Canada’s hottest high-tech toy is the MP3 player, but that won’t necessarily make MP3 manufacturers very happy.

While sales of MP3 players tripled in Canada between June, 2004, and June, 2005, according to research by the NPD Group market consultancy, nearly half of the people who bought them intended them as gifts, and a significant number of them couldn’t remember the brand they bought.

The growth of MP3 players far outpaced other hot high-tech toys such as flat-screen televisions, both LCD and plasma, which were in second place, and digital single-lens reflex cameras.

The Apple iPod is still the most popular MP3 player, NPD says, but other brands have lots of room to gain market share because the brand name is not the most important factor when Canadians select which one to buy. Pricing, followed closely by product features, were considered more important to consumers than brand names.

NPD found two distinct kinds of Canadian MP3 buyers: those buying MP3 players for themselves (47 per cent) and those purchasing the players for others as gifts (47 per cent). Those who purchased MP3 players for themselves were more likely to be male (63 per cent) between the ages of 18 and 34 (60 per cent), who were looking mainly for features (47 per cent) and pricing (45 per cent).

Purchases influenced by brand-name recognition counted for only 28 per cent of the buyers.

Consumers who purchased MP3 players as gifts tended to be female (54 per cent) between the ages of 35 and 54 (66 per cent). The primary recipients of the MP3 gifts were teenage children under 18.

In this group, good value at a good price were more important than name brand in making the decision of which player to buy.

But a significant portion of this group — 17 per cent — did not remember the name of the brand they purchased, and 30 per cent said that they would have purchased an alternative brand if the one they were looking for had not been available.

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Samsung YH-925GS. One of the best ways to carry a lot of music with you is to use a hard drive based MP3 player. Samsung, a relative new comer in the MP3 market has just released their interpretation of the hard drive based MP3 player called the YH-925 20GB Digital Audio Player.

This sleek small player holds up to 1200 hours of your favorite songs. Plus you can transfer and store digital pictures and view them on the vivid colour display.

Samsung YH-925GS Reviews

CNET Reviews reviews the Samsung YH-925GS and gives it a ‘Good’ rating. They write – ‘Beautiful, photo-friendly color screen; excellent interface; supports DRM-protected WMAs and subscription-download services; line-in and voice recording; plays Audible content; inexpensive when purchased online. Despite the addition of a color screen, Samsung’s latest iPod killer is actually a step back from its grayscale predecessor.’

PCMag reviews the Samsung YH-925GS and write – ‘The Samsung YH-925 is a promising player marred by serious sonic flaws. Acceptable quality without EQ, but all EQ settings are a disaster. If not for its audio problems, the YH-925 would be a desirable player. iriver has solved its audio problems in the H10 with a firmware upgrade; we hope that Samsung will do the same with the YH-925 and that we’ll have the opportunity to retest an improved version of it.’

Samsung YH-925GS Press Release

From the Manufacturer
The pocket-sized, 20 GB Samsung YH-925GS multimedia jukebox enables you to listen to and download your favorite digital music from subscription-based music download services. The YH-925GS supports MP3, WMA, Ogg, and is compatible with Secure WMA and Janus DRMs. Featuring a sharp 1-8-inch, 260K color TFT LCD, you’ll also be able to view JPEG photos and album cover art. This slim, compact player is just 0.65 inches thick and weighs only 7 ounces.
The YH-925GS offers plenty of powerful audiophile features, including 3D SRS surround sound capability for an even more spacious sound and a built-in recorder that captures songs from your CDs and cassettes (or voice from a microphone) in MP3 format. The 20 GB hard drive will be able to store more than 300 hours of MP3 or more than 600 hours of WMA files (over 5,000 MP3 or 10,000 WMA songs). The YH-925 also acts as a USB host, possessing the ability to connect with compatible USB On-The-Go (OTG) digital devices (like printers or PDAs) to perform file-sharing functions without the aid of a PC. It offers a super-fast USB 2.0 connectivity for transferring files between the device and your PC.

The YH-925GS has an internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery with an approximate 10-=hour battery life. It’s recharged using the included AC adapter, and it takes approximtely 3.5 hours to fully charge the player. Other features include Napster software (for ripping music from your CDs and purchasing tracks from the Napster online store), a loop repeating feature where you can select the start and end points, and equalizer presets including bass boost, SRS, WOW, TruBass, classical, jazz, pop, and rock.

What’s in the Box The YH-925GS 20 GB hard-drive multimedia player comes with a belt clip, earphones, line-in cable, USB cable, USB adapter, USB host adapter, charger, installation CD-ROM, and printed instructions.

