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MediaREADY's Bling Player keeps an awful trend alive
We've been trying to lay low in hopes that this horrible trend of sticking tacky looking crystals to otherwise innocent devices would soon blow over, and now that STB and PMP manufacturer MediaREADY (formerly Video Without Boundaries) has jumped the shark with its painful new attempt to be hip -- the, (shudder), Bling Player -- we feel that iced-out gadgets are finally headed for the great recycling center in the sky. As its name so obviously suggests, the Bling Player is a tiny 2GB DAP with fake jewels studded to the sides and, for some odd reason, a skull and crossbones-adorned dog tag dangling from a chintzy chain. Embarrassing appearance aside, this player does offer up some pretty decent specs, including an FM tuner with recording, built-in mic, USB 2.0 connectivity, and MPEG-4 playback on the impossibly small 1.8-inch TFT LCD (no resolution is listed, and frankly, we don't really wanna know). Two hundred bucks is what it'll cost you to give up your soul when the Bling Player goes on sale next month, or you could just have some cheap fun right now by laughing at a press release which describes this atrocity as "high-fashion," "classy," and "ultra-stylish."[Via PR Newswire]
MediaREADY steps it up with MC-PRO HTPC
MediaREADY's budget-friendly MC home theater PC is fine, if you're into that sort of thing, but what about the folks looking for something more? Instead of letting those folks find solace in the arms of their many competitors, MediaREADY decided to offer them something a little more high end and thus, the MC-PRO was born. The unit features an AMD64 Dual-Core processor, high definition and analog television tuning, home automation controls, built-in 802.11g, and "superior" audio decoding courtesy of D2Audio's Intelligent Digital Amplifier. We don't know half as much about the MC-PRO as we do the MC, but we assume it'll cost a good deal more than the MC's $899, what being "PRO" and all.
MediaREADY kicks out budget-friendly MC HTPC
While not quite available to hit one of Engadget's Gift Guides, MediaREADY is deviating from the MP3 / PMP market to unveil a svelte new box that boasts very respectable innards and a very tempting pricetag. Simply dubbed the MC, this media center PC sports a typical, AV-like enclosure made to sit pretty beside your receiver, DVR, and theater-guarding Robosapian, and packs a decent listing of specs. Touting its own "television-optimized interface," the machine apparently provides all the comforts of Windows MCE, including TV recording, CD / DVD playback, digital slideshows, jukebox functionality, and the bevy of other multimedia-related tasks HTPCs are known to handle. Beneath the hood lies a mysterious 2.8GHz Intel processor, anonymous TV tuner / hardware video decoder, 512MB of RAM, 200GB hard drive, DVD burner, Ethernet, built-in 802.11b/g, wireless keyboard / trackball combo, and an IR remote. On the flip side, you'll find USB connectors, inputs for composite and S-Video, outputs for VGA, DVI, component, and S-Video, and audio ports for the usual stereo and optical / coaxial digital goodness. The sweetest bit about this well-rounded machine isn't the average assortment of components nor the overly simplistic name, but rather its $899 pricetag, which will look mighty appealing next to the much more expensive competitors when it lands in January.
MediaREADY intros Aero MP3 players
We've known MediaREADY a good long while for their all-inclusive set-top boxes, but their new Aero DAP, and it's forerunner, a nano-knockoff named Glider, have rather failed to excite. The new Aero player features MP3, WMA (no word on PlaysForSure), ASF and WAV playback, along with FM, voice recording and an "eye-popping" color selection (see above). The players range from 128MB to 2GB in storage capacity, and include USB 2.0 for speeding songs over to the boring little unit. Luckily, prices start at $29, so you might have one of the lamer MP3 players on the planet, but at least you'll have a bit of money in the bank. The Aero should be out this October.
