Apple’s iPod Nano may be receiving rave reviews, but a slew of Nano owners are complaining about the device’s screen getting scratched too easily. Apple’s support forum contains several hundred postings discussing the flaw, with some claiming that their Nano’s screen is unreadable because of the scratches. The majority of Nano owners made it clear that the device was not treated badly and said pockets, fingernails and soft cloths all caused extreme scuffing.

After a great review by Ars Technica at the Nano’s launch basically stating the device was indestructible, the revelation that the screen scratches too easily surprises us. We haven’t seen one in person yet, but the pictures look pretty bad on some of the devices.

“I don’t really care if the case on my Nano gets scratched but my screen has scratched up so badly that all the images are starting to become distorted,” one Nano owner wrote. “I have only carried it in my small pocket in my shorts and nothing is in there to scratch it. I still can’t figure how the screen looks like it has been rubbed with sandpaper when the entire time it has been safe in my pocket (with absolutely no items).”

In what can be considered more than just a coincidence, several iLoungers report that iPodResQ has raised the price of its iPod nano LCD screen replacement service from $99 to $145. “We are experiencing a temporary price increase on the nano LCD repair due to LCD availability and overwhelming demand,” the company states on its website.

geekcoffee.net

The Register has an interesting story today on Apple and her curious censorship.

‘Although Apple allows punters to personalize iPods bought at its online store, it operates a bizarre discrimination policy, a Register reader has discovered.

If you want to engrave it with your name, you had better not be called Nigel. Or Nige. The text is rejected as “Inappropriate”.

It’s not the first example of bizarre censorship from Apple. The company’s online music kiosk lumped Miles Davis in with gangsta rappers by preventing browsers from seeing the full title of his 70s classic Bitches Brew.

But there’s good news if you’re a pervert. You can proudly engrave your iPod with the words “Paedophile” or “Nonce” – positive discrimination, perhaps? – while “Mofo”, “Bumwipe” and “Arse Candle” are also cheerfully accepted.

Sparing you the usual “Apple declined to comment”, we turned instead to the excellent Unofficial Apple Weblog, where readers confirm that racist and sexual keywords are typically banned.

“Makes a lot of sense of you think about it,” writes one fan, defending the policy. “If Apple allowed such words/profanity the value of their products will go down.”

Quite so – but popular forenames, too? Is an iPod engraved with a “Nigel” really worth less? The Nigels of the world must unite and stand firm. Or before we know it, Apple will be coming after the Kevins.’

Pcpro.co.uk reported: The long awaited fuel cell for portable devices is finally on the horizon.

Toshiba says it has developed two fuel cells for use in audio players.
The direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) units are based on the technology that Toshiba announced in 2004. Instead of requiring recharging from a power source, the fuel cells are recharged simply by refilling with methanol commonly used in cleaning fluids.

Toshiba says that the new fuel cell units can supply power of 100mW and 300mW, which are enough to drive a flash-memory-based digital audio player and an HDD-based digital audio player, respectively.

The 100mW unit power unit measures 23mm x 75mm x 10mm, roughly the same size as a packet of chewing gum. The company claims that the unit can power the flash-based player for approximately 35 hours on a single 3.5ml charge of highly concentrated methanol. The 300mW unit is somewhat wider at 60mm x 75mm x 10mm and is said to provide enough power to keep a hard disk-based music player running for approximately 60 hours on a single 10ml charge.

The prototype audio players are quite hefty beasts. With a fully loaded fuel tank they weigh 78.5g and 270g respectively although Toshiba says that this includes test equipment which will be eliminated in any production model.

Micro-Star International (MSI), a leading maker of motherboards in Taiwan, next month will offer a 4GB HDD (hard disc drive) based MP3 player equipped with a 1.8-inch color screen for sale at below NT$5,000 (US$154) in the Taiwan retail market under its own brand-name, according to local retail channels.

MSI has reportedly landed orders for 50,000 such own-brand MP3 players from European retail channels, the local retail channels pointed out. MSI, however, declined to comment on the report.

iRiver plans to offer 2GB and 4GB flash-based MP3 players next quarter and launch them in Taiwan in the first quarter of next year, according to iRiver Taiwan’s general manager James Yiin. Samsung plans to launch 2GB flash-based MP3 players and models of 4GB and higher capacities in Taiwan next quarter, Samsung Electronics Taiwan noted.

According to Steve Jobs, the iPod Nano is the “biggest revolution since the original iPod.” It’s certainly a technical and design wonder at 3.5 by 1.6 by 0.3 inches and 1.5 ounces–repeat: 0.3 inch thick and 1.5 ounces. It’s smaller than it looks in photos. The flash-based Nano comes in classic white or black and two capacities: 2GB and 4GB at $199 and $249, respectively, and it replaces the current iPod Mini line.

Apple iPod Nano Reviews

PCMag reviews the Apple iPod Nano and writes – ‘Sure, it doesn’t have an FM tuner or voice recording, but it does have an unsurpassed interface, excellent sound quality, and an undeniable cool factor.

Very thin. Excellent sound quality. Color screen.’

