New MP3 Players This Christmas: Apple, Sony, iRiver, Samsung and Archos

The big players in MP3, Apple, Sony, iRiver, Samsung and Archos have new ranges coming out now, to tempt the Christmas buyer – let’s look at them in detail:

Apple
A complete new range of iPods, from new colour options in the Shuffle, to the ‘iPhone without the phone’ iPod Touch!

Shuffle – Same price and spec, so £49.99 and 1GB memory. A tiny fashion player for fitness and active use in a new range of five colours.

Nano – 4GB £99.00 and 8GB £129 – the Nano remastered with a new shape, new ‘Cover Flow’ menu design and the added attraction of video playback

Classic – 80GB £159 and 160GB £239 – the Classic is just that – the hard drive based iPod we know so well. Now with a brushed steel face in black or silver, with truly
massive capacity and impressive battery lives (up to 40 hours) The Classics also share the new Nano’s ‘Cover Flow’ menu design

Touch – 8GB £199 and 16GB £269 – The star of the new line-up is the new Touch. A stylish touch-screen interface which is clear and easy to use, combined with wi-fi internet access and the ability to download iTunes (audio and video) on the move. Movie player, web surfer, music player and fashion-gadget of the moment!

Sony Major news for Sony is the dropping of SonicStage (their oft-criticised proprietary sync software) in favour of full Windows Media Player compatibility. Three main new products out now:

NWZ-A810 series – 2GB £89.99, 4GB £99.99 and 8GB £129.99 – the range topper of the new Sony players is a re-mastering of the A800 series, launched to great acclaim earlier this year. Video and photo playback on top of Sony?s sound and build quality

NWZ-S515 series – 2GB £69.99 – funky entry-level full size player from Sony, offering their great sound quality with great looks and a range of colours. Also fully WMP compatible.

NWD-B100 series – 1GB £34.99, 1GB FM £44.99, 2GB £44.99 & 2GB FM £54.99 – Entry level drag & drop USB key style player, available with and without FM radio. Colour screen, voice recorder and FM recorder on FM versions.

iRiver Big news from iRiver comes in the form of a new type of DAB receiver with built-in MP3 and MP4 functionality. Utilising new features becoming available with Digital Radio, this player looks to be a revolutionary product for the market:

iRiver B20 – The B20 represents a new departure for iRiver. It’s primarily designed as a dab radio, with advanced features like picture display and advanced information. The player also operates as a fully featured mp3 & mp4 player with simple click screen operation. This player will be exclusive to amp3 on launch and is sure to cause a stir!

Samsung YP-S5 – 2GB £99, 4GB £129, 8GB £149 – Samsung caused a fashion stir when they launched the K5 mp3 player with high quality flip-out stereo speaker late last year. This is the update to that player, now slimmed down, with added Bluetooth connectivity & video playback.

YP-P2 – 2GB £109.99, 4GB £139.99, 8GB £159.99 – This is the big Christmas product from Samsung! Totally touch screen, this player goes head-to-head with the ipod touch. Highlights include video, FM radio, Bluetooth connectivity and a small, attractive case design. Definitely one to look out for.

Archos – Archos came to the party early this year with a fantastic revision of their range – although a complete re-working would be more accurate.

405 – 2GB £115.99 – A completely fresh departure for the Hard Driver player specialists, Archos, with a flash based player. This is a re-vamp of the 404 style player, with a 3.5″ screen. The real genius of this player is the SD card slot that?s been included – fully compatible with SDHC cards, giving huge additional capacity. With SD prices dropping all the time, this is a shrewd move from Archos

605 - 4GB £149, 30GB £194, 160GB £299 – The first of the new Generation 5 range to be launched and it wowed the media straight out the box! Wifi, 4.3″ touch screen, very high resolution, download portal built into the player – it stands up well to comparison with the iPod Touch. A 4GB flash entry-level version will also be available soon, giving the same advantages as the 405, with SD expansion.

You can buy these MP3 players at advanced mp3 players