Sony W252 Wearable Walkman MP3 Player Review - Softpedia

We can say that we're pretty lucky since, over time, we've had the chance to test most of the new products introduced by Sony in their various Walkman lines, whether we're talking about the company's super-slim A-845 model or their touch-enabled X-series (with plenty of other products in between), but we really wanted to check out one of their very futuristic-looking wearable Walkman products as well.

So, without further ado, here's the Sony W252 Wearable Walkman MP3 Player (yeah, that's a pretty long name, by all accounts), a music player pertaining to the Japanese company's W series that tackles this whole concept from a completely different angle, bringing the whole device to the user's ears, rather than just the earphones.

So, what really makes this thing wearable (and thus, completely hands-free) is the fact that it is actually formed out of two separate parts, united by a well-insulated cable that goes behind the user's neck/head, while each of the two units pack their own, built-in earphone.

To be perfectly honest, when taking this thing out of the box, we were a bit spooked by its design and found it a tad difficult to get along with (at least when compared to other multimedia players we've tested), but after getting the hang of it, we've come to the conclusion that this is perhaps the most portable Walkman Sony has ever come up with.

But enough with the chit-chat, it's now time to get to the nitty-gritty and see what the W252 is all about, in terms of design, features and overall performance.

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Sony NEX-VG10E Gets AF Support with A-mount Lenses via Firmware Upgrade - Softpedia

Without a doubt, Sony's interchangeable-lens Handycam NEX-VG10E Full HD camcorder has been one of the hottest products of this type to be unveiled in 2010, the imager leveraging the interchangeable lens technology introduced with the company's NEX series of pocket DSLRs (the E-mount). However, since the number of E-mount lenses available on the market is still rather limited, the devices from the NEX series also support lenses from the much better-known A-mount line, used by the rest of Sony's alpha DSLRs. And now, Sony has just revealed the fact that the latest firmware upgrade for the NEX-VG10E will enable autofocus operation when using their camcorder with a wide range of optional A-mount interchangeable lenses.

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Apple MacBook Air Clone from E-Stary Looks Almost Like the Real Thing - Softpedia

You know it, we know it and Apple certainly knows it too that China is the land where just about any electronic device can be copied (and sometimes, even improved) in a very short amount of time, the knock-offs coming from this part of the world becoming pretty famous, especially since the “source of inspiration” is a device that's managed to seriously keep itself in the spotlight, such as the MacBook Air from Apple. In fact, although the redesigned MacBook Air has only been around for a fairly limited amount of time, its first knock-offs have already appeared on the Chinese market, the latest being the HY118 portable computing system developed by a company called E-Stary and uncovered by the people over at Shanzaiben.

The HY118, despite sharing the external design of the MacBook Air, has the core of a netbook inside, sporting a choice of Intel Atom N270/N450 CPUs and Intel 945GSE/NM10 chipsets, as well as 1GB of DDR2 memory and an 160GB HDD. Quite obviously, the clone sports a 11.6-inch display (1366x768 pixels resolution) powered by either integrated Intel GMA 950 or 3150 graphics chipsets.

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Panasonic Announces Affordable Blu-ray BDXL Recorder - Softpedia

Although the 128GB storage space touted by the new BDXL standard sounds pretty sweet, nobody can deny the fact that Blu-ray XL recorders are still way to expensive for most of us, but Panasonic is set to change that with its new DMR-BR585 unit that is bound to hit Japan this month.

Featuring pretty much all the bells and whistles that one would expect from a present day Blu-ray recorder, Panasonic's offering can store your favorite TV shows either on the included 320GB internal hard disk or on a 100GB multi-layered recordable BDXL disc as it seems that 128GB discs are not supported.

Furthermore, content can also be recorded from the hard to a BDXL disc or vice versa, this unit managing to offer an impressive functionality in this regard.

Captured video in encoded using either the MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 standard, Panasonic stating that one BDXL drive can store up to 86 hours and 40 minutes of Full HD Blu-ray content, enough, I would say, even for the most die hard TV freaks out there.

Connectivity wise, the DMR-BR585 features a HDMI input, a SD card slot as well as Ethernet networking, although Panasonic does not state if this device features any kind of Internet streaming (or what streaming services are supported).

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Creative announces Android tablets, media player | Crave - CNET

Coming as a bit of a surprise, Creative today announced a pair of slates dubbed the ZiiO Pure Wireless Entertainment Tablets and a handheld media player called the Zen Touch 2 Wireless Entertainment Device. What differentiates these devices from Creative's earlier products is that they all run on the Google Android mobile operating system. The ZiiO will come in 7- and 10-inch versions with screen resolutions of 800x480 pixels and 1,024x600 pixels, respectively. Both come in 8GB or 16GB capacities, making for a grand total of four variations. The 7-inch ZiiO starts at $278, while the 10-inch version starts at $332. 

Based on Android 2.1 (Eclair), the differentiating factor of this tablet appears to be the inclusion of Creative's X-Fi technology. The company claims a superior audio experience and seamless Bluetooth stereo pairing.

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The Gate Technology Intros Optical Multitouch Screens For the Education Sector - Softpedia

Today's classrooms sure have changed a lot from what we were used to back in the day, computers making learning a much more interactive experience so the new multi-touch capable digital multimedia screens and electric whiteboards developed by The Gate Technology for e-learning, e-campus, e-school will fit right well in today's educational environment. Compared to other similar technologies, The Gate says their system will allow for a more smoother user interface since it features a 6ms response time as well as improved accuracy while also being multi-touch enabled.

Furthermore, this units are available in sizes ranging from 30 inches right up to 120 inches while also being easy to install and set-up thanks to their USB interface, this optical touch modules being compatible with any type of TVs as well as projectors to provide users with lots of flexibility when it comes down to display choices.

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Stream Audio To Siemens Hearing Aid With Minitek

The touch of a button can link you to a superb listening experience with Siemens Minitek. The Minitek is an automatic streamer that can wirelessly connect your high-tech audio devices with your hearing aid. This pocket device can beam audio from any Bluetooth, e2e or T-coil systems directly into your ears. You can also hook up the device to any non-wireless gadgets via the USB port. The Minitek can stream audio continuously for 5 hours. It also functions like a remote control to adjust volume, answer calls, etc. The gadget is designed to be user-friendly and portable. Below is a summary of the features of the Minitek:

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