Rio Carbon Dissected

It's a disassemble-a-brand-new-something-you-paid-a-lot-of-money-for twofer today. After iPoding and their iPod Photo, DAPReview has put the screwdriver and digital camera to the new Rio Carbon.

iPod Photo Dissected

Wasting absolutely no time at all, iPoding has pried the cover off their new toy and taken photos under the hood of the iPod Photo. [Via Engadget]

iPodlounge also has a bunch of photos of the iPod Photo and its packaging.

Weekly Price Guide

This week it's goodbye Rio Nitrus and hello second-gen Dell DJ and new Pocket DJ.

CNet Dell DJ Review

Even though they aren't on sale yet, CNet already has a brief review of the Dell DJ:

One year ago, Dell shook up the market with its low-price alternative to the Apple iPod. Now that it has a foothold, the company is refining the design. The second-generation model is smaller and lighter, with a revamped interface, and it's still a great deal.

CNet also takes a look at the Dell Pocket DJ:

The mini hard drive market is about to explode, with models from Samsung, Creative, and Virgin on the way. Dell's WMA-friendly entry is solid if not spectacular and signals the mainstream acceptance of the mini hard drive player category. But really, it comes down to value, and thrifty consumers will be sure to pocket a $200 Dell Pocket DJ.

Gateway Photo Jukebox Announced

Gateway has thrown its hat into the audio player/photo viewer ring with its new Gateway MP3 Photo Jukebox. Unlike the new 20GB Apple Photo iPod, the Gateway device is cut from the iPod Mini mold, however.

Priced like an iPod Mini at $249, the Photo Jukebox also has a 4GB capacity. However it includes a 1.6" color LCD for viewing photos, while remaing nearly the size of an 3.6"x2.0"x0.5" iPod Mini at 3.8"x2.3"x0.7" and 3.4oz.

Notably, unlike the iPod Photo, the Photo Jukebox does support moving photos directly from a digital camera onto the harddrive. This is a very nice touch since so few devices have this capability. However, as digital camera images continue to grow rapidly, that 4GB may get eaten up pretty quickly.

Battery life is reported to be a paltry 8 hours. Gateway says that Photo Jukebox will be avilable in mid November.

More bits at PC World and CNet.

New Dell DJs Debut

Dell has updated their website with the new version of the Dell DJ 20 at $249 and the new Dell Pocket DJ at $199. We expect the new Dells to ship around mid-November.

Related Links:
New Dell Players Officially Official

Rio Carbon Cases

The Apple iPod is the undisputed king of audio player accessories with hundreds of third-party products available, but Vaja give Rio some love with their snappy leather Rio Carbon case.

The case that comes with the Carbon covers the display, but the Vaja case lets you see the display and access all the controls. Available in blue and brown, they are kind of spendy at around $55, but you can even get them embossed with a message. Kind of like engraving your iPod, but in leather. [Via Gear Live]

Free Download of Wired's Cover CD

Need some new tunes for your audio player? LegalTorrents can hook you up:

A 320kbps MP3 version of November 2004's freely distributable Wired Magazine cover CD - includes Beastie Boys, David Byrne, Dan The Automator, Gilberto Gil, Cornelius, and many more Creative Commons-licensed tracks for remixing, spreading - unmissable.

[Via BoingBoing]

iRiver H320 Review

Gutter Vomit has written a review of iRiver's H320 which, up until today, was one of the only choices for an audio player with a color LCD. Still, even with Apple in the game now the 20GB H320 goes for about $100 less than the iPod Photo and is still a viable option.

Overall, I'm very happy with the H320; I know I sound like I'm not, but I am. Honest. The one thing it needed to do -- i.e., encourage my latent autism by letting me shut out the external world for 12 hours each day -- it does very well, and ultimately, that's what matters.

