerdom are possibly in the minority, but it seems like a crappily designed iPod dock painted pink is hardly the answer to the conundrum of women's gadget needs. Then again, we have been known to try to insert our BlackBerry into the VCR. Were we not supposed to do that? The miniMove Boombox will be available in the next two weeks in the UK for a totally cute £59 (that's $96 for all you mathematically-challenged gals).

[Via Jezebel]

New RIM ad shows deep appreciation for U2, Apple's ad team

by Paul Miller, posted Jul 9th 2009 at 5:58PM

Yeah, we're sure there are only so many ways you can feature a bit of Brian Eno-produced stadium rock in space in support of your hip, relevant tech company, but we'd say RIM copped a bit much of Apple's style in its new U2 ad. Check out "BlackBerry loves U2" and its iTunes-touting Coldplay inspiration after the break for all the shimmering, uncanny similarities. Though, to be fair, Apple has done its own share of ad swipes in the past, so perhaps RIM was just looking to imitate the master?

Continue reading New RIM ad shows deep appreciation for U2, Apple's ad team

iPod suspected of setting Saab ablaze

by Donald Melanson, posted Jul 9th 2009 at 1:26PM

We've all seen the potential havoc that an iPod can wreak -- either through misuse or some general explosiveness -- and it looks like we now might have yet another cautionary tale out of Sweden, where a Saab 9-3 recently met an unfortunate end. While the exact, official cause of the blaze hasn't quite been pegged down, investigators seem to strongly suspect that an iPod left in the car is to blame. That's apparently because the car itself showed no signs of negligence or other technical faults (or evidence that the fire was intentionally set), and because the fire started on the seats, where the iPod was seemingly left. What's not clear, however, is if the iPod was simply tossed there and caught fire all by itself, or if was charging when things went horribly wrong -- although we're personally willing to simply buy Google Translate's answer that "the music has become so hot that it melted the inside."

[Thanks, Martin L.]

Keepin' it real fake, part CCXXI: Apple's iPhone and iPod nano hook up, combine

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 9th 2009 at 9:44AM

Hey, Apple -- you know that inspiration you've been looking for in order to concoct a proper iPhone nano? We just found it. Over in some seedy warehouse in the depths of Shenzhen, the aptly titled iphone nano has emerged. As you could likely surmise, this completely improper knockoff gentle combines the best features from Apple's iPhone and the iPod nano to create a singular, if not awkward device. Heck, there's even a 5 megapixel camera, which easily trumps the 3.2 megapixel shooter on the iPhone 3GS. It's all yours for just 90 bones, and you don't even have to sign your cellular soul away to AT&T. Look out Apple, we get the feeling this thing's going to be huge.

[Thanks, facelessloser]

Apple recalls faulty first generation iPod nano players in Korea

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jul 9th 2009 at 2:05AM

While Apple may have moved on to selling the 4th generation iPod nano, consumer protection agencies are still focused on gen-1. For good reason too, apparently, as there's mounting evidence that those early white and black plastic players have a tendency to overheat, swell, and possibly burst into a nasty chemical fire. Responding to four formal consumer complaints made between December and June, the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards sent a request to Apple on June 25th recommending that Apple "aggressively" collects first generation iPod nano with Lithium Ion batteries made by the Chinese company ATL. Initially, Apple agreed to replace faulty units as they did in Japan upon request by the consumer. However, KATS is now reporting that Apple will recall the players under its own initiative making this the first formal iPod nano recall we can, uh, recall.

Soundblock: a marginally heinous dock connector iPod speaker

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 8th 2009 at 11:06AM

It's hard to guess why one would consider this device over that Lego-inspired alternative we peeked last Spring, but those obsessed with Elecom or born with an innate fear of stackable blocks can certainly opt for the Soundblock. Designed specifically for the fourth generation iPod nano, first generation iPod touch and any other iPod that ships sans an integrated speaker, this here speaker clicks into the dock connector and can be ordered in one of ten different colors. The pain? ¥4,000 ($42), which seems about a Jackson and a half too steep for our tastes.

