Would you beleive it?! The Zune is starting to get some positive press! Everyone knows that it’s been completely slammed in the press since its launch a few weeks ago. I even contributed to the slamming myself in a previous article (The 10 things wrong with the Zune Player). But how many of those nay-sayers have actually tried it?
In his article at Shoutwire, Leander Kahney discusses his personal experiences from owning a Zune player. Here’s a summary of the reasons he came up with on why the Zune is as good as, if not better than the iPod…
- It has built-in Wi-Fi for peer-to-peer song sharing
- The Zune’s interface impressed him the most: It’s much slicker and easier to use than the iPod
- The Zune’s UI makes great use of 3-D effects and animation
- The Zune’s navigation scheme is better-designed and easier to use
- The Zune is much more intuitive
- You can move sideways through the menu hierarchy
- The Zune’s case is attractive and well-made
- The screen is absolutely gorgeous. It’s just half an inch bigger than the iPod’s, but it makes all the difference. Video looks great. Photos too.
- For $15-a-month, you get an all-you-can-eat subscription service. The marketplace is easy to navigate and has a good choice of songs.
Does this make you want to change your order with Santa this year? 
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Written by David on December 13th, 2006 with 3 comments.
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MP4 Player manufacturers in China have their eyes set on toppling the dominance of the iPod.
It’s yet to be seen whether or not the Zune Player will take a serious chunk out of the iPod’s MP4 market dominance.
However, what’s more apparent is that many people aren’t choosing between an iPod and a Zune player - they’re choosing between an iPod and a non-branded MP4 player.
Global Sources list hundreds of different MP4 manufacturers based in China. eBay are currently listing over 20,000 MP4 Players for sale. Many of these are sent directly from China.
So what are often the benefits of buying an MP4 player manufactured in China instead of an iPod?
- It’s much cheaper
- It probably has an FM radio
- It probably has a voice recorder
- Did I mention that it’s much cheaper???
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Written by David on December 4th, 2006 with 1 comment.
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First, it was Microsoft with their limited edition pink Zune Player. Next, it’s the Soundwave 2GB pink MP4 Player.
This MP4 Player has lots of great features including an FM Radio and a Voice Recorder. Here’s the full spec:
- 2 Gb Flash Memory
- 4.6 cm TFT LCD Full Colour Display
- FM Radio Tuner
- Digital Picture Viewer
- Voice Recorder
- Rechargeable Battery via USB
- Plays formats: MP3/WMA/DRM10 Supported
- Plays Movies: WMV/AVi
- High Speed USB 2.0 Connection
- Manufacturers 1 Year Warranty
Although the 2GB Memory is pretty meagre (it’ll only hold around 4 movies), it’s price is fantastic. At around £55 ($100) it’s a steal.
Purchase link: Duck.co.uk
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Written by David on November 29th, 2006 with 1 comment.
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Would You Be Happy If Your White Zune Player Turned PINK?!?
100 bewildered Zune Player owners are going to get the shock of their lives this Christmas. They’ll unwrap their brand new Zune Player, expecting to see a new, gleaming white MP4 player. Unfortunately though their excitement will turn to angst rather quickly – their beautiful new Zune player will be shocking PINK!
Microsoft have pulled off an impressive publicity this Christmas by ‘hiding’ 100 numbered pink Zune players in packaging that doesn’t make their contents obvious.
This story is racing round the net. But why PINK Microsoft???!!!
For those wanting one there are two pink Zune players on offer on eBay:
http://search.ebay.com/pink-zune
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Written by David on November 28th, 2006 with no comments.
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Intex Aura 401 MP4 player 1 GB is a mini pocket gadget for students, youngsters, and professionals who want to carry their music, videos, and pictures along while on-the-move.
As an all-in-one entertainment package, the features include AMV Video File Format, 1.8-inch screen, 250K color TFT, built-in FM tuner with 20 channel presets, voice recorder, and a USB drive. This MP4 player enables viewing videos while on the move.
It’s a very interesting new addition to the range of MP4 players available because it also includes a built in FM radio, voice recorder and USB drive at a budget price. I get the feeling that someone’s done their market research very well.
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Written by David on November 23rd, 2006 with 1 comment.