CNET Reviews the Apple iPod Nano MP3 player and write – ‘Apple’s done it again. By virtue of a sweet design backed by decent tech (first 4GB flash player, photo-friendly color screen), Apple will keep its ball rolling swiftly into the holiday season. The Nano’s capacity will turn off many experienced MP3 fans, but we have a feeling that newbies will flock to the next big thing and help maintain Apple’s 74 percent U.S. market share for all digital audio players. ‘

Apple iPod Nano Press Release

From the Manufacturer

Take everything you love about iPod and shrink it. Now shrink it again. The pencil-thin iPod nano packs the entire iPod experience into an impossibly small design. So small, it will take your music places you never dreamed of.

Believe Your Ears
Call it astonishing. Unbelievable. Impossible, even. Then pick it up and hold it in your hand. Take in the brilliant color display. Run your thumb around the Click Wheel. Put on the earbuds and turn up your music. That’s when everything becomes clear: It’s an iPod.

It holds up to three days’ worth of music. It plays for up to 14 hours between battery charges.(1) It displays the color album art for the song you’re listening to right now. It carries your photos, podcasts and audiobooks. It syncs seamlessly with iTunes. It connects to a host of iPod accessories. Simply put, iPod nano is 100-percent iPod. And then some.

Touch and Go
iPod nano’s Click Wheel puts music under your thumb. Click to fast-forward, rewind, play, pause or access menus. Use the touch-sensitive surface to control volume or browse music. You can do it all without looking. But with an iPod this beautiful, who’d want to?

Song Stylings
Add accessories to your iPod nano via the Dock connector and headphone jack and your music will always keep up with you — at home, on the go, even in your car. Of course, in either signature white or sleek black, iPod nano itself makes the ultimate accessory.

Up to 4 GB(2) of skip-free storage on a featherweight iPod means you can wear almost three days’ worth of music around your neck. Or jog with 1,000 songs on your arm. Now that you can take your music everywhere, there’s no limit to where it will take you.

Product Features

Holds up to 1,000 songs and full-color album art
Only 3.5 x 1.6 x 0.27 inches and 1.5 ounces
Bright 1.5-inch color LCD display
Up to 14 hours of battery life(
Apple Click Wheel
Charges and syncs via USB
Accessory-compatible Dock connector
Completely skip-free playback
Works with Mac OS X or Windows 2000/XP
Plays music, podcasts and audiobooks
Holds up to 25,000 photos
Syncs contacts, calendars and to-do lists

Rechargeable batteries have a limited number of charge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced. Battery life and the number of charge cycles vary by use and settings. See www.apple.com/batteries for more information.
1GB = 1 billion bytes; actual formatted capacity less. Song capacity based on 4 minutes per song and 128-Kbps AAC encoding

Compare Price on the Apple iPod Nano

As Apple Computer Inc., the world’s top MP3 player maker, has unveiled its latest low-priced iPod, local contenders are feeling the pressure more than ever.
On the release of the new iPod, called the Nano, on Wednesday most domestic MP3 makers responded, “We have no measure to cope with the giant’s superiority in terms of competitiveness in both efficiency and price.”

Four-gigabyte nanos will be priced at $249 and two-gigabyte nanos will retail for $199 each. The prices are much cheaper compared with other products equivalent in size and efficiency.

“The price is much lower than any other products in the local market,” said a manager of a domestic maker. “The merit of such a low price is so overwhelming to neutralize any other merits of contender goods.”

Thus, local contenders will struggle to survive in the cut-throat pricing battle, coping with the increasing dominance of industry leader Apple’s new iPod.

However, “Due to the release of the cheap Nano, local rivals are unlikely to have opportunities to reverse Apple’s dominant market share,” said analysts.

The industrial consolidation will threaten local rivals such as Reigncom, maker of the nifty iRiver players that have won good reviews, and fellow South Korean firm MPIO Ltd. unable to withstand the pressure, suffering plummeting sales and razor-thin margins.

“The competition will continue to be severe in 2006 with the tough pricing environment, but next year, we expect some non-viable companies in Korea to be forced out of the market,” said Reigncom’s Yang.

However, the price competitiveness of the Nano stems mostly from its recent deal with Samsung. The new iPod relies on NAND-type flash memory, replacing the hard drive-based iPod Mini. In the deal, Samsung, the world’s largest supplier for flash-memory chips, offered 40% of its NAND-type flash-memory manufacturing capacity at a deep discount. The discount rate is under wraps, but is speculated as about 50% by analysts.

The deal between the two giants has been an open secret in chip industry circles for several months. Experts analyzing the rumor around the deal believe the main reason for Samsung to woo Apple is to transform the iPod lineup from hard drive-based to flash-based. If this is true, Samsung can take advantage of the line-up change because it will not be easy for Apple to return later to hard drive-based.

Apple also may enjoy technical advantages by converting its iPod line to a flash-based system, according to Kim Nam-hyung, analyst with iSuppli. NAND-type flash memory makes the iPod as thin as a pencil, one-third the size of the predecessor, and more energy-efficient with a 14-hour rechargeable battery.

koreaherald.co.kr

The Philips PSA612 4GB Sport MP3 Player with FM Tuner is available for pre-order on Amazon.com.

