Go Play AV: Portable Audio, Video, Media and Game Players

Life in Tech has an interesting opinion piece about why they believe the Nintendo DS has out sold the Sony PSP despite all predictions to the contrary:

When I was looking for a portable gaming system the Nintendo DS was out of the question; It was a kid’s toy and nothing more. Sony’s PSP was much cooler with its larger screen, better graphics capabilities, music/video capabilities and decidedly more mature games (Grand Theft Auto, baby!).

Like many, I saw the DS touch screen as a gimmick. The same could be said for the dual screens. Nor did its cheap-looking plastic compare to the sleekness of the PSP.

Eventually, from the pressure of my girlfriend to play Mario Kart DS, I decided to give it a go. She was having so much fun with hers, after all. For a slick $149 I purchased the DS Mario Kart pack.

Now, nearly nine months later, I’ve found that I never (I mean never) play my PSP. The DS became my handheld of choice. I asked myself how this could be possible, citing all the reasons above and I’ve formed a simple conclusion: the DS is a better value, period.

Read complete article: How the DS beat the PSP (and how the Wii will do the same against the PS3) - Life in Tech

Technorati Tags: nintendo, nintendo ds, portable entertainment, portable gaming, sony PSP, sony

Nintendo says of the DS:

With impressive 3D rendered graphics, Nintendo DS delivers cutting-edge portable games for fans of any genre. Plus, you can play all your favorite Game Boy Advance games in a single-player mode.
With Nintendo DS, dual screens and touch-screen technology allow you to interact with games like never before. Wireless communication allows you to experience real-time multiplayer gameplay, while built-in PictoChat software gives you the power to draw, write and send messages wirelessly. Nintendo DS revolutionizes the way games are played.

Visit the Nintendo DS web page

Over at [H]Console, they’ve provided a detailed review of the differences between the DS and the DS Lite. Thanks guys. Champions.

Reviews:
cNet on DS
cNet on DS Lite
PC World on DS Lite
Digital Trends on DS Lite
TrustedReviews on DS Lite (9/10) - 19 June 2006
Pocket Lint on DS Lite- 14 July 2006
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Kotaku reports that Nintendo are offering free repairs for DS Lites with broken hinges:

Nintendo, while still standing behind their claims that DS Lite hinge cracks are a minor problem, is now offering to repair DS Lite’s with the problem free of charge.

Yesterday a reader sent us word that when he called Nintendo’s customer service he was told they would repair his cracked DS Lite hinge free of charge. The customer service rep told the reader that the repair “came up on her screen” as being a free.

Read complete article: Nintendo Capitulates, Offers Free Repairs for Cracked DS Lites - Kotaku

Technorati Tags: nintendo, nintendo ds lite, portable entertainment, portable game console, portable gaming

Engadget at other sites are reporting on a Japanese site with detailed steps on overclocking (if you don’t know what it means, you shouldn’t be doing it) a DS Lite:

If you’ve gotten just a little too good at your Nintendo DS games and are looking for more of a challenge — and also looking to void your warranty — now there’s a way to hack your console for making everything run almost twice as fast. A Japanese modder has just posted step-by-step directions (in Japanese, unfortunately) for re-wiring a DS Lite to perform at a claimed 1.7x speed, complete with a toggle switch in case you decide that turbo mode isn’t appropriate for all occasions. It looks like you have to be pretty handy with a soldering iron to tackle this particular project, so if you’ve got the skillz and about four hours to waste on tinkering around with your DS’s sensitive circuitry, then accelerated performance — and funny-sounding audio — will be your reward.

Read complete article: How-to overclock your Nintendo DS

The detailed steps can be found at: Overclock your DS Lite. You may need to know a little Japanese

Technorati Tags: nintendo, nintendo ds, nintendo ds lite, portable game console, portable gaming, overclocking

GoNintendo report on news out of Nintendo that the DS was the biggest selling portable games console in the US in June, 2006:

In a triumph for innovation, the dual-screen Nintendo DS(TM) portable became America’s top-selling video game system of any type in June, according to independent sales numbers just released by the NPD Group. The introduction of the new DS Lite version, featuring a smaller profile and more brilliant display, boosted total sales to nearly 600,000 units, almost double that for any other game device, and alone represented more than a third of total industry system purchases for the month.

Nintendo was all but written off when the PSP hit the market. Likewise in the fixed console market. Now who’s having the last laugh? The DS and the Wii (which hasn’t even been released yet!) are dominating the mindshare, and in the case of the DS, that is being translated into market-share. The Wii will undoubtedly follow, and Nintendo wil finally be recognized as the number one games console maker.

