Audio Hardware

iRiver’s B20 PMP Set To Ship
It’s been a long time coming after being announced way back at CES in January 2007, but word is that iRiver’s B20 is finally about to start shipping.
It’s a lovely looking thing too, packing a ton of functionality into its diminutive dimensions, with the business end dominated by a 2.4inch 260,000 colour TFT-LCD display.
Inside there’s a feast of techno-gubbins taking care of your every multimedia need, with the device ready and willing to play about with movies, music, pictures, videos, text and digital broadcasting.
There’s support for MP3, WMA, OGG, AVI (MPEG4), WMV9, JPG playback, as well as an onboard FM radio with programmable FM recording, T-DMB recording, a voice recorder and alarm.
Battery life is claimed at up to 17 hours for MP3 playback, 4 hours for video, 7 hours for DAB, dropping down to just 4 hours for DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting).
The player comes in 2GB and 4GB flash memory flavours and there’s a Mini SD card slot for expansion.
Pricing should be around €164 for the 2GB version and €206 for the 4Gb jobbie.
Specs:
Display: 2.4inch 260,000 colour TFT-LCD display
Triple-band support (Band 3 + Band L + Analogue FM)
Frequency: 174MHz~240MHz(Band 3), 1.452GHz~1.492GHz(Band L)
1GB/2GB/4GB flash memory capacity, with Mini SD card expansion slot
Built in T-DMB recording
Integrated FM Tuner, voice recorder and alarm
Supported file types: MP3, WMA, OGG, AVI (MPEG4), WMV9, JPG
Battery life up to 17 hours (MP3), 4 hours (Video), 7 hours (DAB), 4 hours (DMB)
iRiver D-Click System navigation
Built in speaker
Source
24 April, 2007
Yamada HTV-200XU All-In-One Entertainment System
Not to be confused with the deceptively similar sounding (and far more famous) Yamaha brand, German tech company Yamada hope that their HTV-200XU home system will find a place in your bijou living quarters.
The bookshelf system manages to cram in just about everything you’ll need for an all-in-one home entertainment system into a diminutive package, right down to a 7″ colour LCD screen on the front.
The all-black system comes with matching speakers (with removable grills for that macho ‘top off’ look), and comes stuffed to the gills with multimedia playback functionality.
The system sports a DVB-T tuner and analogue FM tuner, a DVD player that can handle just about every recordable format in town ( DVD, DVD R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD and CD-R/RW) and even offers 5.1 Sound System output backed by S-video, video, stereo and digital coaxial line-outs.
The HTV-200XU can also keep you entertained with support for DVDs, JPEG photos and videos in DivX and MPEG-4 formats – and it can rip CDs too.
Boasting a fairly reasonable 30 Watts RMS output, the Yamada HTV-200XU also has a USB port for hooking up to your home PC or MP3 player, with the whole caboodle setting you back 220 Euros.
While there’s no denying that the Yamada comes with enough groovy functionality to get our little nerdy hearts skipping a beat, we’re not entirely sure we’d want one. After all, who’d want to watch a DVD at home on such a squinty screen?
yamada.de
Source
23 April, 2007
SanDisk ‘Connect’ With Yahoo For Wi-Fi Music Service
Flash memory maestros Sandisk have announced that they’re hooking up with Yahoo Music Unlimited To Go to provide a service that lets music fans fuel up their music players wirelessly.
After connecting the Sansa Connect media player to the Internet via Wi-Fi, users will be able to listen to LAUNCHcast Internet radio, rummage through Flickr photos and check out what Yahoo Messenger friends and nearby Sansa Connect owners are grooving to.
Meandering music fans will also be able to access Yahoo’s free music services or connect to Yahoo Music Unlimited To Go subscription service to download tunes to their players, without the need to connect it to their home PCs.
“We see this as a very strong partnership with Yahoo,” purred top SanDisk marketing bod Eric Bone, adding that he saw his company progressing from “fast-follower mode to a technical-leadership mode” in a market still dominated by the ubiquitous iPod.
The attractive 4-gigabyte palm sized player comes with a bright 2.2″ screen, a tactile scroll wheel, a microSD slot and a built in mono speaker for sharing the music with (quiet) friends. There’s also a slightly strange looking stubby antennae for the wireless connectivity.
As well as wirelessly connecting to Yahoo’s Music service, the Connect supports MP3s and DRM WMAs provided by other services like Rhapsody, but you’ll have to get out Ye Olde cable to transfer the music from your desktop.
The Sansa Connect is set to retail for around $250 in the States. We haven’t heard any news about UK pricing/release dates yet.
It looks like it’s a beauty and we’re looking forward to getting out hands on it.
SanDisk Sansa Connect MP3 Player
10 April, 2007
iRiver T50 PMP Coming Soon

We generally can’t get too excited about the launch of yet another Personal Media Player – after a while they all start to look the same to our product-swamped eyes – but we have to say iRiver’s new T50 PMP looks rather special indeed.
