iHome ZN9 Zune Clock Radio Review

Before I share some info about this review over at Anything But iPod, let me tell you about my only experience with an iHome product. Simply put, I returned the iHome Alarm clock for the iPod the next day. The alarm functions were week, the audio from the speakers weren’t very dynamic, and there was little to no bass response. I wanted this to work for my wife’s ipod so she could listen to her music and I could use the alarm clock. Both functions were not ideal for us after trying them. I ended up getting her a JBL Dock and I got a cheap alarm clock from Wal Mart that works fantastic.

Graham Skee over at ABI reviews the iHome dock for the Zune and he didn’t seem to care much for this alarm clock docking solution…

Pros

• Easy to see if the alarm is on
• Two alarms
• 2 / 5 / 7 day alarm settings

Cons

• Dock inserts are hard to change
• Remote not included $20 extra
• Poor build quality
• Zune remote does not work with the dock

Head over to ABI to read the entire review…

Do All mp3 Players Sound Alike?

 

Recently I read a review of an mp3 player where the author purposely chose not to discuss sound quality because, in the author’s words, “The chosen player has a great deal to do with how you access your music, but very little to do with how it sounds…”  That got me thinking.  Do all mp3 players sound alike?  They are all digital, so it’s the same 1’s and 0’s playing the music, so how can there be a difference in sound quality?  

I have tested some mp3 players myself and have noticed drastic differences.  I have trouble believing that mp3 players don’t influence sound quality that much.  They have different components, circuitry, software and build tolerances, so how can there not be a difference?  I agree that other factors have an influence on sound quality, namely the quality of the music and headphones.  But if you test mp3 players using the same playlist and headphones, I believe you will hear differences.  This logic works with surround sound receivers, cell phones and recording equipment as well.  But that’s just my opinion.  Let’s explore a little further.

The Big Question

Do all mp3 players sound alike, or are there true, measurable differences that even the average user can appreciate? If a reviewer made a mix tape of high quality music and tested it with the same good headphones on several players, would they not notice a difference?  Read on to see what I have discovered.

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Rhapsody "embracing" the iPod

Rhapsody is offering songs online and via partners including Yahoo Inc and Verizon Wireless,that will be sold in MP3 format, so iPod users can now take the challenge … iTunes or Rhapsody.

Described as  “Music Without Limits”, Rhapsody will be available on mobile phones via the Verizon Wireless VCAST Music service. Buyers of a song over-the-air directly from phones also will be able to download that song to their computer. Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc.

Reuters

Video of Some more Incipio Cases to Review

3 Months ago, I shot some video of a few cases from Incipio for the second generation of the Zunes. For some reason or another, I have a whole new batch of Incipio cases, so I decided why not do another video. This time I have 7 Zune 80 Cases and 5 Flash Zune cases to show you. These can all be purchased from Incipio at MyIncipio.com

Some of these cases have even been reviewed at GotZune already too…

• [Review] theDUKE Raw Leather Wallet Case - Incipio
• [Review] Butter cream ORION Sleeve Case

Read on for the videos and check back for reviews on several of these, I have one coming soon myself.

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Getting Creative with Chat

It appears that long time digital audio technology leader Creative has a product in the pipeline that would combine an MP3 players with a text messaging device, the Zen X-Fi. An interesting approach certainly, but I am a little dubious there will be a market for it as the combination seems a little bit like digital chalk and cheese. The clever fellows over at epiZENter.net have a very iPhonish leaked pic and apparently confirmation from the depths of the Creative website, where they found post-sales materials for the device.

The feature set is certainly interesting if a bit odd, including an SD card expansion slot and a built in Speaker. No words on video or storage size.

The real keys to the device appear to be:

• Wi-Fi for Chatting and Streaming: A Nine button keypad is added, replacing the traditional D-pad, designed to be used like a phone for texting and chatting in IM programs. These are contacted via the built in Wi-Fi. The wireless is also used to stream music to/from Creatives “Public Media Center” or a home server for syncing/playing.
• X-Fi: I have been using Creative’s X-Fi technology through a desktop device connected to my laptop for about a year now. It promises to improve the sometimes flat sound of digital music and it comes through, improving both the tone and the range of MP3s and giving more of a 3D depth to the sound. Creative has been promising a portable player using that tech for some time, and apparently this is it. Some audiophiles claim not to hear a difference with X-Fi but I definitely do, and it will be interesting to see how the technology plays to the much wider PM-buying audience.

