Cool Tech Reviews

I guess we all knew that, Michael Singer at CNET has some projections that spell it out:

Demand for portable MP3 players is booming and expected to hit record levels in the next four years, according to an IDC report published on Thursday.

Led by devices such as the Apple iPod, the analyst firm predicts, shipments of MP3 flash memory music players will surge to nearly 124 million units in 2009. That is a 370-percent increase from the 26.4 million units shipped worldwide in 2004.

The report also explored the revenue potential of three other portable devices that play back compressed audio: DVD players, mobile phones such as the Motorola Rokr and gaming devices such as Sony’s PSP. This category of “other” portable play-back devices is expected to exceed 700 million units shipped with an estimated $114 billion in revenue in 2009, IDC said.

Combined with the MP3 player category, all compressed audio players are expected to reach 945.5 million units shipped and $145.4 billion in revenue worldwide by 2009.

As you can see, the numbers are heavily in favor of the multipurpose gadgets although it’s hard to judge the revenue numbers since they undoubtedly include the whole price of the multipurpose products, not an apportioned value of the audio component. Hit the link for more details including the related technology issues (e.g. flash memory).

Ben Kuchera at Ars Technica does the honors for the Nintendo Game Boy Micro which has just been released in the USA.

Sony’s PSP is incredible looking and challenging Nintendo’s supremacy in portable gaming. With the iPod, Apple redefined consumer electronic chic. The Game Boy was a ton of things, but it was never sexy. With the Game Boy Micro Nintendo wants to give us what Apple gave us. They wanted to sex up the Game Boy line.
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After playing everything from shooters to RPGs, I have very few complaints about the screen. On the other hand, the rest of the unit combines some great decisions with some not-so-great ones. It’s fairly hit or miss to be honest.
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While I don’t think the Micro will be a huge seller, I do think it will expand Nintendo’s dominance over the portable market. It’s easy to use, inexpensive, and has a huge library of games. If you walk into any store right now you can find a ton of great GBA games, and often at pretty low prices for the older titles. If this is your first Game Boy product you have a lot of catching up to do, and like any late adopter you can buy the games for pennies on the dollar from when they were new.

More by following the link.