Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

Ultra small MP3 players are almost to the point where they’re a dime a dozen, but few of them stand out in the relatively crowded market. While the Apple Shuffle remains at the top of the heap, other manufacturers have been trying to find ways to make their own players unique enough to grab a sizable chunk of the market share.

The Avox NF-101 from a Korean company called Plezo isn’t quite as small as the Shuffle (52 x 33 x 12mm), but it makes up for that in terms of features. Besides a small screen, the NF-101 also has an FM radio, a voice recorder, a pointless e-book reader and the ability to adjust the playing speed of tracks which is great for people who enjoy audiobooks. But the feature that will probably attract the most attention is a 500mW built-in speaker for those times you don’t feel like wearing headphones, or want to share a song with a friend without them using your earbuds.

Unfortunately I have no idea when the Avox NF-101 will be released, but when it is I have to assume the price will be competitive with the Shuffle.

[ Avox NF-101 ] VIA [ Ubergizmo ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Are you tired of the rather limited choice of color when it comes to home theater components? Basically it’s black, silver, or go out and buy a can of spray paint. And while I actually prefer black so everything disappears when the lights go off, I can appreciate the desire for something more original like the Karim Rashid Spring ‘08 Editions of Olive’s OPUS Nº5 digital audio server.

I’ve never heard of the guy, and while he looks like just another designer with a shaved head and thick-framed glasses, I do like some of these designs. They were apparently created “with a repeated element symbolic of binary notation for a perfect container of sound.” As for the OPUS Nº5 itself, it’s another digital audio server that’s aimed towards the audiophile crowd in terms of sound quality and price. It includes a 400, 500 or 750GB hard drive and converting a CD is as easy as sticking it in the slot and hitting a button. The OPUS Nº5 even has a built-in database of more than 2,400,000 albums which means if you don’t have internet access, there’s a good chance it already has the data for the CD you’ve just ripped.

The OPUS Nº5 starts at $2,999 for the 400GB version in Silver and goes up to $3,999 for the 750GB version in black. The Karim Rashid editions only come in 750GB versions for $3,999 each.

[ Olive OPUS Nº5 Karim Edition ] VIA [ Crave ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Even with the benefit of the force, I still don’t see how Luke Skywalker could understand a single thing R2D2 was saying. But somehow they managed to not only carry on many conversations, but provide us with enough expository dialogue so we could follow along too.

Apparently though, it’s taken 30 years from when Star Wars was first released for someone to finally decipher the R2-unit dialect, and provide us with a handy online translator. The 30 character limit is kind of lame, and I don’t recommend using headphones to listen to the translations because some of them are particularly high-pitched and shrill. But once your phrase is translated you do have the option to download the sound file as an MP3 and use it as a cellphone ringtone or an annoying voicemail message.

[ R2D2 Translator ] VIA [ TheForce.Net ]

Are you a huge J. Lo (wait, I think she’s back to calling herself Jennifer Lopez now) fan? If you are, then you’ve probably purchased her latest CD already. However, if you’ve not rushed out to buy it and have some extra cash burning a hole in your pocket, you can pick up her latest album on a slightly different medium.

The Jennifer Lopez Flash Drives are crafted out of African Mahogany and come complete with a copy of the new album Brave. I think it’s cool that some artists are looking to alternative forms of content delivery, however, it baffles me how they want to charge an outrageous fee for their product. Sure, the drive might not look half bad, but there’s no way it’s worth the $70 price tag that’s been placed on it. They don’t even bother telling us what the capacity of the drive is.

[Gresso] VIA [Boy Genius]

By Andrew Liszewski

Given my earlier post I guess I should declare this ‘retro audio cassette day‘ here on OhGizmo! And in keeping with that theme here’s a new way to enjoy audio cassettes, without having to deal with their craptastic sound quality.

