Remember where you were when Apple announced it was launching a phone? Excitement was unbridled. Fanboys were whipped into a frenzy. And we all know the result... the Motorola Rokr E1. Read on for more tech that never took off.
(Credit: Crave UK)When we first heard about the MP3-playing Soundwave Transformer toy, our heads nearly exploded. We searched the Web for a place to buy it, we told everyone we knew about it, we hopped from foot to foot with excitement about it. We bounded out of bed to meet the postman first thing every morning until our Japanese import finally arrived. Then we played with it for about a day before it went in a drawer, never to be seen again.
Sadly, this sort of thing happens all too often. A new technology is talked up in swells of hype, anticipation, and promise. Then it arrives... and everybody's lost interest. We've rounded up 10 of our favorite technologies that never lived up to their promise or their press: it's the tech that never took off.
Read more of "Whatever happened to...? The tech that never took off" at Crave UK.
(Credit:
Supermarket)
The music may be horrible, but if you rub a tape head over these ties you can actually hear jumbled sound collages recorded from the NYC metro system. This is possible because the ties are 50 percent audio cassette tape.
If you have $90 to spend on one of the ties, and you are willing to sacrifice an old Walkman for the project, you can make this a fixture of your formal wardrobe. Of course, walking around with a broken Walkman asking every one to rub you with it is not recommended.
This story originally appeared on Gizmodo.
The better S-Series
(Credit: SonyInsider)It was a sad day when I reviewed the second-gen Sony S-Series Walkman. We expected a worthy successor to this fantastic MP3 player and instead were met with a mere shadow of the device and its former glory. True, you still get top-notch sound quality, impressive battery life, and even the added bonus of external speakers, but what happened to my podcast support, upgraded headphones, expanded sound enhancement options, interface personalization, SensMe Channels, and Rhapsody DNA?
Well, most of those things got funneled into the "expanded" S-Series, the S640 and S740 lines, which--naturally--Sony has no intention of offering to U.S. buyers. (The speaker-sporting model is the S540.) These two players differ in only one way: the S740 offers integrated noise canceling, whereas the S640 does not. Other than that, both devices include just about everything that made the original S-Series Walkman so freakin' sweet, plus the ability to output to a TV and what appears to be some sort of audio recording option. Oh, and it's available in a 32GB option. You're killing me, Sony!
A-Series Walkman: such a tease
(Credit: SonyInsider)Adding insult to injury is the Japan-only release of a next-gen A-Series Walkman, a seemingly spectacular MP3 player with a 2.8-inch WQVGA OLED screen. It offers an S-Master digital amplifier, FM radio, digital noise canceling, and the ability to output to TV at 720×480. The package also includes Sony's MDR-EX300SL earphones (i.e. not shoddy stock earbuds). Oh, and have I mentioned it's available in capacities up to 64GB? Seriously. Killing. Me.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to write a strongly-worded letter.
(Via SonyInsider)
The Sony Walkman outsold Apple's iPod in Japan last week, the first time in more than four years, according to a study by Japanese electronics research company BCN.
Sony's slice of the market for digital music players in Japan rose to 43 percent for the week ending August 30, narrowly beating Apple's 42.1 share. The survey didn't include sales results for the iPhone because that device also serves as a cell phone.
While Apple's 8GB iPod Nano took the top sales spot, Sony's Walkman devices outsold all iPods for the week.
(Credit: BCN)Sony achieved its victory through pure sales volume and number of players, said BCN. Apple's 8GB iPod Nano hit the top of the sales charts with a 21.7 percent share of the market, while Sony's mini NW-E042 Walkman came in second with just a 6.2 market share.
But Sony captured six of the top 10 sales spots with different models of its Walkman. In addition to its top 8GB Nano, Apple took the remaining three slots with its 16GB iPod Nano, iPod Classic, and iPod Shuffle.
Sony's win be may due to a variety of factors, according to BCN. The company focuses on lower-cost music players, with the average price of a Walkman dropping in recent weeks while Apple's prices have stayed firm. BCN also said it thinks Apple may be competing with itself, as more Japanese consumers have opted for iPhones rather than buying both an iPod and cell phone.
BCN said it believes the battle for market share will heat up again following Apple's September 9 event, in which the company is expected to announce new iPod models.
Sony's varied line of Walkman players have picked up generally favorable reviews.
Sony had a major success with the launch of the S-Series Walkman in the fall of 2008. The company stepped up with a sleek and compact device that offered a bounty of useful features along with stellar sound quality and a fantastic battery life. As might be expected, when it came time for a second-gen model, we waited with bated breath, expecting something equally impressive or perhaps even somewhat improved.
