We won't front -- we weren't, how do you say, blown away with RCA's Small Wonder trio announced earlier this year, but we'll give this one a fighting chance. The EZ300HD can capture clips at 720p on the 2GB of internal storage or on any spare SD card you've laying around. You'll also find a 2.4-inch LCD, a low-res YouTube recording mode and a sure-to-be-awesome 4x digital zoom. Operation is supposedly dead-simple, and there's a USB port and video output just in case you feel like blowin' it up on the big screen. Grab it real soon for $159.99.

Whoa, wait up. You're telling us Audiovox hasn't abandoned the RCA Lyra moniker entirely? Storming back from the grave the unknown is the Lyra Slider, a PMP that could definitely go for $29.99 on contract from any major carrier with just a dial-pad and a CDMA radio. As it stands, this media player arrives with 4GB or 8GB of capacity and plays back audio, video, FM radio and photo slideshows. Furthermore, you'll find an integrated voice / media recorder, USB 2.0 port and a rechargeable battery good for up to 50 hours of music playback or 8 hours of video playback. Look for this to show up later in the fall for $79.99 (4GB) / $99.99 (8GB).

Among the other low-rate gear unveiled this evening by Audiovox comes the RCA RIR205, a tabletop internet radio that may have gotten away with that design in 1992. Instead, we have no option but to recommend this one only for rarely used spare bedrooms, though the built-in AM / FM tuner, WiFi radio streaming (complete with a Slacker song tagging feature) and the integrated support for WeatherBug forecasts are quite nice. Additionally, users can record up to 10 hours of music and other radio programming onto the unit's 512MB of inbuilt memory, and of course, you can set the alarm to wake you with online music or your favorite local sports talk host. Not too shabby for $149.99, but that exterior could use some work.

We've got your summer crapcamcorders right 'ere -- three new RCA Small Wonder cams to make your Flips flop. Check 'em out:

• Small Wonder MyLife, EZ200 (black) - 1.5-inch flip-out display, microSDHC with 1GB microSD that does up to 30 / 60 minutes in high quality and web quality modes, $89 and due this summer
• Small Wonder Pocket, EZ205 (white) - 1.5-inch flip-out display, microSDHC slot with 1GB microSD that does up to 30 / 120 minutes in high quality and web quality modes, $100 and due this summer
• Small Wonder Traveler, EZ210 (green) - 2.4-inch QVGA display, SDHC with 2GB SD card that does up to 60 / 240 minutes in high quality and web quality modes, $150 and due this summer

If you thought you were annoyed when one of the big wireless carriers locked up a phone you were after, you have no idea how frustrated small and rural wireless carriers are -- they've just filed a petition with FCC seeking to ban the practice. The 80 companies in the Rural Cellular Association serve small markets not well-covered by the big guys, like parts of New Mexico, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming, and they say that carrier exclusivity deals not affect their bottom line, but also deprive consumers of desirable phones like the iPhone and upcoming Blackberry Bold. They've actually got a pretty good point: lots of rural customers can't purchase and use an iPhone without technically breaking the AT&T service agreement. We'll see how this one goes -- although we'd love nothing more than to use any phone we wanted on any carrier, there are plenty of reasons it won't happen, and exclusivity is the easiest way for carriers to differentiate themselves to consumers.

There might be few that mourned the virtual death of the RCA brand, but Audiovox was quick to point it out as the brand that "started the MP3 revolution." We're not really expecting this Lyra A6008 DAP to start another, but it's an interesting device nonetheless given the B-team efforts RCA historically put into its players. The A6008 features 8GB of storage and a 2.4-inch LCD for the quite reasonable pricetag of $200. The slider function unveils a scroll wheel, which we're guessing gives the unit a bit of unnecessary heft, but obviously allows for more player face dedicated to that screen -- it's always a give and take. No word on when exactly this'll hit.

Although we already had a chance to briefly try out RCA's Jet Stream DAP / wireless earbud setup at CES, the folks over at PCMag were able to get ahold of a finalized product and put it through paces of their own. Interestingly, they found a lot less to love when using 'em for more than a few moments on a crowded show floor, and while they did admit that gym rats could possibly fall in love, the average joe / jane probably won't. On the upside, the DAP proved durable and the wireless headphones exhibited strong reception, but reviewers found that they didn't fit well enough to really show off their talents. Additionally, the menu navigation was deemed "terrible," and they weren't exactly keen on plopping down over $130 for just 1GB of storage. 'Course, we're sure those who spend the bulk of their listening time on the track (listening to just a few CDs on repeat) could find room to argue, but for the rest of us, it was suggested that we wait for "a better implementation of Kleer's wireless technology to come along" before buying in.