Although I admittedly have little experience with other players, I'd say that this device addresses all of my music needs pretty handily, and manages to throw in enough extras to warrant its higher price tag: US-based vendors have been pegging it somewhere between US$300 and US$350, although obviously, YMMV, here more than anywhere else. Other interesting non-iPod choices include Creative's Zen Touch (the one with the touchpad instead of a click-wheel) and the tiny Rio Karma, although neither have color screens.

Black U2 iPod Officially Official

Usually the mega-band U2 doesn't get second billing.

Today, though, is the exception. In addition to the new color iPod Photo, Apple also announced a special edition iPod, the U2 in black and red. The U2 iPod retails for $349, which is $50 more than the standard 4G 20GB iPod. However, your extra $50 does get a few extras.

Beside the first-of-its-kind black face, the scroll wheel is red and the name and autographs of each of the band members is engraved on the back. Since that alone probably isn't worth $50, you also get a U2 poster and an iTunes Music Store coupon for $50 off purchase of "The Complete U2".

Otherwise, the U2 Special Edition is the same as the 4G 20GB iPod. Same size, same weight.

Color iPod Photo Officially Official

Apple springs a big suprise today with the official announcement of the oft-rumored iPod Photo! A spin-off of the basic iPod, the iPod Photo incorporates a 2" color LCD screen and comes in either 40GB ($499) or 60GB ($599) flavors.

It's a bit bigger and heavier than the standard 4G iPods at 4.1"x2.4"x0.75" and 6.4ozs, but Apple says the iPod Photo has 15 hours of battery life (compared with the 4G's 12 hours).

The color LCD is 2" diagonally, displays 220x176 pixels at 64k colors. With iTunes syncing, the iPod Photo will display album cover art and images in JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF and PNG format.

Also new to iPod Photo is a video output and an AV cable that allows it to display photo slideshows (with music!) on your TV. Also, both standard (4:3) and widescreen (16:9) formats are supported.

The iPod Photo is said to be available in 1 to 2 weeks.

More bits at every news outlet on the planet.

Flash memory iPod a Reality?

A few weeks ago we reported that an industry analyst mentioned that Apple was cooking up its first flash memory-based audio player, to be available by the end of the year. Needless to say, this rumor was taken with a grain of salt. But now the analyst in question, Jason Pflaum of Thomas Weisel, has reconfirmed his statement:

I recently spent two weeks in Asia meeting with a number of folks who are in a position to know details of SigmaTel's supply chain. Based on our industry contacts, we are confident that, one, Apple is planning to launch a flash-based player, and two, SigmaTel is the provider of controller chip for that device.

Related Links:
New Apple Flash Player Coming Over for Christmas?

XClef 500 Beefs Up to 100GB

Digital Mind Corporation has added a whopping 100GB model to its line of XClef 500 audio players, joining the 40GB, 60GB and 80GB choices already available.

Unfortunately, compared to the iPod and other new devices, the XClef is sort of a brick. While the svelt, lower capacity audio players use 1.8" or 1" harddrives, the XClef uses larger, heavier 2.5" laptop drives.

Related Links:
XClef 500: New Capacity King?

Weekly Price Guide

We apologize for the delays since the last price guide, but here it is at last. New this week are the iRiver H320 and H340, which are finally showing up at online retailers.

Player	Capacity	Brand	Price	Change	Vendor
iPod (4G)	20GB	Apple	$294	---	Buy.com
iPod (4G)	40GB	Apple	$380	-$14	Buy.com
iPod Mini	4GB	Apple	$237	-$8	Electronics Expo
iAUDIO M3 + cradle	20GB	Cowon	$289	---	iAudio Store
iAUDIO M3L + cradle	20GB	Cowon	$349	---	Chief Value
iAUDIO M3 + cradle	40GB	Cowon	$346	+$1	Chief Value
Nomad MuVo2	4GB	Creative	$150	-$25	Outpost
Nomad Zen Xtra	30GB	Creative	$180	---	Outpost
Zen Touch	20GB	Creative	$230	-$7	Comp-u-Plus
DJ-15	15GB	Dell	$179	-$20	Dell
DJ-20	20GB	Dell	$279	+$42	Dell
H120	20GB	iRiver	$270	---	1001Hitech
H140	40GB	iRiver	$355	-$4	Go PC Plus
H320	20GB	iRiver	$299	---	ErwinComp
H340	40GB	iRiver	$399	---	ErwinComp
Nitrus	1.5GB	Rio	$117	---	Broad Markets
Carbon	5GB	Rio	$225	---	Discount Jungle
Karma	20GB	Rio	$232	---	6th Ave

