The claims have been made by singer Neil Young, who has stated in a recent interview that he was working on the mystery device with the late Apple CEO before he passed away last year. According to Young, Jobs preferred listening to vinyl records while at home and was working on a solution to deliver a device that would be more suitable for professional musicians with a preference to higher quality music.

At the moment, the most popular format is the mp3 of course, which obviously isn’t ideal for consumers who have become used to listening to music at a higher quality. The current iPod supports formats such as MP3, AAC and WAV, but an article by The Guardian reveals that this device that Young and Jobs were working on would feature an uncompressed music format, as well as the ability to download songs while a user sleeps.

Unfortunately, Young also states that since Jobs has passed away, work on the device has come to a halt, or in his words as he put it – there’s ‘nothing much going on’ right now. We’re obviously intrigued by this higher audio quality that Young is on about though, so we hope that the project isn’t dead and buried just yet. As for the ability to download songs while sleeping, that’s a fantastic idea which we’re sure will become available sooner rather than later anyway.

Another potential problem though regarding this mystery device – would there really be enough demand for this higher audio quality iPod? The iPod is obviously immensely popular with the young generation at the moment, most of whom cannot tell the difference between uncompressed and compressed music. Perhaps Jobs and Young were working on a device which would come as a secondary alternative to a standard iPod to suit those with a greater ear for quality.

Sony has announced the new Walkman to its range that is nice and compact with quick battery recharging. A really clever feature of the device is that it has an integrated USB connector under a cap, which basically makes the device like a flash drive. According to reports this allows it to be directly connected to your PC or H-Fi without the need of any wires.

The unit comes with a special bass button that will deepen the low-end bass of your music, which for all you bass fans out there will be a welcome addition. If you are caught short and run out of power a quick three minute charge will provide ninety minutes of playback. Fully charged the new Walkman will give you eighteen hours to listen to your music, time enough for anyone.

There is a neat little clip on the back of the unit, and there will be a choice of a variety of different colors, and each unit has a color matched LED that will flash in time with the music. Music is easily added to the B170 by simply dragging files over to it once connected to a PC. It also features a voice recorder as well, and by using the Zappin search technology you can easily search thorough your music library.

It is expected to be available later this month and Sony has yet to reveal pricing for the unit. Do you like the look of the new Sony Walkman?

According to a study that was carried out, a £60 increase is added to the annual bill of the average household when the battery for a gadget becomes full and is left on charge. This happens 9 out of 10 times according to the report, with 1 in 10 admitting to being too lazy to unplug the gadgets despite potential damage to the device as well as the extra costs. This is leading to a total of £134 million being wasted each year by Britons.

Owners of Apple iPods account for 10% of the devices that are mostly overcharged, with mobile phones making up 41% and laptops leading the pack that are left on charge, accounting for 43%. Other devices that tend to be left plugged in after they are fully charged are cordless home phones, hand-held vacuum cleaners and electric toothbrushes.

According to ITProPortal the Gadget Show’s Pollyanna Woodward said ‘overcharging a gadget can often do more harm than good.’ She was also astonished to hear that ‘90% of people overcharge their gadgets.’ The report also revealed that 1 in 5 children leave toys plugged in on charge and 18 to 24 year olds are the more likely culprits of leaving their gadgets on charge than other age groups, although it is these age groups that are more likely to own devices like these anyway.

Are you one of the people that are guilty of overcharging gadgets? Do you think this could lead to a financial epidemic?

This brings us to the news that we have for you today of a new iPod boombox Eton. This boombox is not just your average dock; it’s the solar-powered Soulra XL. It first made an appearance in CES at the beginning of the year.

It is a set of speakers consisting of eight different loud ones. The Soulra XL takes half the time to charge as its predecessor did as according to Eton it has a monocrystal which also allows it to last five hours after being charged.

As Cnet explains in their article Eton are take now taking pre-orders for the Soulra XL which will cost $300. Check out the full article by clicking the link above.

Will you be listening to your favorite tunes on the Soulra XL this year? Let us know what you think of the boombox in the comments below.

If the Windows Phone 7 series are successfull, my guess is that Microsoft will integrate most of what makes the Zune so great into their new smartphone devices, together pairing up with the Zune service that they have provided in existing WP7 models.

But lets take a step back just a second. Just last month we heard a few rumors that Microsoft were secretly planning a new Zune HD that would battle the iPod Touch — as well as lots of ‘secret’ projects revealed by Microsoft themselves. We still do not know what they are.

No matter which way you look at it, the Zune HD was a very good piece of competent hardware. It’s stylish, sleek, good looking, easy to use and most importantly, it just works. Unfortunatly, it has been shadowed by the success of the Apple iPod range which could see Microsoft convert to a new strategy where they would dive into their biggest strength to continue the Zune service — software.

Software is where Microsoft excel, and what better way to promote Zune than on their sexy new smartphones. It would make sense to focus on the phones themselves for now and incorperate the Zune service into it because one thing is for sure — Apple have won the MP3 player war. Creative, Samsung, and even SanDisk have given up hope, now it’s time for Microsoft to change their tactics to be able to compete.

These are just a few of my personal views (with a little help admittedly), but what do you think Microsoft should do? Is the Zune dead? Will the service live on in WP7?

Source: PC Mag

The designer seems to love both gold and diamonds, you only have too look at the “Apple iPhone 18ct Gold Edition”, “24ct Gold iPhone 4” and the “Nintendo Wii SUPREME” to understand what I am talking about.

The new fourth-generation iPod Touch is finished in 24ct gold, with the Apple logo having 53 Flawless diamonds inset. The navigation button also has diamonds inside, and as you would imagine adds some more weight to the device.

The limited edition PMP comes at a price though – £209,995. Not certain how many units will be sold, which is why only two have been made. Would you pay the price for this device?

The study showed that mild hearing loss within teens has increased by 30 percent over the past 15 years. However, more worryingly is the 77 percent increase in teenagers with a mild or worse hearing loss. Hearing loss can cause many of issues, such as learning and speech problems.

A recent Australian study has put the blame onto headphones, saying that by using these devices can increase the risk of hearing loss by 70 percent. So if you see your teenage child with an iPod or other portable music device such as an iPod Touch, make certain that they keep the volume down.

We cannot see how this trend will change anytime soon, surly it will only get worse with the range of new smartphones on the market – all with music capabilities? Hoe do you think we will be able to reverse this current trend? For more details visit LA Times.

The rumors have surfaced from Pocket-Lint, who are citing Rob Hennessey, a figure for major UK retailer John Lewis who has apparently been given inside information from suppliers.

He has said that Apple will release a new iPod device this September, and that it will come with a 5 megapixel camera with HD video recording capabilities. Furthermore, it will feature a built in gyroscope and accelerometer just like the iPhone 4 and best of all – he has also stated the new iPod will have support for Facetime calling over WiFi connection.

Yeah, you heard it correctly – Facetime built into an iPod, it sounds amazing doesn’t it? Pocket-Lint are saying that the feature will also come with no extra cost for users, which is obviously fantastic news.

These are rumors for now, but we’ll give you more details as we get them. Give us your reaction to the news.