Slacker radio added to Sony BRAVIA Internet Video Link

If you've found yourself dumbfoundedly staring at your Bravia Internet Video Link-equipped HDTV thinking "when am I going to see some Slacker radio up in this piece?" -- you're in luck. Sony announced today that it would be bringing the streaming service to users of the company's $300 hardware add-on free of charge, allowing music hounds to grab "millions" of songs on over "100 individually programmed genre music stations" in CD-quality audio. The service joins other streaming content like YouTube and Amazon, and will be available immediately. So... why are you still reading this?

[Via: ZatzNotFunny ]

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Archos 5 unboxing and hands-on

The Archos 5 has already been thoroughly torn apart in French by the cats at Archos Lounge, but there's nothing quite like getting your hands on a device for yourself, and while we found Archos' latest to be impressive in terms of raw ability and features, actually using all those features wasn't always smooth going. Although the 800 x 480 4.8-inch touchscreen is laudably bright and clear, it's still a resistive touch panel and feels like one, depressing slightly with each press and reacting a bit slowly in general. We used two different builds of the firmware, and while the second was an improvement, it still hung badly at times and occasionally crashed out hard, requiring a reset. The Opera-powered browser rendered fine, although it scrolled a bit choppily, and the mail client was functional, but obviously not capable enough to be used day-to-day -- it can't delete IMAP emails, for example. We were also a little annoyed by the constant come-ons for accessories and plug-ins -- plugging in the charger pops up an ad for a dock -- and we were left wondering why album art was downscaled so crappily with such a great display available. We also tried out the DVR station accessory, and while it upscaled the interface and content to 720p admirably, we were unable to get it to recognize component video in from a TiVo HD. That's basically the story here: the 5's got terrific potential but nothing's quite there yet -- too much seems missing, broken, or otherwise unpolished right now. There are more firmware updates scheduled, so we'll see how things go, and we may well be singing a different tune entirely when the plug-in enabling the 5g's built-in 3G modem is released, but for now we'd say we're a little disappointed in what should be a kickass little player.
[Via: Engadget ] [Tag: archos, archos 5, archos generation 6, Archos5, ArchosGeneration6, features, generation 6, Generation6, hands on, HandsOn, unboxing ]

Sony rounds out its iPod dock offerings with three new models

We already caught sight of Sony's ZS-S4iP iPod dock / boombox when it turned up in Australia, but it looks like there's a few more Made for iPod devices where that one came from, with Sony now also debuting three more docks of various sorts. That includes the clock radio-style ICF-CD3iPSIL model pictured above, the HD Radio-packing XDR-S10HDiP (after the break), and the plain-old SRS-GU10IP (also after the break), which provides one big speaker and nothing else. From the looks of it, the XDR-S10HDiP and SRS-GU10UP are both available right now direct from Sony and will set you back $180 and $150, respectively, while the ICF-CD3iPSIL will only be available at the end of the month, though you can get a pre-order in now for $100.

[Via: Engadget ] [Tag: ICF-CD3iPSIL, ipod dock, IpodDock, made for ipod, MadeForIpod, sony, SRS-GU10IP, XDR-S10HDiP ]

KAON's KM35 PMP does mobile TV on the side

Pucker up, jet-setters -- South Korea's own KAON Media has a new PMP on the way, and for whatever reason, we've found ourselves strangely attracted to what the KM35 has going on here. The "Anywhere TV and Internet" device runs on Windows CE (and handles fresh-out-of-cinema films very well) and features a 3.5-inch 320 x 240 resolution display, 4GB or 8GB NAND flash drive, WiFi, an SD expansion slot, optional FM tuner and your choice of DVB-T/H, ISDB-T or T-DMB TV tuners. Early estimates peg battery life at around 2.5-hours when watching live TV, though there's no word yet on pricing or worldwide availability.

[Via: Engadget ]
[Tag: conglomerate,dvb-t,KAON,KM35,korea,mobile tv,MobileTv,pmp,south korea,SouthKorea ]