So, will this new Zen be able to rival the Zune as a non-iPod music player choice? The text messaging aspect seems to be a very strange kind of fit but is certainly unique, and the built in streaming and X-Fi are certainly welcome additions to the PMP world.

No official announcement on this one from Creative yet, but keep your eyes on epiZENter.net if the device appeals to you, as I can bet they will get any release information first.

Win a Zune

The Countdown Begins

In approximately 60 hours I will see my favorite band of all time, Rush, perform at the United Center in Chicago.  That will be the first of two shows I see.  The next one is June 27th at Milwaukee Fest.  I decided to use technology to prepare myself for the shows.  Here’s how.

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Zune, I have to say this

I love my Zune but I hate so much the Zune software in my computer that I’m not using my mp3 player as often as I should. I use to criticize iTune software for heavy and resource sucker but Zune Software is today the champion of all the champions. On top of that, it’s a software that was from the beginning - I’m talking about the second version of it which replaced the one based in WMP. The most popular options such like Smart List were removed from it. Now they put it back but again… It’s buggy! Come on! Does not the Zune team have a group of MVP helping them to tune their program? I really do not understand.

And I really get frustrated when I see a good product being treated with such lack of… lack of… lack of… brain.

iTune uses a lot of resources but it works, every single time it works. I do have there songs removed and added from my iPod without any apparently reason and I do not get duplicated play list every time I sync. I have more than 20 play lists in my Zune when I’m supposed to have only 5! The play list creation screen sucks… I had to get help in a forum to find how I can select two categories in one play list - The whole Ctrl+Mouse Click Idea was just fantastic… they just forgot to mention about it on that screen in somewhere.

And my main problem with all this is this question:

Why consumers have to work as beta testers of a product that should just be doing what it’s supposed to do out of the box? And don’t come to me saying that it does it because it plays music because the music does not get into the player because Mandrake the Magician puts it in there.

I have gave Microsoft Zune team a lot of time… but things are not getting anywhere better… it’s all the same old s…. (you know).

Well… Now that I said it here, in public, I feel a lot better.

Want games on your Zune?

Here is a neat “how to” that Steve Hughes did that gives you a simple way to get games on your Zune. 

It’s actually pretty easy and the guide is all in pictures for a fast way to see how it is done.  Thanks Steve!

Check it out here at the BostonPocketPC

BlackBerry Trounces Windows Mobile

I was at a party last night and was shocked by how many people were sporting the BlackBerry Curve, including my wife.  Even a couple people who used to have Windows Mobile devices have made the switch. 

One of them used to have the Sprint Mogul PPC 6700, which is a really cool phone:

I couldn’t believe he had a Curve.  So I asked him why, and he told me that the form factor makes it so he can hold the Curve in one hand.  He said that Gmail Mobile for BlackBerry has really added a lot of functionality to his new device.  He loves the keyboard because it allows one-handed operation, as opposed to the PPC 6700, which requires two hands.  Even though the device does not have gps, you can find your location easily by with Google Maps.  He also likes the included media player.

I thought to myself that lots of phones have a similar form factor, such as the Samsung Ace, BlackJack, Palm Treo, and the Moto Q, to name a few.  So I figured there must be more to it.  He didn’t just get a new phone, he got an entirely new operating system.  Just then I spotted a girl I knew and went to say hi.  She, too, had a Curve.  So I also asked her what was up with that (I was the life of the party).  She told me similar things to my other friend, but added one important thing.  She loves the trackball.  With one hand you can navigate anywhere on the screen, just like with a trackball mouse on a computer.  You just click the trackball when your cursor is where you want it, then start typing.  This eliminates the stylus completely.  She told me she missed the touchscreen on her old Treo, but absolutely loves this new way of interacting with the device.  She can now do everything with one hand easily. 

