Laptop-DRV » Media Players

iPad Nano Gains Pause Button, Off-Switch

admin — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 07:47:57 +0000

Nano Vs. Shuffle. Photo: Luca Viscardi

Like the recovering alcoholic who wavers in between drunkenness and seriousness, Apple only can’t seem to kick a iPod symbol robe completely. Today, the software update brings new functions to a nap symbol on the square, touch-screen iPod Nano.

Remember how a little Shuffle mislaid all of the carry out buttons in a single era, and then had them restored the next year due to popular demand (or, more likely, flagging sales)? Well, a almost buttonless Nano didn’t even have to wait for a full year for things to get bound.

With today’s new 1.1 software update (around 100MB), You can double-tap a sleep button to play and postponement music or radio. You can also select to have a double-tap jump over the lane (this is a default — change it in a settings). This, along with a already present hardware volume buttons, equates to you can embankment those in-line controllers needed to use third-party headphones without starting funny. I have bought as well as mislaid the pocketful of these things already.

There’s some-more. Execute a long press upon a same button as well as the Nano will switch off. Previously you could usually sleep the little thing.

It’s a small thing, but good headlines. Now, Apple, about that iPhone. That has a sleep button too, right?

iPod nano (6th era: Software update chronicle 1.1 changes [Apple]

Photo: Luca Viscardi / Flickr

Apple Technician: iPod Water Damage Policy Revised

admin — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 23:59:56 +0000

If you brief water upon your iPod or drop it in a toilet, you’re out of luck: Apple’s guaranty doesn’t cover h2o damage. The manners about what counts as h2o damage might have gotten more kindly recently, however.

Apple’s iPods have a Liquid Contact Indicator inside the headphone port, as well as if water comes in contact with it, it turns red. Originally, Apple has refused to service the product if which indicator is red, though a support request (below) suggests there’s a little space.

Leaked by an Apple-authorized assistance provider, the document suggests an iPod may be serviced even if that indicator has been activated, so long as there’s no gnawing benefaction, meaning the technician contingency check it delicately as well as use his or her own visualisation.

This is a welcome change, because which indicator could be set off by circumstances over your control similar to tall humidity or other impassioned temperatures. This policy wouldn’t have helped my poor drowned iPhone though.

It’s unclear either the process would apply to iPhones as well as iPads as good. Apple didn’t right away respond to a request for criticism.

Altec-Lansing Speakers Will Toss Your Tunes 100 Yards

admin — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:14:01 +0000

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LAS VEGAS — We’ve seen some-more than the few “wireless boomboxes” that can stream song from your computer to the set of remote speakers. Few guarantee as much as a inMotion Air from Altec-Lansing.

Announced here at CES Wednesday, this unit clearly has all the bases covered. It can stream your song library from your mechanism up to 300 feet away via its own wireless adapter, and it can stream a songs stored upon your phone or your iPad around Bluetooth. It’s smart enough to be able to navigate your existing common iTunes or Windows Media libraries, and it comes with the remote control that functions with both file systems, so you can call up songs, playlists or internet radio stations while the thing sits subsequent to you on a behind porch. The rechargeable lithium-ion battery will be good for 7 hours, a company promises.

The design of a inMotion Air is sheer but monumental: It’s an austere, slim wedge with silvery buttons upon top and the hoop built into a behind to lift it. It weighs a little some-more than the bruise, as well as it comes in a matte black finish or in gunmetal gray. We haven’t had a change to listen to it nonetheless, so we can’t criticism on a sound quality. It will price $200.

Connecting wirelessly involves plugging the tiny adapter into a horde computer. The adapter additionally has stereo outputs on it, you can just plug your desktop speakers into a adapter as well as leave a thing plugged in without carrying to barter any cables whenever you wish to switch from one speaker scheme to an additional.

Anyone sitting nearby can sync their phone or iPad to the inMotion Air by connecting over Bluetooth as well as have it play a songs stored on their devices. Audio playback over Bluetooth is notoriously sub-par, though Altec-Lansing says it’s attempted to keep a quality aloft than average by using a Apt-X codec. The record boosts a fidelity and distinctness of a audio entrance over a Bluetooth signal, Altec-Lansing claims.

