music player

Apple Makes Progress With Ping. Still a Long Way to Go.

Peter Kafka in Media on September 25, 2010 at 8:58 am PT

Apple has made a small but important change to Ping that improves it considerably. It’s not enough to make the much-maligned social network a real winner, but it’s a good start: Now you can recommend songs to your friends, and see the music they recommend, at the same you’re actually listening to songs.

Walkman Outsells iPod in Japan–Sort Of

John Paczkowski in News on September 3, 2009 at 11:07 am PT

Sony’s Walkman outsold Apple’s iPod in Japan for the first time in more than four years last week, according to a report from research outfit BCN, which doesn’t count the iPhone as a portable media player.

Walkman Outsells iPod in Japan–Sort Of

John Paczkowski in News on September 3, 2009 at 11:07 am PT

Sony’s Walkman outsold Apple’s iPod in Japan for the first time in more than four years last week, according to a report from research outfit BCN, which doesn’t count the iPhone as a portable media player.

Sony Celebrates an Unhappy Birthday: The Walkman Is 30 Years Old

Peter Kafka in Media on July 1, 2009 at 3:54 am PT

The Walkman is 30 years old today, but Sony isn’t throwing the iconic gadget much of a birthday party. More of a somber memorial, really. Blame Apple.

The Littlest iPod Packs In Songs and Finds Its Voice

Walt Mossberg in Personal Technology on March 11, 2009 at 6:02 pm PT

Walt reviews the first talking music player in the impossibly small iPod Shuffle. Push a button and it will tell you, in a computerized voice, the title and artist of whatever song you’re hearing. Keep holding that button and it will recite a roll call of all your playlists, allowing you to select among them. In Walt’s tests, this worked as advertised.

Skipping Your Computer’s Warm-Up Time

Katherine Boehret in The Mossberg Solution on January 20, 2009 at 6:10 pm PT

The time it takes to boot up a computer can be a source of frustration — especially if you’re in a rush and just want to log on, get information and move on with your day. If televisions took as long as PCs take to start working, we’d miss game-winning touchdowns.

Hope You’re Enjoying Your Little Moment in the Sun, Palm

John Paczkowski in News on January 9, 2009 at 10:48 am PT

CEOs and Palm evangelists convinced that the company’s new Pre handset is anything more than table stakes at the handset poker game would do well to consider two bits of Apple news and rumor that suggest Cupertino may be hard at work on a next-generation handset capable of mercilessly beating all others into sobbing submission.

Google Answers the iPhone

Walt Mossberg in Personal Technology on October 15, 2008 at 9:02 pm PT

In the exciting new category of modern hand-held computers — devices that fit in your pocket but are used more like a laptop than a traditional phone — there has so far been only one serious option. But that will all change on Oct. 22, when T-Mobile and Google bring out the G1, the first hand-held computer that’s in the same class as Apple’s iPhone.

New from Apple: iPod Flamo

John Paczkowski in News on August 19, 2008 at 12:07 pm PT

What an ugly week for Apple. Voice and data reception issues plaguing iPhone 3G, MobileMe still not up to company standards, and now reports of sparking iPod Nanos. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is investigating a possible battery defect in Apple’s older iPod Nano music players after receiving reports of minor fires caused by overheating devices.

Getting a New Windows Computer With XP

Walt Mossberg in Mossberg’s Mailbox on August 13, 2008 at 5:00 pm PT

Walt Mossberg answers readers’ questions about how to get a new Windows computer with the XP operating system, small portable radios, and the functions of MailBug.