News   Forum   Reviews   Articles   Where to Shop   Links   Polls   Submit News   DAP Shop  
The Great DAPreview Drought of 2008
comment: 20 | Thursday, May 15 (2008) 04:54PM | Posted by Michael
As you may have noticed, there haven't been any news for the last week. That's probably our longest drought without a post. You can chalk it up to two things, a lack of DAP news, and the fact that Dominic and myself have been a bit busy lately with school/work/private life. I do have a few things on the docket, including an iriver E100 and a Sansa Fuze review.

The lack of new and exciting DAP news is still a problem that plagues this site, and the DAP industry in general. Aside from the never ending supply of generic Chinese DAP's, the major movers and shakers aren't really making too much noise lately. I've noticed a few of the other major MP3 sites (pmptoday, GenMP3) covering mobile phones, UMPCS, cameras, and even laptops, but I'd rather not go this route. We'd certainly like to fill the void though, so we'd appreciate some feedback on what you'd like to see here.

Finally, I'd like to remind everyone that while we do search for news ourselves, we're always welcome to news submissions. Just hit the Submit News link above. On behalf of the DAPreview staff I want to apologize for the lack of content, and thank you for your patience. If all goes well, we will be making a transition that will greatly improve this site sometime this year.
Comments

Connect
Location: Toronto, ON (Canada)
Comments: 114
 		May 15 (2008) 05:06PM  

Right now I am wondering what that giant bush thing is doing in the middle of the road in the picture.



Lacene
Location: Standing Here, Confused By Your
Comments: 827
 		May 15 (2008) 05:25PM  

That's a Salsola plant, Connect......also known as a tumbleweed, a plant common in dryer North American climates. It's very common in US deserts.

The plant basically breaks from it's taproot, or primal root, where the bush is blown by winds and rolls to other areas, dispersing and spreading it's seeds. The taproot survives, and grows another bush, where the cycle repeats annually.

The image of tumbleweeds rolling down streets and through empty areas are symbolic in the US to indicate dead, lifeless barren areas, such as old ghost towns of the western US. ssj probably used the above image to illustrate how dead the DAP news around here has been.... :p



vlada

Comments: 15
 		May 15 (2008) 05:39PM  

I already wrote about the lack of news especially in the PMP market. I think these devices (Cowon Q5W, Archos 605 etc.) will be replaced by the new category called "MID". MID stands for Mobile Internet Device. It is a portable computer with 1 - 1,5 GHz CPU, 0,5 GB RAM, 120 GB HDD or 64 GB flash and a 5" LCD screen. So it will be about the same size and capacity as current high end PMPs.

These computers will be able to run a full featured OS like WinXP or Linux. Will have USB ports, internet connectivity and VGA/HDMI/TV output. Just imagine having MPC and foobar2000 or SMPlayer and AmaroK on this thing. It is the best PMP I could imagine.

Why I'm writing this? I would like to see some news ragarding MIDs on this site. This is something I've been dreaming about for a long time. Now it seems that LG and Gigabyte are trying to make my dream come true.

See these devices:
Gigabyte and LG .
[ edited May 15 (2008) 05:41PM ]



TheDarkSide
Location: Qns Vlg - NYC - USA
Comments: 298
 		May 15 (2008) 06:48PM  

Look, I'd rather rough it out then have the site flooded with fluff!!! Reviewing the mids would be nice but think about the fact that these guys have to buy the devices on their own. Unless we all start pooling money together for them we should all just keep things in perspective. I mean, unless someone decides to throw some hardware at DAPReview and get the ball rolling. Personally, if I could afford to I would. But I need to know - Do you guys take food stamps?



Design Fabulous

Comments: 1038
 		May 15 (2008) 07:10PM  

If you guys are bored, check out my coverage on iriver and the Samsung P3. Just updated some stuff:

[Linky]

[Linky]



Connect
Location: Toronto, ON (Canada)
Comments: 114
 		May 15 (2008) 07:26PM  

I feel a little dumb now since it was kinda obvious and now that I realize what it is... I've seen that tumbleweed thing on the TV all the time -_-
[ edited May 15 (2008) 07:27PM ]



jbhitter24

Comments: 351
 		May 15 (2008) 07:45PM  

perhaps news could be expanded a bit to include dap-phones. i'm not talking about every phone with mp3 capabilities, but a bunch of the sony ericsson phones have dedicated daps.



TheDarkSide
Location: Qns Vlg - NYC - USA
Comments: 298
 		May 15 (2008) 08:17PM  

Very nice DF, VERY NICE!!!



DAP
Location: California
Comments: 13
 		May 15 (2008) 08:48PM  

I just want to start out by saying that I have tried to submit news recently but nothing came of it. It was about a new Siren player that I still don't see a story for, but maybe Siren is considered generic and that is why.
Anyways, I would like to see some technical info, like about the hardware specs and any inovative/new technologies being implimented in DAPs and if possible some tear down pictures to see the orientation of the components in the player. The names of the component makers, maybe some info about cpu's that are dap or music specific, info on battery technology because all electronics are bound by their batteries. Maybe something on DAP OS's and the software for transferring/managing music or online music acquisition sites. What about some stuff on headphones, like news on upcoming or fan favorites, reviews, headphone info like how to decipher the info on the back of headphone display boxes, headphone cutting edge technology or commonplace technology, things that explain if are there headphones made for specific music styles and recommendations for. Maybe some DYI projects like a DIY headphone amp.
Basically news about everything about DAPs inside and out.



vlada

Comments: 15
 		May 15 (2008) 08:51PM  

nywytboy68> I was talking about news from MID market. If somebody wants to buy one and review it, it would be a very nice addition. But information about new models and their availability would be enough.



