Apple has just finished unveiling their all new 5th generation iPod Touch and wow does it look awesome. While many use their iPhone’s conveniently as their iPod, Apple still has a huge market for the iPod Touch. This redesigned 4-inch iPod has tons of improvements that makes it a real winner and we have all the pricing details below.
The brand new iPod Touch will be available in 5 different colors actually, and two size flavors. You’ll get the 32GB model starting at $299, as well as a 64GB flavor for $399. The main color will be the “raw brushed aluminum” then you’ll get black, red, yellow, and blue. Add in the iPod Touch Loop (wrist strap) and you’re good to go.
Hey did we mention Siri? The all new iPod Touch with its awesome 4-inch Retina screen, dual-core processor, multiple colors, sleek 6.1mm design and more will also have Siri support thanks to iOS 6. Apple has just detailed everything and you can read more by clicking here.
For those interested in the impressive new iPod Touch (or any of the 5 colors) you can pre-order it online at Apple’s online store starting September 14th for just $299. Then we can expect the brand new iPod to hit stores starting in October although an exact date wasn’t given. If that price is too high the previous generation has received a slight decrease in price too. Stay tuned for full details and retail dates.
This week the folks at Amazon introduced a set of new Kindle tablets including a refresh of the Kindle Fire, two new Kindle Fire HD tablets, and a reader called Paperwhite. This last entry in the list of new items might be the most overlooked to the biggest news seekers, but it’s set to overtake a still massive ereader market with technology that’s set to dash standard E-Ink’s brains out – and it’s relatively inexpensive, too! The original Kindle Fire was refreshed with a lower price, and both the Kindle Fire HD 7 and 8.9 were introduced with pre-orders starting today.
Start your journey with a look at how the original Kindle Fire has been updated with a select number of features right alongside a price drop to $159 – that’s madness! The new set of Kindle Fire devices come in both 7 and 8.9-inch display sizes, the latter also having a 4G LTE iteration coming with a new data plan that will run you just $50 USD a year – that’s 250MB of 4G LTE data a month for a total of $50 USD a year! Don’t get too pumped up though, there’s a catch: you still gotta pay overage costs.
There’s also a catch for those of you that aren’t fans of advertisements in your devices – the device you payed for and supposedly own. Amazon’s entire Kindle Fire lineup now also has Special Offers showing up on their lock-screens – with no option (other than hacking, of course) to get rid of them. Per Amazon’s press release:
“Special Offers
The new Kindle Fire family comes with special offers that appear on the lock screen. Examples of special money-saving offers that customers will enjoy include a $5 credit in the Amazon MP3 Store and a $5 credit for select titles in the Amazon Instant Video Store. Customers will also receive special offers and screensavers from brands like AT&T, Discover and Intel, such as a special offer of a $10 Amazon.com Gift Card when a customer uses their Discover card to purchase a digital product on Amazon.”
You’ll be glad to know, however, that we’ve got no reason to believe that this line of tablets is immune to hacking – as it was with the original Kindle Fire. Also, it does appear (according to several sources, but not yet confirmed by Amazon directly) that the Kindle Fire HD lineup is coming with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich behind their own customized user interface. That’s good news for you future-looking developers out there with diamond software modification in your eyes.
Kindle Fire HD 7 hands on:
The Kindle Fire HD lineup comes with a collection of software innovations like X-Ray and Whispersync. Have a peek at the timeline here to see our hands-on with the Kindle Fire HD duo as well as notes on the software features at hand:
Prices for the Kindle Fire HD lineup are as follows (followed by the refreshed Kindle Fire and the Paperwhite as well): Kindle Fire (Refresh): US $159 / UK £ 129 Kindle Fire HD 7: US $199 for 16GB and $249 for 32GB / UK £159 for 16GB and £199 for 32GB Kindle Fire HD 8.9: US $299 for 16GB and $369 for 32GB / UK N/A thus far Kindle Fire HD 8.9 4G LTE: US $499 for 32GB and $599 for 64GB Kindle Paperwhite: $119 Kindle Paperwhite 3G: $179 Kindle (Refresh): $69
Most if not all of these devices are now up for pre-order on Amazon with ship dates either in mid-September, early October, or November – it’s a spread!
Have a peek at the information we’ve got on the Paperwhite – including its 3G iteration with free – yes free – 3G. The smallest and lightest Kindle has also been updated with a few new software updates like improved fonts and 15% faster page turns as well. We’ve got hands-on with the three biggest beasts here, and of course more details than you can shake a stick at from throughout the day today. Stick around our Amazon tag portal for more information as it pops up between here and release time!
UPDATE: The full event video is now up via Amazon – enjoy!
Pioneer’s CDJ-2000 took the spot at the top of the firm’s CD turntable range a couple of years back, and has enjoyed a decent spell as the club standard. To ensure that its reign continues unchallenged, a new iteration in the form of the CDJ-2000nexus (no relation) has just been announced. The vast majority of the DNA remains the same, but there are some key new features such as WiFi (as we saw in the XDJ-AERO) for use with the rekordbox app, Beat Sync, Wave Zoom and Slip (a much wanted feature first seen in the CDJ-900). In total, you can now load tracks from CD, DVD, USB, SD, networked machines, and WiFi, meaning the player has essentially outgrown its “CDJ” labeling, becoming a true multimedia player. If you fancy taking one for a spin, you can do so starting from some time this month, for the upbeat price of $2,399. Laidback Luke demo video on rotation after the break.
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.