TDK Resurrects a Boombox

admin — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 19:37:53 +0000

Somebody call up Radio Raheem. We have a little good headlines: The boombox is back.

TDK’s retro-styled portable speakers embankment the tape rug (although they do still have the airwave, though differently you get an authentic 1980s experience. The “2 Speaker Boombox” puts out 20-Watts, and a “3 Speaker Boombox” goes up to 35-Watts. Both boxes have six-inch drivers, and a 3-speaker representation adds a six–inch sub to the brew.

The Boomboxes have the variety of ways to get music into them, from the 3.5mm jack to the USB-port. Thus you can hook up your iPod as good as a guitar or mic to jam along, or only walk a streets with the thing upon your shoulder, as God dictated. If you have the USB-stick, hard-drive or iPod plugged in, you can make use of a Boombox’s controls to jump over marks.

The not as big box has the hoop as well as the shoulder strap – a bigger section has a handle usually.

Despite all this modernity, there is a single partial of this which is the genuine throwback to the days of breakdancing: D-cell batteries. They don’t need 20 of a things, similar to Radio Raheem’s boombox, though they get close. Depending upon which one you buy, you’ll need 10 or 12 D-cells to run a thing. Available April 2011, for $400 and $500.

2 Speaker Boombox [TDK around Core77]

3 Speaker Boombox [TDK]

Galaxy Player: Samsung’s Android ‘iPod Touch’ during CES 2011

admin — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 16:41:33 +0000

At last, somebody, somewhere will sell the credible pick to a iPad Touch. Ever since September 2007, Apple has had the phone-less pocket mechanism market to itself. This is about to shift, interjection to Samsung’s Galaxy Player, the non-cell chronicle of the super-successful Galaxy S.

Last year, Samsung got a rather crappier Galaxy-branded media player into European stores, but this upon is a real deal. It sports the span of cameras (3.2MP turn behind, as well as the VGA webcam up front), Bluetooth, GPS, the microSD label container, the 1GHz processor and Android 2.2 Froyo.

The screen is four-inches upon a erratic, bigger than a Touch, though with a reduce fortitude of 800×480 (the Touch boasts the 960-by-640 Retina arrangement. The Player is also thicker than a Touch – 9.9mm opposite 7.2mm – though this is expected how Samsung manages to fit in the improved camera as well as a removable battery.

Pricing has nonetheless to be revealed, but we know what sizes the player will come in: 8GB, 16GB and 32GB. More to come from CES, that is reduction than two weeks divided.

Samsung confirms Galaxy Player, will showcase at CES 2011 [Samsung Hub]

Google’s Crippled TV Could Be Limping Into a Market

admin — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 19:43:52 +0000

Fast-and-furious media hulk Google may be revelation manufacturers to pump a brakes on a brand new Google TV handling system.

Google is telling manufacturers to delay launches of televisions as well as set-top boxes using Google TV, that would meant such products are doubtful to launch during subsequent month’s Consumer Electronics Show, according to New York Times. Wired.com’s sources uphold the inform.

“LG is not commenting on Google TV, but LG is rising its own Smart TV platform at CES, and it’s not Google TV,” an LG spokesman told Wired.com. According to a Times, LG was a single of the companies working upon the Google TV product.

Google TV is the version of a Android smartphone OS mutated for televisions. Google envisions which Google TV will emanate an all-in-one media knowledge that makes the television able of delivering web-streamed video calm and functionality by third-party apps, in addition to traditional TV programming offered by cable networks as well as satellite providers.

“Once you have Google television, you’re starting to be really bustling,” pronounced Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, in a Berlin press discussion introducing Google TV. “It’s going to ruin your evening.”

A check is surprising entrance from Google, whose typical M.O. is to recover new products fast (sometimes with the “beta” label still prominently displayed) and afterwards iterate them on the fly with software updates. A check could indicate that the poke giant needs more time to rethink a OS, especially after TV networks prevented their content from being accessed by Google TV apps upon the Logitech Revue.

Googled declined to criticism upon rumors as well as conjecture per Google TV delays, though the Google spokeswoman pronounced the association was happy with its current progress in a TV space.

