Sony thinks they have what it takes to compete with likes of the iTouch, and I believe they are on the right track. The Sony X-series Walkman, releasing in about a month, is the biggest thing to happen to the Walkman line since its release. The X-series is Sony’s attempt to bring the Walkman into the modern-day realm of touch-screens and wifi. Sony added many cool features that make it a noble competitor against the iTouch.

• 3-inch OLED display with 432 x 240 resolution
• WiFi Capability
• Web Browser (including YouTube and Slacker apps)
• Intuitive Touch-Screen Interface
• FM Tuner
• Integrated Noise Cancellation

The X-series’ touch-screen works as well as (if not better then) the iTouch and the OLED screen looks gorgeous. The Wifi integration is nice, especially when using the Slacker app to listen to tons of free music, but the web browser can be a little annoying to use.  It is helpful though because it allows you to download movies straight from the internet, from online stores such as Amazon. Though without the equivalent of an App-store and by not taking full advantage of the opportunites offered by the WiFi capability, Sony’s X-series Walkman is definitely not an iTouch KILLER.  The Walkman does offer a wide range of capabilities without sacrificing quality, but being priced similarly to the iPod Touch, I expected slightly more out of one of the largest and oldest companies in the portable music player market.

• To get your own Sony X-Series Walkman Click Here
• To review special pricing on the Sony X-Series Walkman Click Here

 

The Sun hates you. I realize that this is a fairly unpopular position, argued against by die hard Sun apologists. They’ll try to debunk this fact by stating that “It gives us the light and heat that we need to survive.” Fools! The light and heat pales in comparison to the flesh searing radiation the sun bounces at us. It is only by then benevolent grace of the Ozone Layer that the vile Sun doesn’t bleach all life from the Earth.

What if we could trick the Sun even further, get it to do more of our bidding while it tries in vain to murder us. Wouldn’t that be something? As it turns out, there are things called “Solar Pannels” avaliable to consumers. These pannels convert the Sun’s hate rays into usable electricity, powering your calculator or small toy cars.

But what if we could use our greatest foe’s power to run our portable electronics? Our cell phones and PDAs, our handheld game systems? Would that not be something?

Enter the Solio Classic Hybrid Solar Charger. Using a low profile three panel system and a collection of commonly used tips, the Solio keeps you running well past the limited battery life of your handheld device.

“But wait,” you may ask “doesn’t the Sun take a break from all his killing? What happens when it’s night out?” That is a fantastic question. Rather than act as a direct “sun to device” conduit, the Solio works best as a solar charger, filling it’s battery with murder beams and then sharing that power when you need it. It fills up a full charge quickly and folds into a small bundle for easy transport. You can leave it on your dashboard while you drive and when you need to hook up your equipment, it’s ready to go.

“But wait,” you may interrupt yet again, lacking respect for my narrative “I’m not the kind of person who goes outside very often. Or maybe I live in Seattle and have only heard rumors of this ‘Sun’ of which you speak. What do I do then?” I was getting to that. You need to relax and let this blog post happen. The “Hybrid” in the product name refers to the second way it can collect power. As you may know, USB allows devices to draw power from your computer without needing to be plugged in on their own. The Solio uses this technology to fill its battery using USB, allowing you to get all the power you need without leaving the house. Of course, you’ll want to use this on a desktop, not a free floating laptop, or else you’ll be looking at an empty laptop very quickly.

All in all, the Solio works wonders, giving me more time with my electronic devices while giving the finger to our hated Sun. It’s a win/win as far as I’m concerned.

• To get your own Solio charger Click Here
• To review special pricing on the Solio charger Click Here