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iRiver P8 Heads to Russia, Packing Mac-Like UI

Shane McGlaun — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 18:08:59 +0000

Most of the personal media players on the market are pretty much the same thing. They are generally boxy devices that look like big MP3 players with a color screen. iRiver has a new PMP called the P8 that looks nicer than the typical PMP. The new P8 has big 5-inch touchscreen and a very slick user interface that looks like something Apple would cook up.

The screen has widgets for different things functionality and large icons for music, video, FM, pictures, and eBooks. The native resolution of the screen is 800 x 480 and the P8 will support HD resolution video playback when connected via HDMI to your TV. The device also supports just about all the file formats you could need.

The P8 will play AVI, WMV, MKV, and XviD video formats. It supports MP3, WAV, WAM, OGG, FLAC, and APE audio formats as well. It will also store eBooks and voice memos too. The P8 will come in 8GB and 16GB versions and both of them will have expandable storage up to 32GB with microSDHC cards. For some reason, the P8 is only available in Russia at this point, but perhaps it’ll show up around the world with time. Pricing is unknown at this time.

[via designboom]

iRiver U100 Gets Official, Heads to Korea

Shane McGlaun — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 15:00:25 +0000

iRiver has a bunch of different media players. The company has gone official with one of its first new products for 2011 and it is called the U100. The thing looks nice and can be had in a couple colors, with the green and pink offerings in the photo below.

The U100 is said to be heading to Korea “later this year” which could be months away or in a few weeks, no one knows. The device has a 3.1-inch touchscreen with a resolution of 320 x 480 and can be had with 16GB, 8GB, or 4GB of storage inside.

It also includes WiFi, an FM tuner, and a microSD card slot for expansion. The thing supports just about all major file formats for audio, video, and photos. The battery is said to be good for 11 hours of video playback and 50 hours of audio playback. Pricing and availability are unknown. iRiver has also released a short promo clip showing off a little more detail on the U100.

[via Akihabara News]

Newman Newsmy A18hd Media Player Looks Mighty Slim

Technabob — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:01:39 +0000

I must start out this post by saying that I rarely trust artist’s renderings of gadgets before they’re released, as they’re almost never what the real thing looks like. That said, this new media player LOOKS pretty slick from the concept renders, but I haven’t found any photos of the real thing.

The Newman Newsmy A18HD (nice name there) is a new media player out of China, which claims to offer a spectacularly svelte 9.8mm thick form factor (which is a couple of millimeters thinner than an iPhone at it’s thinnest point). In addition to its striking looks, the A18HD has 16GB of built-in memory, and sports an oversize 5-inch, 16-million color LCD display. The device can play videos in 720p resolution, but the screen’s resolution is an underwhelming 480 x 272, so you’ll want to connect the included component video cable if you have any hope of playing back your flicks at higher resolutions.

Audio formats supported include MP3, WMA and FLAC, while video can be played in RM, RMVB, AVI, and FLV formats (although I’m not sure if you need to do any conversion first, which is often the case with cheap Chinese media players). The A18HD also supports what Newsmy is calling “64-bit games” – whatever those might be. I doubt you’ll be playing your old N64 titles on here, but I could be wrong.

If you’re willing to take a gamble on one of these, head on over to Ownta.com, and plunk down your hard earned $142.71 (USD). I have a funny feeling that none of the instructions are in English.

[via Ounae]

Happy 30th Anniversary Sony Walkman!

Lambert Varias — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:05:57 +0000

One of the most beloved and most famous brands in music, the Walkman was the iPod of my childhood. Funny how both names make no direct reference to their products. Anyway the first ever commercially available Walkman was the TPS-L2, which was released in July 1979; it’s blue-and-silver body still looks sexy to me.

Fast forward to 2009, and after 30 years it’s quite unfortunate to see that the brand has not aged well. Its latest flag bearer – the Walkman X – is freakin’ expensive and has poor online capabilities, but at the end of the day it’s an excellent music player, and that’s what the brand is all about. To celebrate it’s 30th anniversary, Sony made a chronological montage of the bajillion iterations of the Walkman.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I wasn’t born in ’79 but I’d be lying if I said that I don’t recognize almost all of those models. This is how a techie like me knows he’s getting old, by the number of models that a gadget has had in his lifetime. Dammit. At least I can say that I’m just 3 PlayStations old. Or is it 7 PlayStations?

[via Akihabaranews]

Playable NES Console Built Into an NES Cartridge [Casemod]

Technabob — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:50:05 +0000

The first time I saw an NES gaming system built into an NES cartridge, I thought it was pretty sweet. Until I saw this one, which totally outdoes the original.

