Digital Trends has published a review of the Logitech Squeezebox Boomhere on their website. Think of the Squeezebox Boom as a boombox with wireless access to your computer and Internet’s digital music content. Features on this player include a 30 watt digital amplifier, the SqueezeNetwork online music service (which provides access to services such as Pandora, Rhapsody, Sirius etc), 802.11g wireless support, and support for a wide variety of music formats including MP3, FLAC, WMA, WMA Lossless, AAC, WAV, and AIFF. Here’s what they thought of the portable player.
The Logitech Squeezebox Boom is, to date, the best sounding media streaming system we have tested; you can tell that a lot of time and money was put into the design of this system.
All this doesn’t come cheap though. The MSRP of the Squeezebox Boom is $299.99.
Sony must have a decent iPod peripherals business because they announced four new products on Friday that support the iPod and iPhone devices. The four include a new CD clock radio (model ICF-CD3iP), a new boombox (model ZS-S4iP), a new table top HD radio with iTunes tagging support (model XDR-S10HDiP), and a new docking speaker (model SRS-GU10iP).
The CD Clock Radio, ICF-CD3iP, is the first Sony CD clock radio with a hidden dock for the iPod/iPhone and features:
Listen to iPod/iPhone, CDs, or radio
Small footprint
Charges both iPod/iPhone
Remote Control provides full access to menu of music functions
Compact vertical floating design which hides the docking station
Supports CD-R/RW playback
AM/FM digital tuner
MSRP of $100 and available later this month
The ZS-S4iP Boombox features:
Supports iPod/iPhone
Mega Bass Sound System
Charges the iPod/iPhone
Removable cover which allows you to directly control the iPod touch or iPhone
Wireless remote for full menu control of CD, radio, and music function of iPod/iPhone
20 AM and 10 FM radio presets
MSRP of $100 and available in October
The XDR-S10HDiP HD radio with iTunes Tagging features:
Compatible with iPhone 3G and iPods
HD radio with multi-casting support (gives more FM channels, music, news, and sports)
Supports iTunes Tagging which lets you tag the songs you like on the radio for future downloading to iPod
(reprinted from ZuneSphere.com) We’re nearing the third anniversary of the Zune (ok.. we’re about two months) so if you’re Microsoft, what do you do? Keep them coming of course! Unlike the last two years, you won’t see any new hardware designs for the Zune this year. Instead, Microsoft decided to release new storage capacities for the Zune and also update the firmware and Zune software application.
Let’s first cover the hardware changes which really are not changes as much as additions. There’s a new hard drive based Zune out - the new Zune 120GB model or Zune 120 for short. On the flash front, Microsoft upped the storage amounts to 16GB there - no real surprise there of course given that iPod touch devices are already available in 16GB models. I must say it’s slightly disappointing that Microsoft didn’t announce new hardware changes to the Zune to compete more effectively against the iPod touch.. but then again, the software changes are indeed nice.
Ah yes.. the software changes. This is certainly where things get exciting. First off, Microsoft has finally unleashed more capabilities to the built-in Wi-Fi support on the Zune. In the first iteration of the Zune, we saw the notion of being able to share music between Zune devices. Cute.. neat.. but somewhat useless considering I had to travel a tens of MILES to find the next Zune user! In the second iteration, Microsoft finally allowed for wireless syncing of the Zune. Another cool feature.. useful at times too.. but in practice, I never really used it. Now, in the third iteration of the software, Microsoft finally allows for wireless downloads of music straight to the Zune via the Zune Marketplace. Finally - a truly useful feature of the Wi-Fi connectivity support on the Zune. What makes this even sweeter is the notion that with a Zune Pass subscription, you could easily listen to millions of songs on demand straight from the marketplace anytime you’re near a Wi-Fi hotspot. This is truly where an all-you-can-eat subscription makes a lot of sense. Sure it’s not free like Pandora.. but at least 1) you won’t have to worry about whether the service will stay alive or not and 2) you get access to WAY more titles!
Now to make this all possible, your Zune will now be able to connect to thousands of Wi-Fi hotspots (w00t!). Unfortunately, since the Zune does not have a built-in web browser, you won’t be able to connect to hotspots that required browser logins.
As for navigating the Zune marketplace on the Zune, users will be able to browse lists of featured new releases, top songs and albums sorted by genre, or use the on-screen keyboard to type a song title.
If you’re a big user of the built-in FM receiver on the Zune, then you’ll probably appreciate the new “Buy from FM” feature being introduced with the third iteration of the Zune software. Buy from FM lets customers tag and purchase songs they hear on the radio directly from their Zune device. If the user is near a Wi-Fi hotspot, they can purchase and directly download the track. If they’re not near a Wi-Fi hotspot, the track gets queued for download when the user either connects to their PC or connects to a Wi-Fi hotspot later on. I’m not a big user of the built-in FM radio myself.. but this might change things finally. There are certainly many many instances where I find myself saying “Gee.. who’s this person I’m listening to?”
Think that’s it? Nope.. there’s more folks. Microsoft also announced a new “Channels” feature on the Zune software. You can view and listen to expert-created channels or you can have the Zune software create custom channels for each user based on their favorite artists and genres. If you want to listen to the expert channels, you’ll need a Zune Pass subscription to get at everything - or you can purchase songs one at a time in an a la carte fashion if you don’t have the pass.
