MP3 Players

Where do you start with so many MP3 Players being launched on a weekly basis? There's straight mp3 players like the Pebble. You've also got one's that hook up to Wi-Fi audio systems like the Sony NAS-CZI, you've got portable media players such as the Archos AV4100. There are toy-based ones like the Teddy Bear one as well as the Pez MP3 player. It's all a bit much.

Basically we think you should ask your self a few questions:

1. Do you want to listen to loads of music, or just limit yourself to a couple of hundred tracks?
   If you just want a few songs on there go for something like the Orb A3188 128MB, SumVision 102 256MB or Ipod Shuffle. For a medium amount of space try the Sony Bean NW-E07 1GB, PEBBLE 1GB, Apple iPod nano 4gb. For larger amounts of hard drive go for the Creative Zen 20GB, iRiver H10 20GB colour. And for obscene amounts of space go for the Apple iPod 60gb colour, Archos Gmini (great for viewing video files). And if you want the most space, and show-off-ability go for either the Archos AV4100 or AV 500 as both have 100GB.
   
2. Do you want to be able to watch videos on it?
   If you want to be able to watch tv that you've recorded on to it, then you'll need to go for a "personal media player" or a "video jukebox". For the lower level (they'll hate me for saying it) go for the Apple iPod 60gb colour. For the best I'd go for the various offerings from Archos, mPack, iAudi or Creative Zen.
   
3. Do you want to be able to view files from a flash card?
   The Archos fellas are good for this.
   
4. Do you want a combination CD Player and a MP3 Player?
   I'd recommend the Sony DNE005 MP3 CD Player
   
5. I want to be different, or I do a fair amount of jogging/cycling in the sun.
   Perhaps go for the Oakley Thump2 1GB MP3 Sunglasses.

Basically we've found that Advanced MP3 Players have a neat little tool to help you find the right MP3 player / personal media player that's right for you. You can find it here.

Advanced MP3 Players is one of our favourite MP3 player shops online. And we're not the only ones that like them. Looking at their average rating on DealTime, with 1,182 reviews so far they get a s score of 4.5 /5. Simply fantastic.

We've known them for a good few years now. From starting in a bedroom (like so many internet companies) they've grown into a nicely successful company. They've even got exclusive distributor rites for the PEBBLE mp3 player.

Here's there latest press release:

“Advanced MP3 Players, the UK’s largest specialist online MP3 player retailer unveils the “ Pebble”. The jet black, semi-reflective, ultra chic Pebble and its diminutive proportions belie a sensational range of features including high powered sound output, voice recording, FM tuner, FM recorder and an ultra bright OLED display. This powerful little beast features more powerful sound output than many hard drive MP3 players ten times its size. With enough memory to store up to 500 music tracks and a built-in rechargeable battery to keep you going for over 12 hours, the picture perfect Pebble won’t let you down – great things truly come in small packages.”

And if you're intersted in seeing what they sell most of, here's the list they've given us:

1. Tomahawk SH101 1GB Colour
2. Orb A3188 256MB (Pink or Blue)
3. Apple iPod 30GB (Video)
4. iRiver H10 20GB colour
5. Orb A3188 512MB (Pink, Black, Silver)
6. iriver H10 6GB Colour
7. Monolith Premium MX7000 1GB
8. iriver T30 1GB
9. Sony Bean NW-E207 1GB
10. Orb A3188 1GB (Pink, Black, Silver)
11. Safecom 256MB Mini MP3 Player
12. Safecom 1GB Mini MP3 Player
13. Orb A3188 128MB (Pink or Blue)
14. iAudio X5L (Long Play) 30GB
15. i-STATION i2 30GB Media Player
16. iAudio X5 20GB
17. Creative ZEN Micro 6GB
18. Sony NW-A1000 6GB MP3 WALKMAN
19. Apple iPod 60GB (Video)
20. iAudio X5L (Long Play) 20GB

Visit their site now.

