Aluratek tempts with 8.9-inch 720p Cinepal PMP
By Darren Murph 
posted January 7th 2010 12:01AM
posted January 7th 2010 12:01AM
CES 2010: Aluratek Announces the Cinepal
High-Definition Portable Media Player
Cinepal is an all-in-one, high-definition solution for videos, photos, music and eBooks
(Las Vegas, NV Central Hall Booth #12047 – January 7, 2010) – Aluratek, Inc. (www.Aluratek.com), a leading creator of sophisticated yet user-friendly computer peripherals and consumer electronic devices, announces Cinepal – the high-definition portable media player for videos, photos, music and eBooks – at CES 2010. Aluratek is located in Central Hall, booth #12047.
The Cinepal is an ultra-portable, comprehensive solution for all of your various media. The 8.9 inch, 720p LCD display is perfect for viewing movies, photos and eBooks. Featuring 4GB of built-in memory and an expandable SD/SDHC memory card slot, Cinepal also plays MP3 and WMA files and has a built-in lithium ion rechargeable battery for up to six hours of continuous use.
"With more consumers downloading and storing movies digitally, the Cinepal will be a welcome travel companion with its superior battery life and 8.9" HD viewing screen," said John Wolikow, VP Sales and Marketing for Aluratek. "Throw in music, photo, and eBook support and you can have your entire digital library at your fingertips."
To provide full access to your favorite movies, Cinepal features DivX DRM support, which allows for the download of new, DRM-encrypted movies and the ability to watch them in HD. DivX movies can be purchased from Cinemanow.com and FilmFresh.com as well as a variety of other etailers.
In addition to DivX, Cinepal also supports HD video in AVI, VOB, DAT, MPG, MPEG, H.264, MKV and RM/RMVB. Supported formats for music are MP3 and WMA, while photo supports JPEG and MPG and memory media includes SD/SDHC/MMC, USB flash drive and USB hard drive. The Cinepal is compatible with both PC and Mac and has an MSRP of $179.
Other products launching at the Aluratek CES booth include the "Brick" iPod/iPhone speaker dock with built-in amplifier and a Wi-Fi Internet Radio featuring an alarm. Lastly, a new high-speed USB 3.0 docking enclosure with a USB 3.0 PCI card will also be on-hand for demonstration.
Aluratek's main product categories currently include digital photo frames, eBooks, camcorders, 3G cellular Wi-Fi routers and Internet radio. Portable media players is a new category focus for 2010. For more information on Cinepal, or other Aluratek products, visit www.Aluratek.com.
Oooooooooooohh. Shiny....
vob is usual? mkv??? which other pmp plays these formats?
$179 seems reasonable.
if only and hope.... will it have a internet browser?
if yes... put me down for 2
These (and by 'these' I mean all of these PMP tablets surfacing up in the last few month) things do have the low price and absolute focus of function going for them, but they're likely going to be so limited compared to what's to come (apps, wireless in the Apple and other tablets). Your money might be best applied towards one of those next-level devices. I'm reminded of the Sony discman in the face of the iPod.
@(Unverified) Depends on what you are looking for. I get tired of converting xvid or mkv to mp4 for iPod usage. Something that could play downloaded video without the need for conversion would be really nice. A PMP with an excellent screen, storage expansion, and battery life can be useful.
very tempting indeed... it'd be cool if you could hook it up to a laptop and use it as a secondary screen...
Will it take a video signal from other gizmos?
This actually sounds pretty awesome. If it has HDMI-out I'm in for one!