Inspired by an earlier NESp (Ninendo Entertainment System portable) mod by darkeru, modder airz managed to put a completely playable game system, including a 2.8-inch LCD screen and original NES controller buttons into an old Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt combo cartridge. The broken off cartridge connector board at the bottom is nice touch, too.

Now, you may ask how he fit an entire NES inside a cartridge – the answer is simple – airz’ NESp isn’t a real Nintendo console. It’s actually one of those cheap Chinese PMPs that happens to be able to emulate NES games. But that doesn’t make it any less cool in my book. The way I figure it, that just means that he doesn’t need to carry around a bunch of other cartridges to play games. It can also play Game Boy and Game Boy Color games as an added bonus. And movies, MP3s and even receives FM radio to boot. Airz even preserved the portable’s video-out port so he can play games on a television too.

Here’s a vid clip of the Airz’ NESp in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

From the looks of the video, though, it sounds like someone needs to increase the framerate skip on their NES emulator. Mario seems to be playing just a wee bit faster than the original.

[via Ben Heck Forums]

Latte Espresso Media Player: Haptic Touchscreen Pmp for Under $100

Technabob — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 03:27:38 +0000

While Apple may have crammed everything but the kitchen sink into their new iPod Nano, one thing it doesn’t have is a haptic touchscreen. But this portable media player from Latte has one, and now it can be had for less than a single Benjamin.

Of course, the 16GB Latte Espresso PMP can play music and video files, but it’s also got a touchscreen with tactile feedback, so you can actually feel a pronounced “click” when you interact with buttons and controls on the screen. The media player also features a “G-sensor” which automatically rotates the apps and display to match the angle of the player’s 3-inch (420×240 resolution) display.

Audio formats supported include MP3, WMA, FLAC, APE, OGG, and AAC (without DRM). Video can be played back in AVI, WMV, RM, RMVB, 3GP, MPG, MP4 or FLV formats. There’s also a built-in FM radio, but it doesn’t receive HD radio or RDS information like other the new Zune HD does. But what do you want for $99 bucks? On the other hand, it can actually broadcast its audio signal to a nearby FM radio without any extra hardware.

As is often the case with these jack-of-all-trades media players, it also includes other miscellaneous apps like voice recording, a text reader, a stopwatch and a photo browser, but none of them sound like anything special.

Released earlier this year with a list price of $199 (USD), you can now get your hands on a Latte Espresso over on Amazon for just $99.99. If you’re wondering if you should take the plunge, 4dthinker has a detailed review of the Latte Espresso, along with all its pros and cons.

Creative’S Zii Pmp Snitched by Fcc, May have Built-in HD Camera: Ziis is Gonna be Awesome

Lambert Varias — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:35:09 +0000

Forget rumors and *gasp* blogs: if you want to get your hands on legit cutting-edge gadget news, the FCC is the place to be. Take these diagrams, taken from the FCC’s website, of what are supposed to be Creative’s contender for the touchscreen-crazy PMP market, the Zii. That by the way is an extremely awkward name for a device. Not what you’d expect from a company named “Creative”.

As you can see, Creative may be planning on trumping the Walkman X , the iPod touch and all other PMPs by including an HD camera in their device. Engadget‘s Thomas Ricker also reckons that the “developer edition” Zii EGG (seriously, wtf is up with these names) means that Creative is intent on going Apple’s route, e.g. apps, making the Zii more than just a media player, just like the iPod Touch. Hopefully the price won’t be as ridiculous as the gadget’s name.

[via Electricpig]

Atree J2 Media Player Stares at Us With Its Evil Red Eye

Technabob — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:20:02 +0000

This new media player from Korea has a unique design punctuated by a bright red LED eye on its face. Why? I don’t know. Maybe so bloggers like me would write about it rather than ignore it amongst the vast sea of PMPs out there.

At the center of its colorful face plate, the Atree J2 media player has a dome-shaped controller called the “Red Eye” that you use to navigate the system’s menu system. But don’t get your hopes up that it’s as deft as the iPod’s scroll wheel. You actually move around the menus by clicking up, down, left and right on the flat plastic surface around the red eye – or clicking right in the middle to activate your selection.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

In addition to playing audio files in MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, APE and FLAC formats, the video playback can handle AVI, MPEG4 and WMV formats at a solid 30fps. The screen has a bright TFT 320 x 240 display and is designed to play video in landscape mode for the optimal viewing experience.

And with 38 hours of audio or 8 hour of video on a single charge, it’s no slouch on battery performance, either. In comparison, the similarly-priced iPod Nano can only handle 24 hours of audio or 4 hours of video per charge.

