Zune party?

This post have been removed - since i was encouraged to take it down. Fair enough. I was a bit to fast on the trigger there, sorry. Anyhow, it was a pic given to me by a friend, who claimed that it was a live zune 2 in the wild at a Copenhagen party (at some office). To describe the pic: A guy and a girl was posing together, with some people in the background. The guy was showing of a videoplaying zune (i presume) in his hand, towards the camera. Though the pic was very small and not that good. I could not quite determine if it was real or not. But i was encouraged to take the picture down, so i did. The reason why i think it was a zune, was because the concept of it, very much looked like the zune 2 i posted about last week. That zune i recently discovered was a genuine fake, because it was entered as a part of the "design a zune" competition on engadget last year. Hopefully another "real" pic will manifest itself soon.

Be sure to come back this week and check out the posts on apple, the iphone and where apple get "their" ideas. I tell you, it is gonna be good/serious fun.

Pod people got it!

So... there it was. Not one, not two... but three new ipods (3 and a half if you count the new shuffle). Am i impressed? Well, to be honest im having a hard time figuring out what the big news is. Apple relatives always inherit the looks of their socalled parents, meaning... the classic ipod white on their computers got dropped for silver. So, was it unlikely to expect anything less than silver on the ipod series (instead of white)? Apple recently launched a touchscreen device (iphone). Would one not assume that this technology would be transferred to atleast one of their new devices? Anyhow, enough biggering..... what im trying to say is- From a technological standpoint, i am so far, not that impressed with apples "newest" ongoing beatsaga. From a design standpoint... i simply cannot contain myself regarding the new nano. It is directly hideous. Too fat for its own good, an epic eyesore of wellproportioned dimensions. Sometimes apples obvious visions for "music lovers" remind me of washingpowder commercials and cleaning product promises over time. Because the powers or "technologies" for washing things whiter, is so much better today, than 20 years ago. Havent you noticed? Our clothes are so white today that its beyond white, because... washing powder just keeps getting better. Right? Or perhaps i could even stretch it so far and say that apple is the new gillette... they just keep adding blades on those damn razors, and everytime you sit there...infront of your screen, suckerpunched and amazed... thinking- How the hell do they keep having room for all those blades? Right? Well you shouldnt be. Ofcourse a 5 blade gillette razor will, without a doubt, always outperform a 1 blade bic razor (the yellow ones from the same company that also makes pens... yeah). But is it fair to compare the same simple razor to a nice new pimped out philips shaver? Well......... my general question is? Has the ipod really become that much better?

Ipod touch notes - 8/16gb: Yeah its thinner and absolutely begging to be bent the wrong way one day or another. The ipod touch appeals to customers who insist on using both hands operating, while proudly attempting to impress everybody else in their school/work lunchbreaks with its wauvfactor.... and since it appeals to mostly "i dont know much about gadgets or music, and i dont care, but i want one too" and their ways of encountering everyday life. The thin ipod touch is most definently to become a fragile sucker in the wrong (apple=right) hands. Design wise, the touch is sleek and clean... apples patented circles on squares. Simple to the core, but perhaps a little bit too blingy for its own good. An all matt black ipod touch would have been nicer. Who knows, an "a chemical romance" ipod might be lurking soon enough.

Ipod classic notes - 80-160gb: Not many changes here. The screen is as always, brighter. Always good. Design has been tweeked a bit with some slopes up and over, into the ipod front itself. Acceptable, but not an actual inprovement that really ads more to the simpler design. I guess they were aiming for a "thinner" look. The big news- was 160gb of room for the biggest ipod classic. Ok? Somebody humour me- Who the hell needs 160gb space for apple related content?

Ipod nano notes - 4/8gb: So the rumours were right. Apple brought a fatty into the camp. Looks as if though, they tried really hard to squeeze everything into place. Probably the most obnoxious of apple devices ever. Be pleased that it fits in almost every pocket. Keep it there please.

Yep. alot words in one chop.... anyhoo, be sure to come back within the week and watch me track down, uncover, and document where apple found their inspirations. Yes, it will all be there... Soon enough.