The MIXA is basically a 1GB flash drive that’s been integrated into an audio cassette shell. The real appeal though comes with the MIXA website which allows you to interactively design a custom label for the tape. You can choose from a collection of pre-existing designs, which still offer a bit of customization, or upload your own images and graphics. Once the design is completed and the finished USB cassette arrives you can then load it up with your own ‘mix tape’ of MP3s.

The MIXA costs about $40 but includes worldwide shipping as well as a unique sleeve (also designed by you), a set of MIXA stickers and a USB extension cable.

[ Make A Mixa ] VIA [ Retro To Go ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I can understand why analog audio fans still embrace vinyl records since they can last a remarkably long time with a little TLC. Consumer-grade audio cassettes however, I just don’t get. The tape is easy to damage and since it’s a magnetic medium it will degrade over time, there’s no stopping it. So if for some reason you want to preserve that crappy mix tape you recorded off the radio I suggest getting it converted to a digital format as soon as possible.

The plusdeckEX is designed to do just that. It connects to a PC via USB and includes a 7.1 channel built-in sound card for converting the analog signal from a cassette tape into a digital file format like MP3. The downside of course is that the process can only be done in real-time (unlike ripping an audio CD) but it ensures your analog tunes will be preserved for an eternity. (As long as you properly backup the files.)

And for those who are still living with just a cassette player in their cars the plusdeckEX works the other way as well, allowing you to transfer your MP3s to an audio cassette and enjoy them on the road. There doesn’t appear to be any pricing info on the plusdeckEX as of yet, but it’s expected to go on sale sometime in 2008.

[ plusdeckEX ] VIA [ Freshpilot ]

By Shane McGlaun

Blaupunkt has been making car stereos for a long time now and recently it announced its newest stereo head unit called the Melbourne SD27. The Melbourne SD27 ditches that oh so 90’s CD player in favor of getting its recorded music from SD and MMC cards. Now you don’t need that FM transmitter or a cable to play your digital music files in your car, all you need is a SD card or miniSD card with an adapter and you can play your tunes directly through the radio.

The cards have to be formatted in FAT 16 of FAT 32 and it can playback MP3 or WMA files. The SD27 also can display up to 127 directories of file names and ID3 tags of up to 30 characters. There is also an optional Bluetooth module and iPod control module available that allows connectivity to music phones wirelessly and control of your iPod from the radio.

VIA [ Blaupunkt ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Unless you’ve bought a new car or upgraded your stereo in the past few years you probably don’t have an easy way to enjoy your MP3s while driving. One of the more popular (and affordable) solutions to the problem has been to use an FM transmitter to broadcast the songs to your car’s radio and this is the first MP3 player I’ve seen to actually have that functionality built-in.

A small antenna supposedly improves the transmission signal and the FM frequency can be set between 88.1 and 106.1 FM depending on which stations are not already being used in your particular area. The player comes in 1Gb or 2Gb versions, is compatible with both MP3 and WMA files and supports simple drag and drop file transfers. A ‘multi-color’ OLED display provides basic navigation functionality and even though it’s about the size of a postage stamp also allows you to read e-books. As for battery life when just listening to MP3s you’re looking at around 10 hours of playback but with the FM transmitter working that gets reduced to about 5 hours.

The player is currently available from Maplin at about $60 for the 1Gb version and about $80 for the 2Gb.

[ MP3 Player with Built-in FM Transmitter ] VIA [ Ubergizmo ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m probably one of only a handful of people on the planet who actually misses having a trackball on a laptop, so I immediately have a soft spot for this Trackball MP3 Player concept created by Dae-Ki Hong. Instead of pushing buttons or using a touch-sensitive scroll wheel you simply roll a small trackball in the direction of whichever control you wish to execute. It even works the same way when placed upside down on a flat surface which reminds me of another device I just can’t put my finger on…

While I like the translucent plastic design of the player I have to wonder about the lack of screen, the ease at which a trackball can be accidentally rolled and not to mention the trackball’s notorious history of collecting dirt and grime.

[ Trackball Player ] VIA [ Ubergizmo ]