Friday, February 22, 2008

Sony Announce New NWZ-A820 Series Walkman MP3 Players – Official Press Release

Sony NWZ-A820 Walkman MP3 Players

Sony have announced the latest models in their distinguished Walkman range of portable digital audio players in the form of the NWZ-A820 which boasts a 2.4” QVGA screen, 16GB integrated storage capacity and Bluetooth connectivity.

Official Sony NWZ-A820 Walkman Press Release:

Sony NWZ-A820 Walkman MP3 Players Detail

Sony expands the innovative WALKMAN® family of digital media players with the easy-to-use NWZ-A820 series of WALKMAN® Video MP3 players. Delivering superb audio and video quality, it’s packed with advanced WALKMAN® features, extra-long battery life, a large 2.4-inch screen and quick connection by Bluetooth® stereo to enhance today’s digital lifestyles.

Slim, light and beautifully styled, the NWZ-A820 series is offered in a choice of four colour variations (black, silver, gold, and pink). Three storage sizes are available. The NWZ-A829 (16GB) can store an incredible 62 hours of video plus sound or 3,800 songs. The NWZ-A828 (8GB) boosts this to 30 hours 40 mins of video/audio or 1,850 songs. The NWZ-A826 (4GB) can store up to 15 hours of video or 925 songs.

The NWZ-A820 series lets you enjoy your personal media collection on the move for longer. Generous battery life allows up to 10 hours of video playback or 36 hours of uninterrupted music playback. Even with Bluetooth® stereo enabled, playback stretches to 7 hours of video or 15 hours of music.

The clear, bright 2.4-inch QVGA screen on all models supports super-smooth video playback at up to 30 frames per second with excellent contrast and colour reproduction. For extra flexibility, videos and photos can be viewed in any screen orientation (left, vertical, right) to suit personal tastes. Photo collections can also be viewed as slideshows accompanied by your chosen music track.

Sony NWZ-A820 Walkman MP3 Pink

A somewhat obligatory pink version of the

NWZ-A820 Walkman will also be available.

Support for Bluetooth® stereo opens up an exciting world of wireless connectivity options to enhance your enjoyment of digital media on the move. The NWZ-A820 series can stream audio files and track/artist data through a Bluetooth® stereo enabled micro hi-fi such as the Sony CMT-HX70BTR and CMT-HX50BTR.

If you’re out and about, it’s easy to enjoy a high-quality digital music experience via your Bluetooth® headphones such as the Sony DR-BT50 or a Bluetooth® in-car head unit like the Sony MEX-BT5100. A conveniently placed button on the side of the player allows one-touch connection to other Bluetooth® devices.

In common with all WALKMAN® models, the NWZ-A820 series supports a broad range of media formats. These include security-enhanced Windows Media Audio (WMA), copyright-free AAC, MP3 and Linear PCM music formats, plus JPEG files for photos. High quality video codecs support playback of AVC (H.264/AVC) Baseline Profile and MPEG-4 video files.

The NWZ-A820 series is perfect for enjoying your personal media collection as well as podcasts and video content downloaded from sharing sites on the web.

Certified for Windows Vista, the new range also carries Microsoft’s ‘PlaysForSure’ logo, indicating compatibility with a wide range of certified online content providers. It’s easy to transfer files from a connected PC to the NWZ-A820 series via Windows Media Player 11, simple drag-and-drop file management or using supplied Sony Media Manager for WALKMAN® software.

“We are continuing to add products to our WALKMAN® portfolio that offer customers the flexibility and freedom to choose how they download and manage their digital music content, which only open standards can provide”, said Paul Gyles, Strategic Product Manager for Audio Marketing at Sony Europe. “And now with added Bluetooth® compatibility in the NWZ-A820 series, it’s never been easier to enjoy your music on the go, without the hassle of wires.”

Superior sound of WALKMAN® is assured by four ‘Clear Audio’ Technologies. The supplied 13.5mm EX headphones feature extra-large driver units for dynamic playback with extended frequency response and solid, powerful bass. The Sony-developed Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE) restores high frequencies that are degraded by audio compression for more natural sound that’s closer to the original source. Clear Stereo prevents audio signals from leaking between left and right channels, resulting in a cleaner, more widely separated stereo soundstage. Furthermore, Clear Bass strengthens low frequency reproduction without adding distortion that conventional equalizers can impose on the signal. Even richer audio is provided by a choice of effect settings including a 5-Band Equalizer, VPT Acoustic Engine and Dynamic Normalizer.

While it’s packed with advanced features, the NWZ-A820 series is easy to use with an intuitive on-screen menu plus improved play and search functions. Super-quick scrolling makes it easy to search for the right track when you’re in a hurry.

Sony’s new NWZ-A820 Walkman range is due to be release in April though no word has been forthcoming from Sony at the time of writing concerning pricing (of course, we’ll ensure that we offer an update the moment pricing details have been released).

