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Pioneer Inno XMp3 reviewed: great, save for reception hiccups
You've gotten a face full of the Pioneer-built Inno XMp3, but aren't you eager to find out how the bugger performs? Knowing that your head is wildly bobbing up and down as if to say "yes," we present to you CNET's take on the latest portable XM Radio. Overall, the compact unit fared pretty well in testing, as it proved to be easy to operate, easy on the eyes and just downright easy to live with. The only knocks came from the lack of photo / video viewing (yes, that includes album art for library music) and the occasional reception issue. It should be noted, however, that this "reception issue" is kind of a big deal given the nature of the device, and that quirk alone knocked it from the ranks of the elite. Still, critics felt the unit was a worthwhile purchase if you're willing to deal with a few drops, and the way we see it, those just give you ample opportunities to hone your freestyle skills. Word?
Iocell kicks out waterproof MDrive USB key in Korea
Sure, we've seen USB drives that shun water like it's their job before, but Iocell's iteration of the waterproof flash drive comes in a nearly irresistible package. This ultrathin drive makes for an excellent keychain adornment, and the Taegeuk pattern -- reportedly honed for this device by Young-Se Kim, CEO of INNO Design -- leaves no doubt that this sucka is aimed squarely at South Koreans. The MDrive is reportedly set to launch this week, and while the 1GB edition will run you ???39,000 ($42), the 2GB flavor will ring up at ???59,000 ($63). Click on through for a couple more looks.
Iocell's rugged mDrive: built to last a decade
Iocell's been known to unleash USB drives that differentiate themselves quite effectively from the masses, and the firm's latest offering is no different. The ultrathin mDrive reportedly weighs in at just three grams, is available in capacities ranging from 1GB to 4GB, and is built to withstand just about anything nature throws at it. The water-, heat-, and shock-resistant drive is just marginally larger than a penny, but can reportedly archive data up to ten years and be written to "more than one million times" before calling it quits. Additionally, the drive will support the company's Castella Builder software, which purportedly allows you to transport applications and settings from one machine to another without any hassle. Now, how do we go about keeping track of this thing?[Via AVing]
NMPA suing XM Radio for copyright infringement
Just about the time that XM Radio was finally able to sit down and hammer out some figures for the upcoming merger, the poor satellite radio firm has hit yet another legal snag, and this time it's care of the NMPA. The National Music Publishers Association have officially filed suit against XM, claiming that the "XM + MP3" music service bypasses copyright laws by giving users the ability "to make permanent copies of on-air tracks" with units like the hotly-debated Inno. Quite similar to other gripes brought against the outfit in the past, this dispute claims that XM's service "constitutes pervasive and willful copyright infringement to the overwhelming detriment of copyright holders, legitimate online music services and, ultimately, consumers," but we're still scratching our heads on the "consumers" bit too. Nevertheless, the NMPA is requesting demanding a maximum of $150,000 in "damages" for each work purportedly infringed by XM, but the sat radio company seems to be brushing this one aside as it claims that "the lawsuit is without merit." These guys just can't do anything right, eh?
Judge rules in favor of RIAA, XM ready for battle
Not like this is altogether surprising by any means, but a US District Judge has ruled that a lawsuit in which "record companies allege XM Radio is cheating them by letting consumers store songs can proceed toward trial." Deborah A. Batts has decided to not throw out the case which Atlantic, BMG Music, Capitol Records, and "other music distribution companies" filed against XM, and claims that the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 does "not protect the company in this instance." Essentially, the judge ruled that special handheld recording devices, marketed as XM+MP3 players (you know, like the Inno), are not at all like "radio-cassette players," and then proceeded to explain how "recording songs played over free radio doesn't threaten the market for copyrighted works as does the use of a recorder which stores songs from private radio broadcasts." Aside from our apparent inability to understand why source A is less illegal than source B, we're completely on the same page with Ms. Batts, but nevertheless, she also asserted that XM is attempting to be "both a broadcaster and a distributor, while only paying to be the former," but completely disregards the extra fees that satellite radio firms pay to record labels in comparison to "free" stations. But if you think XM is downtrodden, you'd be sorely mistaken, as the company simply stated that it "looked forward to making its case (read: winning) in court." Now that's the spirit.[Via Orbitcast]
Senators pushing for more limitations on internet / satellite radio recording
It seems that satellite radio just can't catch a break, as the RIAA and its indirect constituents apparently have a perpetual target set on crippling services associated with recording content. Yet again satellite radio (along with internet radio) is under fire, and this time a number of senators are pushing "rules embedded in a copyright bill, called the Platform Equality and Remedies for Rights Holders in Music Act," which could "restrict listeners' ability to record and play back individual songs." Furthermore, the act calls for streams to be laced with "reasonably available copy-protection" so that timeshifting material becomes next to impossible (and illegal, too), and that portable recording devices such as the much-debated XM Inno and Sirius S50 would no longer allow "automatic recording." The reasoning stems from a belief that satellite / internet radio should still be a "passive experience," presumably forcing us to look backwards rather than forward in radio technologies, and proponents of the agenda somehow insinuate that enforcing these rules will curb "music theft." Unsurprisingly, the RIAA "applauded the effort and urged Congress to make passing the legislation a top priority this year," while most everyone else on the planet (including spokespersons for XM and the Home Recording Rights Coalition) is balking at what would potentially make satellite / internet radio less accessible to desiring consumers. While we've no idea how quickly action will be taken on these newly surfaced guidelines, we can all rest assured that our representatives will devote every waking hour to this here issue until it's finalized and implemented, at least if the RIAA has anything to do with it.
