Cool Tools archive

Apple launches $100 iPod, $500 Macintosh
At today's MacWorld Expo in San Francisco, all the rumors were apparently true. Apple today launched a $100 (and $150) iPod music player, and a $500 Macintosh desktop. The iPod Shuffle is a "pack of gum" sized music player that is based on Apple's shuffle feature. Using the iTunes AutoFill... January 11, 2005

A remote control for AirPort Express
Part of the problem in playing music off your computer is that in order to switch songs (or skip one), you have to be near the computer. When you start streaming the music to another room, changing the song or playlist involves running back to the original room. Keyspan aims... November 10, 2004

iPod goes color, adds photos
I guess if you're going to add the ability to view photos on your iPod, you had better make sure that you add a color screen. That's what Apple did this week when it announced the iPod Photo, the latest version in its army of iPods. The new models come... October 27, 2004

Play your iPod on the road
Newer Technology and Other World Computing (OWC) said today it was shipping the NewerTech RoadTrip FM transmitter, an adapter that lets Apple iPod users stream songs through a car's audio system on the 107.7 FM radio frequency. The device is available for $19.99 through the MacSales Web site. The RoadTrip... August 18, 2004

25 functions, one box
Addonics gets the prize today for the "most functions in one device" announcement. The San Jose-based company said its new MFR (stands for Multifunction Recorder) is a 25-in-1 digital media storage appliance that can do almost everything except make toast. The device can read and write 11 different memory card... July 29, 2004

Win stuff from Apple
Apple has begun the countdown to 100 million songs downloaded off its iTunes service by giving away free iPods. A 20G-byte iPod will be given to the purchaser of each 100,000th song downloaded between the 95 million and 100 millionth song on iTunes. The person who downloads the 100 millionth... July 01, 2004

Sony launches iPod competitor
Sony this week announced its VAIO Pocket hard drive digital music player, which aims to put up to 26,000 songs in your pocket and includes a 2.2-inch color screen so you can see photos and album covers. The device will cost about $500 and will be available in September nationwide...

Archos launches portable TV recorder
Archos today launched its Pocket Video Recorder AV400, a portable digital video recorder with TV recording and scheduling features, as well as audio, photo and data storage. The AV400 lets you record TV shows and movies directly from a TV, VCR or cable/satellite receiver through its TV Cradle (basically a... June 30, 2004

SMC hooks up with Rhapsody
SMC announced this week that its EZ-Stream Wireless Audio Adapter (model SMCWAA-B) now works with Rhapsody, the Internet jukebox software from RealNetworks. The EZ-Stream Wireless Audio Adapter costs $129.99 and works over a Wi-Fi network to stream music stored on a PC to any stereo, the company said. People who... June 17, 2004

Olympus updates voice recorders
Olympus America today launched several new digital voice recorders -- the DS-2220 high-performance model ($290) and four versions of the VN-Series. The DS-220 (pictured) has a stereo microphone, which lets the device pick up both sides of a conversation with the same clarity, Olympus said. The device can record four... March 18, 2004

An under-$100 MP3 player
A company called Cirago today announced an under-$100 price for its Marvel MP3 player, a thumb-sized device that stores 128M bytes of files and also includes a digital voice recorder. The official price is $99.99, and users can order the device at the company's Web site or SuperPCMart.com. Other features... December 15, 2003

Archos launches new MP3 players
Archos this week launched two new portable MP3 players that can be customized with different add-on accessories. The Archos GMINI 120 (available today, $249.95) and GMINI 220 (available in November, $349.95, pictured at left) are 20G-byte devices, and are small enough to fit into a shirt pocket. Both devices can... October 22, 2003

Buy Pepsi, get a free song
As part of its iTunes for Windows announcement yesterday, Apple also announced a new promotion (begins in February 2004) with Pepsi-Cola North America to give away 100 million free songs. The soda bottler is putting random winning codes on the bottle caps of 20-oz. and 1-liter bottles of Pepsi, Diet... October 17, 2003

Apple releases new iPods, faster iMacs
Apple this week announced two new iPod models, a 20G-byte and a 40G-byte version, which Apple says can hold up to 10,000 songs. The company also announced faster iMac models, with PowerPC G4 processors running up to 1.25 GHz, faster 333 MHz DDR memory, faster graphics and USB 2.0 interfaces.... September 09, 2003

Olympus updates digital voice recorders
Olympus America this week announced two new digital voice recorders, the DM-20 Stereo Digital Voice Recorder / Music Player, and the DS-660 Digital Voice Recorder. The recorders will be available later this month, Olympus said. The DS-660 ($299 retail, $249 street) includes up to 11 hours of voice recording capabilities,... August 06, 2003

128M-byte portable MP3 player for $99
AZIO Technologies today announced availability of a new compact, portable MP3 player. The AZIO MP306 comes in 64M-byte and 128M-byte flavors and costs $79 and $99, respectively. The MP306 includes a scrolling LCD that indicates the artist and song title of the MP3 file. The player includes a microphone for... February 20, 2003

Tiny device, big storage and audio
SmartDisk finally sent me a picture of its Rover device, a portable USB data storage device that also acts as an MP3 digital audio player. The device costs $99.99 (for 64M bytes of storage) or $149.99 (for 128M bytes). The device weighs less than an ounce, and plugs into a... February 19, 2003

New Bantam audio players
Bantam Interactive announced it will be shipping its BA1000 digital audio player / hard drive in March 2003. The new player includes a built-in MP3 encoder that lets users record music directly from CDs, vinyl albums or cassettes without using a PC. The device uses a Toshiba 1.8-inch hard drive,... January 23, 2003

New 256M-byte audio players
Digitalway Inc. has launched two new MP3/WMA digital audio players to its MPIO product line. The new products, the FL100 and FD100, each boast 256M bytes of storage for files. The 'Beautiful Square' FD100 player from Digitalway.The MPIO FL100 also includes a voice recorder, FM radio, expansion via Secure Digital... January 16, 2003