SMALL WONDER 2

Found this out from a friend months ago. He was the one looking for it at the mall. I just accompanied him to find one.

He was at rehearsals (he's a back-up singer), and one of them back-up friends took out this speaker and plugged it in her iPod.

Yeah I know, you wouldn't expect much from something so small right?

Wrong.

Turns out, this small wonder packs huge volume. Quite surprisingly at that.

Of course the sound isn't that great, always expect a lot of highs from something this small. Very "tweeter-ish" at that. But if it's maximum volume and portability you're after, then the x-mini capsule speakers is for you.

It includes a retractable USB slash audio jack, so that you can charge it via PC, or via wall outlet (I use my iPod charger). Takes around 2 hours to charge, and it gives about 5 hours of juice. Not bad for something so small.

I got mine in white to match my silver iPod. It also comes in red and black. All in matte.

The X-mini capsule speakers retails at P1,200 at Mobile 1 at The Podium.

The copycat x-mini speakers, called the "hamburger" speakers (how original), retails around P700 to P150o at Power Mac Centers and at V-mall. It's even free when you buy an iPod at Power Mac Centers. They have it in yellow, white, red, green and black. All in high gloss. Kinda tacky. And volume isn't that wowing as the X-mini.

SONY ROLLY

The latest Sony music player, the Rolly, will be released in Japan on the 29th of September.

The palmtop Rolly, features stereo speakers, 1 Gb of flash memory, and runs on a rechargeable lithium ion battery, and is packaged inside the egg-shaped body weighing 300g. It also integrates various audio technologies Sony had developed to produce clear sounds. Unlike other music players, instead of using an LCD display the Rolly has a minimalistic interface, consisting of a combined power and play button, and two wheels, which can be used to navigate through tracks, albums and to control the volume level.

The Rolly features three motion functions enabling it to synchronise movement to the music. The self-motion function analyzes the wavelength data making the player move and controlling the lights automatically in time with the music.

The auto-motion function uses the bundled Motion Editor software to automatically generate movement and light programs. and the custom-motion function also using the Motion Editor, allows the user to precisely configure the movements of the players six motors and the timing and color of the LED side lights to create unique motion data.

The lithium-ion battery lasts 4 to 5 hours when the player is playing music and in motion and it can be charged either via USB or mains power.

The Rolly, which also supports streaming and transfer of music and data via Bluetooth, is open-priced but is expected to hit the market at about 40,000 yen or close to US$350.