September 15, 2005, 1:33 PM PDT
That voodoo that you do so well
Posted by: Dan Ackerman

And by that we mean, how well high-end system vendors are aggressively mainstreaming the Media Center experience. And more power to them, because with TiVo's recent flakey behavior, it seems like media-minded consumers will want to be even more empowered to take charge of their content libraries.

VoodooPC, maker of high-end gaming systems, just announced its latest entry in the high-end Media Center field, the Voodoo Aria HTPC Media Center. The Aria, based on an AMD Turion 64 processor, is a fairly standard-looking rack-mounted Media Center, except for the addition of a small touch-screen LCD built right into the front of the system. If you've ever tried to tweak your video card settings while your rig was plugged into a television, you know how useful that could be.

Other benefits touted include silent operation, a DVD archiving system for saving movies to your hard drive (wonder how the MPAA is going to feel about that), and a healthy starting price tag of $3,550.

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September 15, 2005, 12:06 PM PDT
A true iPod killer? Sony's new Walkmans will hit Japan first
Posted by: James Kim

A couple of weeks ago, a Sony spokesperson indicated to me that the NW-HD5's "replacement" would be announced on September 8 but that it would be an Asia-only device for the time being. For now, the 20GB NW-A3000 (violet or silver) and the 6GB NW-A1000 (pink or blue) will not be coming to the States anytime soon, but we're still intrigued by the futuristic design of both units, as well as the rumored prospect that they will be compatible with WMA.

Each device is being aggressively branded as a "Walkman" model, and they both have a distinct new look, somewhat fashioned after the glossy OLED screen-driven E500 series. The 20GB version has a 2-inch screen, while the 6GB version sports a 1.5-inch screen, and though neither includes photo nor video features as seen on some competitors, there will be some neat features such as Artist Link, which searches for artists, albums, and genres, closely tied to the current song, and two shuffle modes: My Favorite Shuffle (100 most-played tracks) and Time Machine shuffle (plays all tracks from a randomly selected year).

Sony has sights on the Apple iPod franchise and hopes to sell more than 4.5 million by the end of March 2006, according to the New York Times. The new players will be available in Japan only on November 19 and will likely come to the States after a couple of months.

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September 15, 2005, 12:03 PM PDT
Canon's crystal ball
Posted by: Lori Grunin

Canon set up shop this week in the Jacob Javits convention center here in NYC to showcase its wares, both hard and vapor. Although there was only one real product announcement--the company's new HDV broadcast camcorder, the $9,000 XL 1H--there were some interesting products that we expect to see this winter.

For instance, there's the as-yet-unnamed, medium-format, 10-pigment-ink printer. Canon reps weren't allowed to disclose what colors it uses, so I'm going to speculate wildly, based on the print samples I saw (but couldn't take with me!): black, two shades of gray, cyan, yellow, magenta, light cyan, light magenta, red, and green. With a stated price of "less than $900," Canon is clearly trying to unseat Epson as the darling of the photo community.

Also on display were the DC10 and DC20 camcorders, the company's debut DVD-recordable products--which are already on sale everywhere in the world but North America, where they're not even officially announced. No one could comment on the holdup, but we know it has something to do with American litigiousness. Grr. Canon also has some Wi-Fi-enabled PowerShots on deck, but those aren't much fun to look at.

Other big imaging news was this week's announcement of the collaboration with Microsoft on the Vista Windows Color System architecture. Canon's contribution is the Kyuanos profile-connection space, displacing Kodak's ICM engine. I'm reserving judgement 'til I see the working implementation, but it seems to have all the right specs. Good riddance, sRGB!

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September 15, 2005, 11:31 AM PDT
Vroom vroom! Cowon iAudio F1
Posted by: Jasmine France

Tuesday, we met with Cowon to do an interview for a documentary that will air on KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) and were rewarded for our time with a sample unit of Cowon's latest flash MP3 player, the yet-to-be-released iAudio F1. The device takes its name from Formula 1 but is actually shaped more like a NASCAR racer than the body-light, spoiler-heavy F1 cars. That said, the F1's design embodies its sporty name, taking the form of an ultrasleek matchbox Ferrari. A large OLED screen makes up the windshield, while a nine-way joystick rests on the trunk. There's no spoiler, but you will find a "dual exhaust" in the rear: two minijacks, one for the headphones and one for line-in recording and charging/transferring (a minijack-to-USB cable is included for this last purpose). A hold switch on the driver-side rear-quarter panel rounds out the "vehicle's" controls. True to its race-car-esque design, the F1 comes in four colors: bright red, bright yellow, white, and black. For an interesting take on the player, check out Dapreview's Lego man garage habitat.

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September 15, 2005, 10:03 AM PDT
iTunes 5.0: hold that upgrade!
Posted by: Molly Wood

Happily, Apple has actually acknowledged the big problems with iTunes 5.0, mostly on PCs, and is working on a fix. Sadly, some Mac fans think the PC woes are proof that one company should make all the hardware and all the software. Unless that company is Microsoft, I guess.

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September 15, 2005, 10:01 AM PDT
Xbox 360 in time for Black Friday
Posted by: Molly Wood

Hey, you know the biggest shopping day of the year, the day after Thanksgiving? That's pretty much when you want to have your product on the shelves. Microsoft has apparently figured out that strategy, and the Xbox 360 goes on sale November 22. So, actually, it'll be long since sold out by Black Friday.

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