MD300
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CE 3100-powered Gigabyte / Yahoo! widgets box eyes-on
A lot has changed in the TV widget world since we first caught wind of Intel's CE 3100 processor and Gigabyte's connected box that took advantage of it. Mainly, a metric ton of new players have emerged, and many companies are simply shoving the widget functionality within the HDTV and bypassing the extra set-top-box altogether. Nevertheless, Gigabyte had its Yahoo! Widgets box (the MD300) on hand this year at CeBIT, so we sashayed over to snap a few shots. At this point, it's tough to say just how viable this thing is. On one hand, it'll be nice to give existing HDTV owners the option of adding access to widgets; on the other, Gigabyte has to know that the appeal is limited now that almost every HDTV hitting the market has this functionality baked right in. Have a peek below, won't you?
Sony Ericsson ushers in 21st century with MD300, first 3G USB modem
The cold war separating Sony Ericsson from North American 3G has been slowly melting as of late -- first with handsets, and now with modems. The MD300 isn't just Sony Ericsson's first 3G USB modem, it's also Sony Ericsson's first laptop modem of any sort to support UMTS and HSDPA on the 850 and 1900MHz bands. As USB modems go, it seems to be a pretty typical offering -- though it'll conveniently auto-install drivers on Windows machines, and it's not every day that you see a device like this offered in both "luxury black" and "metallic silver" shades. Who knew a modem could be a fashion accessory? Look for it in the first quarter of next year.
The MD300: the world's most boring PMP
Looking for a PMP that does everything you expect, and absolutely, positively nothing you don't? Well in that case, get ready to fall madly in love with the hyper-familiar Shenzhen Liuniu Technology MD300. In its defense, it does offer a pretty high-res screen (clocking in at the awkward 960 x 240), which should make viewing the plethora of video formats (MPEG1, MPEG2, DivX, XviD, AVI, MPG) a pure joy. The player further breaks "convention" by offering no SD or MiniSD slot, rather, it relies on a CF or 1-inch micro hard drive for storage -- making this a bigger pain than it should be. The player also does the standard MP3s and WMA files, of course, plus line-in recording (audio and video, apparently), as well as e-book support. No word yet on price or availability.[Via PMP Today]
