30 years ago this week Sony launched the first Walkman, the TPS-L2.  This product changed the world for how people listened to their personal music.  The TPS-L2 was a sleek package with small footprint that allowed people to easily carry their cassette tapes and listen to their music on the go.

The TPS-L2 originally sold for $200 and was called the “Soundabout” but the company quickly turned the company brand into the Walkman by the end of that same year.  Sony never looked back…well, not until the iPod came out 23 years later.

With the introduction of digital music Sony lost their step in being the lead provider of personal audio players.

Now Sony is sporting their flagship Walkman the (more…)

Yes, you read it correctly.  Ricky Martin and Kingston Technology have teamed together to bring one of the first music albums to the microSD format.

The Ricky Martin microSD card comes with exclusive preloaded music is a 1GB size that features 2 free songs, a video clip and photos from Ricky Martin’s Black & White tour.

The microSD card includes a USB reader so users can instantly access the card from a host computer or laptop, or connect the microSD card directly into their MP3 compatible phone or PDA.

Comment from Ricky Martin:

“I am very excited by the new avenues for sharing music that technology continues to provide,” said Ricky Martin. “I enthusiastically embrace these new formats. They mean global growth for not only my music — but for all music — and that’s why I’m very happy to form this alliance with Kingston.”

Comment from Kingston rep:

“The microSD Ricky Martin Live Card from Kingston is an innovative way for savvy consumers to enjoy Ricky Martin’s music,” said Seth A. Schachner, Vice President, Digital Business Latin America, Sony BMG Music Entertainment. “It’s also a terrific, versatile product to boot.”

The 1GB Ricky Martin microSD card is available at Amazon for only $11.  Ricky Martin fans rejoice!

We tried to escape the iPhone buzz, but recent information came to light after some folks unscrewed the iPhone to see what’s inside. This is what flash memory they found.

The Apple iPhone flash memory is comprised of two technologies. NAND flash and NOR flash. Without knowing how Apple used these technologies we can easily conclude (without certainty) how the flash memory is being used.

Since NAND flash memory is best suited for re-write and allows an operating system to view the flash memory as a hard drive type storage space, the iPhone most likely uses NAND memory to store MP3 files, photo’s, video and other ‘come-n-go’ files.

The NOR flash memory is best suited for storing code where re-writes aren’t as frequent. NOR would be used for storing application information, such as web browser, OS, Viewer files and other ’stable’ code which wouldn’t change too often.

It was also reveled that Samsung is supplying Apple’s iPhone with the main microprocessor chip and NAND flash memory. Intel is supplying the NOR flash memory to the iPhone.

Samsung is in collaboratin with Beyonce on their SGH-F300 Ultra Music phone where she will heavliy promot the product in spot TV commercials, ads and concert tours. Not a bad move for Samsung as teaming with Beyonce gains some serious followers. The deal also gives F300 owners an exclusive and embedded sound track, “Irreplaceable” pre-loaded on the cell.

The F300 is a unique device with two faces. A large display for viewing pics, videos and movies and on the back side, a smaller display for phone entry and dialing. With the ultra slim design and expandible microSD card, it’s a very attractive deal. Not available everywhere, but with Beyonce on-board it will be soon. (more…)

In the US many states are adopting a no-cell phone road policy to help reduce driving accidents. Well, to fly in the face of that effort is the BlueTraks BT-211, a device that helps communicate in a hands-free environment.

Conceptually, it’s a good idea but it also interfaces with your iPod making it simple to view video while driving. Just what we need, loading up The Office re-runs while driving at 75mph. Although in Los Angeles, where I am, it’s really only 15mph about 99% of the time, so maybe the BlueTraks BT-211 isn’t that bad after all.

(more…)

ViewSonic has always been a fan of combining peripheral items with their monitors and the VX2245WM is no exception. Jumping onto the iPod band-wagon, ViewSonic now offers their monitor with iPod dock station. In addition the VX2245WM beholds an 8-in-1 card reader for ultra convenience.

The 1680×1050 pixel resolution and 700:1 contrast ratio make viewing any movie a pleasure. And to make sure no stone is left unturned, ViewSonic also integrated speakers and subwoofer so that your standard PC speakers can be left to collect dust. (more…)

WTF? iPod Tax Proposal, well thank God they’re talking about this in Canada, not the US. The Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) which are a bunch of record labels are pushing for a tax on iPods and other music players. We’re not talking just sales tax either.

So what kinda cash are they looking for? (more…)

A report from Prudential Equity Group indicates Apple would be smart to shift from HHD to flash memory for the larger iPods. Although the cost-per-gigabyte would be more, the user experience and product logevity would improve. Currently only about 3.5 hours of juice are available for iPods when running video you don’t want to lose power at the climax.

Switching to flash memory reduces power consumption and extends video play to 5.5 hours, as significant improvement. With current iPod sizes at 30GB and 80GB and the largest flash memory (at a decent price for CE products) at 32GBs it’s a fairly easy decision to make.  By the time all solid flash memory devices are ready to hit the market we are looking at a high-end capacity range of 120GBs. (more…)

Can’t stand iPods, looking for an iPod alternate? The Tomato MP3 player from PlayTomato is a good front runner. This 2inch TFT LCD screen provides superior viewing quality to most PMP units at 260,000 colors. Plays both video and photo, as well as MP3 and streaming radio.

Not sure about the sound quality as that depends on the compressions engine used. With a MiniSD slot for additional storage the Tomato MP3 player is kinda sweet. On board USB for sync, speakers for listening and mic for recording. (more…)

Remove the fact one must reside in Japan for the following post, it appears only the trendy cool kids will be getting the Napster branded MicroSD card for the new Napster direct-to-mobile download service. AT $82USD for a 512MB MicroSD card, when any will work, is pricey for storage. The Japanese Napster direct-to-mobile service does require a MicroSD card for sync functions - would you care? Probably not.

Napster direct-to-mobile service is offered through NTT and uses DoCoMo phones.

(more…)