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Sony says sayonara to MiniDisc, will sell its last players in March
We were told back in September that Sony was halting production on its disc-loading Walkman music players, but devices have now reached the end of the production line, with the last MiniDisc players set be shipped out this March. The optical player managed to claw out a 20-year life for itself, despite the menace of media-free music (and video) players like the iPod, which began to severely cut away at sales around 2000. This final date signifies that Sony has wrapped up production of its final MD component stereo, although according to Asahi, the likes of Onkyo will continue to make similar optical hardware. Well, at least frustration for Sony's proprietary media storage lives on in the PS Vita.
Sprint adds Kansas City and Baltimore to list of LTE markets
If you've been waiting to see if your 'hood would be next up for Sprint to bless with a shiny new LTE network we've got some potentially good news: by mid-2012 both Kansas City (regardless of what side of the Kansas / Missouri border you happen to be on) and Baltimore will be online. Those two cities will bring the total number of Sprint LTE markets to six, as they join the previously announced Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Atlanta. The carrier and CEO Dan Hesse refused to be any more specific about a launch date on today's earnings call, though, we can tell you the service should be launching alongside the Galaxy Nexus, LG Viper and a Sierra Wireless mobile hotspot capable of connecting via CDMA, WiMAX and LTE. Check out the PR after the break for more details.
Gateway's MD / UC Series laptops get reviewed
The ink is still drying from Gateway's introduction of the MD / UC Series, but already both machines have been thoroughly tested and reviewed. Starting with the more mainstream MD7801u, Gateway trimmed a number of features in hopes of producing a lower-cost machine that bargain-minded buyers would take interest in. To that end, there was nothing really remarkable about the MD, but that's exactly what the company was going for; all in all, it ended up as a solid, well-rounded rig that should handle basic tasks with ease. Moving down (size wise, anyway), the UC was deemed "incredibly stylish," and it was found to be impressive in pretty much every testable aspect. Of course, it won't handle gaming or hardcore video editing, but given the $799 price tag, we know you weren't expecting it to. Feel 'em both out in the read links below. Read - MD Series review Read - UC Series review
Sony turns CDs blue with new Blu-spec CD standard
Got a good marketing hook? Great, give it a nice thick slather across some related bits of your consumer electronics and prepare to rake in the cash. With MD and SACD formats not exactly dominating the audio masses, Sony's back with a new format by the name Blu-spec CD. It takes advantage of (you guessed it) Sony's Blu-ray Disc technology to press new high-quality discs while somehow maintaining compatibility with regular ol' red-laser CD players. How? No idea, really -- it's some kind of secret, proprietary Sony magic hidden deep inside of Google's Japanese-to-English language translator. Perhaps an English press release will be issued later in the day. It does seem that Sony will kick out about 60 Blu-spec CD classics (Miles Davis' Kind of Blue for example) in December ranging in prices from ¥2,500 (about $25) to ¥4,200 ($42). Ouch.P.S. That weeping CD logo above is our Photoshoppery, not Sony's.[Via Impress]
Shiro readies trio of ho hum PMPs
We'll spare you the obvious here -- we're quite aware that Shiro's VJ (pictured) looks an awful lot like something else -- but nevertheless, the outfit is hoping that its forthcoming trio of portable media players can somehow get traction in the overly saturated market. The aforementioned VJ reportedly rocks a 2.4-inch 320 x 240 resolution display, up to 8GB of internal storage space, a microSD expansion slot, built-in microphone for voice recording, an FM radio, up to 20 hours of music playback (5 hours of video) and support for MP3, WMA, WAV, BMP and JPEG files. As for the MR, look for similar features in a smaller (2-inch display) package with a maximum capacity of 4GB, while the MD boasts an even tinier screen (1.8-inch) and a fair bit less battery life. Regrettably, no pricing details were mentioned, but we get the feeling Shiro will be saving those tidbits for CES.[Via Wired]
Pioneer updates Carrozzeria in-car entertainment systems
If you're looking to play almost every audio/video format known to man in your car, even MiniDiscs, then Pioneer has just introduced a whopper of an in-dash system that may be perfect for you (well, if you live in Japan, that is). The AVIC-VH009MD in-car multimedia system, which takes over the high end of Pioneer's Carrozzeria lineup, features a 5.1 channel amp, dedicated TV tuner, GPS receiver with birds-eye view, and a head unit that contains a 7-inch screen and plays back DVDs, CDs, MDs, and MP3/WMA files as well as DivX-encoded videos. Also new to the Carrozzeria line is the AVH-P90DVA, which also has a TV tuner and 7-inch screen, but *only* supports DVDs, CDs, VCDs, and the aforementioned codecs plus AAC, but not MiniDiscs or navigation. The all-in-one system will go for a cool $3,200, while the AVH-P90DVA costs $2,300, although if you want to listen to tracks from your cellphone, you'll have to forgo a lot of these niceties and stick with the Bluetooth-equipped AVIC-S1 that we brought you the other day.Read- AVIC-VH009MDRead- AVH-P90DVA
