Chances are that your child won’t rip this MP3 player up anytime soon. This is Bandy the teddy bear, from a European company called Mogoon. Bandy is can play MP3s and WMAs that are stored on an SD card that you insert into a slot in his back.

For the protective set, we have these details: Bandy is dust-proof and splash-proof (although we question those claims based on the photo, which seems to show that the little guy is made of material that would seem to attract dust and liquids). He is also said to be able to survive falls of up to 2 meters - his would be the music player, of course. Bandy himself could probably survive a fall off a skyscraper or a trip down a raging river.

Look for Bandy exclusively in Europe this fall and then elsewhere shortly thereafter, for just $88 USD.

Read More | http://www.konstant.de/index.php?id=638

Gallery: Bandy The Music Player Bear

• Tools:
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Comments (1)
• Email this story

Sony’s made-in-Japan NW-E000 series of portable music players is coming to the U.S. They look like a cigarette lighter but pack a powerful punch of functionality and storage space. They come in a small variety of colors as well and don’t take too much of a bite out of your pocket money. Perhaps the most attractive thing about the NWs is the OLED display. This is certainly no first-generation Walkman. The letters and numbers stand out well against the backlit screen. You can certainly see the name of both song and artist.

Three of the popular file formats are accounted for: MP3s, WMAs, and AACs. All transfers are made using Sony’s own Connect Music Store and SonicStage software. You can also play FM radio using the built-in tuner. The flagship entry in this series of devices is the NW-E005, a 2GB special that comes in green, black, or violet and sells for $130 US. Going down the ladder, the 1GB version costs just $100 US and comes in silver or pink. The baby of the family is a 512MB blue-only deal that costs just $70 US.

Read More | CNET

Gallery: Sony NW-E000 Music Players Come to U.S.

• Tools:
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Comments (1)
• Email this story

We see a laser light show in this device’s future. It’s the iBlueTube from Thanko, and it is an iPod dock that has two full-on vacuum tubes, one sticking out each side of what is an extended docking mechanism.

The middle part of the dock looks normal enough, with the iPod resting in a small circular dock populated with buttons and cord slots (including hookups for real speakers, and even viewscreens). Zoom back out again and you’ll see a triangular backlighting system that lights up blue via the LED vacuum tubes.

The main appeal of this item seems to be the cool factor, although the speakers are said to pump out 12 watts of power, which is more than your average iPod dock. Plop one of these docks down on your mantel and have a few friends over, and you’re sure to have some appreciative audience in no time flat. Of course, you’ll pay for the privilege: The iBlueTube, which is scheduled for release in Japan sometime in the next few weeks, is projected to cost the equivalent of $566 USD.

Read More | New Launches via Gizmodo

Gallery: iBlueTube Accents iPod Tunes with Blue Light

• Tools:
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Comments (0)
• Email this story

Intel Mac users the world over await the day that they can eliminate all Rosetta applications from their systems permanently, and today we are one step closer with the release of the Flip4Mac Universal Binary. For those unfamiliar with the product, Flip4Mac allows Mac users to play Windows Media content from within Quicktime. Since Microsoft decided to shelve Windows Media Player development for the Mac, users have had to suffer through using an old version, running in Rosetta. Now that Flip4Mac has gone Universal, it has changed the game. If you run an Intel Mac, you need this program.

Read More | Flip4Mac via Flip4Mac on Microsoft.com

Gallery: Flip4Mac Universal Binary Now Available

• Tools:
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Comments (0)
• Forum Discussion
• Email this story

Ever wonder what goes on behind closed doors at a major tech company? We hung out with the higher ups at iRiver America and got a tour of the place. We also sat down with iRiver America CEO Jonathan Sasse, and talked a bit about the company, the evolution of the iRiver clix, working with Microsoft and MTV, DRM, and a few other topics. Oh, and we got a look at the iRiver hummer.

Here’s how to get the show:
Subscribe: iTunes iPod / H.264 | iTunes MPEG-4 | RSS iPod Feed | RSS MPEG-4 Feed

|Download| - iPod-formatted H.264 (Mirror)
|Download| - DivX (Mirror)
|Download| - MPEG-4 (Mirror)
|Download| - PSP (Mirror)

IMPORTANT: We are surveying the viewers of our show to see what it is that people like, and more importantly, what they don’t like. It is anonymous, and just takes a couple of minutes. If you have the time, we would appreciate it! As always, feel free to let us know what you think in the comments.