SoniqCast Aireo 2

SoniqCast has announced the next-generation version of its wireless-enabled audio player, the Aireo 2. While the original had only 1.5GB capacity, the Aireo 2 has 20GB packed into a reasonably compact 4.1"x2.6"x0.74" (compared to the 4G iPod at 4.1"x2.4"x0.57"). Also, several now-common features are in the box include an FM radio and an FM transmitter.

Not suprisingly though, it's the wireless capabilities that make the Aireo 2 interesting. Of course you can transfer files to and from the Aireo 2 wirelessly (albeit slowly at 802.11b speeds), but the Aireo 2 is also a wireless hotspot detector (neat!) and can sync up with audio content such as newspapers, Audible books and talk radio:

With the Aireo, you can 'stay connected' to access audible newspaper, magazine, talk radio, and audio book content (i.e. The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, C-Span, and the BBC), along with your digital music downloads. And with wireless access, you can program your player to automatically refresh content while on the go.

[Via Engadget]

Related Links:
First Player with Integrated Wireless

Where's the New iPod Mini?

OK, we know a few basic facts. First, we know that Apple owns the audio player market right now. The iPod Mini is so popular it can be hard to find it on shelves or in stock online. Even though it is quite small and stylish, the iPod Mini only has a 4GB capacity and at $249, only slightly less expensive than its not-much-larger 20GB breathern.

Furthermore Rio, Creative Labs, Virgin Electronics, Dell and who knows how many other audio player makers all have 5GB models that are pretty close to the iPod Mini in size and weight. In terms of style,

All this begs the question, where is the new iPod Mini? You know, the one with the 5GB (or 8GB or 10GB maybe) capacity, even smaller than the first and a couple of other changes. Rumor has it that yet another full-size iPod revision is coming before Christmas. Will Apple update the iPod Mini by then as well?

PS: The same goes for iRiver. Where is your mini-sized audio player? You cancelled your 1GB player way back when and it hasn't been heard from since.

Related Links:
Apple Continues to Rule the World
The iPod's Tipping Point?

Lots of New Audio Player Photos and Hands On Commentary

Speaking of the Digital Focus show, Mark from ShinyPlastic got to play with and photograph a bunch of new audio players. Here are his take on the Archos Gmini XS200 and Gmini 400, the iRiver PMC-120, the Creative Zen Micro and the Virgin Player.

Related Links:
Archos Gmini XS200 Officially Official
Creative Zen Micro Officially Official
Virgin Electronics Player

Digital Media Thoughts Chats With iRiver

Suhit from Digital Media Thoughts has written up his experience at the Digital Focus trade show with some iRiver folks. It's an interesting read if you (like us and Suhit himself) wonder why iRiver gets so little market traction with their products:

So clearly this is not a new problem for the PR section of the company. Here is what it seems to boil down to - apparently the entire iRiver marketing department consists of just one person who is understandably overworked (running after Jenna Jameson must be hard work Wink). But even more importantly, it seems that all of their sales problems seem to stem from a severe lack of a real marketing budget. So if any iRiver execs (or people that can whisper something into the ears of the iRiver execs) are reading this, please re-think your marketing strategy. I cannot stress more that I absolutely love your products, and tons more people out there would too, if they only knew about them.

Update: the Jenna Jameson/iRiver reference

Archos Gmini XS200 Officially Official

It's official. We have a trifecta of new products becoming officially official today. Number 3 is the Archos Gmini XS200.

