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Sony’s original Walkman TPS-L2 went on sale July 1, 1979, the walkman brand used by Sony to market its portable audio players. It was then that people began carrying their own choice of music with them, forming an entirely different level of people who drastically changed their music listening habits. In And Sony never entered the race again, until Sony’s most recent digital audio, “Sony’s NW (Network Walkman)-HD1″, a hard-drive digital audio play supporting MP3 format arrived. Now, another MP3 player has been added to the Sony which was out October 2005, the NW-HD2.

Between the two NW-HDs, there are listed on the Internet four main differences - with color being the first one. The original HDs were silver and black. No color was offered earlier, yet the latest players will see lots of color, such as silver, blue, pink, and green. The backlight color has also been changed from green to blue. Technically, the largest change is charging the player from the power cord by using a small interface adapter. It used to be in a cradle in order to charge it. Another change is the in-line remote control, which is gone from the headphone cord. The new player features a 20GB hard drive, and software is included for the conversion of songs. But the top of the line change is the lower price.

The Sony Walkman, redesigned 27 years after its original one, is easy to use through its appealing user interface, and an advanced organic EL display which is 2″ on the 20GB with 1.5″ on the 50GB. Both Walkmans features two new shuffle functions, where the player will select the most listened to 100 songs, playing them at random.

With the Sony Walkman Core MP3 Player you get 512MB (or 345 songs) worth of memory with an awesome 50 hours of battery life. The battery charger boasts a quick charge time where you can get three hours of playing time from charging for just three minutes. The Sony Walkman Core also has an FM tuner. Sony also offers the Sony Walkman Bean, a truly compact MP3 player with a built-in USB connector, in 512MB and 1GB size. The Walkman Bean gives the same exceptional battery life as the Walkman Core, the fast charging 50 hour battery. Sony’s Walkman Bean also comes with the FM tuner and retails for around $89.95 for the 512MB and $119.95 for the 1GB.

The third option Sony has for MP3 consumers is the Walkman Circ, a round and sporty compact digital player. With the Walkman Circ you get 70 hours of battery life with the 512MB memory and a backlit LCD display, with the Sony’s Walkman Circ not offering an FM tuner.

Sony’s line of MP3 players provides a great example for why the digital audio player race is so complex. The people at Sony are no doubt one of the elite players in electronics, but they are lagging in this race. With difficult software and fragile flash drive players the initial reputation for Sony in the digital audio world is weak. But no one cannot say they have the reputation to pick it up, especially since they started the race anyway.

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Members of Philips Design, in September 2005, chose for the first time the designs they considered best in class in five categories, with the Philips GoGear Jukebox user interface receiving the award for Interaction Design. In the new range of GoGear Jukeboxes, at the IFA 2005 in Berlin, demonstrated that the MP3 hard disk driver players reflected Philips’ sense and simplicity theme. But that shouldn’t come to any surprise to those who have kept up with Philips. In 2005, Royal Philips Electronics was Europe’s largest with sales at 30.4 billion, and one of the world’s top three consumer electronic companies.

The latest GoGear Jukebox is a flash audio player with 30GB for music and photos, along with 18-hour music playtime. It allows its user to store up to 15,000 songs or 8,400 pictures, enjoy MP3 and WMA plus its FM tuner, while enjoying playback control and browsing at the same time. The 2.0″ 65-color screen allows easy navigation with its SuperScrollTM along with photo viewing. It synchronizes with Windows Media Player 10 and is compatible with PlaysForSure with Windows XP only. Looking like little black boxes, it has a sleek, high-gloss front that projects a blank wall of black when not in use - a different and feel than what is available in the competitive market for the mainstream. The only problem may be when the user downloads the Beta version of Windows Media Player 11, which may result in some rather odd behavior of the PC, digital audio player or windows media player when transferring media files to the Philips digital audio players. Firmware upgrades are being worked on to fix this issue.

The sport audio players are built especially for those that love the idea of the digital player, but can’t find the durability they need on the treadmill or bicycle. With the shock absorbing design you are sure to have an uninterrupted workout rolling to your favorite tunes without breaking the pocketbook at $69 for the 512MB or $119.99 for the 1GB. With the Philips Sport Audio player you also have the ability to listen to FM radio or cruise easily between downloaded songs with the easy scroll features.