“We are really happy with the launch of Google TV with the initial partners Sony, Logitech as well as Intel,” the spokeswoman said. “Our long-term idea is to collaborate with the extended village of consumer electronics manufacturers to assistance drive the subsequent era, TV-watching knowledge, as well as we look brazen to operative with other partners to bring some-more inclination to market in a entrance years.”

Some extra time could concede Google to work with third-party program developers upon making apps for the Google TV to offer additional functionality and more calm, pronounced Ross Rubin, lead consumer electronics researcher at NPD Group.

“Right right away [without TV network support], Google TV is basically the web browser on the TV,” said Rubin, explaining which third-party apps could compute Google TV from competing internet TV products.

Waiting the couple of extra months could additionally allow manufacturers to decrease pricing of Google TV products to make them more rival. The Google TV-powered Logitech Revue, that launched October, cost $300 — large compared to a $100 Roku as well as Apple TV set-top boxes.

Rumor: Apple’s iPad 2 Lands April 2011

admin — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 17:10:23 +0000

Apple has put in a ask for its Asian partner Foxconn to produce and boat the second-generation iPad inside of 100 days with skeleton for a spring 2011 recover, according to a Taiwanese announcement.

Foxconn was notified of skeleton to boat the iPad by February 2011, with initial shipments of 400,000 to 600,000 units, according to DigiTimes. Sources design the product to launch April 2011.

This timing is trustworthy since the strange iPad strike stores April this year. Apple’s iPhones have been refreshed once the year, as well as the similar one-year product cycle for a iPad is picturesque.

Journalists as well as analysts have speculated that a next-generation iPad will come closer in line with a iPhone 4. Here have been a little facilities which you can expect:

A 9.7-inch “retina” arrangement similar to a iPhone 4’sA front-facing camera as well as a built-in FaceTime video phone appExpanded support for AirPlay streaming (as referred to by the Steve Jobs e-mail)

Meanwhile, here have been a little items on our instruct list:

A earthy switch which thatch screen orientation similar to it used to (Apple not long ago mutated a functionality of a switch into the tongue-tied symbol, which nobody seems to enjoy).Tighter integration with a brand-new Apple TV, allowing you to stream media from the Apple TV to a iPad (because currently you can usually do the alternative way around). Streaming film rentals on a highway with an iPad would be pretty honeyed.

What are a little features you’d like to see in a subsequent iPad? Add your ideas in the comments next.

Flix On Stix: Vending Machine Copies Movies to Thumb Drives

admin — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 05:06:58 +0000

Flix On Stix does what it says on a label. You jam the USB hang or SD-card into one of its kiosks as well as collect the film, game or TV show. The “flick” is afterwards eliminated to your “stick” as well as you can take it home to enjoy it.

Fees have been based upon how long you wish to keep a film, costing $1 for 3 days, $2 for 6, $3 for 9 days as well as $4 for 12 days. Once your time is up, a movie-file will self-destruct. There is additionally an option to buy.

The advantages over the DVD-kiosk are viewable: All cinema are regularly available, you never need to lapse anything as well as – as the FAQ points out – you can’t end up with a scratched hoop. On the alternative palm, you’ll have to watch the cinema either upon the mechanism, on a TV bending up to a mechanism, or the TV with the USB container.

The service has not yet launched, so a accurate process of playback isn’t available. My income is on a little kind of proprietary player as well as DRM combo, maybe bundled on the hang, differently how could you make a movie end?

The idea is the good a single, though. Many, most people have the USB hang on a keychain or in a bag, as well as it would be a large slip if the machine didn’t also exchange poor sticks. And whilst BitTorrent is fast, it’s not as quick as on foot to a corner store.

Flix on Stix [Flix upon Stix around Everything USB]

Steve Jobs E-Mail: AirPlay Video Could Expand in 2011

admin — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:45:03 +0000

When Steve Jobs introduced a latest iOS refurbish (version 4.2), a greatest addition was AirPlay, the underline that wirelessly streams some audio as well as video from an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch to the Apple TV. An e-mail from a CEO suggests this feature is staid to turn some-more powerful subsequent year.