Monday, February 18, 2008

Save and convert any video from YouTube

MelodyCan YouTubeRipper plug-in for Internet Explorer is an easy to use program to download video files from Youtube site. Everything you need is to click on the button on the Internet Explorer toolbar and autimatically downloading and conversion will start. MelodyCan YouTubeRipper automatically converts downloaded files into the most important audio (MP3, OGG, AAC, M4A...) and video (MP4, WMV, 3GP, AVI...) file formats. All you need to do is to select the videos you'd like to have downloaded and MelodyCan YouTubeRipper takes care of the rest.

I have never personally heard of this product but I wish I had, MelodyCan allows you to remove the DRM protection on many video and audio formats, which if you are a legal payee, you will probably need!

System Requirements:

Windows® XP x32, Windows® 2003 x32 or Windows® Vista x32
1 GHz processor or faster
256 MB RAM or more
Windows Media® Player 9 or higher installed, which can be downloaded for free from Microsoft®

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Pearls. 4 Myths about St. Valentine’s Day Gift

Woman with a lot of Beautiful PearlsOn the Valentine’s Day eve every man including your sweetheart has a hard time. He doesn’t know, what to buy for you. He wants to find a perfect gift, which would prove his love to you, which would gladden you and provide you with a lot of the most positive emotions. He wants you happy, but has no idea, how. But you can relieve his sufferings and always make a hint, a wish list or just tell your beloved, what you want. This would not let him surprise you, but it guarantees joy for you both. Today pearls have become extremely popular, they can be worn both at the office and at a party. This is why many women consider pearl jewelry a wonderful gift and dream of possessing a beautiful pink pearl bracelet or a black freshwater pearl necklace. Like this, for example:

Pink Freshwater Pear Bracelet

Pearl jewelry is timeless. Pearls have been known for thousands of years. Since ancient times it has been a symbol of unblemished perfection. It is the oldest known gem, but is also very popular nowadays. In spite of this there are some myths about pearls people believe, which don’t let them enjoy this beauty. Let’s break them!

Myth 1. Natural Pearls Are Extremely Expensive

Beautiful Pearls of Different ColorsYes, they are expensive, but not all pearls. Actually only 0,5% of the whole amount of the pearls being born are referred to as expensive. These pearls have an ideal round shape, smooth surface and are very lustrous. If the pearl shape differs from spherical, and is only 2-3% ellipse, its price is 5-10 times less than a round analog. But the rounder the pearl, the more seldom they are born. Inexpensive pearls are ellipse-, diametrical- and oval-shaped ones. Just as an example: a freshwater pearl bracelet costs between $27 and $150. And the price of a whole pearl jewelry set runs from $125 to $1300 depending on what you (your man) want and can afford.

Myth 2. Cultivated Pearls Are Artificial. Fie! Only Natural Pearls Are Valued

No way fie. Pearls are called cultivated, if the pearl-mollusk is regularly fed, taken care of and protected from temperature drops. Both “domestic” and “wild” (or “natural”) pearl oysters have the same, natural metabolism. The difference is only in the fact, that a cultivated peal has a much easier life, than the wild one, this is why cultivated pearls are more quality and smooth. Conclusion – quality cultivated pearls are beautiful, have a high value and are natural for sure. So, it could be given as a gift.

Myth 3. Pearls Are Only for Grandmas or Older Ladies

Luxurous PearlsNo, no and no! Pearl jewelry can be both classic and modern. Depending on design, it can be worn for absolutely different occasions. Whether you need to look elegant, glamourous and luxurious, or strict and laconic, or want to create a young, fresh and stylish look – you can and need to wear pearl jewelry. Because it can be very different and make you look best, emphasize your beauty, no matter what’s your age.

Myth 4. Pearls are Only for Women

If your husband (boyfriend) is interested in the latest fashion trends, wear stylish clothes, he might also like pearls. It sounds unusual, but men can also wear pearls. How? In cufflinks or neckpieces. See examples below. As you see, it is also a good gift for a man on the Valentine’s Day.

Tie Tack. Pearls for Men

Pearl Cufflinks for Men

Freshwater Solitaire. Pearls for Men

Pearl and Leather Neckpiece for Men

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

MelodyCan converts wma, wmv, m4v, mov, aac, ra, aa, mp4, snd, aif, m4p, rax, wav, ogg etc

Melodycan has a capability to watch an arbitrary media library folder and convert media content as soon as it was downloaded from a music provider or simply copied to that folder. This is implemented by means of ‘Automatic Conversion Folder’ engine and can be configured with corresponding fields in MelodyCan settings dialog.


When converting your audio content you have of choice of such destination audio format:

* MP3 – MPEG1-Layer3 nowadays is most widespread audio format which is supported by almost any audio/video devices.
* AAC – MPEG4-AAC is audio format natively intended for MPEG4 movies. Now it is supported by many well-known portable audio devices such as iPod.
* WAV – Uncompressed audio is right choice if you plan to rip your converted audio files to audio CD or edit your audio content with a waveform audio editor.

When converting your video content you may choose from one of following video formats:

* MPEG4 for iTunes (M4V file extension) – is intended for iTunes-compatible video devices such as iPod.
* DivX for home video systems (AVI file extension) – is intended for DivX-compatible video devices such as home or portable DVD/DivX video players.

Whatever kind of media you need to convert, Melodycan is best choice for you. So forget about restrictions and enjoy your music and movies everywhere.

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