It's a sad day indeed for Thomson fanboys worldwide, as the storied French corporation has announced plans to exit the consumer electronics industry altogether in an effort to refocus its resources on B2B digital video services. Following completion of the sale of its remaining non-European AV businesses to Audiovox on December 31st (which, as you'll recall, already bought the RCA brand and accessories division), Thomson will no longer have a presence on domestic or foreign retail shelves, and will also be short €30 million ($42.5 million) as a result of yesterday's announcement to shutter its AVA Europe operations. So here's to you, Thomson: we can't honestly say that we ever got into any of your various products, but as with any other departing member of our loving CE family, you'll be missed.

Update: After speaking with a Thomson rep, it seems inaccurate to state that the company is getting out of consumer electronics altogether, when in fact they do continue to sell home telephones. Therefore, please note that this is just an exit from the company's various A / V businesses.

[Via generationmp3]

An alarm clock blaring in the early AM is typically not a pleasant event, but RCA is attempting to make the experience a bit less frustrating by waking you with your favorite tunes. The RP5500i clock radio joins the already saturated iPod clock market, but throws in those huge LED digits, USB connectivity, an AM / FM tuner, automatic time setting, adjustable brightness, built-in speakers, and best of all, a programmable snooze (huzzah!). $69.99 to make your mornings a tad more endurable.

[Via ChipChick]

Keeping its promise to have the EZ201 Small Wonder on store shelves this Spring, RCA has just announced that its flash-based camcorder is available now at Circuit City locations. As expected, this 5.25-ounce video recorder sports a ho hum enclosure, no optical zoom, 512MB of internal memory, a 1.5-inch LCD, MemoryManager software, and a SD expansion slot as well. The device is also compatible with Box.net's online storage / sharing service, touts an EZ Grab feature that allows users to easily snag still shots from live action footage, and can function for two solid hours on a pair of AA cells. Best of all, however, is the price that CC is currently charging for this budget-minded device, as the $119.99 asking price is a full $10 less than we had previously seen, and you'll even get a 1GB SD card thrown in gratis.

[Via Physorg]

While we're required to suppress a gag reflex to even look at these things, RCA's Gem DAP lineup is cheap and available, so we thought it was worth a heads up. There's nothing much different from the last time we spotted these, but here's a quick rundown all the same: The RCA Opal (pictured) has 2GB of storage, a 1.5-inch color OLED screen, 15 hours of battery life and sells for $75; the 1GB RCA Pearl has room for microSD, runs for 15 hours on a AAA battery and costs $49; the "rugged" RCA Jet, which also happens to be the only passably good-looking member of the bunch, offers 1GB of storage, a high contrast OLED display and 15 hours of battery for $69. Unfortunately, missing from this lineup is the RCA Jet Stream, our favorite member of the team, which features Kleer Wireless tech for wireless stereo headphones minus the Bluetooth overhead, cost and clunk. RCA promises the Jet Stream -- which is otherwise identical to the RCA Jet -- later this year.

Well it's only been a few days since electronics manufacturers were forced to begin the analog to digital TV transition, and already RCA is on the scene with a digital-to-analog converter for those holdouts who still won't have replaced all their old sets by 2009. Like the flood of similar products we're sure to see in the coming months -- those government coupons go into effect in January 2008 -- the DTA800 pulls in SD and HD ATSC over the air broadcasts and coverts them to the analog format preferred by your old bubble tubes and in-wall RPTVs. Other snazzy features include closed captioning support, parental controls, on-screen program guides, and a so-called SmartAntenna interface that allows compatible antennas to optimize reception in areas of poor coverage. Since there will be some 20 million analog sets still kicking around come February 17th, 2009, according to CEA estimates, it seems that RCA is going to have quite a market for its new box -- and although pricing has yet to be determined, expect most of the cost to get defrayed by good old Uncle Sam. Unfortunately we don't have any harder details on price nor availability, as RCA says that both will be determined by retailer interest and market forces; maybe if we all feign disinterest, they'll have to start letting these go for a loss.

Thomson has announced plans to introduce RCA's Small Wonder EZ201, a solid state storage based MPEG-4 digital camcorder that will sell for the relatively affordable price of $129, sometime later this Spring. The camcorder is similar to a lot of solid state camcorders in that it features an SD card slot: we'll take the failure to mention the specific amount of built-in storage as a clumsy hint to potential buyers that they should bring their own storage if they want to get the most out of the camera. Unfortunately, in their efforts to keep costs down, RCA didn't include a rechargeable battery: instead, you'll have to feed the EZ201 2 AA batteries at a time, which will only keep it going for a pitiful 2 hours tops. Externally, the device looks to be not much larger than a pack of cards, and has a 1.5-inch, 180 degree swivel LCD display. The Small Wonder can also be plugged directly into televisions, and can transfer its MPEG-4 files to a PC without software. Later on this year RCA also plans to release what it calls the Memory Maker, a DVD dock and recording system for the EZ201 that lets users burn footage onto a DVD without the use of a PC.