Perhaps inspired by Swiss chocolate Toblerone bars, the T50 comes in a natty triangular form, with the metallic, industrial-styled casing looking like it could take a few tumbles down the Alps too.
A tiny 1-inch 128 x 64, 65k colour CSTN LCD display gives status feedback and if the promo pics are anything to go by, it’s a mighty fine looking little screen too.
The player comes with 1GB of onboard flash memory and offers an impressive 52 hours of playback from a single AAA battery – a pretty impressive tally if it manages that in the real world.
Multimedia support comes in the shape of MP3, OGG and WMA DRM10 audio playback, and it can also read BMP images (although you’ll need your own built-in macro lens to see much on that diminutive screen.)
The unit also packs in a handy FM tuner and voice recorder, with functions controlled by a wee joystick.
Produced in black or white finishes, the T50 measures up at 2.9 x 1.2 x 1.0 inches and will be available in Japan for around 10,000 Yen ($85) from 14th April. There’s no news yet of a UK/European release. Bah!
Specifications:
Product Type Portable Audio Player
Weight 32 g
Dimensions 73.1 x 30.9 x 27.3 mm
Interface Type USB 2.0
Storage type Flash
Capacity 1 GB
FM Radio Yes
Voice Recording Yes
ID3 tag support Yes
Supported audio formats MP3, Ogg Vorbis, WMA
Signal-to-noise ratio 90 dB
Battery type AAA Alkaline
Rated battery life (audio) 52 hours
Picture formats BMP
27 March, 2007
Philips DCD778 Docking Entertainment System For Kitchens
In our ‘umble kitchen, we’re happy to make do with a Pure DMX-50 system and a rather ropey Citizen handheld colour TV, but for the hostess with the mostest who really wants to impress, the Philips DCD778 Docking Entertainment System could be just the thing.
Designed to be fitted under a kitchen cabinet, the Philips DCD778 sports a flip down 8.5-inch widescreen LCD display with an iPod docking bay (compatible with fourth- and fifth-generation iPods, the iPod mini, and iPod nano).
With the iPod safely slipped in, users can play back audio and video files, or fire up the DVD player which supports DVD, (S)VCD, MP3-CD, CD(RW) and Picture CD.
For a bit of Jonathan Ross while you create your Master Chef-challenging creations, there’s a digital AM/FM tuner onboard as well as a cooking timer and clock, and wireless remote.
TV viewing options come in the shape of an ATSC/NTSC TV tuner, with the sound being played back via the built-in stereo 2-inch speakers.
Although we’re definitely down with the technical wizardry, we have to say that the Philips doesn’t really sizzle our bangers when it comes to looks, and we suspect that it wouldn’t be long before the thing’s high end looks soon got marred with greasy finger marks and bits of (veggie) sausage fat.
The Philips DCD778 Docking Entertainment System is expected to start shipping in the US next week for around $400, although there’s no news on a UK release.
Source
20 March, 2007
They Want Your Pod! Brixton On iPod Alert
Although some may already feel that walking around Brixton is akin to taking a stroll around another planet, we began to think we might have been transported to a parallel universe when we spotted bright garish yellow billboards appearing all around town exclaiming, “THEY WANT YOUR POD!”
The signs were appearing everywhere – on lamp posts, railings and street furniture – warning the denizens of Brixton that large dark silhouetted shapes were hell bent on taking their “POD.”
Fearing a Day of the Triffids-like invasion of Coldharbour Lane, we took a closer look and saw that the boards were illustrated by a large black blob of a humanoid facing up to a thinner humanoid sporting the trademark white cable of the Apple iPod player.
In smaller text underneath the screaming headline, “BEWARE” the sign goes on, “Street robbers are targeting persons using mp3 music players in this street!”
It turns out that far from warning visitors of an impending alien pod-snatching mission, the signs are part of the ‘Safer Lambeth’ initiative by the Metropolitan Police.
Although the sign doesn’t actually tell you what to do to prevent being ‘jacked’ (© Richard Madeley ), we guess the iPod imagery is a way of advising music listeners ecstatically flailing their limbs a la iPod advert that they should show a little more discretion on the mean streets of Brixton.
Of course, being Brixton, it was only a matter of hours before the sign was joyfully subverted, with stick-on labels in the same colour and typeface altering the message to read:
“THEY WANT YOUR POD – BECAUSE YOU TOOK THEIR SOUL.”
13 March, 2007
Archos 704-WiFi Portable Media Player Announced
Keen to maintain its position as the Dark Master Of All Things PMP, Archos have announced the latest addition to its Personal Media Player, the 704 Wi-Fi.
