media player – SomeGadgetGuy

I have such fond memories of Winamp. It was a mandatory download for MP3 playing back in the Windows XP days. No program like it had the wealth of streaming radio and customization options. Hours were spent selecting exactly the right skin and visualization plugins. It was the best.

Winamp even seemed primed for a potential comeback during the early days of Android, offering up a fantastic mobile app which synced to the desktop player, and served users WiFi music sync. Before the app market became Google Play, we didn’t have an iTunes-like media management system, and Winamp was pretty handy for quickly swapping and updating our playlists.

Unfortunately, in a world of cloud services like Pandora, Spotify, and Google Play Music, our poor little Winamp just wasn’t able to continue competing against streaming radio and cloud solutions.

The entire Winamp ecosystem is shutting down December 20th of this year.

No more downloading the desktop player. No more Winamp.com. All the other associated features will be turned off. Say goodnight Gracie.

Those who still have Winamp software installed, I’m sure it’ll still function locally, but I think it’s time to move on. Start finding other solutions. I haven’t used it in years, but I’m going to miss Winamp.

It no longer whips the llama’s ass…

(via Winamp)

It’s fascinating watching companies try to evolve. For traditional film photography businesses like Kodak, it meant leaving the consumer space and moving into corporate imaging. Polaroid however is taking another stab at consumers. The quick-to-print darling built their rep on delivering pics the moment they were taken. In an age of Instagram however, that novelty fades a bit.

Announced back at CES this year, the iM1836 follows in the footsteps of Samsung’s Galaxy Camera, but offers up a few fun twists. The 18MP image sensor is Micro 4/3rds which puts it on par with most entry and mid-level SLR’s, and allows for an interchangeable lens system. The “fun” and immediacy of this new outing comes from a camera body powered by Android, making it a full-fledged multimedia device. Think iPod Touch+incredible optics.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are on board for connectivity, so that insta-share experience is maintained. Apps on the camera and your phone allow for instant social media participation over WiFi or your phone’s data connection.

That the iM1836 manages to hit a $299 price point is pretty remarkable, as that’s very close to high-end point and shoot camera territory for an SLR grade image sensor bolted onto an Android media player. The camera isn’t shipping yet, but Amazon can hold you a place in line. Delivery should drop just in time for the holidays.

(via Polaroid)