http://www.ecoustics.com/latest/links Latest links, updated every five minutes http://www.ecoustics.com/tl/23596/ Are you so in love with music you can't imagine life without your ten-thousand favorite songs? Are you a little bit of a control freak? Do you obsess over song order when composing your over-mulled playlists? Most importantly, are you getting married soon? If you answered yes to all of the above, have I got an idea for you! It may be time to consider an MP3 player as your reception DJ instead of the typical human variety. My upcoming nuptuals are quite a while away, so I have sufficient time to plan a 4-hour playlist of songs that really speaks to me and my fiance. I've read about this concept in bridal magazines, and this is a great new trend that even acts as a money saver. Why do such a thing, you ask? First and foremost, it really works best for smaller parties of your nearest and dearest, who don't need gimmicky games hosted by an obnoxious DJ to entertain themselves. The company of loved ones is really the best game you can play at a wedding. Secondly, I am a major control freak. Everytime I heard a song that I loved I penciled it down and said... Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:00:09 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-17938_105-10032134-1.html?part=ecoustics-cnet The long-awaited Dell ultraportable arrives, but it's unclear what the long-term benefit is. Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17753 Peripheral and accessories maker LaCie has introduced a USB, bus-powered version of its Neil Poulton-designs external speakers for desktop and notebook PCs. Previously available as a FireWire device, the USB Speakers are designed to be portable, offer decent low-level sound quality, and they work with either Macs or PCs without any additional software."The new USB Speakers provide universal flexibility to all USB-enabled computers without the need for additional power cables, electrical sockets, or batteries," said LaCie accessories product manager AlRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/reviews/150249 Is a specially designed, checkpoint-friendly laptop bag worth the money? Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:10:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/lm/reviews/18241 An eye-catching design and 2GB of free online backup make this portable storage drive stand out. Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:18:43 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-17938_105-10030421-1.html?part=ecoustics-cnet The ultraportable Dell's long-rumored to have in the works will be introduced in two days, according to a partner. Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:45:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17737 Audio gear maker Shure has rolled out a selection of new noise-isolated headphones designed to be used with today's smartphones, offering both a noise-isolating experience for music and video as well as an inline microphone for phone calls and other communications needs. And the lineup spans the price gamut, ranging from $99 for the new SE102MPA to a whopping $519.99 for the SE530MPA."Smartphones are the new 'it' devices because users no longer have to abandon who they are to benefit from smartphone technology," said Shure's executive director of global marketing, in a statement. "With ARead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:20:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17729 Sony Computer Entertainment announced today that its revamped PlayStation Portable gaming unit, the PSP-3000, will go on sale in Japan on October 16 for ¥16,800 ($182), the same price as the current PSP model. However, the PSP-3000 features a number of improvements, including better performance, a greatly enhanced LCD display that improves video display and is more usable outdoors thanks to a glare-free design, plus a built-in microphone. The Japanese launch of the PSP-3000 will be buoyed by the release of Dissidia Final Fantasy from Square Enix, and marks Sony's latest move in its efforts to capture Japan's portable gaming market from Nintendo. In recent months, the PSP has managed to outsell the Nintendo DS, spurredRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:15:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/Fujitsu_LifeBook_A6120_2_26GHz_Intel_Core_2_Duo_P8400/4505-3121_7-33229266.html?part=ecoustics-cnet Though it's slightly bulky for a midsize laptop, the feature-packed Fujitsu LifeBook A6210 does double duty as both a computer and a portable Blu-ray player. Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:43:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/Fujitsu_LifeBook_A6210_2_26GHz_Intel_Core_2_Duo_P8400/4505-3121_7-33229266.html?part=ecoustics-cnet Though it's slightly bulky for a midsize laptop, the feature-packed Fujitsu LifeBook A6210 does double duty as both a computer and a portable Blu-ray player. Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:43:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/tl/23648/ I travel some and have a hard time hearing my music and videos on the airplanes. What I have found is that with a simple Portable Audio Amplifier I can amplify and enhance the sound quality to a much better level. There are a couple of different options when it comes to Portable Headphone Audio Amplifiers. One is the Boostaroo , which has the ability to will double the available volume from your audio player and separate the audio signal into individual stereo channels to drive 3 separate sets of headphones or speakers. Naturally it will depend on the ohm rating of your headphones, but the Boostaroo can increase the volume of your player by 100% with no more than a 0.3% harmonic distortion. If you are watching or listening to something that two or tree people want to hear I highly recommend the Boostaroo . If you are looking for something that improves the sound quality for MP3 MP4 Players Computers or Mobile Phones when using earphones or headphones and not so much into sharing the audio with others and are wanting a more quality for an awesome personal listening experience right between your ears I recommend the FiiO... Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:45:09 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/ah/reviews/digital-media-servers/logitech-squeezebox-boom This week, Logitech unveiled its new Squeezebox Boom all-in-one network music player. The system, which is not portable so much as it is self-contained, features an integrated 30-watt Class-D amplifier and speakers - a first for the Squeezebox family. Logitech is betting that the network music player will be the CD player of the 21st century. Now that Squeezebox has successfully added its SqueezeNetwork service, users can actually listen to Internet radio and other web-based music services without an active PC networked in their home. Adding a PC with the free SlimServer software also means that you can listen to all of your music (including those on iTunes) anywhere in your home. Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:01:06 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/ah/reviews/speakers/lifestyle-desktop-and-portable/eos-wireless-multi-room The Eos Digital Wireless Multi-Room Audio System stands for simplicity and reliability at a cheaper cost. IntelliTouch wants to offer consumers a product that is easy on the wallet and easy to set up. The Eos Wireless System is the product they believe will fulfill all of those goals. Of course you can find a bigger, better, more expensive hamburger and of course there may be bigger, fancier sound systems out there, but for the cost and consistency, IntelliTouch does not want to be beat. Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:55:37 -0400 http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/510781.html Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:53:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17687 Mo’ megapixels, mo’ problems. As high-end digital cameras capture larger and larger images, the need for faster and larger capacity flash cards to scribble down all that data as quickly as possible has only gotten greater. SanDisk rose to that need Wednesday with the release of its first 30 MB/s SDHC card, the aptly named SanDisk ExtremeIII 30MB/s Edition.While the concurrently released Nikon D90 DSLR is actually the only camera on the market today that can harness that ki Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:15:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-13924_3-10026010-64.html?part=ecoustics-cnet They made their mark by appearing in the trendiest ultraportables, as a high-priced option. Now solid-state drives are coming off their rarefied shelf space. Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17662 With the gargantuan IFA 2008 show just around the corner, Cowon today started building momentum for its own upcoming offerings by dropping select details about three upcoming players. The Cowon S9, O2 and L3 all carry generous touch-screens and a variety of multimedia capabilities.The S9 Curve lives up to its name with a slim body that’s square from a top-down view, but has a pronounced curve on the back of its chrome-edged case. The biggest attraction be Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17659 Amazon.com's Kindle electronic reader set out to redefine—well, really, define—a mass market for electronic books. And while sales of the Kindle device have reportedly been decent, for the most part the Kindle hasn't blown away the consumer marketplace: plenty of folks are taking a wait-and-see attitude to see how the electronic book market develops and whether Amazon.com can really create an ecosystem around delivering electronic texts and information to proprietary portable readers.According to a story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Amaz Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:00:00 -0400 http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/510321.html Mon, 25 Aug 2008 07:23:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/ah/reviews/portables/westinghouse-dpf-1021-photo-frame Westinghouse intrigued us with their DPF-1021 10-inch digital photo frame and its MosaicView feature which promised a nice random photo "montage" feature that would distribute pictures in a way that was always fresh and interesting. The trouble with this frame is its difficulty to work with. Though it boasts PC connectivity, we were never able to get it to connect (on a variety of current and older machines) and the interface made it extremely difficult to load in images from storage devices. If digital photo frames were still in their infancy we could forgive Westinghouse's clunky interface and lack of "Copy All" functions, however this is 2008, not 2004, and this premium-priced digital photo frame scores "below par" compared to its peers. Mon, 25 Aug 2008 03:39:54 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17631 At the Leipzig Games Convention, Sony officially took the wraps off a new version of its PlayStation Portable gaming platform, and unveiled as new 120 GB limited edition of its PlayStation 3 gaming console. And for folks who can't get enough texting with their video games, Sony also unveiled a new wireless keypad that can be used with the PS3's Sixaxis or Dualshock controllers.First up, the latest update to Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP) line is the PSP-3000, the new units features a new 4.3-inch LCD display with a wider color gamut and anti-reflection technology to improve outdoor playability, along with a built-in microphone for use with Skype and other communications tools. Other key specs remain unchanged: 64 MB o Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:00:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-13924_3-10021434-64.html?part=ecoustics-cnet Intel has listed new low-power processors for upcoming ultraportables from Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo as well as the new quad-core mobile processor. Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:30:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/lm/reviews/17641 This super-secure external portable hard drive offers government-grade data protection and blazing write speeds. Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:08:20 -0400 http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/509164.html Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:39:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/17609 Archos has been sticking with the personal media player market, gamely continuing to compete with the Apple iPod juggernaut by consistently offering players that offer more storage, better specs, bigger screens, a wider degree of compatibility, and a wider range of features. Now, the company is rolling the sixth generation of PMPs—dubbed "Internet Media Tablets"—that all pack Wi-Fi, and which include models offering HSDPA mobile broadband and up to 320 GB in storage. And they come with a new—some might say improved—look.The new line consists of the Archos 5, Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:15:00 -0400