A big’n’beefy, take-no-prisoners kind of affair, the 704 Wi-Fi comes with a massive seven-inch screen, a capacious 80GB hard drive, a DVR dock for recording TV shows, remote control, Opera web browsing and – not surprisingly – a hefty price tag to boot.
The $549.99, 1.4-pound beastie comes in a natty brushed-aluminium finish, with the front dominated by an impressively high resolution 800×480 pixel touch screen display, with two wee stereo speakers underneath.
Button freaks may be found wanting as all the navigation controls are activated via the touchscreen, either by using your trusty digit, or employing one of the two included styli.
As befits its media player billing, this puppy can play a ton of video formats including MPEG-4, AVI, Divx and WMV video files, and MP3 and WMA audio files (with optional plug-ins for h.264, MPEG-2 MP@ML, and AAC support). There’s also support for PlaysForSure.
The Archos can also play back bought movies from Amazon Unbox, AOL, CinemaNow, and Wal-Mart, but – surprise surprise – iTunes’ Fairplay-protected files won’t work with the player.
Video playback battery life is claimed at ‘up to five hours’, which should be good enough for all but the most lengthy of art house films.
The combination of the large screen and bundled Opera tabbed web browser should make surfing the web a whole lot more fun than some handheld devices, although there’s no support for Flash (so YouTube’s off the menu for now).
Initial reviews say that the player can suffer from sluggish performance, with an irritating “one-to-two-second delay between an input and an action”, which may give hyperactive surfers the heebeegeebees.
Although it’s a pricey number, the Archos 704 Wi-Fi packs a ton of functionality into its slightly portly frame, and with its big screen could be the perfect partner of long journeys. But don’t try wedging it into your pocket.
Specifications: Archos 704 Wi-Fi
Capacity 40GB (80GB in US)
Display 7 inches (800 x 480 pixels, more than 16 million colours)
Audio Formats MP3, WAV, WMA, protected WMA (AAC and AC3 with optional plug-ins)
Photo Formats JPEG, BMP
Video Formats MPEG-4, WMV, protected WMV (H.264, MPEG-2, and VOB with optional plug-ins)
Wireless Wi-Fi 802.11g
Battery Life 5 hours claimed
PC Interface USB 2.0
Size 5.2 x 3 x 0.6 inches
Weight 1.4 pounds
Archos
6 March, 2007
Sandisk Release 8GB Sansa View Portable Video Player
Sandisk have announced their first widescreen portable media player, regaling under the name, “Sansa View.”
Measuring up at a pocketable 78.5mm x 123mm x 16.9mm, the flash-based player comes with a large 4″ widescreen display and can display photos up to 16 megapixels, making it handy for photographers on the move.
The Sansa View comes with 8GB of internal flash memory – that’ll give you space for up to 33 video hours of video, 2,000 MP3 songs or thousands of photos – with the option to combine photos and music into a slideshow, if that’s your kind of thing.
The player comes with a bundle of preloaded content including full-length movies, short films, video clips, music and photos. If it’s anything like the free stuff that usually gets shunted onto media players, we predict users will soon be familiarising themselves with the joys of the ‘get this crap off my machine’ button.
So long as punters are happy to shell out for content, they should have no problem filling the Sansa with tunes, with the device compatible with
download and music subscription services like Rhapsody, MTV Urge and Yahoo! Music, as well as supporting Windows Media Player 10 or 11 for syncing of content. But no iTunes.
External storage options come in the shape of a slot for SD and the new SD High Capacity (SDHC) cards.
There’s a built in speaker for video and music playback, or the device can be hooked up to a TV (up to 1080i with docking station) or a home hi-fi via an AV-output connector.
Powered by a rechargeable, removable Li-Polymer battery, Sansa claim a battery life of four hours of continuous video playback and 10 hours of continuous audio playback.
The Yanks and Canucks are set to get their grubby mitts on the device first, with a first quarter release date scheduled, with Europe following in the second quarter.
Pricing is $299 (around £155) and at that low price we can just about forgive them for the lack of FM radio and Wi-Fi.
Sandisk
10 January, 2007
BT Internet Radio Review (75%)
With last week’s launch of it’s TV over the Internet service, a raft of integrated net-based services and a slew of new hardware devices, BT has relauched itself as a multi-media service provider instead of a plain old utility company. The BT Internet Radio shows another face of BT’s rebranding. It’s a slickly designed consumer electrical product aimed directly at the growing digital radio sector.
The design of the device itself echoes Apple’s trademark austere, white aesthetic. Organically shaped, it has no straight edges or corners and is slightly flared towards the base. Wraparound silver mesh panels add some contrast and a front centred LED displays information in a soft blue light. On top are a series of quite ‘plasticy’ buttons. Two larger buttons provide volume control and menu navigation and various others control playback, station memory, alarm and other functions.
