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Cowon iAudio 9 ships soon for €180, gets pictured a few times over

by Darren Murph posted Nov 3rd 2009 at 2:59AM

We had reason to believe that iAudio 9 would be making itself official sooner rather than later, and while Cowon has still yet to say anything publicly, we'd say this gallery of hands-on shots is more than enough to consider it a done deal. Across the pond, the iAudio 9 has been outed as having a 2-inch LCD display, integrated FM tuner, a microphone, TV output, broad format support (MP3, WAV, OGG, WAV, FLAC, APE, AVI, WMX and XviD, to name a few), 16GB of internal memory and bundled earbuds that you'll probably be happy to discard. We're told that it'll go on sale (at least somewhere in Europe) for around €180 ($265) here in a few weeks, and you can dive into the read link if you're hankering for some images.

MPIO V7 PMP hits October 26th, 2009, we struggle to contain ourselves

by Laura June posted Oct 21st 2009 at 6:11PM

It's been a pretty long while since we heard anything from MPIO -- so this is certainly good news. The V7 -- a 3-inch PMP which will apparently boast a (possibly capacitive) touchscreen LCD, an accelerometer, and an FM radio, at a thickness in the neighborhood of 10.5mm. We also know that it'll come in both 4GB and 8GB varieties -- but specs beyond this are sadly absent. We'll see what else we can dig up for you, but look for it to run ₩129,000 for the 4GB model and ₩159,000 ($109 and $134, respectively) for the 8 when it launches on Korea on October 26th.

[Via PMP Today]

iriver N20 Mariah Carey edition reveals an unfortunate case of man-hands

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 19th 2009 at 6:34AM

While iriver might not be the mega brand in Europe and North America, it does dominate on its home turf in South Korea. Enough so to attract music celebs like Mariah Carey who's pitching a butterfly approved, Special Edition N20 preloaded with her latest contractual obligation. The $120ish player with integrated clip is limited to 5,000 units so act now... or not. See the songstress in an awkward mid-shill moment after the break.

[Via Anythingbutipod]

Continue reading iriver N20 Mariah Carey edition reveals an unfortunate case of man-hands

iriver's N20 DAP shuffles onto the scene, complete with PMOLED screen

by Donald Melanson posted Oct 9th 2009 at 8:43AM

We first caught sight of an N20 MP3 player from iriver way back in 2006, but it looks like the company is now back with another player that shares the same moniker, and thankfully boasts a few improvements over its predecessor. The biggest of those is a new greyscale PMOLED display, which is just big enough to display four lines of information, but small enough to keep the player for expanding beyond its 26 x 55.5 x 13mm dimensions. Otherwise, it looks like you can expect your choice of 2GB or 4GB capacities, a full range of supported audio formats (including FLAC and OGG), and even a built-in FM tuner despite its diminutive size. Still no official word over here, but it looks like folks in China will be able to pick this one up for 649 yuan or 749 yuan depending on the capacity, or roughly $95 or $110.

[Via PlayBites]

NTT DoCoMo's eye-controlled music interface evolves at CEATEC (video)

by Darren Murph posted Oct 6th 2009 at 4:08AM

NTT DoCoMo's R&D labs are amongst the busiest in the world, and here at CEATEC the company is showing off a development that it has had in the oven for quite some time. The difference now? Elegance. The eye-controlled music interface that we first spotted in mid-2008 is being showcased yet again here at the Makuhari Messe, but instead of having a short straw-drawing employee stand around with an absurd amount of headgear on, this year's demonstrator was equipped with little more than a special set of earbuds, a few cables and a swank polo. Put simply, the contraption watched subtle changes in eye movements and altered the music accordingly. A look to the right moved the track forward, while a glance to the left went back a track. The demo seemed buttery smooth, but there's still no telling when this stuff will go commercial. Still, progress is progress, and there's a video after the break showing as much.