[Via Coolest-Gadgets]

Creative Zii and Zii EGG touchscreen players with HD cameras served up by FCC

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jul 7th 2009 at 1:14AM

Guess who's back? Creative. Hard to believe, we know, but the company we've all but forgotten looks ready to make a comeback in the portable audio / video game. Creative Labs Zii and Zii EGG just made their first appearance at the FCC. Can't say that we're too enthused by the "EGG" moniker but we're definitely liking the looks of that "HD Camera" module along the backside of these "MP4 players with touchscreens" in addition to the Bluetooth and 802.11b/g WiFi radios. That "developer edition" is also a good sign that Creative is looking to make this a software platform a la the ol' iPod touch only with Creative's Zii system-on-chip architecture secret sauce. In fact, these devices could very well be running Android atop Creative's ZMS-05 chipset as we saw back in February. Welcome back Creative, you've got until September or so before Apple adds a camera to its own iPod touch... best get to work.

Radiopaq's Sound Jacket improves nano sound quality, according to this handy chart

by Joseph L. Flatley, posted Jul 6th 2009 at 1:47PM

Accessories aimed at the iPod nano 4G crowd are always a curious affair. Isn't the whole point to have your tunes on-the-go, with a minimal of fuss? And aren't costly (and bulky) add-ons the definition of "fuss?" We seriously doubted there was much of a market for the portable speaker attachment we saw a few weeks back, and now it's Radiopaq's turn to get us scratchin' our heads. The iPod Sound Jacket claims to do away with "the distortion that can sometimes result from a static EQ setting" and reveal the "hidden detail in the music that is lost during MP3 compression." In other words, it seems to be a graphic equalizer. One that you have no control over, to boot. Sound familiar? But then again, according to the product literature the device boosts sound quality "up to 60 percent." If only it were able to boost our self esteem by, say, 40 percent or more. Now that would be well worth the £69.99 (roughly $115).

[Via SlashGear]

Evidence mounts for iPods with cameras

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jul 6th 2009 at 7:17AM

The iPod with camera is pretty much a given at this point in Apple's evolutionary approach to its audio / video players. In fact, we've already seen iLounge's confident rendering of an iPod nano with camera. Now we have the first cases with matching camera cut-outs (like that of the above) for the iPod nano in addition to an iPod touch case with similar cutouts passing through our tips box. This morning TechCrunch is claiming that a "massive number of camera modules" for iPods have been ordered per information provided by a source in Asia. Add it all up and we should see the announcement of a new iPod touch and iPod nano with photo / video recording sometime around September per Apple's usual pattern.

[Via MacRumors, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

iriver E200 lands in the wild, might not have been worth the wait

by Paul Miller, posted Jul 5th 2009 at 4:55AM

Sure, we know that whenever we hear the word "aluminum" we're supposed to go all weak in the knees, but iriver hasn't really astounded us with this materials-tweaked rehash of the E100. Still, the OLED screen on the upcoming E200 has been bumped to 2.8-inches, so that's kind of nice, and while the capacitive touch buttons aren't a big win over the original rocker, at least the chassis seems thinner now. Check out the read link for some purported press shots that manage to be quite a bit more flattering.

[Via PMP Today]

Archos Vision PMPs get UK pricing, August release

by Vladislav Savov, posted Jul 2nd 2009 at 12:32PM

Few details were available when Archos announced its new lineup of PMPs last month, but today we can provide you with fuller specs and news of imminent UK availability. The new flagship model, 3 Vision, comes with a 3-inch touchscreen, 8GB of storage, microSDHC card slot, video playback, and a few less significant features like a voice recorder, calendar, stopwatch and an FM transmitter for streaming music to your Hi-Fi. Positioned as a direct competitor to the iPod touch, the new Archos will cost nearly half as much at £90 ($148). Other models detailed today include the 2 Vision -- a 1.8-inch version of the foregoing that loses video playback but gains a 16GB option likely to be priced at £50 ($82) -- and the Archos Clipper, a 2GB no-frills player priced at £20 ($32). For those looking to get a head start on everyone else, the 8GB 2 Vision is already available through Archos' online store for £40 ($65).

[Via Pocket-lint]