AnythingButiPod.com has posted a quite thorough review of Sony’s new MP3 player, the S630. The review goes in detail of the device’s accessories, design, interface, and audio quality. A must read for anyone considering purchasing the player.

• Capacities: 8GB, 16GB
• Screen: 2” QVGA 240×320 TFT LCD
• Size: 42.9 x 89.5 x 7.5 mm
• Weight: 46g
• Supported Audio: MP3, WMA, AAC-LC, Linear PCM
• Supported Video: MPEG 4 SP, h.264 @ 320×240
• Transfer Modes: MTP
• User Interface: Tactile
• Sound enhancements: Clear bass, Clear Stereo, VPT Sourround, DSEE Sound Enhencement and Dynamic Normalizer
• Other Features: FM Radio, Themes, SensMe, Podcasts

The newest versions of iRiver’s MP3 player, the E100, is whimsically coined “Season 2″. Was the success of Season 1 enough to demand an entirely line of only slightly different players? That is yet to be seen.

Nothing new here, since these new E100 are technically the same as the
very first ones, however, they are now available in 3 different colors
with Orange, Silver and white as well as being offered in 2, 4 and 8GB.

As you can expect with an iRiver product, most audio codecs are supported. MP3, WMA, OGG, ASF, FLAC, all with excellent audio quality no matter which you use (headset or built in speakers). Part of this success comes from the use of the SRS WOW HD technology.

The E100 can play MPEG4/WMV9/XVID and, despite a rather small screen
(2.4″), the experience is pretty good in both visual quality and
smoothness. iRiverPlus3 software can be used to encode videos.

The latest player to come to the US from Cowon is the sleek S9 Curve. This device is rumored to be released stateside in mid-December. In the meantime, here are the specs:

The 57.08 x 105.75 x 12.7-mm player (a bit shorter and narrower than
the 8-mm thick iPod touch with 4.3-inch display) will initially ship
with 8GB / 16GB of storage before getting bumped to 32GB sometime down
the road. A 3.5-hour charge off the mains (5.5-hours off USB) will
deliver up to 8-hours of video (MPEG-4 SP, WMV9 SP, H.264 BP codecs) or
40 hours of audio (MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, WAV formats). Integrated
Bluetooth is of the more power hungry 2.0 (not 2.1) variety with
support for A2DP stereo and AVRCP remote control profiles. The S9 for
Europe supports FM recording and dictation buts lacks the integrated
DMB television tuner of its Korean cousin.

It seems like we have been posting a lot of news on strange MP3 players lately. Hey, it’s OK with us. As long as people are buying weirdo audio devices, companies will continue to make them and we’ll continue to post them. This strange one however comes from one of the most respected hardware companies in the world. Allow me to introduce the cow shaped Creative Zen Moo.

Apparently the Moo is China only which honestly is just as well. There
are two versions, Moo and Moo Plus, where the Plus has a screen (same
concept as with the Stone). Apparently the Plus will also have a
Tamagotchi like game where you can train the cow. Both players will
have a speaker and come in 2GB capacity and the Moo Plus will also have
an FM radio and voice recorder. Basically the Moo is the exact same
player as the Stone and Stone plus except for deign and the game.

What an awesome concept for expecting parents. A baby stethoscope which monitors, records, and plays back an unborn baby’s heartbeat. Not only that but listen to your favorite Kenny G song in between baby monitoring sessions. Is there any better way to feel connected to an unborn baby than to listen to its heartbeat. Not only that but with this device you can record the heart beats and keep them forever, in digital format of course. there is not much released about this player than was is listed in the site below. The product has been created but is not yet on the market yet. We will keep you updated on the mp3 player known as “Beforme.”

„Beforme” gives the possibility of recording sounds in order to consolidate functionality. It is very easy to change listening to the music for listening to baby’s heartbeat. On her own, mother can record that sound and later compare with model values, send to the doctor or create the diary of listening. Having this type of archive is the priceless and sentimental worth in that time of happiness given by the miracle of being. Additionally, in the future mom, together with her child, has a possibility to listen the young heart’s rhythm, recorded when they were the unity.

Stethoscope MP3 Player

iPod Touch say hello to the competition. The Creative Zen X-Fi has a lot of the same features as the Touch but at only half the price. Creative has been known for their great sound quality and solid line of mp3 players and with the new Zen X-Fi they are keeping that reputation. Some of the features this player has is wireless connectivity, which will allow users to stream their music to the X-Fi from their computers. Just think your entire music collection all at your fingertips in any room in the house at anytime. Oh yes did I mention the built in speaker and video playback. This makes for a great tool on presenting your favorite video or song to a group of friends practically anywhere. Some other cool features of this player is an expandable SD card. These cards are so common now you can get a 2 Gig for $10.00 an some online stores. this makes it easy to carry any type of music with you anywhere you want. Some other cool features include: Built in FM radio, Built in Mic and recording capabilities, instant messaging capabilities while connected at Hot spots, and a built in alarm clock. The player also boasts in its battery power: Up to 30 hours of continuous audio playback; up to 13 hours of continuous audio playback with speaker; up to 20 hours of continuous FM radio playback; up to 5 hours of continuous video playback; up to 4 hours of continuous video playback with speaker.

Last but not least the Creative Zen X-Fi comes with EP-830 noise-isolating earbuds which are quite amazing. Yes these are real noise-isolating earbuds. Dump the white earbuds and go for quality here

Specs:
- Capacity: 16 GB (4,000 songs or 60 hours of video)
- Up to 30 hours of continuous audio playback or 5 hours of continuous video playback on one charge
- 2.5-inch TFT LCD with 320 x 240 pixel resolution: 16.7 million colors
- Supports MP3, WMA, AAC5, WAV (ADPCM), Audible 2,3,4 audio formats; MJPEG, WMV, MPEG-4 video (including DivX and XviD); and JPEG photo formats

Creative Zen X-Fi 16 GB Video MP3 Player with Wireless LAN and Built-In Speaker (Black/Silver)

A software update for the Zune has been released today. Zune users will notice additional games a Zune Social refresh and incremental improvements on the software. From ZuneInsider.com:

On the games front, we are giving away three new additions,
Checkers, Sudoku and Space Battle, plus a new multiplayer mode and
single player difficulty levels for Texas Hold’em.

The team also did some great work the Zune Social visual refresh to
make it easier to navigate, as well as adding a new feature called
“like minded listeners,” which will let you see how compatible your
music tastes are with other listeners and friends.

On the more techie side we focused on improving overall stability
and performance in the Zune PC software and device firmware, such as
improved play count reporting and content synchronization between the
Zune software and the Zune device.

link - Zune 3.1 Update News

GizmoWatch has a review of the M1 EDU, the latest PMP from Maxian. The player looks like a slick knockoff of the iPod Touch with a simpler interface. Here’s what the article has to say about it:

There isn’t much to boast of in the design or the facets for this one,
yet the 3.5” touchscreen LCD with Dual Core CPU running on WinCe 5.0,
the PMP has a 1,600 color display and DMB TV added. The PMP also houses
built-in FM Radio, eDictionary into either 8GB or 16GB flash memory and
a SD card slot. Compatible with different Video codecs like MPEG 1- 4,
WMV, AVI, MP3 and WMA, we guess it plays just every kind available.