I still think of those giant yellow cassette players from the 1980’s when I hear the Walkman name. It also reminds me of those huge headphones with the built-in FM radio sporting the giant antenna that I used to see people wearing when they ran. I’m surprised most joggers didn’t end up with neck injuries from the massive things.
Sony has added a new product to the Walkman line that is slick and sounds a lot like the iPod touch. The new gadget is the Walkman X-series and it is available in 16GB for $299 and 32GB for $399. Other than the amount of storage, the two models are the same. Both sport a 3-inch OLED screen for video in WMV or MPEG-4 formats.
I usually shoot pictures with a Nikon D80, but I still like to keep a nice, small point-and-shoot around for the times I don’t feel like hefting the behemoth D80 around. A thin point-and-shoot that can be slipped into a pocket or backpack is a welcome addition for most people who like to shoot with more advanced cameras typically.
Sony announced a pair of new cameras this week that are perfect for those looking for thing cameras. The DSC-T77 is very thin at under 5/8-inch thick — making it perfect to complement my DSLR. The T77 may be thin, but it still packs in lots of features including a large 3-inch touch sensitive LCD, Smile Shutter, face detection and ISO sensitivity up to ISO 3200.
Mobile products are generally limited by three factors: size, power and battery life. There’s not much that the end-user can do to change the power or size (except to make it larger) of their mobile device of choice, however, battery life is something that can be worked on. In the case of the Sony PSP, you can now find all of the power you’ll ever need just by walking out on a sunny day.
While this new battery may offer you extra power without plugging into a wall, I’m not so sure that I’d get too excited about it. First, it looks bulky; this means that it’s going to likely make your PSP a little more uncomfortable to play, and it’s going to be a little more of a burden to carry around. Now this is all fine and dandy, since you’re never going to have to worry about a dead battery, right?
Looking at the device you’ll notice that it’s going to mount to the bottom of your PSP. This also means that your solar panels will be facing down while you’re playing. Unless you like playing upside down, or you feel like carrying a mirror to reflect the necessary rays, you’re not going to get a lot of extra power from this bulky unit. Even at around $30, I’m not so sure that it’s worth it.
I’m a person that has two digital cameras. One is a pretty nice Kodak that takes pretty nice shots and has quite a few manual settings which I can adjust for a better picture, the other is a simple HP that doesn’t have a lot of features, but actually fits into my pocket. Both cameras serve me well in different situations. I tend to drool over some of the other cameras on the market, as I know they could do much better than the ones I have. The Sony Spin N Snap is not one of them.
I know that this camera wasn’t designed with picture quality in mind, however, I couldn’t ever see it used for a practical purpose. The camera is made to appeal to the eco-friendly crowd by eliminating the need for an external power source. You have to spin the wheel at the top for 15 seconds, then you can take a picture. That’s a lot of time to spend just for one snapshot. Honestly, I’ll go a month or two without charging up either of my cameras. I think there are more power-hungry gadgets that they might concern themselves with.
Today the Sony PS2 turns seven years old. Since the PS2 was introduced on October 26, 2000, Sony has sold 120 million PS2 consoles. That is only a drop in the bucket when compared to the amount of PS2 software Sony has moved at a whopping 1 billion pieces. The PS2 continues to be a popular choice for console gaming even with newer systems like the Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 on the market.
The PS2 also helped establish the DVD format with its ability to play DVD movies as well as video games. Sony is trying this same trick with the PS3’s Blu-ray player with less success. Sony says it originally planned the PS2 to have a 10-year lifespan and with the way the console continues to sell, Sony says the PS2 may exceed its life expectancy. The PS2 currently has a library of almost 1500 games and that number is expected to grow with 160 titles coming for the PS2 between now and March 2008.
Sony announced a new digital photo album called the HDMS-S1D recently that features an 80GB internal HDD capable of storing up to 50,000 digital photos. The photo album connects to HDTV sets via HDMI and has multiple methods for importing photos available.
The S1D can import photos via virtually all memory card formats plus CD, DVD, and USB or over an Ethernet network connection. Once photos are imported, they can be managed with the included remote control. Organization options allow for grouping photos by date or events like birthdays and holidays.
Photos can be rotated, edited and deleted from the system via the remote. The S1D has the ability to arrange photos for a slideshow or into a digital scrapbook with Sony’s x-Application that is included. The application includes 30 pre-loaded music tracks to set your photos to and you can print photos directly from the S1D to your printer. Pricing for the HDMS-S1D digital Photo Album is around $400 and is available at Sony retailers or the Sony Style website.
Sony officially announced today that the much-anticipated 40GB PS3 is heading to America and will be available for purchase on November 2. The 40GB PS3 version will retail for $399 in the U.S. and Canada and come bundled with Spider-Man 3 on Blu-ray.
Sony also announced that effective immediately the 80GB PS3 console would be reduced in price to $499. The sacrifice the 40GB PS3 makes in the name of lower cost is PS2 compatibility. The 40GB PS3 will include HDMI out, Blu-ray drive, WiFi and all of the other features offered on other PS3 models with the exception of the PS2 compatibility and the reduction from four USB ports to two on the 40GB version.
I’m sure you’re wondering what in the world that cool little ball is. Don’t worry, I had no idea either. This MBS-100 is Sony Ericsson’s answer to a portable cell phone speaker. The best part about this little guy is that it will actually stream music wirelessly from your phone via Bluetooth.
The internal battery will net you roughly 5 hours of music playback, which isn’t too bad considering that it runs off of Bluetooth. Unfortunately, the MBS-100 is only slated for an early 2008 launch in select Asia-Pacific markets.
Sony finally acknowledges the rumors and announces the Rolly; a wireless speaker/audio player that rolls, dances and shimmers in time to your music. It looks like a large, white egg. While vaguely iPod-like in appearance, it promises to be so much more.
The device is essentially a wireless speaker/audio player with stereo speakers, with an internal flash memory of 1GB and about 5 hours of battery life. It can also link to your computer via Bluetooth, allowing it to receive new dance patterns and songs. That’s not all: there’s tactile volume control (control the volume by turning the unit clockwise) and an alarm clock. Above all else, it also dances and grooves along with you and your music, as you can witness in the below video.
The Rolly will be available in Japan on Sept. 29 for about 350$. No clue when it will be coming to the US, but the niche market for dancing electronics is already clamoring for it.
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By Shane McGlaun
