Yesterday we argued that the old-school PMP might be dead, but Sony sure doesn't think so. It's just updated its S-series with two 2-inch LCD Walkmans that include the new 720x480 TV-out and noise-canceling features built into the upcoming A-Series.

Apart from being colored differently, the NW-S640 (top left) and the NW-S740 (top right) are pretty much identical, though the S640 lacks noise canceling.

The players have an FM radio, usual codec support, and an eye-opening stated battery life of 42 hours for music, and 10 hours for video. They also come with premium MDR-EX300SL earphones, and a matching speaker bundle will be available when they arrive in Japan in October.

The S740 series will be: 8GB (Y16,000; $177), 16GB (Y19,000; $210), and 32GB (Y25,000; $276). The slightly cheaper S640 series is: 8GB (Y14,000; $154), and 16GB (Y17,000; $188). We'll fill you in when we know more about an almost-certain U.S. release.

Zune HD Review: The PMP, Evolved

The big question: Can the Zune HD compete with the iPod Touch? I get the sense that Microsoft isn't trying to, exactly.

While the Touch and its apps are a multi use pocket computer, the Zune HD is an evolution of the PMP—not a devolution of some smartphone model. Every new feature it has is used to expand the way you absorb media, from the HD video output to the HD radio to the redesigned UI.

Hardware

The Zune HD is not a simple curved rectangle with a screen, like the iPod Touch, but a resolutely industrial, luxurious, angular and slim design. From the angled back to the visible screws to the long and thin home button, the Zune HD is a look all its own.

The gorgeous 3.3-inch capacitive OLED touchscreen takes up the majority of the device's face. More on that below. It's surrounded by three hardware buttons: Underneath the screen on the face is the home button, on the top edge is the power/hold button, and in lieu of a volume rocker the Zune HD has a button on the left side that brings up Quickplay options. These options drift onto the screen and offer volume, track forward/back and play/pause. Quickplay can be enabled to work even while the player is locked.

On the bottom of the device is the proprietary Zune port (the Zune HD will work with all of the surprisingly easy-to-find existing Zune accessories) and the headphone jack. It's rated for 33 hours of audio and 8.5 of video, which is very strong if it's true (especially since previous Zunes were lacking in battery life, to say the least). The Zune HD lacks both a speaker and a camera, though neither is necessarily a mark against it. Still, both options would be welcome.

The New iPod Touch Really Is About 50% Faster...OK, Maybe a Bit Less

Apple says their latest 32/64GB iPod touch is 50% faster than the old iPod touch. Macworld tested the claim, and they found the new touch is certainly close to that benchmark, even if a bit short in some testing.

Booting the old touch took 31 seconds. The new touch takes 19. Loading a web page dropped from 34 seconds to 15. And most games teetered between loading 33% and 50% faster.

Despite Apple not reaching that 50% benchmark across the board, Macworld is still impressed because the "the new iPod touch feels much faster at any task you throw at it: applications launch (and quit) faster, Web pages load more quickly, processor-intensive games and programs perform better-you name it."

And the new touch should be faster. TUAW confirmed that this latest ipod to have a very similar ARM Cortex A8 processor as the quick iPhone 3GS, which is a surprise to absolutely no one.

Motorola's Newest Phone Could Literally Beat the Cliq to Death

Motorola couldn't have been more clear that the MC9500 isn't meant for me—I don't work in a warehouse, manage inventories, or deliver boxes for a living—but oh man, would I carry the hell out of one of these.

Seriously, think about it: The MC9500 has all the hardware you need, with a 3.5G cellular radio, a 3.7-inch VGA touchscreen, and 806MHz Marvell processor, GPS, Wi-Fi, a 3.2-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, and even an accelerometer. You can even swap out the keypad with another configuration, or a lump of lead, probably, to maximize the kinetic force when you inevitably use this thing as a bludgeon. Windows Mobile 6.1 is something you don't have a choice but to put up with in this sector, but that's beside the point, really.


It's beautiful, in a way the Cliq couldn't even fathom. I want to take it through airport security. I want to talk on it on the bus. I want to put it on my belt and try to get a seat at a nice restaurant. I want to crush ice with it. I want to club seals with it. I, I, I... want it. Which sucks, because it starts at $2500.

Motorola Cliq Review: Most Customizable Android Phone Yet

T3 got an exclusive review on the Motorola Cliq—in Europe, Dext—and they seem quite impressed. They go as far as saying it's a "new dawn" for Motorola. Here are the basic points:

The good

• Motoblur: Motorola's combination of user interface and social service seems to be the winner. They say the widgets that allow you to customize the home screen are useful and quick, always updating live. For example, there is a messaging widget show the latest mails or texts right on the home screen, as they come in. The news widget collects information from several RSS at the same time.

• "Happenings": It is the most interesting widget-connects to social networking sites and puts all status updates together in one single feed. It's not without problems, though, as it shows the updates from all your Facebook friends. You know, all the 457 you really don't know at all.

• Contact book: Apparently, the address books collects information—addresses, emails, phones, photos, status, birthdays, dates, events—from all your contacts, adding the latest info from the social sites you are connected to. This sounds rather cool, as it seems you won't have to update your contact book ever again.

The bad

• The hardware quality: It doesn't seem very good, according to them. Apart from the boring design, the touchscreen is "occasionally hit-and-miss," and the phone feels cheap. The 320x480 screen quality is good, however.

• QWERTY Keyboard: The physical keyboard isn't good. Bad layout, and not enough spring keep them going back to the virtual one, which is accurate and feels good.

Conclusion

Despite the bad points, Katherine seems happy with the Motorola Cliq, saying it's a "rock-solid" performer, extremely customizable, fast, and great for social networkers. Go read her full review at T3.

250GB PS3 Slim Uncharted 2 Bundle Appears to Be Imminent

Well lookie here, it's another console bundle for an anticipated game. This time, it's a PS3 Slim with a 250GB HDD and Uncharted 2. The likely details involve this dropping around October 13th when the game comes out. We'll see!