Just touch play

The once ubiquitous Sony Walkman is fading with time. Gadgets that playback music continue to metamorphose with time and consumer tastes. There is a new avatar launched almost everyday. Music players today function not just as entertainment and infotainment powerhouses but also smart communication devices. Leslie D'Monte sifts through what’s currently on offer.

SONY ERICSSON
Sony Ericsson’s Walkman range supports formats such as MP3, AAC, eAAC and Sony’s Mega Bass sound preset. There is the touch-screen offering is called the Aino. All the phones come with Bluetooth connectivity and FM radio.

W200i
USP: 128MB memory card that can be upgraded to 2GB
Price: Rs 7,795

W980i
USP: 8GB memory
Price: Rs 23,000

W995
USP: 8.1 megapixel camera with autofocus, flash, face detection and video capture. Walkman applications such as TrackID, Shake Control and the latest version of the Walkman player
Price: Rs 25,800

Aino
USP: Touchscreen capability 8.1 megapixel camera, Rs 25,000

APPLE
Apple’s new iPad resembles neither a phone nor a notebook but it can be used to browse the Web, read and send emails, view photos, watch videos, listen to music, play games and read e-books. And you can make a phone call too. But can it beat the appeal of an iPhone?

iPhone 3GS
USP: The ‘S’ stands for speed, in this case a whopping 32GB of onboard memory. The phone features a three-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, voice and video recording capability, multimedia messaging and document editing functions. Apple has improved the Tap To Focus system that gives the user a lot more control over pictures. And if the iPhone 3GS is lost or stolen, users can delete the data from the phone remotely. The phone is not available in India but can be bought on eBay. Stereo Bluetooth capability is finally available on the iPhone 3GS, and there are welcome additions like a voice recorder.
Price: Rs 44,000 (online)

MOTOROLA
Motorola phones support all the popular music file formats such as MP3, WAV, AAC and Real Audio. Like most music phones, these come with headphones, along with Bluetooth connectivity, FM radio. While some of the phones feature a unique music recognition service, MotoID. MotoID can identify any song from its sound by comparing it to an internet database.

Moto Rokr EM30
USP: 1 GB memory that can be expanded to 8GB and MotoID
Price: Rs 8,500

Motozine ZN5
USP: In-built 5-megapixel Kodak camera, Wi-Fi, TV output capability and upto 8GB memory
Price: Rs 16,000

NOKIA
Nokia has continued to expand its XpressMusic series of phones, which have music functions as their core. Also it has added phones with touchscreen capability to this series.

XpressMusic 5320
USP: 1 GB memory expandable upto 8 GB
Price: Rs 11,000

XpressMusic 5800
USP: 8 GB memory expandable upto 16 GB
Price: Rs 19,999

XpressMusic 5530
USP: 2.9-inch resistive-touch touchscreen, 4 GB memory and Wi-Fi
Price: Rs 14,000

XpressMusic X6
USP: 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen, Ovi store, upto 35 hours music playback, 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and GPS
Price: Rs 44,990

SAMSUNG
Samsung recently launched the Beat 450, which is an affordable option in its music range when compared to the Innov8, which is at the higher end of its mobile offerings. The phones support a wide variety of music file formats and support Bluetooth stereo headsets and have FM radio.

Beat 450
USP: Stereo speakers, dual slider design and touch wheel navigation
Price: Rs 11,900

Innov8
USP: 8 GB or 16 GB built-in memory with a microSD card slot which can be expanded by another 16 GB (so a total of 32 GB of memory just for music). It also features a 8-megapixel camera and Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity
Price: Rs 35,900

LG
The brand’s Chocolate series and its Crystal phone have received rave reviews for their design. The Crystal especially has a cool transparent glass sliding keypad. The phones are multimedia phones with all the usual bells and whistles.

Chocolate BL40
USP: Four-inch widescreen HD LCD touchscreen display, dual screen switching capability, full-screen web browsing and Wi-Fi connectivity
Price: Rs 24,000

GD900 Crystal
USP: Transparent sliding glass keypad, three-inch touchscreen display, finger writing recognition and 8-megapixel camera
Price: Rs 25,239

YOUR MUSIC PHONE SHOULD...

* Support multiple downloadable music formats like MP3, AAC, WAV, AIFF and AM

* Have adequate internal and external memory. Internal memory is usually limited to 512 MB, but usually less. Apple’s iPhone is an exception with 8 GB. To store music, pictures and video on your cellphone, make sure it has a slot for a mini SD memory card. Storage often falls short when it comes to storing music.

* Have a long battery life. Focus not on standby time (when your cellphone is idle) but talk time (when you’re using your phone)

* Have a good speaker phone. You may want to check that you can use your own headphones with your new music phone — not all music MP3 phones have a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.

* Ideally have an inbuilt FM radio function

* Ideally have bluetooth technology which transmits cellphone signals to a ear piece, car stereo or other cellphones

* Ideally have a large screen size which will help you see videos with song and dance better

* Ideally include a digital camera (which most music phones have as a standard)

* Ideally have added features. For instance, Nokia’s latest range of music phones are available on the 'Comes With Music' offering and include the N95 8GB, the 5310 and the 5800 Xpress music. These handsets offer dedicated music keys allowing instant access to your music, (the 5800 Xpress music is a touchscreen mobile phone) standard 3.5mm headphone sockets (so you can connect your headphones to these phones) and store hundreds of songs