Pandora handheld now shipping: first mass-produced unit unboxed, world somehow survives
The open-source Pandora handheld has had a long and arduous time to market, but the days of delay are apparently at an end. You gaze upon the very first Pandora off the assembly line — the fruit of over two years labor — and project leaders are presently shipping out the rest of the first completed batch, with scores if not hundreds already on the way. GP32X forum mod X68000 got this unit for his help in construction, which means you can see Pandora's box literally opened at our source link (har har). Puns not your thing? Spot a batch of handhelds at the soldering station instead, right after the break.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Pandora handheld now shipping: first mass-produced unit unboxed, world somehow survives originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 23 May 2010 05:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Categories: MP3 Players Tags: Pandora handheld
Sony X-Series Walkman
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The good: The Sony X-Series Walkman is a solid device with a sleek, utilitarian design and a unique, engaging interface; it's compatible with both Mac and Windows and supports podcasts from iTunes and videos from Amazon Unbox; it offers a plethora of features including an onboard Slacker app, integrated YouTube support, Wi-Fi, an FM tuner, and built-in noise canceling. The included earphones are nicer than average, the sound quality is excellent, and the rated battery life is superb.
The bad: The X-Series is expensive, and it's a fingerprint magnet. The included app does not transcode much video adequately.
The bottom line: The X-Series is a superb choice for audiophiles who want a luxury device with an excellent touch-screen interface and plenty of other bells and whistles.
Touch-screen MP3 players are all the rage, so it was only a matter of time before Sony hopped on the bandwagon. As it turns out, it was more time than we all anticipated. The company's X-Series Walkman was announced at CES 2009 and was expected to hit shelves in mid-June, but the player didn't go on sale until early July. The good news is that the final product is every bit as impressive as the preproduction model that CNET got to play with back in May. The X-Series Walkman offers a high-quality design with a gorgeous screen, a fun and innovative interface, and a plethora of cool features–just be prepared to pay for it accordingly. The player is priced the same as the iPod Touch, with the 16GB going for $299 and the 32GB listing for $100 more.
Design
Sony did not skimp on the construction of the X-Series Walkman, which is modeled after a geode with its glossy face and back plates wrapped in a glittering textured edge. The player is made of sturdy metal and has a weighty quality that makes it feel as expensive as the price tag insists. It's not as slim as the iPod Touch, measuring 3.8 inches by 2.1 inches by 0.4 inch, but it's still quite pocket-friendly, and the 3-inch OLED display is nothing to scoff at. Our one complaint is that the shiny surface is extremely smudge-prone and nearly impossible to keep clean given the touch screen interface.
Of course, the fingerprints are easy to ignore thanks to the fact that Sony went above and beyond with the interface, which is the best touch-screen utilization next to the iPod Touch. In fact, it's the only other touch screen we've come across that's actually fun to use. It has the "bounce back" effect when you are quickly scrolling through a long list, and a rather cool and unusual tilted scrolling effect for video and album art that's hard to explain in print–best to check out our First Look video for that. But perhaps best of all, you don't even need to use the touch screen for playback controls. The Walkman has tactile play/pause and track shuttle buttons on the top side, as well as a dedicated volume rocker on the right edge, meaning blind (in-pocket) navigation is a possibility with this player. That's truly a rarity in a touch-screen device. Another cool physical characteristic: the giant hold switch on the back.
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