This section aims to be a resource to list all the useful sites we can find to do with buying MP3 Players or downloading tunes.

Well the first of course has to be Advanced MP3 Players

A company called Konami is developing a music player that will have similar features as a Tamagotchi but "will live off your music collection". Well the Otoizm sounds interesting, more so to Schoolgirls me thinks.

The Otozim can be connected to an MP3 player and will categorise your music into 19 categories and depending on what type of music you listen to it will affect the growth of the digital pet.

Now if you could get software on to the iPod that would be a huge market!

The iPod with its colour screen and video playback has taken the personal media player market by storm. But now there's a new kid on the block: The Viliv P1.

Here's the features list:

• 30GB drive
• 4 inch QVGA screen
• FM tuner
• line in
• video out
• CV slot
• Support for Divx, Xvid, MPEG-1/2/4, SWF, ASF, WMV, MP3, WMA, OGG, AC3 and AAC.
• Touch-wheel navigation
• Dolby 4.1 Audio
• 18 mm thick
• 11 hour battery life for music, 6 for movies only
• voice recorder

Now we're in love with this device.

A company in the states has launched a website called BrokenPod to act as a clearing house for broken iPods. The way it probably works is that you sell them your iPod, they get working bits from others and then put them together and sell them.

Has anyone tried them yet?

If you feel your site is suitable for review or inclusion, or if you've got a press release then drop us a line.

The first to be included is ...

Pez MP3 - now we like innovative MP3 players - this is definitely one! Just take a look around thier site, it'll bring a smile to your face.

Below we've listed a range of iPod's and their accessories.



Apart from the Apple Store, you can also buy iPods from Advanced MP3 Players or Simply iPod.

SAMSUNG YP-U1V/ELS
A very low priced MP3 player with 256mb of flash memory.
Comet - £39.99

Samsung YP-U1X 512MB MP3 Player
The Samsung YP-U1X is a real alternative to established products such as the Apple iPod Shuffle or iRiver T30. It's a simple, easy to use yet stylish unit with a sleek black body which contrasts sharply with the vibrant white backlit LCD screen. Controls are intuitive via the circular silver navigation console on one end of the player.
Advanced MP3 Players - £69.00
MP3 Players - £60.00

Samsung YP-F1XB 512MB Digital Wear
Ultra compact and light the YP-F1XB MP3 player has a unique metal clip that will allow you to attach the player directly onto your belt. An ample 512MB of internal memory will allow you to carry a massive selection of music files in your pocket. Featuring an FM tuner, FM recorder, Voice Recorder and direct MP3 encoding, the YP-F1XB is flexible to cope with any situation. All these functions are controlled on a 3 line LCD screen. The YP-F1XB MP3 player is tiny, light and higher portable player - perfect for those with an active life-style looking for their perfect music companion.
Advanced MP3 Players - £89.00
MP3 Players - £80.00

Samsung YP-F1Z 1GB Digital Wear MP3 Player
The YP-F1 with its stylish necklace earphone and optional interchangeable shells will have you looking and feeling hip. Click here for a flash presentation of the Samsung YP-F1 1GB. Ultra compact and light the YP-F1Z MP3 player has a unique metal clip that will allow you to attach the player directly onto your belt. A huge 1GB of internal memory will allow you to carry a massive selection of music files in your pocket. Featuring an FM tuner FM recorder Voice Recorder and direct MP3 encoding the YP-F1Z is flexible to cope with any situation. All these functions are controlled on a 3 line LCD screen. The YP-F1Z MP3 player is tiny light and higher portable player - perfect for those with an active life-style looking for their perfect music companion.
Advanced MP3 Players - £109.00

Samsung YP-T8Z 1GB Media Player
Samsung offers an all-in-one entertainment player that offers the ability to enjoy music, videos, photo albums, e-books, motion detecting games, USB host, Mass Storage and much more, wrapped in a stylishly hip package. 1.8" LCD TFT 64K Colour Display. More than just MP3. This compact flash memory player can play video or show images on it's vivid colour LCD display. 1GB Internal Memory. 1GB is enough storage space to hold many hours of music and an entire photo albu. Carry your happy memories with you and share them wherever you do.
Advanced MP3 Players - £109.00


Samsung Digimax I50 MP3 Player
Samsung 5 megapixel digital camera with 3x optical zoom, 2.5" LCD screen and built in MP3 player.
Comet - £179.99

We've decided to put together a list of Sony MP3 Players. So here they are.