Audiovox's XM2go X2G-100 Inno clone revealed
As exciting as it was to stare at the back of this thing a couple of months ago, we're kind of glad the FCC decided to flip the unit over and give us some more shots of this new satellite radio device from Audiovox. The latest in a series of XM2go clones, the X2G-100 looks like it's just about ready to party down with the Helix and Inno players, which were released earlier this year. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot new here: the player features the same 50 hours of recording time as its siblings, and while Audiovox was kind enough to toss in those clunky, Sirius-esque antenna headphones, they left out the home and car kits, so it's a bit of a wash. We are liking the new all-black look, but assuming a similar price tag on this thing, we don't see much reason to go with this sucker when it debuts in February, since we're sure there'll be another generation of portable XM devices not long after. Keep reading for a couple more pics.[Via Orbitcast]
Delphi's SkyFi 3 spotted
It's sure been a while, but Delphi is finally getting around to updating their SkyFi series with the new SkyFi 3 portable player, and the folks at xm411.com managed to get their hands on one for a little bit of alone time. They definitely like what they see, and while the bigger screen makes the device a decent bit larger than the Inno and Helix players, the unit should make for a good roadtrip companion, while still managing some portable action in a pinch. The 30-minute pause buffer is great for when you need to make a call or talk to your fellow car-riding companions, and the 8 hour battery isn't terrible for some pre-recorded XM action on the go. Unfortunately, the SkyFi 3 doesn't include a built-in antenna, so you'll have to strap on a dorky Wearable Kit (not included) to get live XM radio, and the battery can only handle 90 minutes of that. Luckily, the car kit is included, and the $200-ish price isn't too bad for what you're getting, so if it suits your purposes, it at least shouldn't break the bank.[Via Orbitcast]
Delphi's SkyFi3: the first portable XM radio and MP3 player with removable storage
With production back in full swing, Delphi looks set to drop the SkyFi3 into the XM Satellite Radio mix. While not officially announced, you can find the portable unit with car kit up on JJI Electronics website (and others) ready for pre-order. For a low, low $200, you'll get a 2.8-inch screen, 30-minute pause and replay, 5-hour rechargeable battery, car kit with remote control, and just like the Pioneer Inno, the ability to tag songs you hear on XM for later purchase on Napster. Not bad right? But what makes this pup hot is that it looks to be the first satellite radio with removable storage for storing up to 10 hours of XM programming or as many MP3, WMA, or WAV files as you can stuff onto a $90 or so 2GB microSD card. First shipments are expected in late October -- assuming the RIAA doesn't step in, that is. Another picture with home kit and car kit docks after the break.[Via orbitcast, Thanks Michael P]
Pioneer inno lookin' pretty in pink
With the Pioneer inno's brushed metal stylings, we're almost getting an iPod mini vibe from this new pink edition, though the masculine look of the inno is also giving us bit of a drag queen feel. Yeah, so that's... awkward. But luckily it's for a good cause! Pioneer, XM and Circuit City are teaming up with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation for a bit of breast cancer smack down, donating $30 from each sale to the foundation -- up to $150,000. Hopefully you don't have the same problems with psychotic anthropomorphism as we do, and can pony up for the cause in our stead. In other, less exciting news, Pioneer is forcing a software "upgrade" on users that disables the inno's FM modulator when the device isn't placed in its car dock. Apparently the change is due to regulatory issues, and Pioneer is offering a full refund for your device -- for a limited time -- if the feature reduction doesn't exactly float your boat. Battery life is supposedly extended considerably by the firmware update as well, along with numerous other bug fixes, so holding off from updating doesn't seem to be that attractive of an alternative.Read - Pink Pioneer innoRead - Pioneer inno firmware "upgrade"
