At the front and center of Hyundai’s portable boombox is an oversized 12.1-inch LCD monitor. The spec sheet says the screen is 1280 x 800, but from the pictures I’ve seen, I’m not sure that’s really the case. It’s not like you’re going to be watching Hi-Def video on this thing anyhow. Unlike the classic ghetto blaster, these new compact stereos are all about the image, and not the sound. As a matter of fact, the speakers on this boombox have taken a serious backseat to the screen.

The Hyundai HY-1210 is all about watching movies and TV – not listening to your jamz. The portable has a built-in DVD player, and can play content in VCD, DVD, CD, CD-R, JPEG, MP3, MPEG-4, AVI formats. There’s even a Karaoke feature built-in so you can sing along. And if you don’t have any DVDs lying around, there are USB and SD/MMC/MS slots for watching media stored on digital memory devices. And there’s a VGA connector on the back for some reason too. I can officially say this is the first boombox EVER with a VGA port.

Unfortunately, the TV tuner is analog, so you won’t be able to tune in stations in many parts of the world. At least you can listen to the FM radio when you’re not watching those Harajuku girls on screen. And with a 10-watt per channel stereo amp under the hood, audio actually isn’t that bad. One other technological advancement – this boombox only needs 8 “C”-Cell batteries – so we have made progress in the last 25 years or so. Maybe by 2035, we’ll have OLED boomboxes that run on 8 “AAA” batteries.

The Hyundai HY-1210 boombox can be yours over at ChinaGrabber for $219.99 (USD).

Unfortunately we don’t have specs on the speakers, but judging from the picture I don’t think we can expect top-quality audio from them. The yellow-green bag pictured above was already sold out as of this writing, but you can still score the classic black version.

You can get the bag at Kitsch-U-Like for £30 (approx. $50 USD). The shop also has other retro audio player-themed bags, but no cat hats, groovy glasses or violet tracksuits. Thank God. Actually I kinda like the cat hat.

[via 7Gadgets]

The LEGO boombox has an analog radio and CD player, but you can connect other audio players via its 3.5-mm input jack. You can plug it in or take it to the streets with 6 C batteries. Check out its product page at Digital Blue for more specs.

[via InventorSpot]

Flüd’s Boombox watch looks like a tiny version of the “portable” stereos of days gone by. Keeping with the retro theme, the watch features a truly old school 7-segment red LED display that looks like it came right out of the 1970s.

I only wish the tiny little speakers actually worked, so I could crank up some Grandmaster Flash and get down to some poppin’ and lockin’ any old time.

The Boombox watch is available in either a shiny silvertone or gunmetal grey design, and sells for $90 USD over on Flüd.

[via e-potpourri]

Textile artist Blythe Church has just revealed a sneak preview of her latest creations which she’s preparing to show at her upcoming show “The Pitch of the Stitch”.

Her latest collection of handsewn electronic gear includes an AM/FM radio, complete with soft batteries, a boom box, and an old rotary phone among others.

If you happen to be anywhere near Halifax, Nova Scotia (current temperature: a balmy 19° F – yow) between April 11th and 27th, you can check them out in person at Argyle Fine Art Gallery.

Created by industrial design student Joonas Saaranen, the Reppo II backpack features a built in pair of full-range speakers and an amplifier, so you can kick out the jams as you walk down the street. The only thing better would be if that big black patch were a subwoofer. Of course, that might shatter your vertebrae if you turned up the volume too much.

Saaranen’s concept design has gotten as far as a functional prototype at this point, but he hasn’t revealed if he’ll ever have them produced en masse. In the mean time, if you happen to be in Berlin, Germany (where Joonas currently resides) and hear someone coming down the street wearing this bad boy, offer up the mad props he deserves.

[via Square]

I love how the artist even made a little pair of headphones and some cassettes to go with the portable tape player.

All were lovingly handcrafted by Israel’s VeryNiceDolls. While you’re off ogling their Flickr photostream, be sure to check out their other plush creations, including a cool toaster (complete with buttered toast), a reel-to-reel tape player and a pair of sneakers.

[via Craft]

If only all those speakers were really functional. Now that would be cool.

The removable vinyl sticker set includes decals for the front and back of the phone, as well as a great matching wallpaper for your to download onto your phone. It’s just $6.99 from DecalGirl.

The minimal briefcase-style design features a unique transparent plastic enclosure. There’s a dock for a Nokia music-capable phone (not sure if anything else will dock there), and then two substantive speakers with all their guts exposed for the world to see. The Nokia boombox is currently slated for release in Finland. Plans for other markets are unknown.

[via The Cool Hunter]