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Sony CECH-ZVS1 Surround Sound System for PS3 hits Japan on September 30th
More PS3 news from Sony. What was already known to be a fall release has just narrowed to September 30th for Sony's $199 PS3 Surround Sound System -- at least in Japan. As you might recall, this budget Sony soundbar with integrated sub-woofer and S-Force PRO Front Surround technology tethers up snuggly with your PS3 over optical digital supporting Dolby digital, DTS, MPEG-2 AAC and Linear PCM audio formats. Model CECH-ZVS1 then bounces the surround sound off the walls when placed in front of your television. It's not Sony's best soundbar but it's the only one with a matching PlayStation logo. And for some gamers, that's likely all they'll need to know.
Sanyo's latest Xacti Sound Recorder turns FM into MP3, won't critique your AT 40 addiction
Sanyo's latest Xacti, the charmingly titled Sound Recorder ICR-XRS120MF, is about the nicest looking voice recorder we've ever seen. It features stereo microphones on top to turn any sound into MP3 or Linear PCM and offers a suite of recording modes that will comprehensively capture anything from the sweet nothings of a lover to the sour blathering of a corporate meeting. When in its docking station (shown after the break) it can also capture audio over line-in and even record AM/FM programs with a built-in scheduler, meaning you'll never miss Seacrest's latest charming witticism. Sanyo hasn't listed a price yet, but is expecting to ship these to Japan before the end of the month.
Sony's new NW-E Walkman series loosed in Japan
We first peeped Sony's latest NW-E series of Walkman audio players in the UK of all places. Now they've made their rightful debut in Japan where the 4GB (NW-E016), 2GB (NW-E015), and 1GB (NW-E013) flash players will hit on April 21st for ¥20,000 ($168), ¥14,000 ($117), and ¥11,000 ($92), respectively. However, at least in Japan they'll also be hitting in a flourish of springtime colors supporting uncompressed Linear PCM audio and AAC support to get your DRM-free EMI on. Otherwise, these appear to be the euro-equivalent of what we've already seen: three-line OLED display with album art, a slight 29-grams, and up to 30-hours of audio playback... you know, when listening to all those ATRAC3 files you don't have.[Via Impress]
AVCHD format will enable 8cm DVD-equipped HD camcorders
Sony and Panasonic-parent Matsushita have teamed up to develop an encoding format based on MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 that will enable future camcorders to capture HD footage directly to standard 8-centimeter DVDs. Called "AVCHD," the new format is able to handle numerous resolution/frame-rate combinations, including 480i at 60fps, 720p at 24, 50, or 60fps, and 1080p at 24fps (or 1080i for 50fps and 60fps configurations), and can encode audio in either 5.1 channel AC-3 or up to 7.1 channel Linear PCM. The advantages of this format over the current HDV scheme used with MiniDV cassettes aren't exactly clear -- although you are getting random scene access thanks to the nature of optical discs, recording time is cut down from around an hour with MiniDV to only 20 minutes at the AVCHD "average setting." Even worse, DVD players will require special software in order to read discs containing content encoded in the new format, and even then, they will obviously only play back at a maximum resolution of 480p.[Via PCWorld]