Zune generation 2

...And while all desperate eyes and ears are on the Apple event tomorrow, i have decided to switch camps (not that i ever was in "one" camp) and post this new fascinating (and plausible) 2nd generation Zune mock by an unknown designer, that i discovered on a german Zune site. Very interesting design. I especially like the double edges of the device. Which would make room for both the neat "double-shot" finish on the outside, without it interferring with the solid frame inside surrounding the actual screen. Also it makes it easier to keep your fingers curled along side to the front of the device without having to be forced resting you fingertips on the edge of the screen. (source: www.zune-info.de/forum)

The Iaudio U5

As mentioned some days ago, the IFA consumer eletronics fair in Berlin has been a busy week for alot of manufacturers. Plenty of companies presented somewhat interesting devices. Korean Cowon on the other hand presented this little thing, which im not really sure about how to react upon - The Iaudio U5. A smaller device, with a 1.8" tft lcd screen at 128x160. Capacity wise ranging from 2-8 gb along the skills of doing voice recordings, FM radio and recording. How they will manage to unveil this device further, is a mystery i guess. Is it sofar, inferior in comparison to its other Cowon Iaudio family members? It seems so. Am i a bit dissapointed? Havent decided yet. Hopefully the U5 is just a teaser or a prototype of sorts. The design itself is interesting, yet generic and very much not even near as consequently executed as i thought they would vision their future designs. Check it out.


Navigations/tactile closeup.

Cowons IFA 2007 booth. (pic by Steven@cowonboards)


More IFA 2007 booth pics at the Korean Cowonboards. Enjoy.

New nano - part 2

After quite some searching for the origin of the Ipod nano pic sent to me by a friend of mine (claiming not knowing the source). After several hours of searching, i finally found a bunch of pics claiming to be nano g3´s. Also being the source of my pic i assume. Let me just state one thing. THEY ARE ALL FAKES. I looked closer at the real pics and pointed out the photoshop mistakes. Just in case you got youre hopes up.

pic 1:

The shadow line on the top right side is photoshopped. The line is pixelated and has a too strong contrast compared to a realistic photo. Hence its added. Also the screen is a tad more to the right side of the player, crossing into the curves of the actual device.

pic 2::

The surrounding textures of the clickwheel is too blurred compared to the texture of the normal surface on the device. Which also screams PHOTOSHOP, apparently he either couldnt find a matching color good enough or he used a bad click wheel copied from another pic. Besides these flaws, MacFranky´s flickr page reeks of "i love mocks".

These 2 pics along more fake nano pics can be found at MacFranky´s Flickr page. Check it out.

The new nano?

Alot of talk have been roaming the corners of the Ipod communities lately. Mostly regarding some suspicious Widescreen Ipod nano photos posted on Gizmodo, Engadget and other bigger gadget and consumer electronics sites. The 5th of september apple is having a major apple event and many fans/sources assume that this new Ipod breed will be making its appearance this day. My question is - Is this the Ipod we will be seeing on Wednesday?

Archos 105

Just like Creative and many others, french company Archos whom are extremely wellknown for their exceptional build quality, unveiled a few of their new devices at the IFA consumer electronics fair in Berlin last week. Amongst these, this very cute Archos 105, which for now only packs either 1 or 2gb of memory. Fantastic about this device is the price. A 1gb device will go for around 80euro, the 2gb for around 100euro (according to Pixmania whom are launching the sale the 6th of september). The Archos 105 measures 45mm wide, 85mm high and is only 7mm deep, packing a 1.8" screen and comes in white, silver and a blazing nice red. Hopefully a bigger capacity will turn up soon. But, are you looking for a nice new skinny companion to take hostage your sweet sweet music... and would you settle for 2gb of storage (or 1). Then you will definently not go wrong with one of these.


Over at archoslounge.net they fundled, studied and forced a silver 105 to pose for some nice shots. Go take a look.

Creative Zen walkthru

About an hour ago the folks over at french Generationmp3 did a nice video walkthru of the new Creative Zen. Check it out. Very tiny player i say, tiny.... indeed.

Creative Zen

This week at the IFA Consumer electronics fair in Berlin, Creative launched their new supersmall creditcard sized media player, the Zen. With a width of 8.3 cm, 5.5cm high and measly 1.13cm thickness, it still manages to pack from 4/8/16gb internal memory and an SD card slot, making it upgradable to a total of whopping 32gb (counting the new Toshiba 16gb cards coming out soon). As if this wasnt enough, it packs a 2.5", 16.7 million color capable 320x240 bright tft screen..... and the real news is.... not only does it do Radio, voicerecordings, a calendar, but it is Itunes compatible my friends. Yes, the Zen does Aac4. Heres the list of formats it supports : Audio- MP3, WMA, AAC4 (.m4A), WAV (ADPCM), Audible 2,3,4. Video- MJPEG, WMV9, MPED4-SP3, DivX3 4/5 and XviD3. Wauv... thats what i call every Indiekids dream. Get it everywhere soon. 149$ for the 4gb, 199$ for 8gb and 299$ for 16gb, aint bad.