Unfortunately, the exhalation of said breath has emerged as a disappointed sigh. Although the second-generation S-Series Walkman still offers top-notch audio and excellent rated battery life, Sony has hobbled the player by crippling its feature set. The upshot is that this was done in the name of rock-bottom pricing, which makes the S-Series one of the cheapest flash players on the market: you can pick up an 8GB model for $110 and a 16GB for just $130. This--combined with its stellar performance--is the player's saving grace.
Read the full review of the S-Series Walkman.
Once again, Donald and Jasmine promise a "short one" and fail to deliver. How is it that just us talking about two devices manage to stretch on for the standard 30 minutes? We'll tell you: one of them inspires a lovefest that's saccharine enough to make your teeth throb, while the other throws Jasmine into a tizzy dripping with disappointment. This discussion on two new players--the Sansa Clip+ and the S-Series Walkman--is not to be missed. Also, the MP3 Insiders touch once again on the possibility of subscription music on the iPhone and iPod Touch.
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Apparently, Disney does not have a problem with this.
(Credit: Donald Bell/CNET)Yes, it's true: I've managed to get my grubby little mitts on Sony's new E- and S-Series Walkman MP3 players. How, you ask? I will never share my secrets...NEVER! OK, dramatics aside, it has been an exciting end of the week here at CNET, and one of many reasons for that will become apparent to you next week, so make sure you keep an eye on MP3 Insider.
In the meantime, I have a little something to titillate you: hands-on photos of the new Walkmans (Walkmen?). Also, a bit of information for you. You've probably already heard that the E- and S-Series are dramatically cheaper than Sony's previous models--with the E-Series coming in at $80 for 8GB and $100 for 16GB, and the S-Series offering an 8GB model for $110 and a 16GB for $130--but you may not know where exactly the company cut corners. Well, I'm truly sorry to say that you won't find integrated noise-canceling capability, upgraded headphones, SensMe Channels, or Rhapsody DNA in either of these players. (And--yes--this lazy Walkman convert is extremely letdown by those last two.)
But, hey, these devices offer rock-bottom pricing for plenty of other features, so one mustn't be too strict. I do look forward to putting them through their paces and see how the sound quality and battery life have fared in the face of the price cut. Until then, ogle away.
This week, Donald and Jasmine can't resist taunting the naysayers with yet more Zune and iPod talk, but we think you'll be interested to know that the Zune HD popped up with an app submenu during weekend demos at Best Buys across the country. And what does Microsoft have to say about that? We'll give you one guess. Also, Rhapsody gets down with the iPhone with a brand-new app that is yet-to-be-approved by Apple. Plus, we take a look at the upcoming E- and S-Series Walkmans from Sony and ponder the slow death of the Bluetooth MP3 player.
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(Credit:
Sony)
The new 8GB Sony NWZ-S544 and 16GB Sony NWZ-S545 we saw earlier are now official. Sony's first speaker-endowed MP3 Walkmans feature 2.4-inch 320x240-pixel (QVGA) LCD screens capable of 262k colors. The latest S-Series Walkman also boasts Sony's Clear Stereo and Clear Bass audio enhancement technologies, along with a dynamic normalizer and five-band equalizer.
Battery life is listed at 42 hours for audio playback and 6.5 hours with video on headphones, 17 hours for audio, and 5 hours with video while listening via the speakers.
Both players claim drag-and-drop file transfer, which is nothing new, and also offer compatibility with iTunes 8.1 and Windows Media Player. Apart from MP3, WMA, and AAC support, FM reception (with 30 presets) is included.
The S-Series Walkmans are capable of 30fps playback with the usual video formats like H264/AVC, MP4 and WMV. Measuring in at about 1.9 inches by 3.9 inches by just less than half an inch and weighing almost 2.5 ounces, this series comes in a choice of colors: black, red, violet, and pink. The new S-Series Walkmans will go on sale September 1; click here for the official specifications.
(Source: Crave Asia)
Editor's note: Though not mentioned in the original article, the big news here is the pricing for the new S-Series Walkman. The 8GB will sell for $110, while the 16GB will come with a suggested retail price of just $130--quite a steal for an MP3 player that's sure to offer impressive audio quality and battery life. Sounds like someone is trying to make up for the X-Series' exorbitant price tag.
My first hi-fi speakers looked a lot like this.
CNET News Poll
I bought my first hi-fi with money I made working at a supermarket when I was 16 years old.
The system had a Garrard turntable, XAM amplifier, and XAM speakers. The system cost $106 in 1965, that would be more like $600 to $700 in 2009 dollars.
Man, that little system ruled! My records came to life like never before. A month or two after I bought the system I accidentally crushed the "needle," so I bought a better phono cartridge and my records sounded even better. I became an audiophile! It didn't take long before I had the best stereo of all my friends, and they brought their new LPs over to my house to check it out.
What was your first music system like? Vote in the poll.