I asked her if she minds only having Edge support instead of the faster 3G.  She couldn’t care less, she said, because the OS is very responsive.  The screen may not have as nice resolution, but for her purposes, it’s great.  She also uses and loves Gmail.  She showed me her family pix on the attachment viewer.

What really put it altogether for me was when  we dropped off our middle kid at another party earlier in the evening (isn’t anyone sick of Pump it Up yet?) and one of our friends agreed to take her home.  My wife pulled out her BlackBerry and got our friends’ vitals and typed them in very quickly.  She used the cursor to navigate through the fields and the excellent keyboard to input name, address etc. very fast. 

None of these people were power users in the Windows Mobile sense.  That is, they didn’t care much about third party apps, spreadsheets (though it sports an Excel and Word viewer), WiFi, 3G access, and gps.  But they are power users in the BlackBerry sense, and with its tremendous ease of use, and excellent form factor and features, Microsoft should take note, especially if they want to increase their market share from 13% to 40% by 2012.

Microsoft Zune Mac Support?

It’s amazing how much speculation can be pulled from within a single one minute video. A couple weeks ago, a video promo for Microsoft showcasing Live Mesh popped up online. In this video, many noticed that a HTC Touch was featured in the video. This Touch had what many suspect to be WIndows Mobile 7. It’s a short clip around the 32 second mark of the video.

Well, that’s not why I am posting today. One of the GotZune.com readers, Jaxim, saw something else odd. I noticed the Zune in the video the couple times I watched it, but didn’t notice what it appears to be hooked up to. Read on for the video and the screen grabs…

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Review: WriteSHIELD crystal-CLEAR Screen Protector

Reviewer: Andy Mason (Warthog)
Product: WriteSHIELD Crystal-CLEAR Screen Protector
Manufacturer: PPCTechs
Price: MSRP – crystal-CLEAR 2-Pak kit, $29.00; Deluxe 2-Pak kit, $36.99

I am very meticulous about all my tech toys and, for the longest time, did not see the need for screen protectors. After using my Dell Axim x50v for about a year, I began to notice very faint scratches on the screen from text entry and repeated stylus taps. That’s when I decided that maybe screen protectors were not such a bad idea. When I purchased my Axim x51v, the screen protector went on before the unit was ever powered up!  However, when I switched to the HTC Mogul several months ago, I decided that I could live without a screen protector. “After all it’s a touch screen, and it has a jog wheel and a dozen buttons for navigation so the screen won’t be subjected to constant stylus abuse like the Axim,” I reasoned.  Well, unlike the Axim, the Mogul is a phone and gets smudged from coming into contact with my face and from using my fingers on the touch screen.  Additionally, I have found that I use the stylus more than I anticipated.  The need for a screen protector soon became evident. I have a WriteSHIELD installed on my x51v and have encountered no problems with it whatsoever.  I contacted PPCTechs to see if they had a protector customized for the Mogul. They did and they were willing to send me a crystal-CLEAR Deluxe 2-Pak kit for review that I present for your consideration.

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Get Games on your Zune Now!?…

You know they are coming, you’ve seen the videos, some of us have actually played with them, and now everyone can. (with a bit of work)

For info on how to do this, head over to Zune Boards.

“Music is life”

You need to check this out!

It is a lesser known feature of the Zune media player to revive small animals using the hybrid headphone defibrillator, which this following beautifully crafted spec commercial dutifully demonstrates.

Check it out here at istartedsomething

Zune 2.5, It’s Here! Video Store, Auto Playlists, etc!

This release that should go live tommorow morning will include a ton of new features, Fixes, etc… Most of the in the Social, but some big ones that you all have been asking for. Video Store, Gapless Playback, and Auto Playlists.

Here are some feature highlights…

• Auto playlists.
• Browsing videos.
• Editing album and track information.
• Organizing collections.
• Gapless playback.
• Syncing groups.
• Zune reminders.

There are tons of new Social Features today too…

• Syncing Zune Cards to a device.
• Enhanced friends search.
• Instant friends.
• Artist and album reviews.
• Reputation badges.
• Windows Live connections.

Hang tight, I have more info coming soon. I had a chance to see this in action last month and it’s nice so far.

Head over to Gotzune.com for some more info in the coming days…