AV Watch reports that Sony Japan will make an update for the Vaio Pocket available on December 24. The update will feature 34 additions and improvements, including gapless MP3 playback ability to transfer MP3 files from the PC overall speed/response improvement new high speed scroll feature

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/do...1130/sony1.htm Japanese release December 10. The HD3 supports MP3 playback. However, VPT acoustic engine & the 6-band EQ will not function during MP3 playback. Instead, you will get an 8-step bass/treble control ("digital sound preset"), like on the...

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/do...41020/sony.htm All 3 models feature digital amp and parametric EQ. They come with SonicStage 2.1 and will play MP3/ATRAC3plus files. D-NE20 - full magnesium enclosure, 110g w/o battery, kanji display on remote D-NE920 - aluminium, 143g, kanji display...

An anecdote? for the weekend Sony Japan has issued a "recall" for the external battery cases that come with their PCDPs. I've put " " s around the word recall, because it's not a problem with the PCDPs, but the external battery cases. The cable of the battery case can be prematurely damaged...

... at the A&V Festa in Yokohama. http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/do...0922/avf04.htm Phones can be connected to a Bluetooth receiver which also acts as a remote control. The remote has a built-in mic and the answer/not-answer buttons for use with a BT cell phone. The remote uses a...

Owners of the new iPod may become aware of these, but I find them very interesting... my comments are in ( )'s. These are from a Q&A/demo session in a press briefing for the new iPods in Japan. Original link in case you need it: http://www.zdnet.co.jp/macwire/0305/01/nj00_ipod.html -...

Sharp MD-DR7 (silver, blue, pink) http://www.sharp.co.jp/corporate/news/021128.html MSRP 37800 yen to be released on December 10 - 1-bit amp and 4-conductor plug - 10th generation LSI - ATRAC and amp integrated into one chip (like DS8) - 42/120-hour playback, 22/64-hour recording (LP4)...

Came across an article that mentioned this... Sony put out a news release in October 2000 on the development of "Virtualphone technology acoustic engine" and putting it on an LSI. This LSI was certified by both Dolby for "Virtual Dolby Digital", and DTS for "DTS virtual 5.1", and can be used...

This is somewhat off-topic (i.e. non-sound-quality), but... Sony is saying that there are changes to the battery life of these units, due to redesigns in the transport and the servo. MZ-E10 SP: 29 --> 23-hour (-6) LP2: 35-> 33-hour (-2) LP4: 40-hour (no change) MZ-N10 (playback/record)...

The postman came 40 minutes ago and handed me a cute bundle of joy... and I'll be reviewing it! I've taken a lot of pictures and will most likely do a whole website for the review, but if you guys want I can post the text (and Head-Fi specific review items) here. First 20 minutes and I...

Happy belated birthday to me! *pout*

More fodder for discussion http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/do...5/kenwood3.htm Kenwood have said they're "working" with Sharp on "1-bit" amps, and specifically mentioned portable use. Apparently, though, these are not Sharp clones. The amp here is rated 4.3+4.3mW @16ohm, as opposed to...

I got rather excited at these news releases and felt that I should post... http://www.sharp.co.jp/corporate/news/020902-4.html http://www.sony.jp/CorporateCruise/P...00209/02-0902/ Sharp promised to develop 1-bit amps for portable use (mainly for the low power consumption promises of the...

Well, new apartment deserves new equipment, so I've been looking for a table radio, for radio and everything else I need speakers for. Tivoli's Model Two is virtually perfect for me, and it looks like I'll finally be able to pull in certain weak radio stations with it. Also, I've finally...

I didn't see anything about this thing on the official website (probably missed something?), and it seems to be new to head-fi, so here... http://www.bo-akasaka.com/new/beosound2/02.htm MP3/WMA/AAC format comes with 128MB SD card Li-ion battery, quoted 10-hour playback 70mm diameter...

Sony came out with a news release today (Feb 28), announcing that it will conduct a share swap with Aiwa, and they're aiming for October 1 as the date for the swap. The outcome is that Aiwa will be completely owned by Sony (I think Sony holds 60%+ shares in at the mo). The reason is basically...

I was in Singapore and I saw a Sharp MD-D10. Yep, one of their first-generation models. http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sharp_MD-D10.html It's humongous (an MT66 sat right next to it), but very sleek in the early-90s way, much better than any of the crap pictures online... I didn't ask about...

I've had the habit of drawing up my own designs of things since when Tears For Fears was big. For about a year I've got this rectangular, thin MD player in my head, and today picked it up again. Having read user interface design papers all afternoon, I shifted into sound issues at night...

Edit - I combined the review and the addendums, and put the edited version on the web. You can read that one here: http://homepage.mac.com/leon/mt770/index.html Before I begin: This is very much a snapshot of my impressions at the moment. With my forum participation I do mature, but also...

Well, someone has probably done this before. I decided to do this mod because I just can't go out and buy a pair of closed phones right now (the HP550 is available for quite a reasonable price). Isolation is definitely a must for city life. As you'll see, I'm speaking in a highly "IMHO"...

I'd like to, but not sure if I have the stamina to do a full-blown Brian-Youn-Style review, but if you've got questions, post them here and I'll post back promptly. First impression: Very solid. Remote isn't too bad, but it loses a lot of points from what Sharp didn't put in. Sound would be...

Why boring? Because there's been fairly few good stuff than ever this past two years, and it seems to be a cultural, industrial thing that's limiting the possibility here. You take something good from Chinese pop and often it doesn't sit very well in an international comparison Why discuss...

http://www.sharp.co.jp/corporate/news/011206.html In case it hasn't been reported elsewhere. What's very interesting is that Sharp added a large blurb about its ATRAC. The MT770's ATRAC description was identical to the MT77 press release, but the MT880 has an extra setting - the hearing...

http://www.sinsiamelectronics.com/minidisc.html (Scroll down to the Sharp section, the models are there) Until today I have been unaware of these models, so I wonder if they're pretty new. The MT80/88/90/99 have been suggested of sharing the 821's screen, and thus possibly sharing the...

Right, even I got Faye's new album... It seems to me that she's closing the gap between her style and what would typically sell on the market. Do any of you fans feel that this is sort of an unwelcome change? I like this one better than any of her old ones (since before she became Faye)...