The AirPlay underline shipped in a ultimate chronicle of Apple’s mobile program, iOS 4.2.1, as well as it functions a approach Apple advertised: It streams video usually played from the iPod app upon a iPhone/iPod Touch or a Video app upon a iPad. What you can’t do today with AirPlay is tide video which you shot with an iPhone, or video from third-party apps or even Safari, to a Apple TV.

A MacRumors reader e-mailed Jobs asking if AirPlay would in the future stream videos from Safari and third-party apps to a Apple TV. The reader claims Jobs replied with the curtsy: “Yep, goal to supplement these facilities to AirPlay in 2011.”

It positively appears Apple is operative upon a underline, as currently you can tide audio from videos played in Safari as well as third-party apps to a Apple TV. We suggest gripping an eye upon the developments of AirPlay, because you consider when it matures, it could be the gamechanger which offers the constrained pick to observation television calm by third-party apps as well as web videos.

Ears-On with a SuperTooth Disco Bluetooth Boom-Box

admin — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 14:24:48 +0000

For a final few weeks, I have been vital with a Supertooth Disco, a Bluetooth orator seemingly named after the singles night during the dentists’ gathering. It’s a battery-powered stereo-speaker with a hefty subwoofer inside as well as, while it will never have its approach onto an audiophiles shopping list, it’s a pretty considerable box for the size.

First, a specs. The orator weighs in during 1,140-grams, or 2.5-pounds, as well as has two eight-watt drivers. Also in a case is which subwoofer, that blows the sound out through a rear-facing hole. Battery life is claimed to be 3-4 hours at high volume, up to 10 hours during middle volume. Standby is rated during an almost untestable 1,500 hours, or 62.5 days. The Bluetooth is A2DP as well as AVRCP, definition you can beam true from the phone, mechanism or iPad (where it shows up in the AirPlay menu) as well as also make use of a buttons clustered around a volume doorknob to play, postponement as well as jump over marks remotely

The battery holdup is indeed impressive, durability me for days of casual listening (I left a Supertooth in a kitchen as well as used it to play music as well as podcasts at your convenience I was in there). I couldn’t exam the battery life during “high volume”, as I live in an unit with neighbors stacked all around me, though in general make use of it’s long sufficient not to be concerned about, and you can regularly only block the thing in (and it takes only 3 hours to assign from dull.

So how does it sound? That depends upon what you’re listening to. Rock sounds pretty rushed as well as jangly, exemplary song – notoriously perfectionist upon stereo apparatus – is equally bad. But try a little jazz, a little spoken-word or anything comfortable as well as funky as well as it sounds very great in truth. I have been obsessed with Noël Akchoté’s So Lucky these past weeks, which is an manuscript of instrumental acoustic guitar covers of Kylie Minogue’s hits (don’t giggle – it’s flattering overwhelming. The guitar and a squeaking of fingers on strings have been projected into an impressively large sound by the Supertooth. Which brings us onto a subwoofer.

You can really holder this speaker. At full volume it distorts, but it’s shrill sufficient to stop any conversations well before you get that distant up a dial. Press a bass-boost symbol by a main dial and you’ll get mixed formula. Sometimes it overpowers a song, alternative times it adds a right volume of warmth as well as flog. It’s not set-and-forget: You’ll be tweaking this upon a per-album basis. The drum itself is big, yet, as well as even with a volume reduction than median up you can feel a air punching out of a rear hole.

The Supertooth comes with a box, the spongy neoprene-type thing with a mesh hole for a bass-port as well as the Velcro-shut strap for a ports around back (power as well as line-in via jack). It seems perfect for gripping splashes off in a bathroom, or for receiving a speaker out for the trip.

Would I buy a Supertooth (it costs $150)? Sure. It’s not as good as the sub’n’satellite speakers I have bending up elsewhere, but deliberation the distance the orator sounds illusory (just drive clear of the White Stripes) as well as a portability will be a outrageous reward once my leg is no longer damaged. And prior to I go, here’s a single good additional make use of for the Supertooth. Because Bluetooth-streamed audio is in sync with any on-screen video from a same device, you can lay a Supertooth at the back of your iPad when examination cinema as well as suffer the flattering good mini-home-theater knowledge. Add in the pico-projector and… Well, that’s something entrance in the destiny post.

Supertooth Disco product page [Supertooth]

Photo: Charlie Sorrel