The Gmini XS200 is quite possibly the smallest 20GB audio player yet made at 2.9"x2.3"x0.7", it retails for only $249. Compare this with the $299 20GB iPod at 4.1"x2.4"x0.57". 10 hours of battery life isn't so hot, but for the price it may be worth giving a go.

Related Links:
Coming Soon: Archos Gmini XS200

New Dell Players Officially Official

Dell has confirmed the existence of their two new devices, the Pocket DJ and an updated DJ 20. According to community forum DellDJSite, they will be avilable November 15th at $199 for the Pocket DJ and $249 for the DJ 20.

Like the Creative Zen Micro, there is no question what it's aimed at. However, both the iPod Mini and Zen Micro retail for $249, while the Dell is $50 less (What? Dell competes on price?). Furthermore, the Pocket DJ at 3.5"x2.1"x0.5" has nearly the same dimensions as the iPod Mini at 3.6"x2.0"x0.5", but has an extra gigabyte of capacity.

Printable iPod Tattoos from HP

Aside from the HP logo engraved on the back, the HP "version" of the iPod is no different from the Apple model. But HP has brought at least one new thing to the table with their "iPod Tattoos". Essentially the tattoos are paper sleeves that wrap around the iPod, like a skin.

HP has several tattoos that you can download for free (either of bands or free designs). Also, HP is selling special paper (which has an adhesive of some sort to hang onto the iPod, we presume), 10 sheets for $15. [Via ChiatGear]

Update: from looking at the HP printing instructions, the tattoos are just great big stickers. Presumably you could do it yourself with label sheets from OfficeMax, but we dunno if HP uses a different adhesive that is better suited to being cleanly removed from your iPod.

Creative Zen Micro Officially Official

Creative has updated their website to include the upcoming 5GB audio player, the Creative Zen Micro. Dimensions are a slim 3.3"x2.0"x0.7" (compared with the iPod Mini at 3.6"x2.0"x0.5") and it weighs 3.8oz (0.2 oz more than the Mini).

Don't Creative doesn't know exactly who its competitor is? Here's the description of the vertical touch pad, used for navigation:

No more going round in circles to find the song you want, we all know that the quickest distance between two points is a straight line. Zen Micro's vertical touch pad and touch sensitive controls are designed to be intuitive so that searching through songs or playlists is easy, quick and fun - try taking a cruise down this strip.

Creative is taking pre-orders at the $249 retail price at 1-800-998-1000.

Creative Zen Touch Review

Computer equipment uber-site Tom's Hardware has posted a review of Creative's latest full-size, 20GB audio player, the Zen Touch. They returned a typical verdict:

The Zen Touch is a good player, but it remains largely an iPod clone.

In certain areas, the pupil does surpass the master with its very long battery life and excellent ergonomics, blending classic and modern. However, the sound quality is about the same as the iPod, while its too "burly" design and rather confusing interface make me lean towards the iPod. If Creative's player were only $50 cheaper, the balance would tip in its favor.

Apple Continues to Rule the World

92.1%. Apple has 92.1% of the harddrive-based audio player market. 92.1%, so says Stephen Baker of the NPD Group. By comparison, Creative has 3.7% and Rio has 3.2%. That leaves just a 1% scrap for iRiver, Cowon and all the others to fight for. Absolutely amazing. Both CNet and The Register have good summaries.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple sold more than 2 million iPods in the last quarter. Also, Apple said that sale of HP-branded iPods already accounted for 6% of sales.

In the past we predicted that the biggest hurdle would-be Apple competitors would have is recognition that there are other audio players besides the iPod. CNet's report bears this out:

Competitors will have to contend with daunting brand recognition, however. In a recent survey of buying preferences among U.S. teenagers, analyst Jeff Klinefelter of Piper Jaffray found a strong preference for the iPod over competing products. Of the 600 teens surveyed, 16 percent already owned an iPod, and 24 percent planned to get one within the next year. Only 8 percent planned to acquire another brand of music player in that time.