Also check out the Cnet.com Review video here

Iriver unit 2 pics...

The new Iriver unit2. What is it and where to even begin? Its a dvd/cd player stereo with a massive 7" display. A display that doubles as a Portable media player supporting Divx, Xvid, mp3, photos etc.. Its wifi at its coolest, its a tv, its a widget (or hostage taker of widgets atleast)...... Its highend design wrapped in "Wauv".... and its all remote controlled with a delicious remote (standard remote on outside, Qwerty keyboard flips out from the inside). Bang & Olufsen eat your heart out, Apple cry your eyes out..... This is what the good life is all about (ehhh... the tech fetish part of it anyway).



As mentioned above, the huge 7" display comes of, claiminig a life os its own as a very nifty media player.


When the display/pmp is of the unit, the speakers slide together, melting into a new smaller unit, so to speak.


The remote doubles as a "standard" remote, but also folds out revealing the qwerty keyboard inside. Crisp, clean, nice big squary buttons, for your punching pleasure.


Along the unveiling of these fantastic pics, iriverfans forum suggests that 2 other units - unit 2a and 2b (3 and 4?) are in the process aswell.

Im seriously stoked about this general direction that Iriver has managed to thread. This is bright and refreshing news for, not just the design commuity, but also for consumer electronics in general. One can only guess that maybe a smaller device will be joining aswell, maybe one that doubles as a remote (which Iriver have done before). Enjoy the pics. Spread the good news.

More Cowon Q5...

Yeah. I just cant get enough of this one. It just seems to be an amazing pmp. Before i forget, last time i mentioned the q5 i forgot to state that it ofcourse, just like the Cowon A2 and other cowon devices, has a Usb host (cameras, phone, other players etc.). Anyhow, heres some more pics (courtesy of the Korean Cowon site). Notice the tiny D2 aswell (lying on top of the q5). The D2 which already is out in most of europe. Very nice device aswell. Oh well.... here some great pics to get you wound up. Please pay close attention to the amazing screen, which is obviously.... insanely contrast rich and viewable from even sharper angles (3rd last pic). Enjoy.

More, more Commodore...

I posted about the Commodore Gravel media unit some time ago, and just thought i would follow up and post these pics to show you how things are coming along.... how good it looks etc. All 3 Gravel units (here only shown 2, c200 which is a smaller unit just for music, coming later) will be able to connect directly to commodores new massive media empire. Rumours are that you will be able to have individual storage space for your media at their site (perhaps along a profile or something, who knows. ;)). Gonna follow up on that later. In the meanwhile check this out, including the link to the official Gravel site.






Gravel site: www.commodore-gravel.com

How big is it?

Well.... i must admit i keep on getting impressed by Korean company Cowon (Iaudio). Not only did they a year ago convince me to buy their A2 portable media player, which is the best electronic device i have ever owned.... But they leave me hanging on tight, giving me hope, that in the future this company will keep pleasing the curious crowds. Well, let me just tell you abit about my experiences with my A2. It keeps battery life, like a weasel holds its bite on predators... Ive transferred loads of unconverted/original sized movies on it, and it has never complained... ive slept with it, dropped it, recorded live music with... run visuals (videoprojections) from it, at liveshows/meeting etc.... yes.... and iver seriously never seen it skip during a movie... can you believe that... (I even use it 1,5 hour a day atleast)... Once again. I mean it when i say that it is the best electronic device ive ever owned. period.

Thats why im very excited about the touchscreen enabled Cowon q5 theyre putting out this upcoming fall. Heres some spec details: 5inch radiant screen (1 inch bigger than A2), video in 800x480, wifi, bluetooth, 40/60gb Harddrive, Fm radio, divx/xvid support (again) well.... even Gps capable. Thats alot of stuff, packed into 13.8cm (width), 8.8cm (height), 2cm (depth), neatly designed fullgrown mediaplayer. Seriously look at it, and think about those specs. Its wonderful, cant wait to see it in the wild




So its kinda big.... but small... but big... if you know what i mean. ;)
PS: By the way see it action here (Cnet) : reviews.cnet.com