Here's how to get the show:
|Download| - iPod-formatted H.264
|Download| - MPEG-4

Gallery: The Bleeding Edge 018: A Visit To iRiver, Jonathan Sasse Interview

• Tools:
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Comments (0)
• Email this story

Finally, Microsoft has given up some details on the Zune, the most significant detail being the confirmation that it exists. In an article in Billboard Magazine, the company reveals that Zune is much more than just a digital media player, but rather a family of hardware and software products which integrate various forms of digital entertainment services. The first implementation of this will be the portable music player and digital music service, which is essentially Microsoft’s first real attempt at going head to head with the Apple’s iTunes and iPod one-two punch combo. It will be interesting to see if Microsoft can put a dent in Apple’s 70% market share in digital music downloads, and 75% of the entire digital music player scene. If anyone has the pockets to do it, it’s them. Before counting them out, remember that the Xbox was nothing more than a joke when we first heard about it in 1999, and today it’s at the forefront of the game industry.

EDIT: A couple of official Zune related sites: Zune Insider, Coming Zune, and Madison and Pine

Read More | Billboard (Account Required)

Gallery: Microsoft Officially Confirms Zune

• Tools:
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Comments (0)
• Forum Discussion
• Email this story

GraceNotes, which maintains the CDDB database containing music CD information on more than 55 million tracks and 4 million CDs, yesterday said they’d obtained the rights to publish song lyrics of more than 1 million songs, according to Reuters. They are now chatting with their online music partners, including Yahoo and Apple, about “plans to launch a service to offer legal and accurate lyrics for all digital media”. This service would be the first industry-sanctioned want to provide lyrics legally.

Read More | Reuters: Gracenote, music publishers in lyrics deal via iLounge

Gallery: GraceNotes to Publish Song Lyrics Online

• Tools:
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Comments (0)
• Email this story

So we finally got our hands on iRiver’s drool-worthy portable media device, the clix. This 2GB beauty has a great screen, and was built from the ground-up for use with MTV URGE and Windows Media Player 11. We will be bringing you a full review of the device here on Gear Live, as well as in video form on The Bleeding Edge, but for now, join us in the gallery as we unbox the iRiver clix.

Read More | iRiver clix Unboxing Gallery

Gallery: Unboxing the iRiver clix

• Tools:
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Comments (0)
• Forum Discussion
• Email this story

It takes a unique combination of character traits to get in front of a few people and belt out “It’s Not Unusual” in your best Tom Jones like a moron. It’s even worse when there’s a camera in the room. But hey, why don’t we just publish it on the interwebs and let the whole world see what our shower walls cry about? Singstar, with Jesse Ferguson in black and the wonderfully untalented Chris Cardinal (that is, me) in green, is a fun party game I fear too many people will lack the moxie to throw down with a microphone for. That’s where booze typically comes in, but suffice to say, both Jesse and I were ridiculously sober when we recorded this.

The game monitors your pitch and intonations, and the length of your notes, and did a very good job at filtering out any sort of background noise. More songs will be available for (purchase and) download at a later date, though it will ship with a collection of around 100. It should also be noted that I edged out Jesse, most likely pulling ahead at the end with my creative take on the w-hoo-hoo part of the song.

Here’s how to get the show:
Subscribe: iTunes iPod / H.264 | iTunes MPEG-4 | RSS iPod Feed | RSS MPEG-4 Feed

|Download| - iPod-formatted H.264 (Mirror)
|Download| - DivX (Mirror)
|Download| - MPEG-4 (Mirror)
|Download| - PSP (Mirror)

IMPORTANT: We are surveying the viewers of our show to see what it is that people like, and more importantly, what they don’t like. It is anonymous, and just takes a couple of minutes. If you have the time, we would appreciate it! As always, feel free to let us know what you think in the comments.

Here's how to get the show:
|Download| - iPod-formatted H.264
|Download| - MPEG-4

Gallery: Bleeding Edge Byte 017: E3 Leftovers: PS3 SingStar: No Way To Look Cool

• Tools:
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Comments (0)
• Email this story

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry is lucky.  If he’s working on a track at his home studio and he needs a particular sound, he can just go grab another guitar, plug in, and another classic track is born.  Those of us for whom money is still an issue have it a little tougher.  Sure, we know that “Sweet Child O’ Mine” should only be played on a Les Paul (or a copy, like Slash used), but there’s only room for a couple of guitars in the back of the Civic, and if the song has to be played on a Strat, then so be it.

No more excuses!  For the cost of a decent Stratocaster or half of a Les Paul, guitar players can have access to classic sounds from both of these instruments, as well as from banjos, sitars, resonators, and several acoustic guitars.  The Variax carefully models the waveforms of classic instruments to product their sounds faithfully, and all of the sounds are just a knob twist away.  Finally, guitarists can leave their vintage instruments at home and still be prepared for any musical need that may arise.

Read More | Line 6

Gallery: Variax 700 Electric Guitar by Line 6

• Tools:
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Comments (0)
• Email this story