Read complete article: Go Nintendo » Blog Archive » Nintendo News: Nintendo DS Becomes America’s Top-Selling Video Game System- What are you waiting for?

Technorati Tags: nintendo, nintendo ds, nintendo ds lite, portable entertainment, portable game console, portable gaming

TrustedReviews gives the SwissBit s.beat Mp3 player come Swiss army knife a work out, giving it a very good 8/10:

If you’re a tech type that likes to carry around a Swiss army knife then the SwissBit s.beat MP3 Digital Audio player is a no brainer that truly lives up to the Swiss army knife multi-talented reputation.

All that and an MP3 player. You gotta want that!

Read complete article: TrustedReviews - SwissBit s.beat MP3 Digital Audio Player

Technorati Tags: digital audio player, mp3 player, portable audio, portable entertainment, swiss army knife, swissbit

The MP3 Players reports on an MP3 pen:

This is a pen, but not just a pen. The pen, with length of 148mm and diameter of 18mm, does play music too! The upper part of the pen is actually an MP3 player with 512MB of memory. It does have everything of a common digital audio player, except a display screen. Other than audio playback, it also has a built-in FM tuner and voice recording function.

Not sure how practical it will be if you try and write at the same time as listening - cord dangle could be annoying. Interesting they still manage to include voice recording and FM tuner. Hello Apple?

Read complete article: Pen Does Play Music Too! | The MP3 Players

Technorati Tags: digital audio player, mp3 player, portable audio, portable entertainment, mp3 pen

CNET review the Samsung NeXus 25 MP3 player giving it only 6.7/10:

The good: Small and light, Samsung’s Nexus 50 provides space for up to 50 hours of digital music (25 hours for the Nexus 25), as well as recorded XM radio programming. The easy-to-use Nexus ships with a decent set of accessories, and the dock’s small, removable XM receiver can be used in a variety of scenarios and locations.

The bad: The Samsung Nexus’s monochrome screen and capacity are uninspiring, and the unit needs to sit in its cradle to receive XM broadcasts; plus, its Windows-only Napster/XM software is frustrating to use. Worse yet, it runs out of power after just more than 7 hours of listening.

The bottom line: The Samsung Nexus is no bigger than most digital music players, and Samsung adds satellite radio to the mix with a cradle-bound XM radio, but you can listen to live radio only when the Nexus is docked. In addition, it comes up short on battery life.

Read complete article: Samsung Nexus 25 Reviews. MP3 players Reviews by CNET.

Technorati Tags: digital audio player, mp3 player, portable audio, portable entertainment, samsung nexus, xm radio

The iriver clix is one of the new breed of portable media players with rhe fronmt of the device dedicated to the screen.

From the iRiver clix web page:

PLAYS MUSIC, VIDEO, PHOTOS AND MORE
The beautifully designed iriver clix features a new ultra-intuitive interface that is easily customizable to match your style. Plus, the iriver clix works with both subscription and pay-per-song music services, so millions of songs are available to you.

FEATURES
• Plays music, video, photos and more
• Supports subscription music services
• Ultra-bright, 2.2” color display
• Built-in digital FM tuner
• Plays downloaded games
• Integrated voice recorder
• Up to 25 hours of battery life
• Skip-free listening
• Alarm clock
• Fast USB 2.0 transfers
• 1 year limited warranty

PACKED WITH
• iriver clix 2GB* multimedia player
• iriver earphones
• carry case with screen cleaner
• Easy Start installation CD
• preloaded tracks from eMusic®
• preloaded games
• USB 2.0 cable
• printed manual
• 1 year limited warranty

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
• Windows XP (Service Pack 1 or higher)
• Windows Media Player 10 or greater
• CD-ROM drive
• USB port

EDITOR’S NOTE: Most MP3 players will work with Mac OS X and Linux, but there may be some functionality not available on those platforms to enable usage of all media types on the clix.
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MobileWhack note the news from Japan of the upcoming release of the Cowon iAudio U2 (nothing to do with the band) MP3 player:

Cowon Japan announced today their newest iAudio U2 2GB which comes in new color, pearl white. It boasts a 4-line LCD display with resolutions of 128 x 64, FM tuner, and built-in microphone for voice recording. The supported audio file formats are MP3, WMA, OGG and WAV which is the same with the old version. It has a built-in rechargeable battery which will last for 20 hours of playback time via USB connection.

Read complete article: Cowon iAudio U2 2GB Pearl White Edition : MobileWhack.com

Technorati Tags: digital audio player, mp3 player, portable audio, portable entertainment, cowon