There’s also the “Personal Picks” feature which is basically a new recommendations system for users. When you log into the Zune Marketplace, you’ll find a new “Picks” area where suggested artists, albums, and tracks will appear. This is all done via a new Zune recommendation algorithm that uses information from the Zune Social.
Speaking of Zune Social, the online music community now gets a bit more powerful thanks to the Zune Card. Previously, you could see what your friends were listening to on the Zune Social - now you can take there tracks with you on the go via the Zune Card. A Zune Card is a real-time playlist of each user’s favorite and recently played tracks. The card can be accessed from the web or within the Zune software application or synced to the Zune device. Playlists will even automatically update when the Zune connects to a wireless hotspot - very cool. Overall - this is certainly a very neat feature on the Zune. You can finally listen to what your friends are listening to - assuming of course you can get your friends to use the Zune instead of some other competing music player! (more reasons to do so now!)
Two other new features on the Zune software are:
Mixview. Customers can select an artist, album or Zune Card to activate a dynamic, visual mosaic of related music and listeners. With each click users can take the view in a new direction, creating a fun, graphical way to discover new music. Mixview works with users’ current collection of music, in addition to tracks and albums from across the Zune Marketplace.
Now Playing. The improved Now Playing view is more interactive and cinematic. Users can sit back and enjoy the combination of great artist imagery, colorful effects, bio information and data from the Zune online music community, all combined in a full-screen view. They can also click to dive deeper into the music behind the picture, providing another great way to interact with their collection.
Finally, on the firmware front, other small but notable features on the Zune include:
Two free games for the Zune - Hexic and Texas Hold ‘Em. Yes.. games on the Zune are indeed real
Support for audiobooks finally!
Support for audible!
Support for OverDrive
So.. what’s the catch in all of this? Nothing folks. The great part about the Zune experience for existing Zune users is the fact that EVERYONE with a Zune will get these new features for free!! So if you have an original Zune 30 - not a problem - go ahead and update the firmware next week. If you have a Zune 80 - not a problem too! There are no fees to pay, no software to buy.. just upgrade (pray a little), and go!
Finally, the current pricing plans are as follows:
120GB Zune - $249.99
80GB Zune - $229.99
16GB Zune - $199.00
8GB Zune - $149.99
4GB Zune - $129.99
It’s certainly nice to see the Zune team continuing to advance the Zune on the feature and software front. Though it would have been nice to see new hardware models aside from storage upgrades, the mere fact that these new software updates are made available to ALL Zune users is certainly something Microsoft can be proud of.
We’ve seen some cheesy MP3 players over the years.. but this has got to be one of the cheesiest. It’s the Star Wars Darth Vader MP3 player and really now.. this is an MP3 player that ONLY a die hard Star Wars fan could possibly love. There’s really nothing at all special with this player aside from the picture of good ‘ol Darth himself. You get 512 MB of space, a built-in radio, and support for WMA and MP3 file formats. Yup.. pretty lame.
If you need a portable recording device for interviews, lectures, recording notes, creating podcasts, then you’ll want to check out the new Belkin GoStudio device. Designed as an accessory to the Apple iPod, the GoStudio features two built-in omnidirectional microphones and records audio directly to your iPod in 16 bit 44kHz format. Other features of the Belkin GoStudio include:
Built-in speaker allows users to play back recordings
Two combo microphone inputs (XLR and 1/4 inch)
3.5 mm mini-jack microphone inputs
Master level control
Direct monitor volume control
Tripod mount
The Belkin GoStudio will be available sometime in September/October for a price of $119.99.
Sony announced that the mylo COM-2 Personal Communicator has a new video upload tool that allows users to capture and upload MPEG-4 videos without the need of a PC. Videos can be recorded using the built-in 1.3 megapixel camera and then uploaded using the built-in Wi-Fi support.
With the mylo, users can listen to digital music, video videos, and play games. However, when they’re near wireless hotspots, they can also view multimedia content online, chat with others using Skype, IM with users using AIM, Yahoo!, Google, and Skype, and read/write email through AOL Mail, Google Gmail, and Yahoo! mail.
iRiver will be launching the Lplayer PMP. It features a 2-inch QVGA display, 4GB or 8GB of internal memory, a built-in FM tuner, and support for lots of audio/video formats, including MPEG, WMV9, and XVID. You can pick one of these babies up on the 24th. Check out the video after the break. [2Day]
Looking for a portable speaker system for that Bluetooth enabled phone or media player device? Check out the newly introduced Logitech Pure-Fi Mobile speaker system. The one-piece speaker system connects to your mobile phone or portable media player via Bluetooth wireless technology. The device supports the Bluetooth Advanced Audio Distribution (A2DP) profile which allows you to stream stereo audio wirelessly from your phone to the speakers at a range of up to 33 feet.
The Logitech Pure-Fi Mobile features:
2 inch high-excursion drivers
Dual 2 inch pressure drivers
Wireless speakerphone functionality
Two built-in microphones - one to pick up vocal nuances and one to monitor and block unwanted background noise
Call-answer and call-end controls on top of the speakers
Includes protective case which can also carry charging cables
12 hours of play time with rechargeable batteries
3.5 mm audio jack for connecting audio devices
The Logitech Pure-Fi Mobile will be available in June for a price of $149.99.