The Philips PSA612 was first announced as PSA610 in February. Back then it was still co-branded with Nike.
The Philips PSA612 features a 4GB hard-drive. It is Microsoft Plays For Sure complaint and supports therefore WMA DRM music files.
The new Philips player will ship October 1st.
The Philips PSA612 sells for $189.99 on Amazon.com.
The Philips player has a cool design and the price is all right. A HDD for sports is not ideal, but I assume Philips put enough buffering electronics in there to not get a skipping issue.
To play it save a flash player like the 4GB iPod nano should be considered.

LOGITECH has added to its growing portfolio of mobile music products by introducing two new headphones designed for the fast-growing MP3 market – Wireless Headphones and Curve Headphones for MP3.

“People use their MP3 players in a variety of situations and they need stereo headphones that include features to enhance their music in different environments,” said general manager of Logitech Australia, Marco Manera.

“Logitech has created a line of products that give people the power of choice when it comes to phones for mobile music players. The Wireless Headphones for MP3 remove the hassle of tangled cords and unleash people from their music players.

“The Curve Headphones provide features for active users and those who want to make a fashion statement with their headphones. Both provide superior audio quality, comfort and fit.”

Wireless Headphones for MP3

The Wireless Headphones for MP3 give new meaning to ‘mobile music’. With 10m of wireless range, people can leave their music player on the kitchen counter while they roam around the home, or put it away in a backpack if they’re on the go, without missing a beat.

The integrated controls on the side of the headphones allow adjustment of the volume – without touching the music player. They feature advanced Bluetooth 1.2 wireless technology, which includes adaptive frequency hopping for interference-free, crystal-clear digital audio.

The Wireless Headphones work with any MP3 or CD player and connect instantly by plugging the adapter into a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.

They feature 40mm full-range neodymium drivers that deliver rich audio and enhanced bass performance, along with rechargeable batteries which can play up to eight hours of music per charge.

The Logitech Wireless Headphones for MP3 have a comfortable, behind-the-head design and are made of lightweight, durable material.

Curve Headphones for MP3

Designed for the active mobile music enthusiast, whether it’s at the gym, mountain biking or rock climbing, these headphones will stand up to the terrain. The Curve Headphones are crafted from translucent polycarbonate material, making them water resistant, lightweight and extremely durable.

ferret.com.au

Sony has introduced a new MP3 player, called Walkman. The new models will be available in a 2OGB (NW-A3000) and 6GB (NW-A1000) versions – 20GB (NW-A3000) and 6GB (NW-A1000) and come in violet, siler and pink colours with matching earphones.

By selecting ‘My Favorite Shuffle’, the device automatically selects the most listened to 100 songs and plays them at random. The ‘Time Machine Shuffle’ function randomly selects a year and plays all of the songs from that particular year that are currently held on the device.

Once switched on, a mobile phone style ‘Home’ menu appears offering nine different options that can be selected via the four-way directional button. These include ‘Music Library’, ‘Play Mode’, ‘Initial Search’, ‘Intelligent Shuffle’, ‘Favorite 100′, ‘Play History’, ‘Settings’, ‘Playlist’ and ‘Now Playing’.

Music can be searched in a variety of ways, via ‘Genre’, ‘Artist’, ‘Album’, ‘Song’, ‘Release Date’, ‘Rating’ and ‘Recently Transferred’, all of which can be scrolled through to enable users to find their music faster and easier. Sony WALKMAN records three years of playback history that can be searched and also features the first ever ‘Initial Search’ on a hard disc device, allowing the user to scroll from A-Z for ultimate ease of use.

The models will measure W55.0mm x H88.1mm x D18.7mm (the thinnest part is 11.5mm) with a 1.5in screen for the 6Gb player and W65.2mm x H104.2mm x D21.4mm (the thinnest part is 13.5mm) with a 2in screen for the 20Gb.

This little cube-shaped MP3 player has been causing quite a stir around the gadget world lately (at least for a diminutive, cube-shaped MP3 player). So, to find out what all the hub-bub was about, I recently checked out the Mobiblu DAH-1500i, and to be honest.

The cube shape is very cool, it’s not necessarily the smartest setup for an MP3 player. Especially not for a tiny MP3 player. Rather than giving you much real estate to work with for you user interface, you get six equally small surfaces, and since there are buttons on only two of those surfaces, buttons get really small really quickly.
However, the small buttons aren’t a terrible detractor.

The screen is small, and everything on it has to scroll to be read. That means that navigation doesn’t come terribly easily, but navigation on any flash unit this small comes with a cost. At this size, it’s pretty cool that you can do any on-screen navigation.

Features and Specifications
.94 x .94 x .94 inches
.63 ounces
OLED display
1gb flash memory (also comes in 512mb versions)
Built-In Lithium-Ion Battery (charges via USB)
Audio playback: Mp3, Wma, Wma DRM
Voice recording
FM Radio
FM recording
Clock
5-Band Custom Equalizer and 5 preset settings
USB 2.0 connection
Folder navigation