Another recent Piper Jaffray survey found that the iPod was the fourth most-requested Christmas gift among U.S. high school students, trailing clothes, money and cars.

Virgin Electronics Player

Virgin Electronics has dipped a toe into the pool with the announcement of the Virgin Electronics Player, a 5GB device meant as yet-another iPod Mini competitor. Reported to be slightly larger than the iPod Mini, it weighs in at 3.1 (half an ounce lighter than the Mini). Also, the Player features an FM radio (but no radio recording) and, uniquely, 2 headphone jacks instead of just 1.

The Player (is it really named "The Player"?) will retail for $249, same as the iPod Mini, and is supposed to be available later this month.

Also, Engadget has a hands-on look and a few photos.

Two New Players From Dell

After news of the Creative Zen Micro, it's a new device day three-fer since Engadget reports that Dell is updating its now-dated line of audio players.

Coming soon, they say, are the Pocket DJ 5 and a slimmer version of the original Dell DJ. Like the Zen Micro, the Pocket DJ is aimed squarely at the iPod Mini and will, reportedly, have 9 hours of battery life for $199, a fair bet less expensive than the iPod Mini.

The next-gen Dell DJ has gone on a diet, has a 12 hour battery life and will retail for $249.

Both devices are supposed to be available in the next few weeks.

Creative Zen Micro

Gizmodo has gotten the goods on Creative's newest audio player, the Zen Micro. Clearly targetting the iPod Mini, the Zen Micro will have a 5GB capacity and come in 7 colors.

Also, according to Gizmodo's sources, it will be priced the same as the iPod Mini ($250), be available in November and have calendar and contact management capabilities, a nice plus.

iAUDIO M3 Review

Engadget has posted their review of the iAUDIO M3. The M3 is the 20GB audio player that made the creative design decision to remove the LCD completely from the body and move all display to the wired remote. A choice like that probably isn't for everyone and Engadget does show where the M3 fits in the current and upcoming audio player marketplace:

The M3 is still a very strong contender. It's still cheaper than an iPod, and despite being on the market as long as it has, it's still very sleek, compact, easily carried player. The near-microscopic screen, lack of ports without the subpack, and total absence of song sorting features notwithstanding, it's a real pleasure to use. However, be warned: it is certainly due to be eclipsed by a new round of players very soon. While it currently stands up very well against the iPod (in my opinion even winning out against it) and is just shy of the Rio Karma (which ultimately stays my pick with its sorting and jukebox features), the M3 will have a hard time fending itself off against the likes of the Gmini400, and other such overachieving next-generation digital audio players that are due out in droves tomorrow or the day after. So let's put it this way. Right now it's still a great player, but I can't say that we're not expecting (read: greatly anticipating) iAudio's proper follow-up to the M3.

60GB Color iPod Coming?

Apple rumor site Think Secret has reported that Apple's next iPod will offer a 60GB capacity, a color LCD screen, synchronization with iPhoto and audio/video outputs. According to "highly reliable sources", the "new iPod is currently in production in Asia after delays from Toshiba in delivering its new 60GB drive hampered a planned early-September ramp up."

Retail price is said to be $499, $100 more than the current 40GB iPod.

Both the 60GB capacity and the color screen/video out rumors have floated around separately in the past several months, but maybe this time around they'll come true.

Related Links:
Apple Video iPod Demystified
4th Generation iPod
New iPod Rumor

Ballmer Says iPod Owners are Thieves

Steve Ballmer, the ever-quotable CEO of Microsoft had a few choice words for the iPod legions (and presumably other audio player device owners as well) that haven't embraced Microsoft's Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology. Basically he said you are all thieves:

At the heart of the debate is Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology which will let content providers such as record labels and movie studios keep control of their intellectual property (IP) - or at least ensure all royalties are paid and copyright observed.