Gallery: NTT DoCoMo's eye-controlled music interface evolves at CEATEC

Continue reading NTT DoCoMo's eye-controlled music interface evolves at CEATEC (video)

iriver B30 pmp finally on sale in the UK

by Laura June posted Oct 2nd 2009 at 11:10AM

Remember this little guy? That's right, it's the nearly forgotten iriver B30 which we caught our first glimpses of way back in May. This pmp packs DAB radio with RPG recording for listening later on, a 2.8-inch QVGA display, a microSD expansion slot, and comes in 8 and 16GB varieties with a battery that's supposed to get you 40 hours of audio and about 6 hours of video time. The B30 is listed now on DAD's site for £139 -- though we assume that's for the 8GB model, and that the 16GB will run you more.

[Via Pocket Lint]

EU seeks to make 'cranking it to 11' on DAPs happen less often

by Darren Murph posted Sep 30th 2009 at 11:57AM

Love that brain-pounding sensation when you jack that volume past the sensible limit? If so, you best hop on the next flight to somewhere not within Europe, as the almighty European Commission is fixing to peg the default volume limit on portable media players at 80 decibels. If you're stricken with an awful case of déjà vu, you're not alone. You may recall that a similar French law forced Apple to limit the volume level on its iPod family to 100dB, and at that time, it decided to make the limit apply to all units shipped within Europe. Now, the EU is seeking to bring that ceiling down to 80dB on all portable music players in an effort to protect the precious hearing abilities of its citizens, though we should note that said level would only apply to the default setting, not overall maximums. In other words, you can override the recommended listening level if you please, but don't bet on that socialized healthcare taking care of you if The Man finds out. Kidding. Maybe.

[Via Telegraph]

Atomic Zune HD explodes all over Ebay

by Laura June posted Sep 26th 2009 at 9:06PM

Hey, remember that totally wild, awesome looking "Atomic" Zune HD we spied evidence of in the source files a week or so ago? Well, we later saw an image or two of it, but now one's shown up in the flesh on ebay -- and for a starting bid of a mere 265 bones you might be able to snag it! This one's a 32GB model, and while we still don't know if it's going to be officially released or not, we get the feeling that it probably will. Regardless, we'd advise starting a bidding war anyway. Oh, and we're totally winning this one so hands off.

[Via Anything but iPod]

Mintpass Mintpad now on sale, as cute as ever

by Darren Murph posted Sep 17th 2009 at 7:06PM

Ah, finally. Mintpass has been teasing us with its delightfully adorable Mintpad for nearly a year now, and after sending a few out to a smattering of media outlets, it fell into a holding pattern for the rest of the summer. Now, at long last, the touchscreen-based PMP is on sale over in the UK, paving the way for consumers 'round the globe to call themselves an owner. Final specifications include a 2.9-inch LCD, 4GB of internal storage, a microSD expansion slot, WiFi, 1.3 megapixel camera, support for a gaggle of file formats and a battery good for 30 hours of audio or 5 hours of video. Too bad that £139 asking price becomes $229 here in the US.

[Via PMP Today]

Thanko Microsports MP3 player is small, really small

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 17th 2009 at 5:50AM

Thanko is a brand forever tied to crapgadgets. It can, however, surprise us occasionally as it has with its new Microsports MP3/WMA/WAV player in 2GB (¥4,980 / $55) or 4GB (¥5,980 / $66) models. Measuring 16×25×22mm / 8g, it's about the size and weight of an average Bluetooth headset. And while we've seen similar micro players strung from lanyards, this is the first we can recall with an integrated ear-bud -- the second bud attaches via USB-cable for stereo audio. Looks comfy, eh?

Gallery: Thanko Microsports MP3 player is small, really small

[Via Akihabara News]

Philips sticks to its guns with 16GB GoGear Muse PMP

by Darren Murph posted Sep 9th 2009 at 9:07AM

Think you've seen this one before? Close, but no cigar. Philips' GoGear Muse doesn't deviate much from the path that has been chosen for it (and fittingly so, might we add), boasting a predictably glossy motif, 16GB of internal storage space and a 3-inch display. As it overtakes the Opus for the company's top-of-the-line player, it also gains support for BMP, GIF, PNG, OGG, APE, Real Video and Real Audio formats, and just in case you're curious, it'll also handle those ultra-rare "MP3" things as well. Philips asserts that users could see up to 25 hours of audio playback on a single charge, while watching Family Guy re-runs could suck it dry in just 5 hours. As with pretty much everything else that Philips produces these days, it'll first hit Singapore for S$349 (or around $244 in Greenbacks), with only a faint chance of ever seeing significant action here in North America. One more look is after the break.

