MP3 Players

Sony Walkman NW-A1000 6GB Pink MP3 Player

This pink mp3 player looks great, but the functionality isn't as good as the iPod. The controls are pretty small which doesn't make for ease of use, but there are some useful tools that allow better searching of your favourite tracks such as the "link" button that allows you to find other songs in that genre. You can also access a "Play History" which allows you to see what music you played when.

Added to this is a sort of "Intelligent Shuffle" which allows you to randomly play music within your most played 100 songs or by year of release - now that's what we call useful.

But then theres the sound quality. It's simply fantastic. The range is far superior than any other mp3 player we've listened to. So whatever the type of music you like, this should be able to do it justice. There's only one down-side with the quality of sound, and that is that it can't go very loud, which you may need in outside environments.

When you add all the above with the battery life of 20-hours then you've got a very attractive pink mp3 player. (NB that's 20 hours for their own RAC files or 17 hours for mp3's).

MP3 Daily Review: 7/10
Strengths - Sound Quality & Tools
Weaknesses - Screen, software

Buy from MicroDirect - £148.75
Also from Advanced MP3 Players - £149

Alternative Pink MP3 Payers

ATMT Lite MP3130BP 256MB Mp3 Player - Pink
From Amazon - £19.99
Rating: 5/10
Features:
* 256mb Capacity - Store up to 125 songs
* WMA/MP3 Digital Music Playback
* Dot-Matrix LCD Display with backlight
* No driver requires for file/audio transfer
* Windows Me/XP/2K Mac OS X
* Cable-Free feature
* Built-in standard type A USB connector
* 8 hours battery life
* 7 Preset equalizers
* Firmware upgradeable
* PC / Mac OS X (10

Sony NW-E207P 1GB Pink MP3 Walkman Player
From Amazon - £147.50
Rating: 6/10
Features:
* 1 GB flash memory
* Direct pop-up USB plug
* Transfer up to 22 CDs onto the internal memory thanks to ATRAC3plus compression technology
* Lithium-ion rechargeable battery, high-speed charging function and great stamina at 50 hours
* High-speed charging: 3 minutes charging = 3 hours playback time
* Bright and clear 1-line Organic EL display for easy navigation
* Direct ATRAC3plus and MP3 compatible
* SonicStage® 3.2 software for easy music management and transfer of your favourite tracks
* Supports all popular digital audio compression formats: ATRAC / MP3 / WMA (non-encrypted) / WAV
* Shuttle switch operation for easy one hand operation
* Supplied accessories: matching headphones MDR-E010, SonicStage® 3.2

Sony NWE107 1GB Pink MP3 Walkman

From Amazon - £80.43
Also Advanced MP3 Players - £89.99
Rating: 6/10
Features:
* Circular shaped Network WALKMAN with 1GB built-in Flash memory
* Super long stamina
* Holds up to 45 CD's
* 1-line LCD display for easy navigation
* Direct ATRAC3plus and MP3 compatible
* SonicStage 3.0 software for easy music management and transfers
* Supports ATRAC / MP3 / WMA (non-encrypted) / WAV
* Capable to store audio, video, and data files
* Shuttle switch operation for easy one hand operation

The concept is that you don't have to have tens of components attached to your iPod. For only £249 you can have the iPod Hi-Fi.

Just slide your iPod (1) into the built-in Universal Dock to turn on and tune in to digital music as you’ve never heard it before. From pumping bass to bright treble, iPod Hi-Fi delivers natural, room-filling sound. Close your eyes and you’d think you were listening to a huge stack of speakers. But iPod Hi-Fi measures just 43.2 x 16.8 x 17.5 cm.

Steve Jobs has commented on their new offering: “Apple is reinventing the home stereo with the new iPod Hi-Fi, the first iPod accessory that adds true high-fidelity sound quality to the iPod. iPod Hi-Fi’s unrivaled acoustic performance and stunning design is at home in any room in the house.”

We just love the iPod Hi-Fi.

MP3 Daily Rating: 8/10

The what? Well Ministry of Sound have launched a teeny-weeny 1GB MP3 Player, catchely called the MOSMPO83X10 - come on dudes, couldn't you have come up with a more memerable name? Picture yourself walking to an electronics store and trying to tell the customer service guy what you want. Hopefully they'll know their stuff and take you straight to this device.

I could have done with it the other day at a conference as its tiny and got a voice recorder. It also supports MP3's, WMAs and DRM content.