Perfect for listening to movies through headphones, the J2 has a 5.1 virtual surround sound mode. There’s even an FM tuner for listening to radio broadcasts, and a handy Korean-to-English dictionary app. But my favorite feature is the Adobe Flash Lite 3.04 implementation that lets you play a wide variety of SWF format games on the portable’s screen.

Available in either 4GB (115,000 KRW/$93 USD) or 8GB (138,000 KRW/$112 USD) versions, there’s also a microSD card slot for adding up to 8GB of additional storage. Unfortunately, there’s no word on a release outside of Korea at this point, but you might be able to find one over on eBay if you keep an (red) eye out.

[Atree via Early Adopter]

Creative’S Zen Mx Media Player: for People on a Monk’S Budget

Lambert Varias — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 12:10:31 +0000

Creative has added another PMP to their Zen product line, and they’re calling it the Zen MX. While its specs are as exciting as meditation, it will sell for about a hundred bucks, so it’s a decent option for people who are looking for a PMP on a budget.

The Zen MX has a 2.5-inch LCD screen at 320 x 240 resolution, an SDHC card slot, an FM radio tuner, and a microphone. It can play various audio and video formats such as mp3, wma, audible 4 at video-CMV. The Zen can playback 30 hours of audio or 5 hours of video between charges. Available in Japan starting on May 5, the Zen MX is priced at $102 (USD) for the 8 GB version and $144 for the 16 GB version. Not bad. Not too good either.

[via SlashGear]

Spps200 Portable Power Station:the Bmw M6 of Battery Packs

Lambert Varias — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:40:44 +0000

Let it be known that I am not the one responsible for that analogy. Battery Geek Inc., makers of said battery pack, are to be commended for such an exquisite and refreshing figure of speech.

So why is the SPPS200 200 Wh Portable Power Station the BMW M6 of battery packs? Because its little brothers, the 118 Wh and 130 Wh models, are the BMW of battery packs, that’s why. So why are they the BMWs of battery packs? Because they’re expensive. So why are they expensive? Because they can power your laptop, for up to 30 hours. Vrooom.

The SPPS 200 can power PC laptops for 20-30 hours, while MacBooks owners can expect 16 hours of extra runtime. BMW of runtimes if you ask me.

And that’s not all: As you may have guessed from the picture, you can adjust the output voltage of the PPS so that aside from giving your laptop the BMW of battery lives, it can also power and recharge your cellphone, your PDA, your PSP, your iPhone, your iPod and other mp3 players.

And that’s not all: You don’t even need to bring the chargers for any of those devices because the PPS comes with adapters that will fit with your gadget. You can check out the link to Battery Geek below for the BMW of supported laptops and mobile devices. And that’s not all: while Macbooks are supported, Battery Geek charges an extra $20 for the Macbook/Macbook Pro adapter. G4 and Powerbook adapters are already included with the PPS.

And that’s not all: The PPS weighs only 4.4 lbs. and is just over an inch thick. What’s the catch? The BMW M6 of battery pack prices, of course. The list price of the SPPS 200 is $800 (USD). Fortunately, you can buy it straight from Battery Geek for the BMW of discounted prices of $500. And that’s not all: when you buy the SPPS 200, you’ll get the BMW of freebies, a free leather & canvas travel case.

And that’s not all: Here are the BMWs of introductory videos for battery packs:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Now you know the BMWs and the BMW M6s of the tech world. Next time we’ll take a look at the Scot Pollard of rap.

Update: a couple of commenters have pointed out that the spps200 may in fact be the Ford Edsel of battery packs. Apparently Battery Geek also has poor service. Caveat emptor.

Tiny Video Players Make Me Squint

Technabob — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:46:19 +0000

Don’t you find it odd that on one hand, our LCD and Plasma TV screens can never be big enough, but on the other hand, gadgets are getting smaller screens all the time.

This new pair of video players are about the size of a credit card, and offer up video on teeny tiny screens. The $99.99 players come in either a black (Neon M3) version with heat-sensitive backlit buttons and a 2.4-inch screen, and a stainless (ICE) model with a slightly larger 2.8-inch screen, but none of the schmancy button tech. In addition to video playback, each one has an FM tuner, photo viewer and a “game” mode.

They can play videos for 3 to 4 hours on a charge, while audio only mode will give you 6 to 8 hours. There’s 2GB of memory on board each model, but they’re expandable using T-Flash/MicroSD memory cards.

Both players are now available from ThinkGeek for $99.99 each.

