music

How to make your LPs hot again

Come on, admit it: You just can't bring yourself to get rid of those old vinyl relics stashed away in the closet. So we say liberate your LPs in style with a world-class turntable--that way, maybe your friends will look past the fact that it's playing Duran Duran. Or not.

No matter what your taste in music, Vestax's Guber Cube will be sure to score at least some points in the aesthetics department. There are just a couple of obstacles, as in location and price. Available only on the Japanese market after its debut in 2004, this … Read more

Zen without the (FM) harmony

Despite the cheerful existence of VCRs, DVRs, and DVD recorders, apparently the music industry still doesn't buy the whole "recording broadcasts is fair use" argument. And since they tend to have a lot of influence (if not friends), the RIAA has succeeded in getting Creative to disable an advertised feature of the Creative Zen Vision:M--namely, FM recording. The latest firmware update to the Zen Vision:M removes the FM recording feature of the device, and according to some forum users, tech support has responded thusly: "With regards to your enquiry, you may like to know … Read more

Sony's Walkman love child

Early this morning, Sony announced its latest digital audio player, the NW-S700, and dubbed it the best-sounding Walkman yet. This is apparently thanks to the device's built-in noise-canceling technology. Noise-canceling headphones are nothing new, but a noise-canceling MP3 player is not something I've had the chance to meet...and I thought I might not still: most reports cite only the Japanese release of the NW-S700. However, the press release I received clearly lists U.S. pricing ($169 for the 1GB version, $199 for 2GB) and availability (November).

The player looks like the love child of the NW-E000 and … Read more

Sony tries the Walkman again (yawn)

It's kind of pathetic, when you think about it. Here's the Sony Walkman, once the king of all portable music players, now left scrambling for crumbs left in the iPod's wake.

The latest innovation is a line of new miniature Walkman players that come with noise-canceling technology embedded in both the music player itself and its headphones. It's not that this is a bad idea; it's just not exactly the kind of killer product that can get Sony back in the game.

The NW-S705F, a 2GB version that stores about 1,350 songs, comes in … Read more

New Shuffle, Intel-ready iBook predicted for MacWorld

The anticipation is already building for January's MacWorld Expo, when Apple watchers are predicting the introduction of both a new, even smaller iPod Shuffle and an Intel-ready iBook.

American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu has heard the new Shuffle will be smaller than a stick of gum and could come in multiple colors, including black. The price points would be $99 and $129 with storage capacities similar to current models.

"We believe this could help offset seasonal weakness in the March quarter similar to last year when iPod Shuffle was introduced," he wrote in a report dated … Read more

A night at the Oscars for iPod

The iPod is so hot it even got a plug at Sunday night's Academy Awards ceremony from comedian Robin Williams.

Don't worry if Pixar's "The Incredibles" doesn't nab an Oscar, Williams said before announcing the winner for best animated feature, because the producers own "iPod stock." He was referring to the connection between Pixar Animation Studios and iPod maker Apple Computer, the two companies run by Steve Jobs.

As it turned out, "The Incredibles" did win--a "two-fer." Jobs got a plug, too, during the acceptance speech. So it … Read more