The battery life is dissapointing with only 8 hours of playback. And the display will not be inspiring anyone with a single-colour display, and has basic functionality with random and repeat.

You can get it from Argos for £89.99.

MP3 Daily Rating: 6/10

Ministry of Sound MOSMP083X10 MP3 Player:

• Portable solid state.
• 8 hours playback.
• 1GB memory.
• WMA/MP3/DRM compatible stores upto 240 MP3/ 480 WMA tracks.
• Play,repeat 1/all , random, shuffle functions, voice recording.
• One colour OLED display with backlight and ID3 tagging.
• Mini USB 2.0.
• USB cable supplied.
• Driver software supplied.
• Minimum PC specification Windows 98/SE.
• Preloaded with Summer Funk Classics 2006.
• MOS lanyard.
• In ear stereo headphones (supplied).
• Rechargeable Internal polymer battery.
• Weight 31g.
• Size (H)3, (W)8, (D)1.5cm.
  

How can they find room? Well the company behind the Swiss Army Knife have added the most important of all gadgets - the MP3 Player. s.beat detachable player supports all major file formats and includes an FM tuner and lasts for a respectable 8 hours.

With this device you get scissors, nail file, screwdriver and a blade. There is also an option without these tools. At the moment they offer a 1GB version but will also offer a 2 and 4GB version.

MP3 Daily Rating: 5/10

There's nothing better than listening to some tunes in the shower in the morning. We all know they used to sell those fishy radios for the shower but it would be a pain in the backside trying to tune it into something decent. Now Sun Electron have released a water resistant MP3 player.

This model may not be great as the 32mb memory is restrictive and there's no FM radio avaliable which is a bit naff when you've worn out the tracks you've got on there and don't want to take your soaking wet mp3 player to office.

MP3 Daily Rating: 4/10

MP3 Daily Recommended Alternative: SwiMP3 Water Resistant MP3 player.

The Samsung Helix XM is a satellite reciever and MP3 player / recorder. The device lets people combine live XM radio with their digital music. Owners can also store up to 50 hours of recorded XM programming on the built-in flash memory.

DigiTimes is carrying an editorial piece by iSuppli senior analyst Chris Cotty, who tells the story of the history of the MP3 player market since 1993.

Last year the market grew by 250 per cent to 128.7 million units, up from 37 million in 2004, but is expected to reach 230 units by 2009.

He comments that the biggest competitor to Apple is SanDisk as it has its own technology and the cost savings of making its own flash memory.

Kensington have updated their iPod dock range with the Entertainment Dock 500 which can display the iPod's menu on a television. But what makes it different is its remote control. Most remotes use infra-red, this beauty uses radio frequency which allows it to be used through solid objects such as furniture and walls etc.

If you're interested in iPod accessories we recommend you take a look at Kelkoo as at the moment they've got over 3300 individual accessories listed.

Its only been going 2 years and nine months and they've sold 1 billions songs. If you wanted to do the math, that's 11 songs per second over that time. Apple CEO Steve Jobs was right to be happy with the way its gone saying "I hope that every customer, artist and music company executive takes a moment to reflect on what we've achieved".

We'd just like to say "Well done".

Thomas Pink have followed a range of companies that have offered products and clothes catering for the iPod generation. The commuter tie has a pocket on the reverse of the tie to hold the iPod nano and keep the wires out of sight. This comes on the back of the Commuter Shirt which had a hidden pocket to fit a full-sized iPod in.

The tie is a bit on the steep side at £49 but it would make a great Father's Day Present.

View the commuter tie at Thomas Pink.

For those of you who liked the functionality of the original iPod, you may like to take a look at the new Samsung Z5 MP3 player which should be on the shelves in the next few months. Part of the original iPod team now work on projects for Samsung.

It looks like a nifty MP3 player but we're still waiting for the full specs.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been dropping hints about "some fun new products" last week. If you join the dots of the fact that similar announcements were made by both the iPod and iTunes marketing departments at the same time, I think we could be looking at a Voip / wireless iPod. It's obvious if you look at it. Everything else these days are wireless, obviously you've got laptops and now there's wireless digital cameras, games consoles etc etc.

Also with talk of the larger, all touch screen iPods in the future, the two products could be one in the same? iTunes would offer full-length movies to download wirelessly. The Archos AV5100 is one heck of a media player. This new iPod creation could seriously compete with it.

I wouldn't be surprised if they also had some sort of instant messaging option to it as well. If you look at the iPod's audience, they are mobile communicators. Introducing mobile messaging would seem a logical progression.