Samsung's neXus XM DAP reviewed
We've always been a bit skeptical of portable DAPs like the Sirius S50 and Samsung neXus that promise to let you listen to sat radio content on-the-go, because since neither device includes a built-in satellite receiver, you're stuck with the programming you've recorded while the player was docked at home. PC Mag seems to agree that this class of gadgets offers rather limited functionality, and their review of the neXus isn't very promising for potential customers: unless you buy the $70 car kit for listening to live feeds in your ride, you're basically spending either $219 or $269, respectively, for either a 512MB or 1GB MP3 player that delivers neither great sound quality nor an acceptable battery life. What's more, you have to make sure that you keep the unit docked for at least eight hours a month so that XM can properly authenticate your subscription to keep your recorded tunes from disappearing. Ultimately, unless you're a on a tight budget and absolutely need some XM swag in your pocket at all times, PC Mag suggests -- and we tend to agree -- that you're better off shelling out a few more bucks for the Pioneer Inno or Samsung Helix, which both allow you to pick up and record live feeds right out of the box, no dock necessary.
Engadget Podcast 081 - 05.23.06
What a week for product launches! Seems like out of the gate past E3 everybody wanted to get theirs out the door: Apple loosed the MacBook, Motorola and Verizon launched the Q, Sprint and Verizon launched the Palm Treo 700p, and Sony launched their UX Micro PC. But it wasn't all rosy new toys for everyone to play with, Creative and Apple are heading to court to go toe to toe over some patents, as apparently is XM and Pioneer over the RIAA-contestable recording capabilities of the Inno. Tune in to find out how it all unfurls on this week's Engadget Podcast! Get the podcast [iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3). [RSS] Add the Engadget Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically (MP3). [MP3] Download the show (MP3). [AAC] Download the enhanced show (AAC). [OGG] Download the show (OGG). [Vote] Vote for us on Podcast Alley! Host Peter Rojas and Ryan Block Producer Randall Bennett Music J J J - 'Suits' in Japan Format 1:00:46, 27.8 MB, MP3 Program 01:00 - Motorola and Verizon announce Q: $199 04:44 - Treo 700p announced 08:48 - Apple's MacBook: 13-in, Core Duo, black and white 17:26 - Creative sues Apple, then Apple sues Creative 21:34 - Record labels sue XM over Inno recording 30:00 - Sony gets official on new Vaio UX Micro PC 36:28 - Xbox 360 hacks: Playing backup games, and backing up games 40:01 - Listener voicemail and email 59:00 - Engadget reader meetup in Merced LISTEN (MP3) LISTEN (AAC) LISTEN (OGG) Contact the podcast: 1-888-ENGADGET, Engadget (Gizmo Project) or podcast at engadget dawt com
The Pipeline: Pundits dish on MacBooks, XM Inno and Treo 700p
Welcome back to The Pipeline, a weekly feature where we dig through the mainstream media and see what the pundits, prognosticators and and pencil pushers have been discussing over the past week. Unlike some recent weeks, there was no single tech story that dominated the mainstream media this week. Yes, most journos dutifully covered Apple's two big events -- the launch of the MacBook and the opening of the company's New York store -- but Apple didn't get the same sort of monolithic coverage that, say, the Samsung Q1 garnered a couple of weeks ago. In fact, one of the few mainstream media MacBook reviews we came across this week was written not by The New York Times' David Pogue or The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg, but by blogger Glenn Fleishman, slumming it in his day job at the Seattle Times. Fleishman praised the new non-laptop for its upgradability, iSight camera and ability to add a second display, but pointed out that its integrated graphics make it a less-than-ideal choice for anyone doing video-intensive work -- which we assume is part of Apple's plan to find a way to get at least some consumers to pay $2,000 and up for the MacBook Pro, with its ATI Radeon X1600 GPU.