Samsung YH-925GS Features

Weight– 1.7 lbs
Battery technology– Lithium polymer
Device type– Digital AV player
Key multimedia features– Voice recorder, Digital audio player, Digital photo viewer, External HDD function, Digital audio recorder
Hard drive– 20 GB
Display type– TFT 1.8 in – Color
Supported still images formats– JPEG
Supported audio formats– MP3, WAV, WMA, WMA DRM, Ogg Vorbis
PC interfaces– Hi-Speed USB
Battery– Internal – Rechargeable – Lithium polymer -
Included accessories– Belt clip, USB cable, Audio cable, Stereo headphones
Dimensions (WxDxH)– 2.4 in x 0.7 in x 4.2 in
Battery– Lithium polymer Rechargeable Internal

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The sporty RCA Lyra RD2212 ($129 list) packs some great features for joggers and gym rats into a small 2.2-ounce body. But despite very good sound quality, remarkably low distortion, and Audible.com support, the player suffers from difficult navigation, a slow interface, and a few other quirks. And 256MB of flash memory is just too low for today’s market.

RCA Lyra RD2212 Reviews

PCMag reviews the RCA Lyra RD2212 and write – ‘The Lyra RD2212A uses a double-A battery, giving it longer-than-average battery life (50 hours, according to RCA), but also making it a bit on the chunky side. The rubberized face and grip around the contour of the device keep it from slipping out of sweaty hands and protect it from shock and splashes. The multiline backlit display shows adequate information with good readability. Unfortunately, the rubberized controls offer a lot of resistance and aren’t very responsive. Instead of a hold switch, which we prefer, you lock and unlock the controls by holding down the menu button for a couple seconds… Overall, this is a very good-sounding, rugged player with decent sports headphones and some nice extra features. It also comes with an armband and a belt clip, which makes the device look a lot like a 1990s pager. It’s not a bad choice for fitness nuts, but we wish it had better controls and navigation, and perhaps a bit less bulk. And with only 256MB of memory, the player should also be cheaper.’

CNET Reviews the RCA Lyra RD2212 and gives it a ‘Good’ rating. They write – ‘An athlete-unfriendly interface spoils an otherwise solid workout MP3 player with awesome battery life. Sporty, splashproof design; excellent battery life; includes fitness-friendly extras such as a stopwatch, a calorie counter, and a pulse-rate monitor; supports DRM-protected WMA files.’

RCA Lyra RD2212 Press Release

RCA LYRA 512MB Sports Model includes; Splash proof easy to wear design for workouts, Stop watch, Pulse rate monitor and Calorie counter. Digital FM Tuner with FM Record. 3 Line Dot Matrix backlit display for navigating through this product’s different features and for navigating through your music selections.

RCA Lyra RD2212 Specifications

Product type– Radio / digital player
PC interface(s) supported– USB
Digital player supported digital audio standards– MP3, WMA, Audible, WMA DRM
Weight– 1.4 oz
Battery technology– Alkaline
Mfr estimated battery life– 50 hour(s)
Included accessories– Arm band, Belt clip
Software type– MusicMatch Jukebox
Service & support type– 1 year warranty
Audio system built-in display– LCD
Equalizer factory presets– Pop, Jazz, Rock
Tuner type– Digital Radio tuner
Headphones type– Binaural
Cable(s) included– USB cable -
Battery– 1 x Alkaline AA type Standard battery

Compare Price on the RCA Lyra RD2212

Sony is attacking Apple’s iPod Shuffle market with two new MP3 players in a similar price bracket, but with better battery life and a screen.

The Walkman Bean is a palm-sized MP3 player that comes with 1Gb or 512Mb of storage and 50 hours of battery life. The models will be priced at ?99 and ?79 respectively.

“Walkman Bean is sure to be the most instantly appealing digital music player on the market,” said Gregory Kukolj, general manager for Sony Personal Audio Europe.

“Walkman Bean combines striking design with optimum functionality and is fun, engaging and simple to use. All that, combined with an attractive price point, will make Walkman Bean irresistible to the consumer.”

The Bean comes in four colours: Tropical Ice (blue), Cotton Candy (pink), Licorice (black) and Coconut (white), reflecting the jelly beans it is designed to resemble. Music is downloaded via a pop-out USB port.

The Bean’s battery life is a significant improvement on the iPod Shuffle’s 12-15 hours and the new device also has a quick charge facility that can give three hours playing time on a three-minute charge.

The man behind the Furby and Poo-Chi has created an MP3-connectable interactive toy which is destined to hoot, rap, jiggle, burp and fart his way into the hearts of music lovers everywhere.

Know simply as iZ this 9in tall, poseable, animatronic boom box has a blobby belly balanced on bendy tripod legs and interactive, touch-sensitive belly button controls.

According to the blurb:

“iZ has a unique way of expressing his own, very individual sense of music style, with a glowing trumpet-shaped horn, moving eyes and protruding ears, which can be tweaked, cranked and twiddled to generate gyrating sounds and blastin’ beats”

Connecting to an i-Pod or any other MP3 player, iZ can be used to create three personalised rhythm tracks using seven different sounds and beats or as a portable speaker unit which reacts to individually created, downloaded tunes.

Available this Autumn priced around ?29.99, iZ comes in three colours: brash blue, raging red or go-getting green.

pocket-lint.co.uk

Gadget store Fancylogic sent as the Box2s Music Station portable MP3 Player stereo speakers for a quick review.

