You probably don't want to be seen at the beach with most solar-powered PMPs, but Shiro's SQ-S is superior in functionality if not in appearance. It can store 16GB of APE, FLAC, MP3, OGG, WAV, or WMA files, receive and record FM radio broadcasts and play video on its itty-bitty screen. Unfortunately only its backside is adorned with solar panels -- four hours of tanning on a beach towel will get you up to 35 hours of music and 7 hours of video, but you won't be operating it while it's lying on its face. No word yet about price, availability, or a flesh-and-blood photo, but let's hope it looks as good in real life as it does in this render.

[Via PMP Today]

So here we have it: The Creative Zen X-Fi. Officially announced by Creative in Singapore, the X-Fi is what we expected: a Wi-Fi-capable player with Yahoo and MSN instant-messaging clients, 2.5-inch LCD, onboard speaker, SD/SDHC expansion, FM radio, voice recorder, and 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB flavors for the taking. In surprise territory we have a bundled pair of nice EP-830 earbuds and Creative's X-Fi Crystalizer technology. If that weren't enough, Creative spiced up the X-Fi's launch with limited-edition Red Cliff editions (pictured above). Along with the player's launch, Creative announced several accessories, including the TravelSound Zen X-Fi Docking Speaker System, Armband, Silicone case, and leather case. Still no word when we'll get our hands on the X-Fi here, but Singapore prices come in at S$229 ($145US), S$329 ($209US), and S$399 ($254US) for the various models.

[Thanks, yutaka]

Keeping track of your personal pet using any means necessary is one thing, but embedding RFID chips into some 20 aquarium fishes is taking things to a whole 'nother level. Sure, we've seen RoboFish unleashed in a public aquarium and the means to care for your guppy remotely, but officials at the Underwater World in Singapore now have a much more exciting way to learn details about the animals customers see. Reportedly, the name and species (among other information) about the chipped marine animals are displayed on touchscreen displays whenever they swim by, which eliminates the old fashioned "match the picture with the fish" signs that still exist in other facilities. The project was set up over a three month period and set the venue back $19,600, but considering that the execs are thinking about risking someone's life to tag sharks in the near future, we can only assume that it's been a hit.

[Thanks, Andrew B.]

When we were in school it seemed like we were too busy goofing around with electronics and wasting our lives in IRC to contribute anything worthwhile to the scientific community. So you can imagine how sheepish we feel reporting about a couple of junior college students who've developed an active camouflage suit that employes electrochromism to change colors and "that can blend into any surrounding". Details are sparse (maybe they used the chameleon tech to blend them into the rest of the article), so we'll keep our peepers extra-sharp for crazy wall-walking superheroes from The Tick.

[Via Crave]

While it's not unusual for a nation to desire a full fledged robot army to handle its dirty work, Singapore's Defense Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) is actually offering up a reward to anyone who can "build a robot that can operate autonomously in urban warfare conditions." Obviously, the task is easier said than done, but the country is aiming to acquire an intelligent, street-fighting machine that can move in and out of buildings, open and close doors, and most importantly, "search and destroy targets like a human soldier." Notably, anyone (including institutions) in the world is open to participate in the TechX Challenge, but foreigners must collaborate with local partners in their construction. The contest is being created in order to shift away from remote-controlled robots that tie up human resources, but the goals of the project may indeed be a bit lofty for today's technology. Robert Richardson from the University of Manchester, UK has proclaimed that the "competition could present a major challenge to even the most sophisticated robot," and added that doors and elevators would likely give the autonomous drones the most problems. Crafty individuals interested in the admittedly tempting S$1 million ($652,000) reward must (hastily) submit their entry by May of this year, where a few rounds of elimination will eventually end when a winner is chosen in August of 2008.

[Thanks, John S.]

While folks have been receiving various forms of punishment after jacking somebody's lingering WiFi signal without consent, it looks like the poor internet-addicted teenager from Singapore just barely missed out on the maximum fine. Proclaimed as the first victim of Singapore's newly-enforced Computer Misuse Act, the 17-year old Garyl Tan Jia Luo picked up 18 months of probation (some of which will be at home) instead of jail time, but what's potentially worse is the fact that he is not allowed to access the internet during his stint. Apparently, the judge felt this was the best way to break him of his internet addiction, and also recommended that the kiddo receive treatment for his online gaming obsession. Of course, we're sure his school grades will plummet and he'll miss out on a critical amount of technological development during the next 1.5 years, but hey, serving up justice is what it's all about, right? So if you're stuck in Singapore without a connection to the digital world, hold out just a bit longer for that free nationwide variety before hopping onto whatever jail-bait WiFi signal you find floating around.

[Via TechDirt]

If there's two things we like here at Engadget, it's charities and outspoken CEOs. Thanks to Creative accomplishing both in one fell swoop, the company will not only throw a month long celebration in Singapore, but give lucky donors a chance to roll away in Sim Wong Hoo's whip. To celebrate a whopping 25 years of staying afloat in the "treacherous" world of battling Apple while popping out sound cards, MP3 players, and other random gizmos, the firm is holding a one-month party with tons of sweet giveaway material to be handed out to winning donors. Topping the list is Sim Wong Hoo's (Creative's rambling CEO) own Lexus LS430 (hey, a man's got to have something to deduct on those taxes, right?), while lesser winners can take home one of the many ZEN PMPs available for raffle. While the actual name of the charities haven't yet been announced (saywha?), folks in Singapore looking for something to do on New Year's Eve should certainly cross their fingers for the "Lucky Draw" while partying it up with Mr. Hoo -- or fly to Times Square in a heavenly seat, your call.