Atree Um10 Portable: Please Define “Dictionary”

Technabob — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 19:44:09 +0000

Why is it that Korea seems to be getting all the coolest gadgets these days? They’re calling the Atree UM10 a pocket dictionary, but I see a whole lot more.

Beside looking great, the UM10 is a very capable media player, which can deftly chew through MP4, WMV, MP3, WMA and OGG files with nary a complaint. There’s also a DMB television tuner, FM radio, E-book reader and voice recorder. Not to mention the full-on personal organizer application suite which can sync with Microsoft Outlook. Plus, it’s also got Flash Lite support, so you can take advantage of those slick interfaces and games that Adobe’s flagship web app can crank out.

Oh yeah, it is a robust electronic dictionary too, loaded with dozens of books worth of definitions, synonyms, and other reference information in a variety of languages.

It all comes packaged in a slick black case, with a sliding QWERTY keyboard and beautiful 480 x 272 widescreen TFT display. The keyboard isn’t tactile though, so you’re best off using the stylus to control it. The base models comes with 2GB of RAM, but that’s expandable through a Micro SD memory card slot.

The Atree UM10 retails for 358,000 KRW (about $381 USD), and as is often the case with these types of wondrous gadget, is only available in Korea for now.

[via The Earlyadopter's World]

Archos 105, 405, 605, 705 Media Players Announced

Technabob — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 05:39:11 +0000

Archos today revealed their new 5th generation personal media players, and it looks like a really strong collection. With models starting out at as little as $90 and ranging up to $300 and more, there’s a little something for everyone. I’m especially excited about the higher-end models, which feature large screens, huge hard drives, Wi-Fi streaming and even direct-to-device movie downloads.

For starters, there’s the entry-level Archos 105, which offers a small 1.8-inch OLED display and 2GB of flash memory. While the screen is quite small, you can’t beat the price at just $90. Moving up the ladder, the Archos 405 ($170) adds a larger 3.5-inch LCD screen and and SD slot for adding memory.

But the real heavy-hitters come in the form of the Archos 605 and 705 models which offer wireless connectivity to your PC for streaming video, as well as online access to CinemaNow to download content directly to the players WITHOUT a PC. An optional upgrade ($30) will provide web surfing and Flash-based video playback using the Opera web browser.

The 605 Wi-Fi will come with a 4.3-inch screen with an ultra-sharp 800×480 resolution, while the 705 Wi-Fi will offer a huge 7-inch display (resolution unknown.) The 605 comes in 4GB flash ($230), 30GB hard disk ($300), and 160GB hard disk ($400) variants. The 705 will offer 80GB and 160GB hard drives (no prices announced yet.) These higher end models are even expected to support 720p high definition content (for an extra $20). For $100 more, you’ll be able to purchase a DVR dock which will allow you to record your favorite television programs directly to your Archos device. It seems to me like a lot of features will come a la carte, but once fully-loaded, these players will really pack a serious punch.

All four models are expected to hit stores this September.

[via Crave]

Sansaview Pmp: Like the iPhone, Minus the Phone

Technabob — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 22:39:58 +0000

Hot on the heels on the announcement of of Apple’s gorgeous iPhone, Sandisk has announced their own widescreen media player, the Sansa View. While the Sansa View doesn’t offer all the Smartphone capabilities of Apple’s beauty, it does offer a pretty good value for a widescreen media player.

Priced at $299, the Sansa View features a nice 4-inch widescreen display, and can play music, videos and photos in a variety of popular formats. It comes with 8GB of on-board flash memory, as well as the ability to expand with SD/SDHC memory cards. It features a removable, rechargeable battery and since the player uses flash memory, you can expect better than average battery life too. You can also connect the player to your TV via a docking station and play back files at up to 1080i resolution. The Sansa View comes in a nice slim design that’s only 0.66″ thick (for comparison, the player is about 25% narrower and thinner than a Sony PSP).

The Sansa View should be available sometime before the end of March 2007.

Maxian D900: Media Player on Steroids

Technabob — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 13:57:29 +0000

Korean electronics manufacturer Maxian has recently unveiled their upcoming D900 portable media player.

The player features just about everything you could want in a portable. The 4.3-inch display looks great, and supports up to 800×480 (better than DVD) resolution. The audio features include a Burr-Brown digital signal processing, and full support for Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks (downmixed to 2ch from what we can tell). 802.11b/g Wireless connectivity is also provided. The device can also tune DMB television signals with a built-in antenna, although it’s unlikely this feature will be useful outside of South Korea any time soon. The system runs on the WinCE 5.0 platform, and an Adobe Flash based user interface.

Hopefully, we’ll see these turn up on eBay at some point.

[via dapreview via CNet Crave]