Sony announces new B-, E-, and S-Series Walkmans

The first sign of fall in CNET's San Francisco office isn't the turning of leaves--it's the ever-increasing waves of new product announcements. MP3 players in particular start cropping up in late summer, perhaps in an attempt to get a jump on Apple's typical September iPod announcement.

Creative got an early start with its new Zen players a couple of weeks ago, and now Sony is joining the fray. Today, the company announced a rev to its Walkman line of MP3 players in the form of the B-Series, E-Series, and S-Series.

The S-Series represents the top of the line and is arguably the most exciting of the bunch. This new Walkman, which is available in a gunmetal black finish, comes with the integrated noise-canceling capability found on the Sony NWZ-S710.

A pair of complementing, high-end earphones are included in the package, along with an accessory cable that allows the player to be used as a standalone noise-canceling module for use with other audio devices--a unique feature that's ideal for use with in-flight entertainment systems.
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4GB MP5 player at COMEX 2008

There's a certain pain to covering the COMEX IT bazaar that takes place every late August in Singapore. However, getting one's toes stubbed by some clod in the packed halls of Suntec City is a small price to pay when coming across bizarre offerings like an updated version of the Muse2 MP5 player.
Why MP5? Literally, it's an MP3/4 multimedia player that offers 5-in-1, according to the very helpful sales assistant who probably should learn to count since the brochure listed eight. A 3-megapixel digital camera, video camera, FM radio, video player, music player, voice recording, direct TV recording and games (with what was over 1,000 games bundled into the device).

Small matter. What mattered was the carnival air caused by the man on the tall ladder outshouting his competitors through a loud hailer, touting a hard-to-beat deal over the next four days at COMEX. For the grand price of S$199, you also get a free 4GB SD card plus a mini portable fridge upon purchase of the fairly plasticky MP5 player (which an inbuilt battery, up to 8 hours of video playback time, ability to take on a multitude of video formats, a largish screen, mini-USB port for file transfer and onboard speakers).

Can it get any better at the fair? You bet, since this is one time tech geeks get to bargain like fishwives.

Apple ready to rumble on September 9?

Several blogs (see Techmeme) are reporting that Apple will roll out new products on September 9. As previously rumored, starting with missive from Digg's Kevin Rose, Apple may be revamping the iPod nano and tweaking the iPod touch with new software, as well delivering iTunes 8.0 with a recommendation engine and selective price cuts.

Per usual with the cone of silence that encapsulates Steve Jobs and the Apple troops surrounding new product announcements, it's uncertain what will actually be unveiled next month.

However, from various sources CNET News is hearing that Apple is gearing up its engine for something the week of September 8, so the September 9 date is likely more accurate than the rumors so far of what will be delivered to the Mac and iPod devotees. Stay tuned as the build up to the next appearance of Steve Jobs and the unveiling of Apple's latest wares continues.

Via CNET Blogs

Cowon teases three new touchscreen PVPs

Cowon is teasing three new portable video players for the upcoming 2008 IFA showcase in Berlin.
Along with the Cowon P5 unveiled last month, the newly announced S9, O2, and L3 make up a formidable new product lineup of touchscreen beauties--none of which have been officially announced for the US. Our Korean blogger posted about this recently.

The prettiest of the bunch, the Cowon S9, includes a 3.3-inch OLED touch screen (480 x 272 resolution), music and video playback, photos, Bluetooth, composite video output, FM radio, voice recorder, and a built-in accelerometer that will rotate the screen depending on how it's held.

The backbone of the S9 is a 500MHz dual-core processor and a rechargeable battery capable of 40 hours of continuous audio playback. No word yet on price or memory capacity.
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Kevin Rose foretells iPod nano redesign

Expectations are running high that Apple next month will bring out new iPod models.

Certainly, September has a solid track record as the month that Apple favors for its iPod launches. And as my colleague Tom Krazit pointed out the other day, drawing on a report on AppleInsider, some inventory management changes at retailer Target lend credence to the notion of old iPods giving way to new iPods next month. Tom has also pointed to reports of a potential redesign of the iPod nano.

Against that backdrop, we bring you to today's tip sheet, the blog of Digg founder Kevin Rose. His take: "Sometime between now and the end of next month, Apple's going to be refreshing quite a bit of their iPod line."

Rose offers some details on what he says will be coming, though he doesn't provide any info on his sources. The Nano, he says, will see a significant redesign, with a shift to a longer, skinnier case. As it happens, that matches up with design murmurings from earlier in the summer. The iPod touch, meanwhile, will see just cosmetic changes, Rose reports.
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