Until now I thought I'd heard about every possible method of allegedly improving sound quality on IEMs, but I was wrong. While some IEMs have quad armatures and others have interchangeable parts, Panasonic have taken it one step further and have included a Zirconia in their RP-HJE900 IEMs to "suppress sound distortion".

The RP-HJE900 also comes with interchangeable cables through connectors that frankly look more like Nokia chargers than audio jacks. The phones have a frequency range of 6Hz–28 KHz and an impedance of 26Ω. If the use of this material really had an effect on sound quality I'd have thought the bigger IEM manufacturers like Shure or Ultimate Ears had already tried it so I don't have too much hope for this product, but it sure would be interesting if these got good critics. The IEMs will be released in Japan on June 15th with no word yet on pricing.

[Akihabara News via Gizmodo]

As a growing number of portable devices are offering Bluetooth functions, Panasonic has enhanced the D-Snap SV-SD850N to offer A2DP, AVRCP, and HFP Bluetooth profiles. The SV-SD950N makes use of the missing corner of its controls as it implements a button which allows calls to be made and received when paired with a mobile phone. It is also possible to transferring files and transmitting audio to Bluetooth headphones or speakers.

The SV- SD950N still offers the same features as the previous model, including the 60 hour battery life, noise isolation, and storage relying completely on SD/SDHC cards. The additional Bluetooth capabilities do come at a price as the new model will sell for an equivalent of about $220.

[Press Release via Akihabara News]

Panasonic announced today the newest addition to its D-Snap line of SD/SDHC-based digital audio players. Unlike the MPEG4 camcorder D-Snaps from a few years ago, the new SV-SD850N offers little more than a 4-line OLED display, MP3/WMA/AAC support, FM tuner, and line-in recording packed into a casing reminiscent of but not as sleek as the Samsung K3.

Notable features of the player include a noise-cancellation feature that reportedly reduces ambient noise by 83% and an incredible 80-hour battery life with said feature disabled (a still-impressive 60 hours otherwise). A 1GB SD card and a decent-looking pair of canal phones will be bundled with the $168 SV-SD850 (available in white, black, red, blue, and brown) when it hits Japan on April 26th.

[Product Page | Press Release via AV Watch]

Tired of new flash players with measly storage capacities? Then Panasonic's SV-SD300 will be quite a treat. In addition to remastering all of your MP3, AAC, and WMA files and requiring use of the supplied SD-Jukebox software, this player ships with no internal memory. It works solely with SD cards, which would be fine if, say, Panasonic at least included one in the box! Sick of hearing about color displays? Then give your ears a break with the 4-line black-and-white LCD on the SV-SD300. The replaceable NiMH battery (included!) offers 23 hours of mono-display viewing; a good amount considering it will take nearly as long to transfer your files via a prehistoric USB 1.1 connection.

How this could be considered "new" is anyone's guess, but it's not (yet) available in the U.S. Yes, those left drooling by the specs of this player will need to head over to Europe or Japan (where it's actually been available for quite some time). And don't forget to pack an extra $150 with your passport.

Oh well. At least you'll be able to choose a color when you get there. The Panasonic SV-SD300 comes in white, silver, pink, and blue.

[Panasonic (UK) via IT Reviews]

Panasonic never had a solid distribution base in the United States with their past MP3 players, but that may change. In a US press release it gives the details on two players that will be available this March. The flash player will support MP3 and WMA and feature the easy drag and drop method to load it up with you favorite tunes. At the same time both players will be PlaysForSure compatible and have a nice long 75 hour playback time on a single AA battery.

The difference in the two models is the capacity. The MP010 will have a gig of space while the MP020 will have two gigs of storage. Even though it seems like the they are your average flash player, they are nicely priced at $100 and $150 respectively.

[Press Release via Fosfor Gadgets]

Panasonic is releasing SV-SD750V and SV-SD350V MP3 players which are based on SD memory cards so you can plug in whatever size you can afford, 8MB to 2GB. It also has a phenomenal battery time of 45 hours and 105 hours with additional battery.

The Panasonic SC-SX800 and SC-SX400 are table top hi-fi systems with built in 80GB and 40 GB hard drives. CDs can be ripped directly to the hard drives and then transferred to the above mentioned portable players via it’s built in SD memory slot.

This seems like a great solution for anyone who doesn’t have a computer. …doesn’t have a computer? Who doesn’t have a computer? Anyway… All of the goods go on sale in Japan in November, but we are unlikely to see them here. Panasonic dose not like to play in the American MP3 player market.

[Product Page via Akihabara]