Tag archive: PMP

Microsoft has been something of a tease when it comes to Zune. For the better part of the last year, we’ve simultaneously seen the PMP production come to a halt while Microsoft has insisted there is life yet for the device. The mixed messages came to a head recently when the company announced it was finishing making and selling the Zune while support team members said otherwise, and Microsoft pulled the page explaining Zune software would live… Read More

All the hype from Apple's live press event today definitely surrounded the prospect of an iPhone 5 (which turned out to only be an iPhone 4S), but Tim Cook and his colleagues discussed several other new developments in the Apple world before moving on to the important stuff. While it may have gotten lost in the iPhone 4S shuffle, there was important news about the lives of the iPod Nano and the iPod Touch. Both are new, improved, and… Read More

Just a couple of months ago it looked like Microsoft was ready to part ways with the Zune. After being noticeably absent of Zune updates at Mobile World Congress, and the PMP’s difficulty competing with the iPod, Microsoft’s protestations of seeing a “Zune ecosystem” were code for implementing the software into the Windows Phone 7. For Zune lovers, it’s sad news. If anything could give the iPod some viable competition it was the Zune. There’s no… Read More

Last week, a very low-quality photo of the supposed iPod Touch with a capacitive home button renewed talk about Apple freeing itself of buttons. While there is, of course, still no escaped word from Cupertino on such a device, a much better look at the buttonless PMP has surfaced – so much better that it’s looking pretty illegitimate. Crunchgear claims that its “anonymous tipster” who sent in the streaky shot last week cleaned up his act to send… Read More

The iPod Touch has owned the personal media player market since its introduction in 2007, and with Microsoft allegedly yanking the Zune from the market, it's time for the new kid in town to challenge Apple's media player. We have high hopes for the Samsung Galaxy Players, which we found out yesterday will finally be coming to the US. They have all the makings of a good iOS rival: running Android, built by a respectable company, and… Read More

We haven’t heard anything about the Samsung Galaxy Player since CES, when we got a brief hands-on look and were saddened to hear to device was (at the time) meant for overseas markets only. But Samsung has announced that it will be unveiling the slim and stylish Android media player are making their way stateside. Today Samsung announced its new lineup and gave us a look at the new PMPs. Samsung will introduce 4- and 5-inch models, weighing five… Read More

It’s been a long time coming. Following whispers for some time now that Microsoft has been in the process of moving Zune to the great beyond, today Bloomberg has confirmation of those rumors. According to the site, Microsoft will terminate all production of new Zune music and video players due to a lack of demand. At the same time, an insider says the company will be shifting “its focus to other devices.” Last month, Microsoft failed to make any… Read More

According to some investigating over at ZDNet, Microsoft appears to be planning a large-scale music and video generator. The project is currently codenamed “Ventura,” and it could be the successor to the social platform that never got off the ground with Zune. The report says that Ventura is similar to Pandora in its content discovery aspect, and that it will “include recommendations, ratings and comments.” Just to refresh your memory, Zune had… Read More

These days, you’d think Apple’s up to its neck in iPad 2 and iPhone 5 development. And you’d be wrong: According to CNN, Apple is also hard at work improving its iTunes’ file quality. Other digital music vendors are also in talks with record labels, and if the development becomes a reality, consumers’ digital music library will be getting an impressive upgrade. At the moment, iTunes song files are encoded in 16-bit sound – compared to studio… Read More

Microsoft’s done a lot of talking at Mobile World Congress this week, but everyone’s starting to notice what it’s not talking about: Zune. Any mention of the media player has been conspicuously missing from the mouths of Microsoft lately, and word is the company plans to kill it off and make way for a new, rebranded product. ZDNet directly contacted Microsoft to find out Zune’s fate. A company spokesperson responded saying, “We’re not ‘killing’… Read More

As we expected, Samsung showed off its Galaxy Player at CES. No surprises here: the media player is identical to the Galaxy S smartphone in every way, shape, and form save for cellular connection. It runs Android 2.2 Froyo and has the full set of expected features, including the app store. The SoundAlive technology offers remarkable audio quality, and as far as visuals go, users are of course privy to full support for Flash. Just like we… Read More

We’re just days away from getting a peek at the Samsung Galaxy Player in person at CES, but Amazon’s UK site already has the device on preorder. The online retailer is listing the MP3 player as available in 8GB and 16GB versions, and in white only. So far, there’s no sight of a 32GB option. As reported, the device appears to function identically to the Samsung Galaxy S (save cellular capabilities of course). A promo showing off the Galaxy… Read More

Samsung plans to introduce an iPod touch rival at CES next week, Samsung Hub claims. Insiders are saying that the media player will be modeled after the Galaxy S smartphone, without the phone function of course, and run Android OS 2.2 Froyo. Like the later-generation iPod touch, the device will feature front- and rear-facing cameras and come in 8, 16, and 32 GB options. Samsung is wise to manufacture a player that is almost identical to its… Read More

The mobile music market might be focused on smartphones right now, but that doesn't mean there's no market for standalone portable media players…and to that end SanDisk has announced its new SanDisk Fuse+ MP3 Player, sporting a large color LCD display, video playback capability, microSDHC removable storage, and swipe-based “filmstrip” interface for selecting music and navigating player functions. And the Fuse+ is… Read More

Full disclosure: Any roundup of MP3 or portable media players that claims to be a definitive “best of” collection isn't a roundup you should be reading. The truth is that there's simply far too much product variety in this category for any one critic – or legion of critics – to authoritatively rate them all, especially given the subjective way in which different features connect with different types of user. So instead,… Read More