file formats

Open-source software rated: Ten alternatives you need

Crave The good: One of the most common uses of the program is audio file conversion, as it handles a wide range of audio formats, including FLAC and OGG. It'll also unzip other popular archiving formats such as RAR, CAB and ISO.

19 November 2007, 8:00

Hands-on with Samsung's YP-T10

Crave The only sound-related issue that bugs us is the poor codec support: only MP3 and WMA file formats are compatible. There's no love shown for any lossless formats or even the lossy AAC or OGG options. We first saw Samsung's YP-T10 at the IFA show in...

Tags: samsung, windows media player, yp, kids

4 December 2007, 9:28

Photos: Hands-on with the iRiver Spinn

Crave The Spinn supports MP3, FLAC, WAV, WMA, APE, ASF formats according to the box, but we found it also plays WMA Lossless. GB is pretty good for a player that supports so many lossless audio formats, and we're told iRiver is being pressured to bump...

7 August 2008, 16:46

iPhone vs Sony Ericsson W950i vs Nokia N95 vs LG Prada

Crave The KE850 boasts a document viewer that supports Microsoft's PPT, DOC, XLS formats, PDF and TXT. These include a video player that supports MPEG-4 and H.263 formats and a music player that supports MP3, ACC, ACC+, WMA and RA files.

22 January 2007, 12:03

Sony Ericsson W800 Walkman phone plays MP3s and AACs

Crave Tucked away in the third paragraph of the W800 press release is the surprising news that it supports the "proven, industry standard MP3 and AAC music file formats". We note a strange omission from Sony's planned Walkman phone.

Tags: sony, aac, walkman, music store

9 March 2005, 12:01

Sony DCR SR100: hard man of camcorders

Crave Efforts from other maufacturers, like JVC's GZ-MC500,  have been blighted by obsfucated editing software and proprietry file formats. We fondled this in the flesh at CES in Las Vegas a few weeks ago, and everything about the DCR-SR100 screamed...

Tags: sony uk, hard drive, motion, sony

23 January 2006, 10:48

Hands-on with the Cowon iAudio 7 MP3 player

Crave Like most of Cowon's players, this model plays a whole heap of file formats, including FLAC and OGG (we're very, very fond of FLAC here at Crave). Hey there, gadgeteers. Nice weekend? Good. The Monday MP3 player this week is Cowon's iAudio 7.

Tags: cowon, crave, flac, iaudio

9 July 2007, 11:19

Win a Sony Ericsson W610i Walkman phone!

Crave It supports MP3 and AAC file formats and it even has a built-in FM radio, so you can get your regular dose of breakfast banter on the way to work. More free stuff, anyone? Crave is bringing music to your ears -- music phones to be precise -- we've...

Tags: sony ericsson, phones, sony, ericsson

2 May 2007, 14:02

Roku SoundBridge: rock on with streaming audio

Crave And it knows about most file formats -- except the protected stuff that you buy from iTunes Music Store, but blame Apple for that. Computer keyboards in the living room will never be part of modern style.

Tags: eye, stations, fi, itunes

14 March 2005, 15:58

Crave Talk: Apple could set eBooks on fire

Crave Unfortunately, these unique good points are ruined by some sadly familiar examples of Sony's love of the proprietary: heavy digital rights management and closed file formats; limited ways to buy content; underwhelming software support.

Tags: apple, matter, reader, battery life

28 July 2006, 11:07

Photos: Popcorn Hour A-100 does media streaming right

Crave We enjoyed the DivX Connected system, but noted it's far from perfect, and like Apple TV, won't play many formats out of the box. It's not the product of a multinational corporation, so it doesn't have a media file agenda to push.

2 June 2008, 11:01

Passionato: Classical music downloads done right

Crave So far we're impressed with Passionato -- it's got all the makings of a successful music store: good prices, no DRM, lossy and lossless offerings in standard formats, decent content, a recommendations engine, a friendly design, plus a forum for...

Tags: itunes, stores, titles, encoded

12 September 2008, 10:23

Hands-on with the Cowon Q5

Crave Its primary function is obviously video; with its massive screen, support for industry-standard formats like DivX, Xvid, MPEG-4 and WMV to name but a few, it's capable of displaying some very high-quality movies.

Tags: cowon

16 January 2008, 8:00

Pentax K-m, Eye-Fi, Lensbaby, Seitz, Minox spy cameras, Hasselblad, Kodak and the rest round out Photokina

Crave While the other big names in the photography sphere went for headline-grabbing big announcements -- new formats, dSLRs or 3D technology -- Kodak stayed quiet. With HD video appearing in dSLRs and ever-higher resolution cameras leading to bigger...

26 September 2008, 11:55

Why I Like: Democracy Player

Crave Players, formats, sites, feeds -- people talk about an explosion in online video. By adding a smart file manager and an RSS feed reader, bolting on an open-programme guide, and wiring up BitTorrent, it converts the online video experience to...

Tags: guide, videos, streams, programme

26 July 2006, 10:16