Record labels sue XM over Inno recording
We thought that maybe, just maybe, the recent S50 blessing from the record labels might mean that they were letting off a bit on this whole "satellite radio recording is killing the music industry" thing. Boy were we wrong. Turns out Sirius agreed to pay for one of those snazzy and expensive distribution licenses, similar to what iTunes and Napster have, to allow their users to continue to record songs off of the radio service. XM balked at the fee, since they're already paying a license to play the songs in a radio capacity. That's why they've just been hit with a massive lawsuit for the sale of their Inno player, seeking $150,000 in damages per song recorded by XM customers. XM says they play 160,000 different songs per month, but we're not sure how that translates to this "songs recorded" figure that the record labels want to penalize them for. What we do know is that the amount is pretty extreme, and that XM had better have a good case, or this emerging satellite radio market could lose a major player in a jiffy
The Pipeline: Pundits go Wii!
Welcome back to The Pipeline, a weekly feature where we dig through the mainstream media and see what the pundits, prognosticators and and pencil pushers have been discussing over the past week. This week, the media was all over Nintendo's announcement that the gaming console formerly codenamed Revolution would henceforth be known as Wii. And, not surprisingly, most of the mainstream journos covering the story concurred with our assessment that the name somehow isn't going to wiin Niintendo any kudos. "Is Nintendo being desperately silly to attract attention, or is it just desperately short of clue?" asked the Guardian, while the Financial Times headlined its article "Wii aren't too sure about this." However, Nintendo did have at least one defender, Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities, who pointed out that "N-Gage and Gizmondo are cool names" that didn't help those products win many fans. "Consumers relate to the coolness of the product, not the name." Wii'll see, Michael, Wii'll see.Of course, the Wii announcement wasn't the only story in the news this week, and the mainstream press managed to crank out a few other interesting nuggets. USA Today took a look at the Pioneer Inno, and declared it "a winner," while The New York Times looked at the growing number of home docking systems for cellphones. Meanwhile, Forbes looked at another way to use cellphones at home, checking out the market for UMA-enabled handsets. Our favorite media hit this week, though, came from the Washington Post, which took an in-depth look at the DDR-as-exercise phenom, with the paper's reporter declaring, "Hello, my name is Caroline, and I'm addicted to 'Dance Dance Revolution.'" Hey, at least she's not addicted to the Wii. Nintendo goes Wii ... (not a typo) Guardian - Nintendo Wii is twee Financial Times - Wii aren't too sure about this BBC - Nintendo name swap sparks satire Seattle PI - Wii is for everyone AP - Nintendo names new video game console USA Today - Look out iPod, Inno marries satellite radio, portable music The New York Times - A cellphone in park, even more powerful Forbes - Double-duty phones The Washington Post - Get a move on
Pioneer Inno XM2go DAP reviewed
We've had our eye on the Pioneer Inno and Samsung Helix combination DAP/XM2go receivers ever since they were announced at CES, and although the devices certainly looked to have a winning combination of features, we had several concerns that we were eager to see addressed in a hands-on. Well our wait is over, as a fairly gushing, and very thorough, review of the Inno by satellite radio enthusiast site Orbitcast has allayed all of our fears, and convinced us that the Inno, which both plays and records XM streams as well as handling your MP3's, is really as hot as the specs make it sound. Orbitcast is particularly impressed with the ease of managing content on the device, with powerful search functions, automatic track separation (when recording streams), and intuitive controls helping Inno achieve that delicate balance of features and simplicity. With reception actually better than older XM2go models, pretty decent battery life, excellent stock earbuds, and improved playback control, the only downside here seems to be the way in which the Inno partitions its memory: during the initial setup you must choose from only two configurations -- 100% storage devoted to XM content or a 50/50 split between XM and your own tracks -- and if you want to switch modes at a later date, your entire library of recorded swag gets wiped.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Pioneer Innos out in April for $400
Been waiting to snag one of those sweet Pioneer Inno XM players that took the cake at this year's CES? Well your patience will be rewarded at some point this month -- they may have missed their first quarter launch, but XM's got the Pioneer Inno on pre-order for that expected $400 cash money. Not a peep yet regarding the Samsung Helix we were extra specially stoked about, but this should do the trick in the mean time for portable live sat rad.[Thanks, candlebougie and Dave M]
