The Sony Vaio P

Here at the Sony Style store in NYC today, I had a chance to see and handle a Sony Vaio P prototype, right in the flesh. The model number ended with the suffix -XXX, which seemed to indicate that the exact model type hadn't been finalized yet. My first impressions: a very slick, very stylish, high-concept and high-technology design, but alas, very slow. However, it was running Windows Vista, and if one unboxes it and wipes the drive in favor of XP or Windows 7, I'm sure it would offer a significantly zippier computing experience. That said, the Vaio P oozes class, from the high-gloss, high-style lid to the neatly integrated Motion-Eye camera and bamtam weight design. One small quibble - the seemingly type-able keyboard seems to be marred by the tendency of my normal-sized hands to strike the mouse buttons right below the keys. Maybe my little nieces will have better luck touch-typing on it.

Samsung Pebble S2 MP3 Player Unboxing

Here's a quick slideshow of the unboxing of my new Samsung S2 "Pebble" MP3 player. I wanted a small, pocketable MP3 player, akin to the iPod shuffle, for moments when toting my full size Walkman or iPod, or even my Nokia E71, is just overkill. So far, it's completely met my expectations for portability and ease of use, and the best feature is the ability to resume from paused audio after it's been shut off, which is a boon for podcast lovers. I've yet to try out the DNSe equalizer functions, but so far, the crisp sound quality and loud output seems to rival my iPod despite it's diminutive dimensions. No-nonsense simplicity without compromises here!

Strapya World

Too busy, or too costly to jet off to Japan for your gadget fix? I just discovered this online retailer from a friend - Strapya World - which was highly recommended it's gadget accessories and some rather kitschy straps for mobile phones. Check it out!

Cellphone retrospective - Can you identify these models?

Sony Walkman SRF-F1

From Sony SRF-F1 Walkman

This little guy is one of my favorite vintage Walkman radios - it's a Sony Sports Walkman FM Stereo, model SRF-F1, from about 1986 (almost 25 years ago!) It has a built-in fixed rechargeable battery (which suprisingly, still holds a charge) and is very compact and lightweight. It came equipped with a headband and armband for the Walkman to clip onto, and includes the BC-401 external charger (shown above), which charges the Walkman with 4 AA batteries. The portable charger can also power the Walkman directly if it runs out of juice on-the-go, so that was a bit of a forerunner to today's portable external battery chargers for iPods and the like. The baby-blue bright colors and diagonal graphics and styling motif reflect a very distinctive 80's look, which makes it very reflective of design trends of that era.

Happy New Year 2009!

From iPod Lego Speaker

Happy New Year 2009 to you all! I received this very kitchy Lego-shaped iPod speaker over the holidays, and expecting to be incredibly underwhelmed, decided to plug it into my iPod to see how (badly) it would perform. To my surprise, it actually produces pretty usable volume levels even though it doesn't require batteries to operate. It's my latest, favorite iPod accessory. In case you're curious, it's by a brand called Homade, and it's compatible with virtually any iPod out there, even my classic iPod Touch Wheel from 5 years ago! Very awesome.