Lacene
Location: Standing Here, Confused By Your
Comments: 827
 		May 15 (2008) 09:51PM  

What's happened to Austin??



Three
Location: Tampa Bay
Comments: 92
 		May 15 (2008) 11:07PM  

Some new iRiver iHP-120's popped up recently, and there's a CF mod for them now. You could talk about those some.



chengdude

Comments: 120
 		May 16 (2008) 06:55AM  

I think reducing the entire Chinese DAP industry to "the never ending supply of generic Chinese DAP's" is an unfair assessment and needlessly robs DAPReview of interesting news items. Granted, there's no point in going down the same path as PMPToday: trolling the B2B sites like Alibaba just to poke fun at players that no one in China has even heard of nor would consider buying. It's also true that Chinese manufacturers are in a bit of a rut as well; still, companies like Onda, Teclast, SmartQ, Oppo, and RAmos are doing some interesting things and are worthy of selective coverage. Meizu is completely wrapped up with their M8, so they're out (hard to believe it's been well over a year since their last new product), but other companies are slowly pushing into some noteworthy areas like massive screens (4.3" on the Onda VX777), TV-Out (the new fad...on all sorts of players), text-to-speech (Teclast T50), game emulation (most compellingly on the SmartQ T5-II), touch flow interfaces (OK, they need work but we're not talking Apple or HTC here), and Bluetooth/WiFi (the next fad, but held in check by domestic issues).

Yeah, Chinese players have their problems: for one, the seemingly insurmountable hurdle of sloppy firmware implementation. On a purely practical level, there are also language issues...but hey, sure beats a dead homepage.



vlada

Comments: 15
 		May 16 (2008) 08:32AM  

Here's probably the first functional MID device: hands on Aigo



Barron

Comments: 44
 		May 16 (2008) 10:24AM  

i think introducing headphones is a good idea. I would also consider looking at mid's and small umpc's as i believe these are taking the place of the pmp. I myself have just bought a kohjinsha sh8 to replace my A2.



dap_pad

Comments: 519
 		May 16 (2008) 10:12PM  

Ya, introducing headphones would be great, but Head-Fi basically has a monopoly on that... As well as some DAP-phone news. It's really an upcoming market Hopefully things will pick up. I'd love to help

You spelled "sometime" wrong btw LOL

"If all goes well, we will be making a transition that will greatly improve this site somtime this year."



jbhitter24

Comments: 351
 		May 16 (2008) 11:53PM  

perhaps lower end headphones then? head-fi is already really good for the top notch stuff. but reviews of more affordable headphones in laymen's terms would be nice.



Cacophony

Comments: 36
 		May 25 (2008) 02:11PM  

Soory for late comment. I'd like to see devices and accessories which can play digital files: picture frame, alarm clock, stereo especially those with USB plug, non-iPod dock for MP3 players.

Thanks in advance.



Michael
Location: New York City
Comments: 2786
 		Jun 02 (2008) 02:07AM  

Thanks for the comments guys, we appreciate it. We'll look into some of the proposals listed for sure.



fondy44

Comments: 15
 		Jun 07 (2008) 12:41AM  

I kind of like the suggestion about the MIDs, even though they push the DAP envelope quite a bit in terms of size and price.

DAP's suggestion about more coverage of music management or syncing software is a good idea. iLounge's in-depth coverage of the iTunes software has been helpful on more than a few occasions.

I don't think it would hurt to widen the focus a little, so long as dapreview doesn't turn into just another gadget blog that covers 'everything electronical'.



You must be logged in to make comments on this site - please log in, or if you are not registered click here to signup
Welcome
Username:

Password:


Remember me

[ ]
[ ]

Online
Guests: 45
Members: 0
On this page: 1
Members: 9194, Newest: woody

Chatbox
You must be logged in to post comments on this site - please either log in or if you are not registered click here to signup



TheDarkSide
Personally, I didn't buy any of those clips, great deal nonetheless - enjoy!!!!

DaHarder
TDS...

I couldn't help myself - In for 3 of those WOOTs - LOL!

DaHarder
Yea! It's here Android 2.1 for the DROID

TheDarkSide
Sandisk Sansa Clip 8GB MP3 Player for $32.99 on woot: [Linky]

Dominic
lol

Step666
[Linky]

TheDarkSide
Forgot the link: [Linky]

TheDarkSide
OMG!!!! I can't post the meaning of my name, but #2 & #3 is actually me. But, I did get a decent amount of action cause I'm great @#1,............

Dominic
That's great...my skills are average at best

Step666
Yeah but my one's true


Staff
Senior Editor:
Michael aka ssjmichael

• DAPreview N. America
• Publisher
• Marketing and Advertising


Contributing Editors:
Dominic aka Dominic

• DAPreview Europe
• Forum Moderator

Andrew aka DF

• DAPreview Asia
• Design consultant


Click on names for email and user ID for Member Profile

RSS Feeds
Our news can be syndicated by using these rss feeds.
rss1.0
rss2.0
rdf
DAPreview WebRing

Fan site for the Creative Zen brand of MP3 players


Fan site for the Cowon iAudio brand of MP3 players


Subscribe in a reader
User Reviews   Privacy Policy