Billing Microsoft as the good guys and Apple the villains of the piece - at least as far as corporate America, rather than users, is concerned, Ballmer said: "We’ve had DRM in Windows for years. The most common format of music on an iPod is 'stolen'."

"Part of the reason people steal music is money, but some of it is that the DRM stuff out there has not been that easy to use. We are going to continue to improve our DRM, to make it harder to crack, and easier, easier, easier, easier, to use," he said.

[Via Slashdot]

The Roc-A-Fella Rocbox

The New York Times has an article on hip-hop entrepeneur (Roc-A-Fella and Rocawear) Damon Dash's latest venture: Roc Digital and its first product, the 20GB audio player, the Rocbox (NYT reg. req.):

"We saw Apple making a killing, and we thought it would be good market to go after," Mr. Dash said in an interview last week. The players, which are being sold by a company he formed with some partners, called Roc Digital, are a natural area, he added, because of the possible tie-ins with his music label, which is part of the Island Def Jam Music Group of Universal Music Group, whose parent is Vivendi Universal.

How big is it and what's it going to cost?

With a chrome-colored front, glowing blue buttons and a black rubberized back, the hard-drive Rocbox is shinier and a bit bigger than an iPod, while matching its $299 price tag for a player with enough memory for 600 hours of music. A smaller white and aluminum flash-drive player is $159, and has enough memory for about eight hours of music. Both players will be sold at Macy's and CompUSA stores.

[Via Gizmodo]

Cowon iAUDIO M5 Announced

The iAUDIO community site, iAUDIOphile.net, has broken the news on Cowon's newest audio player, the iAUDIO M5. So far the 20GB device seems like it could be a real winner (and no doubt a 40GB version will make an appearance eventually). On the surface it looks like Cowon's older model, the M3, with several important changes. Most notably is the addition of a color LCD for photo display (and some video playback apparently) that adds a bit of extra depth to the still compact device.

According to the iAUDIOphile gang the M5 will also have a number of other nifty features including USB On the Go (USB OTG) for pulling photos directly from digital cameras, OGG and lossless FLAC audio format support, a remote, an FM radio and digital recording.

No word on pricing, but on paper at least, the M5 is very feature-rich and may be a very solid competitor in the near future.

Sony Announces NW-HD2

Sony has just announced (machine translation here) a new version of its Network Walkman, the NW-HD2. As far as we can tell, it's no different from the older NW-HD1 except that the new model comes in three colors (silver, pink and blue) and seems to be missing the LCD remote of the NW-HD1.

Physically the Network Walkmen are impressive specimens: sleek looking, very small and have a 30 hour battery life. However, they're expensive and still don't play MP3s. Playing MP3s being an important feature of devices widely known as MP3 players. [Via i4u]

Related Links:
Sony NW-HD1 Review
Sony Acknowledges Existence of MP3 Format
A Rough Week for Sony
Walt Mossberg: Sony HW-HD1 is "markedly inferior"
Sony Debuts Another New Network Walkman

New Apple Flash Player Coming Over for Christmas?

News reports have indicated that chipmaker SigmaTel has inked a deal with Apple to provide chipsets for an upcoming MP3 player. The stories note that the player will NOT be a harddrive-based model like the iPod and iPod Mini, rather a flash-based device that will likely be much smaller than the iPod Mini, but with smaller storage capacity. When will we see it? Not long from now:

Citing ``numerous sources in Asia,'' Thomas Weisel analyst Jason Pflaum said Apple will use SigmaTel's controller chips for a player it's planning to launch this Christmas.

Of course any new Apple MP3 product announcement is a suprise, but we are especially suprised that Apple chose SigmaTel to provide the chipset over their long-time chipset partner, PortalPlayer.

Related Links:
SigmaTel Inside
Some Corroboration for the New iPod Rumor?

Update:
SigmaTel itself announced today that it has cemented a partnership with Rio. So it is possible that the quoted source confused Apple with Rio, but that would make "Thomas Weisel analyst Jason Pflaum" an enormous idiot (or at least the person who misquoted him).