Sony vs. Amazon: Sony has numbers on their side.

Amazon’s Kindle gets a lot of press across the Blogosphere and news boards these days, with the occasional mention of iRex, Sony, and other companies who produce, or are working on digital readers for the consumer market. Well, today is a day to talk about Sony.

In a Press release today, Sony announced its partnership with Google to provide public domain titles to their e-book shop at ebookstore.sony.com. As the press release states, a button on the shops homepage would lead users to Google’s resource of over a half million public domain titles; the best part being, those books are free.

Five hundred thousand free books; the classics from your time in school, the books you loved, the books you hated, all at your beckon-call. Google’s repository of titles alone it twice that of what Amazon is presently able to offer, that alone is enough to sway favor toward the Sony reader.

This extensive library just adds to the already standard features of text size selection, music player, and multiple file format support for personal documents. I think with all that put together, Sony can actually make me forget the joy of physically turning a page.
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iBoo is coming for you!

Just some things smack me right in the nostalgia button, Speakal’s iBoo is one of them. The company creates speakers that are functional as well as cute, but their ghost came out looking like it should be trying to consume a yellow circle with a mouth. Have to wonder if it was just a random chance, or purposeful planning.

At $89.99, they are actually the cheapest of Speakal’s products, but the difference can probably be attributed to their being two speakers short and with a less powerful subwoofer than the others.

Still, this seems like an item more concerned with form than function. The sound quality needs to be good to be worth it, but there are no expectations of it sounding like the Metropolitan Opera House.

Pick it up from the Speakal shop in blue, red, or white to add a little dork couture to your abode.
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Dell Wasabi, hot or not?

Dell released a highly portable ZINKtm printer today, which they have dubbed the Wasabi. This tiny printer will interface with your digital camera or Bluetooth enabled cell phone to print 2” x 3” pictures on the spot. A fast and convenient means of getting hard copies of captured moments, but is it worth it?

Printed images are borderless, and on adhesive-backed photo paper; making them ideal for decorating surfaces, or eliminating a step in creating that book of special memories. In addition, since there is no ink, the image will not run if the photo gets wet.

The best feature about this printer is the complete portability of it. At a mere 8 oz. including the battery, you could carry the thing around all day and not really notice.

As far as battery life and paper capacity go, they are pretty much in line with each other. The unit can hold 12 sheets of paper at a time, while the battery is good for around 15 prints per charge.

Presently, the unit comes in pink, black, and blue; you would think with a name like Wasabi that green would be an option. Selling for a promotional price of $99 at Dell.com, it will be returning to the regular price of $149 in the near future. Add to this the price of the special ZINKtm paper (click here to see what is so special about it) and this product may not really pull its weight in the end.
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Condense the mess you carry with you

CES is a great place to hear about the advancements in the world of electronics, but sometimes it is the things without a single circuit that are the most useful. The Earbud Yo-Yo, invented by Julie Johnson Barkley, and licensed to Covington Creations LLC for production, provides a much-needed solution to the present problem of tangled headphones.

I can’t count the number of people I see every morning struggling to untangle the ball of audio wire that their headphones have become. Some of them have the misfortune of having to drop the tangle back into their bag to make their connection, just to start all over again later.

There are the select few who coil their headphones around the MP3 player, but this is not a perfect solution either. The headphones can come loose in your bag and end up tangled anyway. Another issue with coiling the headphones around the player is the stress those hard corners put on the wires.

The Earbud Yo-Yo is designed to avoid all of this hassle and prevent he wear and tear from the hard edges. With a simple design shape of a square yo-yo [hence the name] your headphones stay in place, and the wire is cushioned upon itself.
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Auditory gold from around the world

Tivoli Audio, a leading maker of stereo products, has yet another award winning product to their name. The NetWorks Global Audio system recently received the Consumer Electronics Innovations 2009 Design and Engineering Award. Full press release from Tivoli Audio can be found here.

What does this all mean? Well, I don’t know about you, but standard American radio seems a bit lacking. Sure, you can stream internet radio to your computer, but the audio quality there leaves something to be desired. Even with wires, plugging your audio out to some good speakers or an amplifier the sound could be better.