Like most MP3 players there are downfalls to the Sport Audio and GoGear players. The usual suspects pop-up but nothing new, scratches to the player itself, and freezing up from time to time. Some have complimented the Jukebox about its ease of use, but most are difficult to use at first. But basically, Philips offers to the public several excellent MP3 players, with several Jukebox styles, designs, and sizes - for the beginner to the MP3 pro, each one enjoying the digital music scene. Knowing that there are multiple different streets to venture down in this market, Philips decided on catering to each consumer in a different way. They have also created a line of sport audio players for the athletic type and top of the line hard drive players for the digital music elite. Whatever the public wants, Philip gives.

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Thanks to advances in modern audio and video technology, more and more people are becoming home theater enthusiasts. And while some home theater system owners approach their systems as if money is no object, this is certainly not an option for most would-be home theater owners. Luckily, the recent advances in technology have also made home theater equipment even more affordable, allowing even those on a limited budget to buy a powerful home theater system as long as you know what to look for.

There are several things you should consider once you decide to buy a home theater system, especially on a limited budget (around $1000 or less). Since this is a popular price range, there are several options to choose from for each of the components you’ll need to purchase. The goal is to have a system that gives you great performance, several steps up from the typical “home theater in a box” but still taking up minimal space. We’ll take a look at the components you’ll need and some considerations you should keep in mind. Note that since we’re working with a $1000 or less budget, we’ll leave out the television for now and assume you’re using your current TV in the meantime.

Receiver: The receiver should certainly have Dolby Digital

So you’ve finally decided to venture into the exciting world of home theater? Well one of the first steps in getting started is deciding on a room for your new system and preparing it for the optimal home theater experience. Preparing your room can be an expensive and time-consuming endeavor and for those interested in an ultra high-end system, this can even include building an entirely new room altogether. However this doesn’t have to be the case and is overkill for most of us. Instead, here are a few simple tips for taking an existing room or unused area of your house and tweaking it a bit so you can get the best home theater experience for you and your family.

Whether you’re converting an existing area like a basement or you’re using your current family room for your new setup, you’ll probably have to do some sort of room preparation before setting up your home theater. For those with a big budget, this could include custom equipment for automation, new material for the walls and ceilings and other structural changes. But for the “Regular Joe”, you can take a simpler approach and follow a few guidelines to improve the audio and video experience you’ll have while enjoying your new system.

Windows and home theater lighting
Obviously too many windows could cause lighting problems, especially if you’re using a projector as opposed to a television. Either way, try to avoid having your video display situated opposite a window. This will help to reduce or eliminate glare. Also, opaque drapes can work wonders for keeping excess light from entering the room.

Open floor plans affect sound quality
When choosing a room, it will ideally have as few entrances as possible…for instance, a room with a single window and door (or windows on just one wall). Preferably the room will have level ceilings that are relatively low also (as opposed to an open ceiling that’s level but extends up to the second floor or a vaulted ceiling). Those high ceilings are great for giving you a sense of openness in the room, but the extra space also keeps the sound from your new system from being confined in a tighter area. This effectively disperses the sounds and might require a more powerful system to compensate for that effect. Then again, it may not be an issue at all if you are satisfied with the sound, so take this as a general rule and something to be aware of, but let your ears be the judge.

Smooth floors or carpet-Which is best for your new room?
If you’re converting a basement, be sure to cover the floors, preferably with carpet. Smooth surfaces, like the concrete that might be in your basement, act as reflectors when sound waves hit them. Keep this in mind if you’re converting an existing room also, especially if that room has hardwood or tile floors, which have similar reflective properties. Too much reflection can degrade your home theater’s sound quality or possibly cause an echo.

By following these simple guidelines, you’ll be able to improve the audio and video experience from your new home theater room. And remember, in the end, it’s not the name brand of the equipment or how many bells and whistles they have that matters. The true test is how enjoyable your new system is for you and your family.

Kevin Nelson is a home theater enthusiast and writer for HomeTheaterForDummies.com - offering advice for consumers looking to buy home theater system equipment. Visit the site to read more articles, product reviews and home theater design tips.

In a world that’s fast turning digital in every respect, could picture frames be left behind? Yes, today picture frames are going digital too and giving us such a wonderful choice of pictures in a new-age format! What exactly is a digital picture frame? There are two types you can get - one just displays pictures from a memory card and the other can be connected to a phone line so you get pictures from all over that get downloaded onto it.

