Saturday, March 21, 2009
World's Smallest Music Player
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Power Vegetables In A Drink |
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Half the size of the last generation but with twice the capacity, the latest Shuffle boasts a novel way of letting you know what track you're listening to: It talks.
Available now for $79, the new Shuffle (announced this morning on Apple's Web site - did someone heed Chris' call for fewer Apple events?) is billed as the "world's smallest music player," and indeed, it looks tiny - just 1.8 by 0.7 by 0.3 inches, or (as Apple helpfully notes) a little smaller than a AA battery.
Gone is the circular navigation pad from the last-generation Shuffle; instead, you get a new in-line remote on the earphone cord, which includes volume up/down buttons, plus a center control that lets you pause and skip tracks. Not bad, but here's the only problem: Third-party earphones won't work all that well with the new Shuffle, or at least not until someone makes a pair with a compatible in-line remote.
Also new: VoiceOver, an intriguing attempt to replace the Shuffle's missing LCD display with a computerized voice that tells you the track name and artist of the song you're listening to. Just press and hold the center key of the Shuffle's in-line remote to hear VoiceOver speak.
The new Shuffle also gets playlist support - at last - thanks to VoiceOver. Here's how it works:
Keep holding the center key and VoiceOver will tell you what playlist you're listening to, followed by a list of all available playlists; click again when you hear the playlist you'd want to select.
Interesting … although based on the demo on Apple's Web site, VoiceOver isn't without its quirks. The voice itself sounds a bit robotic, and for some strange reason, Apple decided to give VoiceOver a male voice when synced with a Mac and a female voice for PC music lovers.
Strange—why not give everyone the chance to choose for themselves? (Perhaps they will; guess we'll find out soon.)
That said, I like the fact that the new Shuffle (available in silver and black flavors) comes with 4GB of storage for $79, just $10 more than the old 2GB version.
Yahoo Tech
Available now for $79, the new Shuffle (announced this morning on Apple's Web site - did someone heed Chris' call for fewer Apple events?) is billed as the "world's smallest music player," and indeed, it looks tiny - just 1.8 by 0.7 by 0.3 inches, or (as Apple helpfully notes) a little smaller than a AA battery.
Gone is the circular navigation pad from the last-generation Shuffle; instead, you get a new in-line remote on the earphone cord, which includes volume up/down buttons, plus a center control that lets you pause and skip tracks. Not bad, but here's the only problem: Third-party earphones won't work all that well with the new Shuffle, or at least not until someone makes a pair with a compatible in-line remote.
Also new: VoiceOver, an intriguing attempt to replace the Shuffle's missing LCD display with a computerized voice that tells you the track name and artist of the song you're listening to. Just press and hold the center key of the Shuffle's in-line remote to hear VoiceOver speak.
The new Shuffle also gets playlist support - at last - thanks to VoiceOver. Here's how it works:
Keep holding the center key and VoiceOver will tell you what playlist you're listening to, followed by a list of all available playlists; click again when you hear the playlist you'd want to select.
Interesting … although based on the demo on Apple's Web site, VoiceOver isn't without its quirks. The voice itself sounds a bit robotic, and for some strange reason, Apple decided to give VoiceOver a male voice when synced with a Mac and a female voice for PC music lovers.
Strange—why not give everyone the chance to choose for themselves? (Perhaps they will; guess we'll find out soon.)
That said, I like the fact that the new Shuffle (available in silver and black flavors) comes with 4GB of storage for $79, just $10 more than the old 2GB version.
Yahoo Tech
Labels: hot trends 2009, ipod, ipod shuffle, music player
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