When we had the downright magnificent opportunity to toy with Philips' latest PMP line here in the States, we immediately noticed that the GoGear Opus stood out among the rest. The crew over at TrustedReviews recently spent some quality time with the 8GB version of that very unit, and while they found the audio quality to be "excellent," they seemed rather disappointed -- if not irked -- by everything else in the package. For starters, the whole solution just felt boring, with critics noting that its biggest problem was a lack of "excitement." Granted, none of this would matter at a rock-bottom price point, but for $100, there's an awful lot of competition. As we found during our short time with the player, these folks also noticed that the user interface was simply "old-fashioned," and that video playback was nothing to write home about. The bottom line? Unless you score some kind of spectacular deal, your PMP dollars are probably best spent elsewhere.

Philips announced its GoGear Aria and Opus players for Europe back in February, but they've finally got around to showing off the units Stateside, along with offering prices, a timeframe, and a bit of company. The 2-inch screened Aria lands this month in 8GB and 16GB versions for $80 and $100, respectively; the 2.8-inch QVGA Opus does 8GB at $100, with a 16GB model in the wings; the teensy new ViBE has a 1.5-inch screen and comes in 4GB and 8GB flavors for $50 and $60; and there's a new little thumb DAP called the Mix, which is short on details. All the DAPs have FM radio and mics, and all but the Mix can do video. They also include trial subscriptions to and support for Rhapsody and Audible, along with a little browser widget to download YouTube videos and load them to the player -- a nice touch. Still, the line is pretty lackluster; we played with the players briefly, and while the design is getting better, there's still a lot of wasted space, mundane controls and ancient-seeming software -- we suppose you get what you pay for. We did appreciate Opus' inclusion of FLAC and OGG support, and its build quality really puts the rest of the line to shame.

In the world of low-end DAPs, it's incredibly tough to find anything worth its salt. Believe it or not, Philips' GoGear Spark is a so-called "diamond in the rough," with reviewers at CNET noting that the respectable feature set and skimpy price tag ($49 for 2GB; $59 for 4GB) made it a good bet for those scouting a simplistic player for the gym. Specs wise, the 1.5-inch OLED display and "squeezable edges" make for a unique package, and unlike most bite-sized DAPs, navigating this one proved to be doable, if not enjoyable. We're personally a bit more upset by its limited format support (MP3 and WMA only) than these critics, but again, this probably isn't going to be your primary / only music player. Finally, the stellar sound quality and impressive 27 hour battery life really put the cherry on top, with the Spark netting a 3.5 out of 5 star rating.

Philips has trickled news about these DAPs over the past few months, but things just got real, man. The Raga is a completely nondescript flash player with 2GB or 4GB of flash storage, a tiny multi-line display, 27 hours of battery life and a $35 or $45 price tag; the Spark steps things up with a fancy 1.5-inch OLED color screen, clix-style navigation and $50 / $60 price points; while the LUXE (pictured) adds Bluetooth and style into the mix for $90 or $100. Spark and LUXE both offer Rhapsody integration and some new "FullSound" EQ tech from Philips, but the real hotness is the LUXE. The player can clip to your clothing and pump tunes as would be expected, but also syncs up with your phone to allow you to interrupt the music and answer calls without ever swapping out your headphones. We got to play around with a couple versions Philips had on display, and it really does look the part -- though we wouldn't mind it a bit slimmer. The Spark looks nice and really does offer a good amount of screen for the size -- plus we're suckers for the clix interface -- but the Raga looks like the red-headed, overweight stepchild of the lineup. LUXE will be available in January, but the other two should be hitting store shelves now. Check out our hands-on shots in the gallery below. Or don't, we're not the boss of you.

Philips' GoGear line hasn't exactly sent us into uncontrollable fits of jubilation of late, but the latest DAP to fall under the aforesaid umbrella doesn't look half bad. Boasting a prism-like motif and integrated Bluetooth 2.1 functionality, this unit will actually pause your tunes and allow you to answer a call if your BT-enabled phone is nearby and paired up. It also features 10-hours of playback time and 100-hours in standby, and there's an FM tuner included in case you roll through 2GB of jams and just can't bear to hear any of them again. Word on the street has it that this bugger will surface in Singapore next month for around S$139 ($92), though other Asian countries should see it pop up shortly thereafter.