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MP4 is short for ‘MPEG-4’. The official file extension for MPEG-4 is .mp4 – hence the shortened name MP4.
MPEG-4 technology has been developed to provide DVD quality audio and pictures in an extremely small file size – ideal for playing on portable MP4 players such as the iPod Video.
MP4 is here to stay. The Apple Corporation themselves describes MP4 as “the global multimedia standard, delivering professional-quality audio and video streams over a wide range of bandwidths, from cell phone to broadband and beyond”. Thy go on to say that “hundreds of researchers around the world contributed to MPEG-4, which was finalized in 1998 and became an international standard in 2000”.
The BBC confirms that MPEG-4 is used to compress video and is the successor to MPEG-2. They also explain that the version that can turn massive movie files into a handier size has escaped on to the Internet thanks to Microsoft. Microsoft developed the software to compress and decompress video, which is called a called a codec. (A codec is a device or program capable of performing encoding and decoding on a digital data stream or signal. The word codec means Compression/Decompression algorithm)
The codec helps the Windows Media Player program handle moving pictures sent over the web. Other web based media players such as the Real Player will also play the MP4 file format as long as you have the latest version downloaded. You have to download the latest MP4 Codec to your own digital media player to ensure MP4 file playback compatibility.
However, an MP4 file doesn’t only refer to video content – an MP4 file can also be an audio file. Many people think that the MP4 format will be both the visual and audio standard file format of the future.
The iPod Video is by far the most popular MP4 Player on the market. But iPod don’t want us to call it an MP4 Player even though it plays MP4 file. Why? It might be because you might then choose another MP4 Player instead!
Another high-profile recent MP4 Player launch is the Zune Player by Microsoft. Surprisingly though, ZDnet.com discovered that at the time of the launch, Zune devices only play protected files from the Zune marketplace.
This is where Microsoft and Apple are both arguably guilty. Both companies are dubiously controlling certain markets. However, this can give the advantage to the MP4 Player consumer. If you take the time to convert your video files to MP4 (for which there is free software available) then you can play them on your cheaper MP4 Player, which probably has more functions than the Video iPod. Even if you choose to move to the Video iPod in the future, you can still transfer your old MP4 files.
The MP4 file format will be integral to the future of web based videos and portable media player videos. It is a global multimedia standard, every increasing in popularity. It is the file format that best insures the mass acceptance of your own media files on various types of media players.
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Written by David on November 16th, 2006 with no comments.
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The Sumvision WIKI PRO fills a very important gap in the MP4 Player marketplace. Sure, you’ll never keep the digital media player for more that a couple of years. Sure, you’ll find that much higher spec items are available. However for less than $100 can you really go wrong?
Not only is it an MP4 Movie Player, it’s a 6 in 1 function movie player, MP3 player, USB flash drive, Digital voice recorder, game player and digital FM tuner (preset 20 channels) to suit all your entertainment needs.
It should hold around 4 full length MP4 movies - ideal for short trips and holidays. If you’re not going to use your MP4 Player often, or you just want to ‘dip your toe in the water’ it could be the ideal choice for you.
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Written by David on November 9th, 2006 with no comments.
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The Zen Vision is a portable MP4 Player from CREATIVE LABS.
A digital canvas for what’s important - your life and the memories it holds. ZEN Vision lets you take all your movies, music and photos in a light, pocket-sized player wherever you need to be.
Available in a sleek and spacious 30GB model, moments you cherish are now made for sharing. That’s tens of thousands of photos, 120 hours of movie screenings1, or even 15,000 songs2 (possibly) playing in your head. Tune in to the radio, record your favorite talk show, or make personal voice memos. Take a closer look at the ZEN Vision. And see how it lets you live your life your way.
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Written by David on November 3rd, 2006 with no comments.
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The MP4 Player Brand has been recently launched and Trade Marked in the USA.
The MP4 players launched by MP4Player.us claims is that it has designed a “10 in 1″ MP4 Player, offering a lot more value than the Video iPod.
So what main additional features does it contain?
* Build in speakers
* A Voice recorder
* An FM Radio
* An FM Transmitter to play music remotely through you car stereo system.
There are a few additional features that may be of interest to some. It’ll have to be something really special to choose this instead of a Video iPod though.
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Written by David on October 25th, 2006 with 1 comment.
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