journal: toy

Microsoft’s new Zunes [UPDATED]

By UnnDunn, October 2, 2007

After months of speculation, Microsoft’s new Zunes are official, with two new models and a bevy of new software and features.

Leading us off is the new full-sized Zune 80, so called because it sports an 80GB hard drive. Available only in Black for the time being, the new Zune 80 will retail for $249. Next up are the smaller flash-based Zune 4 and Zune 8, packing 4GB and 8GB of storage, respectively. These will be available in Pink, Red, Green and Black, and will be priced at $199 and $149 for the 8GB and 4GB versions.

All the new Zunes sport a “Zune Pad”, which is a touch-sensitive replacement for the four-way directional button on the old Zune (renamed the Zune 30.) It still only functions as a four-way pad though, no scrollwheel or other gesture-based action here.

More significant is the new software that will be powering these Zunes. The new Zune software allows for wireless syncing with your PC, and the Zune’s much-maligned “squirt” feature has been tweaked to remove the 3-day limitation on received songs. But, they can still only be listened to 3 times. In addition, the new Zunes support H.264 and MPEG 4.

On…
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DT @ Digital Life 2007 - Jess Domain demos FordSync

By Nick, October 1, 2007

Digital Life 2007 took place in New York City last week, and our very own Uchendu Nwachukwu (AKA Unndunn) was there, where he got to play with the latest toys and spoke with a number of vendors about their products.

In this interview, Unndunn spends a few minutes with Jess Domain, discussing the Ford Sync in-car voice-activated entertainment and phone-control system. Ford Sync is the result of a partnership between Ford and Microsoft, and is based on Windows CE. It works with most popular digital audio players and cell phones, and integrates with the car stereo as well. Listen in as Unndunn and Jess discuss FordSync.

We’ll have some more content from Digital Life later this week.

Take a listen - MP3 format; 2.4 MB


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Everyone wins with an open iPhone

By Nick, September 29, 2007

I’m sure most of you have been following the drama regarding third-party applications on the iPhone. I won’t rehash the details, since I figure if you’re reading this site right now you know that the iPhone Update 1.1.1 breaks most of these unsupported third-party applications. Some applications are silly, others fill holes in the iPhone’ software package. The bottom line, however, is that Apple is seriously blowing a huge opportunity by not supporting third-party iPhone development.

It’s about innovation

Every year at WWDC, Apple recognizes developers who push Mac OS X to its limit and produce innovative, well-crafted applications. They call it the Apple Design Awards, and the list of winners from over the years is a veritable who’s-who of Mac developers. Without innovative third-party development, the Mac would not be what it is today--a vibrant platform with many intriguing, powerful, and innovative applications that make using a Mac downright fun.

Imagine what it would be like if theinnovators of the Mac world were able to bring their ideas and innovation to the iPhone/iPod touch platform as well. Apple put together a very slick software package with the iPhone, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just Apple at the party.…
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A quick look: AmazonMP3

By Nick, September 25, 2007

Happy day! There’s finally a service that will give iTunes a run for its money! It’s called AmazonMP3, and as I mentioned earlier, it features hig-quality DRM-free tracks for 89 or 99 cents per track and albums starting at $4.99. I am a longtime iTunes Store customer, but I decided to take Amazon’s new AmazonMP3 service out for a spin.

AmazonMP3 allows you to download tracks directly to your web browser, however, they recommend using a free helper application called Amazon MP3 Downloader (I know, it’s not the most clever name ever). Before I started exploring the store itself, I went ahead and downloaded and installed Amazon MP3 Downloader. After installing the software, I was taken to an instruction page which included link to download a free song in order to get a feel for how the service works. Since I’ve never purchased anything from Amazon before, I had to create an Amazon account to download the free song. The terms of use are your typical terms of use (songs are for personal use, etc…), however, this one section wins the Captain Obvious Award for this week:

All sales of Digital Content are final. We do not accept returns of…
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AmazonMP3: DRM-free MP3 service debuts

By Nick, September 25, 2007

Today Amazon has unveiled amazonMP3, a new online music download service. Individual songs run for 89 or 99 cents, depending on the song, and albums start at $4.99 (most albums range between $5.99 and $9.99). All the songs are in MP3 format, encoded at 256 kbps, and are DRM-free, which means that the songs you download will work on any digital audio player on the market today.

iTunes, the current online music store market leader, offers DRM-protected AAC files for 99 cents each, DRM-free singles for $1.29, and most albums for $9.99. iTunes has over 6 million songs available for download, while Amazon currently offers 2 million songs.

No DRM? Higher quality? Lower prices? Mac- and Windows-compatible?  Works with any digital audio player? Sounds like iTunes may have its first serious competitor!


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