[Via CNET]

Continue reading Philips sticks to its guns with 16GB GoGear Muse PMP

Hama cases foreshadow 5G iPod nano, 3G iPod touch at IFA: hands-on

by Darren Murph posted Sep 4th 2009 at 5:15AM

We know you don't really need any more evidence that Apple is gearing up to unveil at least two new iPod revisions at its forthcoming 'rock and roll' event, but are you seriously going to hit the ignore button on these? If you'll recall, last year's visit to Hama's IFA booth gave us early access to cases of Apple's then-upcoming round of iPod nanos, and this year the company seems to be disclosing all of Cupertino's secrets once more. On hand were cases for Apple's fifth-generation iPod nano and the third-generation iPod touch, both of which seem to make room for a built-in camera. Of course, these lovely peripherals could be nothing more than a complete waste of company resources, but we'd encourage you to browse the gallery below before jumping to that conclusion.

Gallery: Hama cases foreshadow 5G iPod nano, 3G iPod touch at IFA: hands-on

SanDisk Sansa Clip+ gets torn down, presumably built back up again

by Vladislav Savov posted Sep 3rd 2009 at 10:25AM

No need to twist our arm to get a confession: we absolutely enjoy seeing ultra-complex hardware getting dissected bit by bit. But sometimes -- particularly on cold and unwelcoming mornings with no coffee in the cupboard -- we prefer to keep things simple by just cracking open a shockingly rudimentary MP3 player. The spartan Sansa Clip+, which you may know as the Sansa Clip plus a microSD slot, turned out to be a doddle to undress, and its insides were about as uncomplicated as they come. Two SanDisk chips dominate the miniature motherboard, and the fabled marathon-running battery also makes an appearance. If you're not 1) disgusted or 2) confounded by the details we just discussed, you owe it to yourself to check out all the bare naked circuitry in the read link.

[Thanks, Yuki]

SanDisk makes room for unwanted slotMusic cards in new Sansa Clip+

by Darren Murph posted Aug 31st 2009 at 9:49AM

Remember slotMusic? How about slotRadio? Don't feel bad -- no one else on the planet does either. To that end, SanDisk is apparently hoping to push some aging inventory on unsuspecting consumers with its new Sansa Clip+, which is essentially a Sansa Clip with a microSD card slot. The device will ship in a trio of hues (red, blue or black), and you can rest assured that it won't blow any minds with sick new features. It'll play MP3 files on a relatively small screen, get great battery life and barely put a dent in your wallet -- what more could you really want? It's available starting today from Best Buy and the like for $39.99 (2GB), $49.99 (4GB) or $69.99 (8GB).

Update: Looks like a few early reviews have sprung up, with most folks being totally pleased given the low price.

Samsung's YP-R1 now really official, ships next month

by Darren Murph posted Aug 31st 2009 at 9:02AM

It ain't the first time we've seen a gizmo take a backwards approach to launch, and we get the feeling it won't be the last. After leaking out, getting reviewed and hitting the all-revealing FCC, Samsung's mildly exciting YP-R1 portable media player is finally an official product in the megacorp's product line. Expected to debut at IFA here in just a few days, the 8.9 millimeter-thin player will boast DivX compatibility, a 2.6-inch touchscreen, TouchWiz interface and a Beat DJ feature that enables owners to add in their own crackly voice and space-themed sound effects to songs. We don't expect the $180 starting price to budge much, though exact pricing details should be uncovered in Berlin within the next few days. As for shipping dates? It'll march out next month in Europe, with "other markets including Russia, China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan to follow."

Continue reading Samsung's YP-R1 now really official, ships next month