Navigation System + Music + Video

Talking about wireless...
The next time you think about a navigation system for your car, take a look at the new one from "Harman/Kardon".
You can combine all things that have to do with car-multimedia with this device. You can listen to music while the "GPS-500 Guide and Play" gives you the directions. And you - or let´s better say the co-driver - can watch movies on the 4" / 480x272px display.
Both, music and videos, can be transferred from your computer via USB 2.0.
The integrated MP3-player allows you to search by artist, album, genre, song, or playlist. So get rid of your car radio!



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On my way to complete "wirelessness"!

Do you hate cable spaghetti?

I hate it, too. And I think I´m going to do something about it. Recently I saw someone with these cool wireless headphones. That´s definitely my next purchase!
I can then use it for my cell phone and my iPod. For my cell phone I won´t need an adapter - for my iPod I will. But it looks quite cool and it´s not too oversized.

I love the wireless-age! I wish everything was wireless. And soon I´m going to do the next move towards complete "wirelessness".

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Media Library = MediaMonkey

If you always wanted to sort your media on your PC you should take a look at "MediaMonkey" and give it a try.
"MediaMonkey" is a powerful program with many options.

You can for example:
- organize your music
- edit song tags
- play all kinds of files (MP3, WMA, FLAC, OGG, etc.)
- record CDs
- burn CDs
- convert music files
- create playlists
- synchronize with your MP3-player (iPod, Zune, etc.)
- MediaMonkey automatically gets missing song information (title, album, artist, etc.)

This is a very useful tool as it combines many programs in one. So why install 10 programs when there´s one for all?!
You can get more information and download it at: http://www.mediamonkey.com/

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Audacity - Free Audio Editor and Recorder

Why spend money on audio editing software when there´s always a free program somewhere on the internet. My favorite program in terms of audio editing is "Audacity".
I use it to edit songs I recorded with the No23-recorder.
Here are some things you can do with "Audacity":
- recording
- import and export of various file types
- editing
- change the sound quality
- add effects

Learn more and download it at: audacity.sourceforge.net

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MP3 Duplicates On Your HDD - Not With "CloneSpy"

Maybe you know this - there are gigabytes of music on your harddisk and you know that there are duplicates among them.
But now you can get your disk space back! Don´t start searching every single folder and look through the file names. There´s a program that makes it easy to find duplicates of songs on your HDD.
It´s called "CloneSpy".
CloneSpy is a free duplicate file cleanup tool that finds songs you already have somewhere else on your computer.

You can download CloneSpy at: www.clonespy.com

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Zune vs. iPod (5G)

If you´re irresolute whether to go for Microsoft´s Zune or Apple´s iPod, here´s a brief summary.

In terms of storage capacity they are both the same. Both of them are available with a 30GB and a 80GB hard disk.

The battery life of the Zune is stated with 14 hours (music) and 4 hours (video). The iPod can play 20 hours of music and 2 hours of movies.

The size of the Zune-screen is 3" (320x240 pixel) - the iPod-screen is 2.5" large (320x240 pixel). However, the Zune has - besides the portrait display mode - the option to switch to a landscape display mode.

The Zune has an FM tuner, the iPod doesn´t.



The Zune supports the following formats:
Music: WMA, MP3, AAC;
Photos: JPEG;
Videos: MPEG-4, H.264, WMV

iPod´s supported formats are:
Music: MP3, WAV, AAC, AIFF, Apple Lossless and Audible 2,3 and 4 audio files
Photos: JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PNG and PSD
Videos: MPEG-4, H.264, MOV

Zune´s wireless-feature let´s you share songs and pictures. The iPod does not support wireless features.

While you can connect your iPod with your PC and your MAC, Microsoft only allows you to connect your Zune to your PC.

iPod´s software is iTunes - Zune´s software is called "Zune Software". Take a look at this comparison: iTunes vs. Zune Software

Accessories for both players can be found here:
iPod
Zune

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Sony NW A 808 (MP3 - Video - Player)

What an ugly name compared with "nano", "shuffle", "iPod Video", "zune", "mini", "Slickr" and all the others. Even "Sony Walkman MP3 Video Player" doesn´t sound that catchy.
But in terms of performance this device is top-notch.
If you´re tired of the iPod´s battery capacity e.g. (2 hours video/16 hours music) than you might be impressed by the battery power of Sony´s new one. 30 hours of music and 8 hours of video.



In terms of data transfer Sony has one thing in common with Apple. You need to have a program to transfer music to your device. However, and this is an advantage compared with the iPod, you don´t need a program to transfer videos and photos. Here the device acts like a simple hard disk and you can copy movies and pictures to the MP3-player via drag ´n´ drop.
You can buy the player with a capacity of 1, 4 and 8GB.
It has a 2" TFT-display with 262,144 colors and weighs 53g.
Supported file types are: ATRAC, MP3, AAC, WMA, MPEG4, AVC Baseline

For more information see: www.sony.com

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The "Just-a-Display"-Player

What a cutting-edge media player! Looks like it has even less keys than apple´s iPod. The "Venzero Mini" comes with a 1.8" TFT screen with 262,000 colors and has a size of 39 x 53 x 13mm and a weight of 30.5g.

It´s available with a storage capacity of 1GB and 2GB (Flash).
It plays MP3 and WMA songs but unfortunately only the ones without DRM copy protection. It also has 7 equalizer modes.

Further features are the built-in FM tuner, preinstalled games, and a digital voice recorder.



The special thing about digital voice recorder is the "MUSICMARKER"-feature. It allows you to record any piece of music with the built-in microphone. If you hear a song, no matter where you are, you can record it and when you synchronize your device the next time, a program (provided by Venzero) will recognize that song and shows you where to download it.

Further supported file types are: AVI, JPEG
And by the way, it´s not a touch-screen. The keys are placed at the side of the device.

If you want an upgraded version of the mini, then choose the "Venzero Slickr". It has an additional slot for another 2GB miniSD-card and a 2.83" TFT screen with 1.6 million colours.
Supported file types of the "Slickr" are: MP3, WMA, WAV, AVI, JPEG and TXT

Learn more at www.venzero.com

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