The Music Station has a folding design making it a small package to transport. Folded the speakers measure 110×60x60mm. Via the audio miniplug cable any mp3 or other music source can be connected. As you can see in the photos below most MP3 players can be put in the place in the middle of the speakers. The drawer is adjustable in depth to accommodate different players.

The portable speakers can either be powered with 4 AAA batteries or via DC 6V plug. The Music Station speakers come with a USB to DC cable to power the speakers via the USB port of a PC or notebook.

The sound quality is good, not overwhelming but definitely usable. The output power is high enough to start a party. Verdict: It is not a Bose SoundDock, but then it is way cheaper and also works with any MP3 player. There are tons of low-cost portable speakers out there and this is one of them.
The Music Station speakers sell for $42.50 (batteries not included).

Samsung Electronics will roll out six new models in the MP3 music player market in the second half of ’05 and plans up to 10 more next year to catch up with leader Apple Computer, an official said on Thursday.

Samsung Electronics introduced six new additions to its eight-model range of Yepp players in the first six months, in an effort to treble its annual sales to more than 5m units. But the target is still a sixth of the expected ’05 sales of rival Apple iPod player. The thumb to pocket-sized gadgets of both Samsung and Apple also face growing competition from mobile phone makers, who are adding MP3 music functions to high-end models.

“We will have a total of 12 new MP3 models this year and plan to introduce 5-to-7 flash type models and some two hard disk drive models in ’06,” Park Hyun-joo, an assistant manager of the Seoul-based company’s marketing division, said.

Samsung has been striving to win market share in the fast-growing and profitable MP3 market, which the South Korean company estimated at 45m units in ’05.

Walkman Bean is the new flash memory based MP3 player from Sony, combining an innovative ergonomic design with ultimate ease of use.

‘Bean’, so-named because of its unique shape, features a direct ‘pop-up’ USB jack, which can be inserted into a PC to transfer music with complete convenience.

Walkman Beans feature a bright 1-line OLED display making navigation through track listings simple, up to 50-hour playback from a Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery and a super high-speed charge facility, which provides the user with 3 hours play from just a 3-minute charge.

Walkman Bean is available in the following great colour schemes: Tropical Ice (Blue), Cotton Candy (Pink), Licorice (Black) and Coconut (White). All colours take their inspiration from various flavours of jellybean, owing to the shape of the device.

Walkman Bean will be available in both 512MB and 1 GB capacity (NW-E205 and NW-E207). All equally funky and playful, there will also be a 512 MB model with a built in FM tuner (NW-E305).

Walkman Bean features ATRAC3plus and MP3 Playback and ships with SonicStage® 3.2 file management software. As well as managing your music library, SonicStage® provides seamless access to the CONNECT™ catalogue of more than 700,000 tracks and albums available for download.

“Walkman Bean is sure to be the most instantly appealing digital music player on the market”, says Gregory Kukolj, General Manager for Personal Audio Europe. “Walkman Bean combines striking design with optimum functionality and is fun, engaging and simple to use.”.

According to the latest research from NPD Group, sales of MP3 players in Canada more than tripled between June 2004 and June 2005, with growth outpacing flat-screen TVs (LCD and plasma) and digital SLR cameras, which took the second and third spots, respectively.

Although the Apple iPod is the dominant player in the category, NPD says that brand name is not the top purchasing driver, leaving opportunity for other brands to build market share. According to the Group, pricing, followed closely by product features, are more important to consumers than brand name.

NPD research also identified two distinct consumer groups among Canadians: those buying MP3 players for themselves (47 per cent) and those purchasing the players for others as gifts (47 per cent). Those who purchased MP3 players for themselves were more likely to be male (63 per cent) between the ages of 18-34 (60 per cent). The top-ranked purchase drivers for this group were features (47 per cent) and pricing (45 per cent). Brand name influenced purchase decisions only 28 per cent of the time.

Consumers who purchased MP3 players as gifts tended to be female (54 per cent) between the ages of 35 and 54 (66 per cent). The primary recipients of the MP3 gifts were teenage children under 18. Like the previous consumer segment, good value at a good price were more important than name brand in the decision making process. Seventeen per cent of consumers within this group did not remember the name of the brand they purchased, and 30 per cent said that they would have purchased an alternative brand if the one they were looking for had not been available.

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Singapore police say they have arrested three people, including a student, in the city-state’s first online music piracy case.

The unnamed trio are alleged to have at least 20,000 MP3 music files “intended for distribution” on their computers, police said in a statement.

They could be jailed for up to 5 years and fined 100,000 Singapore dollars ($A79,220). It was not immediately clear when they would be charged.

Police said they received information from the Recording Industry Association of Singapore, which includes recording companies such as Sony BMG, Warner and Universal Music, in March about the activities of the three on an internet chat forum.

“Police conducted extensive probes into the said internet relay chat channel and managed to ascertain the identities of the perpetrators,” the statement read.

Singapore is among the most wired countries in the world, with around eight in 10 households owning personal computers.