Setting it up is a breeze. A simple press button starts the device scanning for your wireless network. You log on using the scrolling navigation button to enter your normal network password and the radio takes care of the rest.
Once online, stations are accessed through the same navigation button. They are grouped by location or genre, though there doesn’t appear to be a way just to browse all available stations. A series of sub-menus gives access to the features of each station. A choice between live and on demand material is visible where archived material is available. This means you can access services like the BBC’s listen-again service, picking programmes from all the recent BBC broadcasts for the last seven days. More sub menus allow you to choose programmes and days where appropriate.
Choosing between stations is a bit of a hit and miss affair. If your tastes tend towards anything beyond the mainstream categorizations (rock, pop, dance, hip hop etc) you’ll struggle to find the music you want to hear. This, of course, isn’t BT’s fault. The device uses the Reciva Internet Portal to aggregate its stations. If you access the Reciva Website (Reciva) you can find some more detail on the content of stations but, since Reciva (like the Gracenote database) allows users to add information there are some frustratingly arbitrary categorizations. That said, there are over 5000 stations available and, once I located Resonance FM under the experimental section I was happily listening to an assortment of droning and scraping, Bollywood soundtracks and post-modern poetry.
Sound quality is quite adequate and better than that produced by most internal computer speakers. The sound is deep and clear with none of the echoing or breakup that DAB radio is prone to. There are, however, a couple of niggles with sound adjustment. There is no way to adjust bass or treble and the volume control does not automatically increase when held down, meaning you have to keep pressing to raise or lower volume. Unlike DAB, the radio doesn’t display any info (such as such as track titles) about the source.
Using the unit was no problem though there were some irritations. It tends to hang on to the last programme played and starts up replaying that every time. In the case of a live station that’s ok but for archived content it can become annoying. The radio is also subject to same problems you would encounter with any wireless device: proximity to router and the number of walls in between can affect reception. I noticed a tendency for buffering in most locations in which I tried. Access to a signal is entirely dependent on your internet connection being on. My router drops the line when it isn’t in use therefore the auto-play alarm function is no use. When the unit reconnects to the network after being switched off, it uses the saved security key however I found that often the logon failed a second attempt was required.
The device can access and playback MP3 or other audio files from a networked PC. An extremely useful feature and one that really capitalizes on the network power of the unit. It probably would have done the most to sell this device to me. In practice it was unable to connect to my PC so I had to leave the feature untested. Typically, macs are not supported and I was unable to access my sizable MP3 collection via either of the macs on the network. It’s not surprising that BT have chosen to adopt Windows technology for integration with computers but it is disappointing that they couldn’t have adopted an interoperable standard which would have supported any operating system.
Given that Windows-centric tendency I wonder exactly who the Internet Radio will be useful to? On one hand it brings a host of Internet radio stations and a variety of useful services and features into one portable unit. It’s easy to set up and use and, in the right circumstances, has the potential to integrate with an existing network to provide extended access to shared music files.
On the other hand, it is only Windows compatible and therefore restricted in terms of both OS and DRM technologies.
Conclusion
If you are already streaming audio over your wireless network, there isn’t a whole lot of extra functionality in this box. Since a wireless network is a necessary prerequisite for the unit to work, I have to wonder how many people will find it sufficiently superior to their existing methods of playback to make it worth the £120 price tag.
Score: 75%
13 December, 2006
Sennheiser Announces Street Range Of Headphones
Those crazy hep cats at Sennheiser have launched a range of seven new economy-priced headphones aimed at da yoot.
Served up in a range of bright colours and stylish designs, the ‘phones are built to a tough (“almost unbreakable”) standard, with prices ranging from £10 to £25. All incorporate a neodymium-iron driver for top notch sound.
The bottom of the range MX50 Street in-ear phones knock out for just £10, while the next model up, the MX 51 Street adds a case for a fiver more.
The next model up, the MXL 51 Street, is bundled with a lanyard and case for another fiver.
The curious looking MX55 in-ear headphones – also £20 – feature a “twist to fit” construction and come with the Sennheiser Basswind System Plus for extra oomph in da hood, with the MX55 VC adding a volume control for an extra fiver.
Moving up the range, the £20 OMX 50 VC features clip-on earphones, while the “supra-aural” (whassat?) clip-on OMX 52 Street includes the Sennheiser Basswind technology and exchangeable design parts for £25.
An old school neckband pair of cans, the PMX 50 Street ‘phones wrap up the new range and come with exchangeable design parts and retail for £25.
All are likely to sound better than the headphones that came bundled with your MP3 player, but if you want to get the best out of your music player (and don’t mind looking like an extra from the Battle Of Britain), we recommend saving up for the fabulous Grado SR60s.
Find out more about Sennhesiser’s new range of Street headphones at their ghastly pop-up, Flash-tastic website, where just about anything that can move, shuffle and wobble, does.
14 November, 2006