Syabas has announced the latest iteration of its Popcorn Hour media player, the A-400. Like the models before it, this is a networked player that allows for easy media playback (especially in the case of local content), but unlike the models before it, this one can boast support for 3D video. It also brings a number of “studio-quality” video processing features to the table, including adaptive detail and contrast enhancement along with adaptive debanding.
You can connect the A-400 to your network through its Gigabit Ethernet port, but a Wi-Fi dongle is also available separately if you want to go wireless. The A-400 comes equipped with an SD card slot, an HMDI 1.4 connector, and an eSATA port to make local media playback easier, and you can upgrade the player with a 2.5 or 3.5-inch HDD or SSD to turn the A-400 into something of an external storage device for your content. Not too bad, but the media player seems to be lacking a Blu-Ray drive, a feature that will be sorely missed by some.
Once you’ve got your A-400 connected to the Internet, you can access the Syabas Apps Market, which contains “over 90 free and premium TV apps,” just in case you find your streaming options to be lacking. The whole thing is run by Sigma Design’s Dual Core 800Mhz SMP 8911 chipset, which should give you the power you need when you take advantage of the A-400′s 3D playback capabilities. As if that wasn’t enough, it seems that Syabas is considering tossing a USB 3.0 port into the mix before the player launches.
As for when that will be, we don’t have a specific answer yet. The Popcorn Hour A-400 is slated to launch in Europe sometime next month, and will come sporting a price tag of €289. For the moment, it seems that this is only scheduled for a European launch, but it probably won’t be long before the A-400 makes its way to the US. Stay tuned for more information.
Looking to add a media player to your HDTV but don’t want to buy another set-top box? Then check out the latest media players from Germany’s Dune HD, which offer full 1080p playback in a tiny package.
The Dune HD Connect will plug into an empty HDMI port on your TV, adding a full HD media player, capable of streaming content in a wide variety of formats from your home network or over the Internet. While specific format support hasn’t been announced, you can get a sense of what it’s likely to handly from their current compact media players. The gadget also has a built-in microSD connector and a USB port for playback of local content as well. In addition to the base version, the Dune HD Connect 3D adds full 3D video support via the HDMI 1.4 spec, as well as MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) output.
Dune hasn’t revealed a retail price yet for these compact media players, but expects to release them by the end of the year.
Samsung’s iPod touch-rivaling media player range has sprouted an even bigger model, with the Galaxy Player 5.8 managing to make even the Galaxy Note look small. The 5.8-inch PMP has a 960 x 540 qHD resolution LCD touchscreen in a chassis that looks like an oversized Galaxy S III with the twin speaker grills of the Galaxy Note 10.1.
Inside, there’s either 16GB or 32GB of fixed memory, along with a microSD card slot for adding up to 32GB more. WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS are also present, along with a 2,500 mAh battery, and the whole thing measures in at 165.8 x 85.9 x 10.8 mm and 221g.
Software is obviously Android-based, in this case 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with TouchWiz on top, with Samsung’ new Learning Hub also preloaded, as seen on the Note 10.1. There’s also AllShare Play streaming support and Samsung’s own Chat messenger service.
No word on pricing, but Samsung says the new Galaxy Player 5.8 will go on sale in September. We’re expecting to see more of it this week at IFA 2012 when we can see if that oversized screen really is too big for our pockets.
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.
There are tons of media players on the market, and a number of relatively inexpensive “pico-projectors” as well, but here’s a fun gadget that combines both into one cheap and compact little package that costs less than $100.
The USB Music Projector has a deceiving name, as it doesn’t project music at all – it projects still images and video, of course. Measuring just 2.67″ x 2.44″ x 0.78″, and weighing just 84g, this portable media player is small enough to be carried in your pocket or worn around your neck, but has a tiny projector built into it that can be used for impromptu video playback.
The gadget uses an LED light source rated for 20,000 hours of use, and can play video files in MP4 (H.264), MOV (H.264), AVI (H.264, MPEG 4, MJPEG). It’s also an audio player, with support for MP3, WMA and WAV files, and has a built-in speaker in addition to a headphone jack. It’s not clear how long you can run the projector on a single charge, but it does ship with an AC adapter for longer viewing sessions.
Storage is provided using a microSD(HC) memory card, and you can also connect to a PC using a USB cable to “synchronize projection ” whatever that means. I’m assuming they’re talking about some sort of display mirroring, perhaps through DisplayLink – or possibly just a PC remote control app for use with still images on the projector.
Specs aren’t provided for the projector itself, but I’d guess the resolution and brightness aren’t anything special, and you most certainly will need a darkened room to watch video. That said, the USB Music Projector sells for just $99(USD), which seems like a bargain in my book. You can grab one over at Brando if you’d like to check it out.
I’ve actually stopped using my 160GB iPod Classic, ever since I got my iPhone 4S, but that doesn’t mean that there’s no room for dedicated music players – if done right. While a lot of people use their smartphones to play their favorite tunes, others still prefer standalone media players.
Korea’s Cowon just released their X9 media player and it sports a large 4.3-inch touchscreen display. You can choose between 8 GB, 16 GB or 32 GB of internal memory, but you can augment this with a microSD card. The player includes a variety of sound processing modes including simulated 3D surround, virtual listening environments, and BBE enhancement among others.
The X9 is supposed to be able to deliver 110 hours of audio playback, or 13 hours of video playback on a single charge, and it takes 4.5 hours to juice this thing up. The X9 starts at $229.99(USD) for the basic model and goes up for more storage.
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