Wired Magazine's Nick Thompson borrowed some gadgets from us for the Live with Regis and Kelly tech week that aired on Feb 2, 2007. Here is what we gave him and why.
First shown was one of my personal favorites the Samsung YP- K5 music player. Similar in size (but a lot thicker) than the iPod Nano this unit does all the same things the nano does with one major difference. It opens in the middle to reveal a tiny set of surprisingly good stereo speakers. Placed on a flat surface the volume and sound quality is very respectable. The unit also has an FM radio and a built-in alarm clock. It comes with different memory configurations; the one we loaned Nick was a 4GB version. It retails for approximately $250.00.
Next up was the SanDisk Sansa Rhapsody E280. This Nano clone works with the Rhapsody music service. While you can load MP3’s on it, the real advantage is that a Rhapsody subscription will keep the unit filled with music for a fixed monthly fee of $14.95 a month. This way you can choose from millions of songs and change them out everyday if you like. The player has 8GB of flash memory and also has a voice recorder and FM radio.
Nick then showed the Microsoft Zune. This new entry from Microsoft has had a lot of press written about it questioning Microsoft’s strategy and product design. Indeed the unit is bigger than the iPod it is competing with but the larger screen is nice, it comes in multiple colors, you can customize the wallpaper on the screen and best of all you can share your music (with limitations) to other Zune users who are nearby. As Microsoft continues to build up it’s Xbox Live service the WiFi capability of this player will likely become very useful. The unit comes with 30GB of storage and also costs $250.00.
Finally Nick showed off the new Apple iPod Shuffle, it holds a gig of music is amazingly small and costs a mere $79.00. I was asked at the Churchill Club event last December what I was giving as tech Christmas presents and this was on top of my list! Now the shuffle comes in 5 different colors – and since you basically wear this on your shirt, having different colors makes accessorizing your clothes a snap.
