Category: iPod
iPod touch vs Sony Walkman X Series vs Samsung P3
Intro
Apple’s iPod touch has some serious rivals in the form of the Sony Walkman X Series and Samsung P3 PMPs.
Which one stacks up as the best for music, video, and all round appeal? Read on as the Tech Digest guide pits these mighty touchscreen handsets against one another.
Battle of the Specs: Feature Comparison
Let’s leave aside fanboy love for Apple and Sony (does Samsung have fanboys too? I’m not sure) and take a look at how the main features stack up.
This is top-of-the-line stuff. If you want detailed specifications you’d better skip to the end of the page.
Display
For pure real estate, the iPod touch trumps both the Walkman X Series and the P3, with a 3.5-inch display compared to just 3-inch for the others.
However, when it comes to aspect ratio, the Samsung’s screen is 16:9 — perfectly suited for widescreen video — whereas the Sony has a rather bizarre 9:5 aspect ratio and the touch 3:2.
That means, in raw resolution terms, the touch (480 x 320) trumps the P3 (480 x 272) which trumps the X Series (432 x 240).
Having said all that, Sony’s screen is based on OLED technology for a much brighter, crisper display than the other two handsets…
Embiggen your iPod to 240GB and 48,000 tracks
A company in Kalamazoo called Rapid Repair has started running an iPod upgrading service. Currently, the largest pod that Apple supplies is the 120GB classic which’ll only bag you 24,000 tracks at the most – not really enough for any true file junkies out there.
What RR does is to remove the old, small Apple HDD and, unfortunately, the guarantee with it, and replace it with a much more advanced but same sized 1.8″ Toshiba 240GB storage unit. Hey presto, a doubly big MP3 player.
It’ll cost you $300 plus whatever the postage might be to Michigan and back. With any luck someone this side of the Pond will clue up to the business which is turning a very tidy 25% profit incidentally. In the mean time, Rapid Repairs are looking into Zunes and other MP3 machines. Doubtless, the original manufacturers will be thrilled.
(via Small Business)
Obama gives the Queen an iPod
On Barack Obama’s official visit to Buckingham Palace last night, he handed over an iPod to the Queen as a gift, stuffed with video of her 2007 visit to the U.S. and a bunch of tracks from Broadway musicals including “Cats”, “South Pacific” and “Oklahoma!”.
Not that impressive, really, is it? It wasn’t even engraved with the Royal Seal. She’s already got one, too – a 6GB iPod Mini, which Prince Andrew suggested she buy in 2005. Her Maj was a little more classy – giving Obama her traditional gift of a framed photograph of herself and Prince Phillip.
(via Telegraph)
Apple unveils talking iPod Shuffle
When the Apple store drops off the internet for a few hours there’s only ever one reason and now that the curtain is up again we’ve got a new look 4GB iPod Shuffle to coo about. Coo coo…
SHINY VIDEO REVIEW: Optoma Pico Projector
I’ve had this thing for far too long but after a fair bit of faffing around to find the right cables, I finally got a good go on the PK101 Pico projector from Optoma. So, grab yourself a cup of tea, sit back and I’ll tell you all about it…
The nPower PEG personal energy generator – free electricity and personal workout
It’s a bit like a bicycle pump that makes electricity.
Or, if you’ve ever busted your hand and wrist using one, the nPower PEG is more like the battery-less torches that charge themselves up via kinetic energy…
DEADLY GADGETS: Sniper-rifle mounted iPod dock
We’ve seen deadly iPod accessories before, but this is the first iPod accessory I’ve seen for killing people that aren’t you. It’s a handy iPod Touch mount for your sniper rifle. What do you mean you don’t have a sniper rifle?
On the App Store, there’s some matching ballistics software, called Bullet Flight. Though if you live in Washington DC, I wouldn’t recommend buying it until tomorrow, unless you want a visit from the FBI. You can choose to correct for distance, wind direction, elevation and temperature. No coriolis effect, sadly.
In the meantime, it gets boring on a rooftop for hours on end – so what would be on a sniper’s playlist? I’ve started making a Spotify playlist here. Let me know your suggestions in the comments.
(via the Firearm Blog)
Related posts: iPod headphones a possible KISS OF DEATH for users with pacemakers | DEADLY GADGETS: Foot massager
CES 2009: Star Wars iPhone accessories
I was convinced my love for Star Wars was over years ago but a chance encounter with a table full of Trilogy themed cases for the iPhone and iPod touch made me think twice at CES 2009.
They’ll be out in all good iPhone accessory shops…
CES 2009: Sharper Image rotating iPod dock
I’ve always scoffed a little at docks and generally anything that cradles your precious PMP but after a few annoying, arm aching hours of clutching my iRiver Spinn on the trip across the Pond, I was rather pleased to see Susi leap at the Sharper Image’s device at CES Unveiled complete with motorised rotator. You’ll see what I mean…
WE CAN REBUILD HIM: Ten gadgets to keep Steve Jobs alive and well for another 30 years
Apple needs Steve! The world needs Steve! Steve Jobs says he’s a little bit sick, but technology can keep him going for longer, just like Steven Hawking.
Here’s how Steve Jobs can ensure he lives to be 100 – or more – thanks to the modern technology he loves and has helped shape, guaranteeing peace of mind for all Apple fans and the company’s panicking shareholders.
1. PORTABLE DEFIBRILLATOR
The worst case scenario can be averted. Steve needs to employ a nurse to be with him at all times, ready to pounce with the Philips HeartStart Home Defibrillator should he collapse while ordering the Coffeee of the Day from the local Starbucks. Pay her minimum wage and you’ve got 24-hour-a-day Steve reassurance for less than 20k a year.
2. BLOOD PRESSURE MONITOR
A cheap, standard high street blood pressure monitor would reassure us all of Steve’s health. An Apple engineer could add a wi-fi adaptor and have it feed data to the Apple web site, letting the world see a reassuring count of Steve’s current blood pressure in real time.
3. SHOEI X-SPIRIT CRASH HELMET
If Steve was to fall over and bump his head, the results for Apple, its shareholders and fans would be devastating. We therefore propose that Steve encases his precious brain in a Shoei X-Spirit Helmet, the finest cranium-padding money can buy. You can’t put a price on Steve’s brain stem and frontal lobe! The matte black will also match his outfits.