Sony NW-E105 512MB MP3 Walkman
If it's sharp looks and sporty design you're after in an MP3 player, say hello to the NW-E100 series. The Sony NW-E105 features 512 MB capacity and can transfer up to 345 songs on to the internal memory thanks to ATRAC3plus compression technology.
Buy from Advanced MP3 Players - £69.99

Sony Bean NW-E205 MP3 Player
Everything about the WALKMAN Bean says ‘cool’. So called because it looks like a jellybean, this new MP3 player comes in two tasty colours: white and black.
Buy from: Advanced MP3 Players - £74.99

Sony NW-A3000 20GB MP3 Walkman
The brand new Sony MP3 WALKMAN is the most cutting-edge yet combining high-end design with ease-of-use and advanced functionality which seriously upgrades your listening experience. The 20GB NW-A1000 has space for up to 13000 songs with up to 20 hours battery life.The player ismade from a futuristic translucent material sexy to the touch and gorgeous to look at in all its various incarnations: the 20GB in violet and silver. And of course even the headphones are colour coordinated. As it comes to life the luminescent Organic EL display lightens up. The three buttons make operating the player a cinch. Naturally because its a Sony the audio quality is impeccable.
Buy from: Advanced MP3 Players - £189.00

Sony NAS-CZ1 Network Audio System
Listen to the music stored on your PC via the Sony NAS-CZ1 Audio Network System. It allows automatic connection to a wide range of music jukebox software (including Musicmatch Windows Media Player iTunes and SonicStage) via the supplied software M-crew Server. The built in omni-directional speaker system creates a wide acoustic sound field ideal for casual listening. It can be connected to any network using standard CAT5 network cable or via a wireless connection.
Buy from: Advanced MP3 Players - £189.00

Also:
Sony NW-A608 2GB MP3 Walkman
Sony NW-E105 512MB MP3 Walkman
Sony NW-E107 1GB MP3 Walkman
Sony NW-E405 512MB MP3 Walkman
Sony NW-E407 1GB MP3 Walkman

If you want to see all the Sony MP3 player range click here

A company called Mobix has given free iPods and comedy on it to help reduce stress for employees that comute to work.

It's a shame they don't work for Barclays or something, then I could say they'll be "laughing all the way to the bank"- ok so its late!

Get your audio books from Audible.

Howard Wolinsky of the Chicago Sun Times writes an interesting article about the future of the iPod.

2005 was a great year for the iPod, but now they've got the smell of world domination, just like Google has, they'll be going all out for getting as much of the market as they can. And this is what they'll be doing with their Fifth Generation ipods.

But what will these devices look like? Well there's talk that the whole front of the iPod will be viewable screen, it'll be touch-screen and pretty damn snazzy!

1st of April is the 30th anniversary of the birth of Apple, so wouldn't it be great to make a huge announcement then? Well, I'll make sure I'm at my desk for that one!

And what a run up, 30 million units sold last year, 24 million due this year (Needham & Co. Estimate), an expected 80 percent market share of the hard-drive based music player market, iTunes having 70 percent of the music download market. Jeez, well done.

News reaches my cluttered desk that another company called iSomething-or-other has is workthing with a company called Conexus (phew), but wait, they're retailing a product called iH5 - please no!

The iH5, ARNnet, comments is a remote controled AM/FM clock radio with a the ability to dock your iPod. It's a pretty neat idea that you can wake up to a tune of your choice.