Tivoli Audio’s NetWorks audio system takes care of the fidelity issues, and then some. Listen to stations from around the world, or stream music files from your computer via a wireless or Ethernet connection.

Another feature to make note of is the SupperBuffer™ which, according to Tivoli, “virtually eliminates Internet radio station dropouts.” That is certainly music to my ears, audiophile that I am.
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High Definition streamed into your home.

With everything going High Definition lately, as innovative as Roku’s Netflix player is, its standard definition is a little behind. At least, it was. Roku, Inc. announced yesterday that they have released support for streaming HD content. Full press release can be found here.

Bearing a price tag of just $99, significantly less than the average Blu-ray player, this advance in Roku’s set-top box is a beautiful thing that will not empty your wallet. Best of all, if you already own the Roku player, the software update will be delivered to you automatically and free of charge. Can it get any better?
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‘They are 14 of 47.’

As announced yesterday, fourteen new companies joined the Open Handset Alliance, a technology and mobile group supporting Android as an open mobile platform. Complete press release, with the names of just who signed on, can be found here.

These forty-seven companies will be working together to provide us, the consumers, with stable and high quality mobile devices, advancing technology every step of the way.

What does this mean for us as consumers? For starters, less expensive handsets since the companies who produce the hardware will already be connected to the ones who make the software and applications.

Speaking of applications, since Android is open source, really any developer can produce useful or just plain fun add-ons. Developers can find out more at the Android SDK site.

Consumers benefit from the innovation by having a more entrhalling mobile experience, and developers can grab a slice of something that shows promise of being huge.
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Etronics.com- ever evolving.

This blog is typically loaded with press releases and reviews of new products that will soon be coming on the market domestically, internationally, or both. However, we would be remiss if we did not mention some of the changes that are occurring on Etronics itself.

Over the passed few months Etronics has added toys to the already extensive list of product categories they sell. These are not your average, everyday toys, but some hard to find items… that is, unless you look on Etronics.

Also, we just recently joined the massive community of Twitter users in an effort to let the populous know of deals and sales offers as soon as they become available. If you’re a Twitter member, check for updates on our profile page. Not yet a member? It’s free to join, and informative to boot!

We now return the blog to your regularly scheduled tech news!
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Zune changes its tune.

Well, more accurately, they are changing how you buy your tunes. Zune, Microsoft Corp.’s digital music and entertainment service, announced today that agreements were made with major and independent music labels, which will add value to their subscription music download model. The agreements will allow subscribers to retain 10 files per month, regardless of their subscription status afterwards. Full Press release available here.

Whether this change in service will add significant value to the program, garnering more revenue for Microsoft, is uncertain at this time. However, this development does demonstrate that the company is focusing more on function than form when it comes to their players.

Since the Zune’s release back in 2006, numerous changes were made to the software and firmware of the players, but very few modifications to the size and shape. It seems the focus is more on presenting the user with the ability to find music they enjoy, than to present the world at large with a trendy fashion accessory that happens to play music.
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Asus competes for business users.

The Asus company announced via a press release on Friday, their newest bid to gain a piece of the business technology pie, the P565.

This entry into the ever-filling market of cell phones that do everything, delivers speed and quality to the consumer. Utilizing Asus’ exclusive touch-responsive user interface, Glide, multi-tasking has never been easier. Quickly switch between applications without cumbersome click wheels, closely grouped controls, or a complex button combination; all that is needed, is to move a finger.

Boasting the fastest processor at present, 800MHz, the P565 is equipped to handle your photo and spreadsheet needs, as well as the e-mail and instant messaging, text documents, and web browsing… all at the same time without slowing down.

Now, speed is great, but means little to nothing if you are unable to see any of it. That is why this PDA has a 2.8”VGA High-resolution (480 x 640-pixel) touch screen. With such a clear and brilliant display, you will not have to worry about eyestrain and fatigue.

No release dates or pricing have been mentioned yet. View further details, and the official press release here
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