A digital picture frame looks just like a regular LCD screen. You can see just one picture on it or you can view many in a slideshow format. Of course, if it’s connected to your PC, the pictures can keep changing depending on where they are being downloaded from. They are not like the regular picture frames in that they do not have glass to protect the picture. Since it is in a digital format, it does not need glass protection!

They are very often around the same size as the normal, traditional picture frame, which is a 5″x7″ size. If you want something larger, you’ll find that it can be pretty expensive as it then needs a higher resolution. Some of them have a fixed number of pictures they can display while others can let you view an unlimited number. These picture frames can run on batteries or can be plugged into the power supply.

Digital picture frames are usually compatible with JPEG images. Some of course are compatible with MPEG so make sure you check before you buy. You could also check for the following so as to know what exactly your digital picture frame will offer you. It can display pictures in both the landscape mode and the portrait mode, that is, both horizontal and vertical pictures. It rotates it automatically and displays it.

You can also choose to set the time when a picture has to change to the next in a slideshow. You have the power to change the contrast, color and brightness of the pictures and you can always turn it off and put it into a “sleep” mode when you don’t want the display running. Some of them come with upgradeable features so you can just download an upgrade whenever necessary. Check with the dealer about this.

One of the great things about a digital picture frame is that even though it’s such a modern-day gadget, people of every age love it. It makes a perfect gift too and it can even be given to much older people who don’t own a computer. The digital world is theirs to enjoy as it can be plugged in and viewed as well. All you need to do is show them how it works so they can have fun playing around with it and adjusting it for viewing. All at the push of a button.

It’s a great display piece and you’ll find it’s an even greater conversation piece. Even at home, what better way to show off your holiday to your friends than by keeping your digital picture frame in full display and having a slideshow of your best pictures playing on it. You couldn’t ask for a more captive audience!

More information on digital picture frames

digital frames

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Most of the digital cameras within the mid-priced range include a 3x/4x lens - the first number refers to the optical zoom with the second number referring to the digital zoom. A few of the lower-end priced cameras have only a digital zoom, but their photos are rather dull and slightly fuzzy. The zoom effect in a digital camera is similar to, yet different, from that of a conventional camera. It brings distant subjects closer.

However, in a digital camera there are two kinds of ‘zooms’. The first is similar to that of a conventional camera and is known as the optical zoom. The second is the digital zoom, and is more interesting. It ’simulates’ optical zoom by enlarging a portion of the image — that is the digital zoom selects a portion of the photograph and blows it up.

The zoom effect should not be confused with photo editing, where an image editing software is used to crop and blow a picture on a computer screen. Cropping a picture can refer to enlarging the main subject, or an area of choice - thereby eliminating the remaining parts. Another misconception associated with digital zoom is that it is very handy in capturing long distance images. Nothing can be more misleading. Optical zoom matters more in a digital camera.

The zoom that should be used for comparing cameras is optical zoom, and not digital zoom or total zoom. A camera’s quality depends upon the value of optical zoom; a camera with higher optical zoom is better than a camera with lower optical zoom. In fact, today the digital camera manufacturers have started using a new term - “total zoom.” This term only confuses the customer for there is nothing like total zoom. At best, it can be used to indicate the fact that a digital camera has both kinds of zoom - optical zoom and digital zoom.

Individuals who previously used the 35mm camera or an APS camera used only optical zoom. This uses the lens to bring the subject of the picture closer. Digital zoom are associated with the digital video cameras.

Many photographers do not really associate digital zoom as “zoom” in the digital cameras, as it only enlarges a portion of the image. In layman’s terms, the camera crops a certain aspect of the image, and then enlarges it back to size which causes a loss in image quality. But what it actually does is replace the image editing for cropping.

Another zoom effect that has been developed recently is the “smart zoom”. This particular zoom maintains the image quality by avoiding interpolation of the image. However, smart zoom works only if you select an image smaller than the full available image size.

Sometimes optical zoom is compared to resolution while buying a digital camera. Nothing can be more absurd. These are two different values and have no common link. Resolution is used to indicate the number of pixels in an image while optical zoom is used to define the lens power. It can neither increase nor decrease the resolution.

There is also a tendency today to disable digital zoom. Some photographers prefer to crop and enlarge an image on a computer screen. They don’t trust the camera to do it for them. This is not a good practice because it reduces the effectiveness of your camera.

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