A company called eMagin has developed the "EyeBud" which displays video from an iPod infront of one eye. It uses optical technology designed to make the picture appear larger and witha higher resolution than the iPod's screen.

The headset, if released in the unit may cost around £185ish but whether someone will want to wear the EyeBud in public is another matter. At the moment, its quite hip to use an iPod.

MP3, meet Hi-Fi. Bring uncompromising digital quality from your MP3 player onto your home stereo or multimedia speakers. It's easy - everything you need comes in one box: just plug the wireless transmitter into your MP3 player (Or other audio device that outputs via stereo headphone jack) , plug the music receiver into your stereo system and press play! The wireless transmitter fits all MP3 players and has its own rechargeable battery, so it won't drain your MP3 player's battery. 2-year guarantee. Full product support.

Buy from Amazon for only £65.98 + P&P

GMTV and BT Broadband is giving away thousands of songs everyday between 9th February and 10th of March 2006 and one lucky winner will get a 30GB Ipod plus £500 of songs from iTunes.

For more information click here.

Forbes wonders if Apple will be come a mobile phone reseller to integrate mobile technology into its product range. Gizmondo states there are a 'few key facts, such as the fact that Apple registered to sell mobile phones and mobile service, and is now officially a phone reseller. Plus, Apple has filed for a trademark for the phrase “Mobile Me.”

To the financiers and analysts this is old news: American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu wrote recently "we believe this is further indication of (Apple's) strategic direction to extend its iPod + iTunes and Mac franchises into new business areas including smart phones, value-added mobile content services, and the broader consumer electronics space".

We're seeing daily announcements of new iPod accessories here at MP3 Daily Towers. Every day a new and very useful accessory is made avaliable. Today we've seen the iBikeMount which unsurprisingly given its name allows you to attach your iPod to your bike.

We're expecting it to be made avaliable around March 15th so keep a look out.

But do take a look at this advisory from authorities in Australia.

Let's all be a DJ, well we can now with the Numark iDJ which allows anyone to integrate their tracks with other music by way of two universal iPod docking stations which accept all generations of iPod.

The iDJ has a two-channel mixer and providces 4-band EQ with gains control on each channel and has a dedicated microphone input with tone and level control. Visit Numark's site for more information.

Thanko have taken a pretty neat watch and turned it into an MP3 player. You can choose from either a 256MB or 512MB version which both play MP3 and WMA formats as well as recording sound at 128kbps.

With 2 hours of charging you can play back 9 hours of music.

We just love this MP3 Player, instead of connecting your MP3 player to your pc via a USB cable to get the tracks on, the MG-1000 connects on to a Wi-Fi connection via 802.11b netwok and gathers music from any avaliable source.

Musicnet offer one such service which will allow you to download, store and share your favourite songs directly through the device. The other good thing about this is that you can search other people's Music Gremlin and select which songs you'd like.

The level of storage isn't too bad with 8GB avaliable.

We all know that MP3 Players were designed for joggers, the old cd players were just plain naff if you wanted to a vigorous stretch of your legs in the morning. Now the SwiMP3 is a solution for those that nip to the gym before work for a quick swim!

Now this MP3 player is unique. Often that phrase is over used, but this little beauty transfers the sound to your ears via your checkbones for perfect sound. That's great but there are two very important negatives: Firstly the price its £139, and the secon is that its only got 128MB. But if you think about it, how long can you swim for? I'd be finished after two quick Wham tracks! The people that get every morning for a swim are probably the type of people that like routine in their lives so the limited choice of songs shouldn't effect them too greatly.


Try Advanced MP3 Players for your SwiMP3.

System Requirements:
• Windows 98SE, 2000, ME, XP
• MAC OS 9 & 10
• Intel Pentium II 233 Mhz or equivalent
• 128 MB Ram
• 35 MB available hard drive space
• USB port
• CD-ROM drive
• Internet connection recommended

If you're interested in seeing the SwiMP3 in action visit here.