Sonos gets official on ZP120 and ZP90, but no new controller

It's been a while since Sonos last had a significant hardware announcement, so welcome into the world their new ZP120 ($500) and Z90 ($350), as well as the $1,000 BU150 bundle (which includes both the new devices and the same original controller). The main difference, which we'd already heard: they now both support SonosNet 2.0, which uses MIMO to double the wireless distance between nodes. Also clear to those paying close attention, the amp-enabled aluminum-clad flagship model (ZP120) has undergone an intense weight loss treatment, leaving it significantly smaller than its predecessor (but still capable of driving 55W of sound).
Sonos is also launching the 2.6 version of its desktop software, which indexes more music than before (65k tracks total) and, surprisingly enough, gives new AND existing users $200 in free music from sites like eMusic and Livedownloads. Of course, the one piece of Sonos gear we've been most longing to see updated -- the $400 controller -- has gone totally untouched, and won't even be getting SonosNet 2.0. Maybe they'll throw us a bone and hook us up with an iPod touch / iPhone controller app in the mean time, but we're not holding our breath. Photos and unboxing / hands-on shots below.
[Via: Engadget ]
[Tag: breaking news,BreakingNews,BU150,sonos,zp120,zp90 ]

iLuv's i1255 desktop iPod / DVD player combo now shipping

Hey there partner, we just know that troubled look on your face is due to the inability to find yourself a DVD player / iPod dock combo that looks ever-so-slightly like an Atari console, right? If so, you'll be completely relieved to find that iLuv's CES-announced i1255 is now on sale and shipping to whomever pays the stated asking price with a non-stolen, non-maxed out credit card. If you couldn't tell, this unit acts as a vanilla DVD player and enables iPod owners to play back audio / video clips on their television or sound system without messing with additional cables. Shoot, there's even an iPod-tailored on-screen display to sort through your playlists and such. Lasso yours now for just $149.99.

[Via: Engadget ]
[Tag: dvd, dvd player, DvdPlayer, i1255, iLuv, ipod radio, IpodRadio, now shipping, NowShipping, shipping, ships ]

Yoto M400: like the M300, but for real this time

Now that we've got the white-knuckle excitement of the Yoto M300's Asian-only deut out of our systems, we're getting hit with a sequel, the M400. Basically the same codec-friendly non-touchscreen PMP as the M300, it looks like the M400 features slightly better build quality in addition to adding PlayFX and TV-out. Oh, and it's not a render, so that's another tick in the plus column. Still, we're not quite convinced we're willing to travel to China and drop our hard-earned yuan on this bad boy yet -- let's see what the inevitable M500 has to offer.

[Via: PMP Today ]
[Tag: m400,mp4,mp4 player,Mp4Player,pmp,yoto ]

Movie Cowboy stores your HD media, outputs on-the-go

Move over Mvix, there's a new vaquero in town, and it goes by Movie Cowboy. Comically titled as such by manufacturer Digital Cowboy, this portable HD multimedia hard drive comes ready to accept whatever 2.5-inch SATA drive you want to toss within, and after you've loaded it up with material via the USB port, you can slam it down in the bundled cradle for big screen enjoyment. Said dock boasts stereo / coaxial digital / Toslink audio outputs along with component / composite / HDMI video outs. The media player itself supports a respectable quantity of file formats, including WMV, DivX HD, MPEG1/2/4, XviD, ISO, IFO, VOB, AAC, WMA, MP3 and OGG. Not that we really see this thing heading Stateside anytime soon, but those in Japan can pick one up in the coming weeks for ?24,800 ($237). Shot of the rear is waiting after the jump.

[Via: AkihabaraNews ]
[Tag: digital cowboy,DigitalCowboy,hd media player,HdMediaPlayer,media hard drive,media player,MediaHardDrive,MediaPlayer,movie cowboy,MovieCowboy,multimedia hard drive,MultimediaHardDrive ]

Planex DigiJuke NAS snags YouTube and BitTorrent video then jams it down the Wii, Xbox 360, iPod... and throat of MPAA

Here it is copyright bandits, the single biggest reason (other than silicone) to make a Hollywood studio notice of you: the MZK-NAS02SG1T network attached server from Planex. The main selling point behind the the ¥54,799 (about $524) 1TB Gigabit Ethernet block is the claim to "universal access" for all your devices. That little trick comes courtesy of its DigiJuke browser for searching and tagging the BitTorrent and YouTube content you want downloaded in the appropriate PSP and iPod (MPEG-4), Wii (FLV), or TV (MPEG-2) format for in-home or on-the-go viewing. The NAS also streams audio and video to your iTunes laptops or desktops or DLNA TV, Xbox 360, or other compliant device in the home. A front-facing USB 2.0 jack offers one-touch dubbing of USB sticks while a second around back offers ready storage expansion. It ships with a pair of 3.5-inch 500GB drive which you can swap out for higher capacity spinners at a later date. That is if the studios don't shut you down first.


[Via: Impress ]
[Tag: bittorrent, dlna, japan, MZK-NAS02SG1T, nas, planex, youtube ]