[Via PMPToday]

Philips has just released a handful of new GoGear MP3 squares (emphasis on "square" -- these things are boring as all get-out), the SA2840, SA2825, and SA2820. All of the miniscule players sport 128 x 64 embedded OLED displays, MP3, WAV, and WMA playback, voice recording capability, built-in EQ, and USB 2.0 connectivity. Additionally, the SA2825 features an FM tuner. The devices range in capacity from 4GB to 2GB of flash storage, and prices run from around £34.99 to £44.99 ($68 to $87) -- all are available now, in the UK at least.

Like a dump truck backing up onto our virtual doorstep, Philips dropped an enormous pile of new GoGear units on us at CES today. We're not really sure what's what here (really, there's a bunch) but we were intrigued to read about the Rhapsody compatibility that some of the players are sporting. Hit up those read links if you're in the market.

Read – Philips GoGear Audio Video Players
Read – Rhapsody-compatible Streamium and GoGear models

Not much new info here, but if you've been wondering what that slew of iPod-friendly product from Philips looks up in person, CNET has the gallery goods. Turns out they don't look like anything special, but we're still fairly into this BTM630, pictured above. Launching in September for $199, the Bluetooth-equipped dock can stream music from your phone, act as a speakerphone, rip songs from CDs to attached USB drives, and of course blast your iPod tunes if you're feeling mundane. Also sighted were the Philips SJM3151 LCD remote and dock, which hits in September for $199 as well; the $199 AZ1330B iPod boombox; and the AJ300D iPod alarm clock, which is available now for $79. Philips even gave a sneak peak of its upcoming GoGear PMP, which packs a 3.5-inch screen, 4GB of flash memory and 20 hours of battery life -- 5 for video. It'll be out in September for $149.

Not a whole lot of background on this one just yet, but judging by the list of flash-based audio players that Philips recognizes as its own, there's a few 8GB flavors of the GoGear SA3300 series that apparently weren't there too long ago. While the SA3300 lineup had members with 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB of internal storage in the past, several new models -- including the SA3385/02, SA3385/37, SA3385/55, SA3385/85, and SA3385/97 -- are all appearing as 8GB siblings. We've no idea if the capacious newcomers will share the 2.4-inch QVGA display, FM tuner, MP3 / MPEG4 support, and preset equalizers found in existing (albeit smaller) versions, but we'll keep an ear to the ground for further developments.

[Via AnythingButiPod]

Continuing its strange obsession with unveiling products by the flocks, Philips has yet again given us numerous things to juggle at once. This time around it's a trio of iPod-friendly music / AV stations, two of which also include Bluetooth support. The $199 three-piece BTM-628 iPod speaker station conveniently docks and plays your jams from either the DAP or your BT-enabled cellphone, plays back MP3 discs and CDs, shows caller ID and enables handsfree conversations, and also includes a USB port and SD / MMC slot for playing back tunes from a flash card; the BTM-630 steps it up by adding a CD writer that can create MP3 discs from music stored on flash media. The $399 DCD-778 undercabinet system touts an AM / FM tuner, DVD player, ATSC TV tuner, 8.5-inch LCD, flip-down iPod dock, and the ability to play back videos stored on your Apple. Look for these goodies as well as an iPod clock radio to land sometime this fall.

[Via T3]

It's been awhile since we've seen a new Philips GoGear device 'round here. Now this, the 1GB SA6015, 2GB SA6025, and 4GB SA6045 flash-based players. All pack a 65k color, 320 x 240 pixel 2.2-inch LCD, FM tuner, voice recorder, and support for MP3, DRM'd WMA, and up to 4-hours of WMV video playback per charge. Interestingly, they've ditched the touch controls from their more recent DAPs in favor of a new "SuperScroll" controller. My, how 20th century of you Philips. All are available now from the usual retail outlets where the 4GB model will demand about $128.

[Via GenerationMP3, thanks Philip Z.]

Just in case you didn't get your fill of tall-ass monolithic 2001-lookin' portable audio device docks, Philips has a new cop on the beat: the not-yet-announced Docking Enterainment System DCM270. Besides playing CDs and docking your GoGear (or wait -- is that a YP-K3?), it'll even play nice with your iPod, something Apple's decidedly punier Hi-Fi can't attest to. More on it soon.