Alright Zen fanboys, your Singaporean mothership has just come out with a new dock for that Zen Vision: M, dubbed the Creative X-Fi Sound System Z600. Like it says in the name, this dock has that new X-Fi stuff that Creative touts as being able to restore compressed audio to CD quality. Of course there's also the usual inclusions, like a remote, an 8-inch woofer and a pair of tweeters to round out the setup as well; the gear can be yours when it drops in the US on November 24 for $400. Creative also announced a couple other sound docks, the PlayDock Z500 and the TravelSound Zen V -- but if you're an astute reader of Engadget, you already knew about those well before the official announcement.

[Via Far East Gizmos]

Lenovo is busting out a bevy of new notebooks and desktops today in the Asia Pacific realm. Its Y-series laptops and Q / H-series desktops were unveiled, each diverting from the traditional paths previously taken on (the admittedly bland) IBM-branded counterparts. The yet-to-be-priced 13-inch widescreen Y300 touts discrete NVIDIA GeForce Go 7300 graphics, a built-in webcam that automatically recognizes its owners face to log them in, and weights just 4.85 pounds. The Y400 maintains the "same design theme" on the Y300, but packs a 14-inch LCD, a "flush-mounted" touchpad, and swaps in a two-watt "subwoofer" for the uber-snazzy webcam. On the desktop side, the Q lineup starts at $1,017 and offers a stylish, trendy design, detachable swivel webcam, multimedia jog dial, tower speakers, ATi Radeon X1300 graphics card, VGA / S-Video outputs, Sonic Gear HS555 headset, and an optional 19- or 20-inch LCD. If you're scouting a design-focused PC on the cheap, the H series hits at just $699, offers an optional 17- or 19-inch widescreen display, touts an "anti-bacterial keyboard," and boasts its ability to be a "basic, family-friendly computing system." While Levovo certainly spruced up its latest offerings, warranty lengths were slashed right along with prices (just 30 days of free phone support and one-year of coverage), and while the desktop systems will begin shipping anytime, the fancy new notebooks won't hit shelves until mid-December.

Read - Lenovo Y Series notebooks
Read - Lenovo Q / H Series desktops

Seventeen-year-old Garyl Tan Jia Luo has the distinct honor of being the first person charged under Singapore's new Computer Misuse Act. The alleged crime? Piggybacking on his neighbor's WiFi connection without permission. This apparently wouldn't have gone so far had the neighbor (we'll call him Mr. Wilson) not lodged a complaint against the teen. While Tan was released on bail after a grilling by police, he's facing some serious consequences for enjoying his free ride, including up to 10,000 Singapore dollars ($6,425) in fines and up to three years in jail. Given Signapore's plans to blanket the entire country in free WiFi, however, you'd think they'd go a little easy on him for jumping the gun.

[Via The Register]

If you're tired of those frequent flyer miles becoming increasingly worthless, losing your in-flight WiFi, and the outright lack of sugar-coated peanuts, you may want to check out Singapore Airlines. Already the first airline to implement an in-flight IPTV service, SIA is now adding a touch of luxury (and gadgetry) to all three classes within its forthcoming Boeing B777-300ER and Airbus A380 aircrafts. First class customers, as expected, receive the most improved seating arrangements, as they're graced with 23-inch LCDs, complete with USB ports, power outlets, and noise-reducing headsets. Business class guests get their own 15.4-inch LCD, while economy seats rock a 10.6-inch edition. Although higher-end seats can morph into a full-fledged bed, all customers receive access to the airline's "KrisWorld" in-flight entertainment system, which boasts "over 1,000 on-demand movies, TV shows, games, and audio selections." Moreover, the snazzy monitors provide flight-wide access the built-in "Sun Microsystems StarOffice Productivity Suite," which reportedly supports "most popular file formats" for working on the go. While we're admittedly frightened to think what one of these oh-so-heavenly seats will cost, next month would probably be the perfect time to indulge in that long-overdue trip to Osaka (or Malaysia).

Remember how Singapore was going to provide WiFi for most of the island nation? Well, it looks like they're taking that one step further by taking the S$100 million ($63 million) cost to the government, eating it, and giving free access (for the next two to three years) to the laptop-toting public. Further, the government will provide subsidies on computer purchases for low-income families -- according to The Straits Times, families that earn less than S$200 ($125) a month can purchase a computer for S$285 ($179). Why can't we get such forward-thinking policies over on this side of the Pacific?

[Via MuniWireless]

And in this corner, in the blue and black trunks, weighing in at 8GB, Creative's Slammin' Singaporean in Stereo -- the all-new Zen V Plus! That's right folks, Creative announced today its expected 8GB bump to the Zen V Plus, which is due out next month for S$430, the local equivalent of what we might call 270 greenbacks. It's sure to go head-to-head with the slick 8GB iPod Nano and that sassy SanDisk Sansa e280 in an upcoming prizefight. While this new color scheme (pictured) is only available in a limited edition direct from Creative's online store, the press release notes that the new player normally comes in "glossy black with a new colour accent of red" -- actually, we find the snaps on their site to be more of a subdued ochre, but hey, we're just stupid Americans.

[Thanks, Vizion and Pablo]

As expected, Creative went and released the Zen Vision W here in the US. We know that this hit Singapore late last month at COMEX, and CNET managed to review one already -- but what we didn't know is that the Zen Vision will play content from Amazon's new Unbox service. Aside from whatever you might spend at Amazon, the 30GB model will set you back $300, the 60GB an additional Benjamin, and both are available from the usual suspects of online retailers, including Creative's online store. The only problem is that as of this writing, the Zen Vision is nowhere to be found on its site and so far as we can tell that's not for lack of stock.

We first had the pleasure of meeting the Zen Neeon 2 last month, when the long-awaited update to the Zen Neeon was released. Now that they're finally reaching our journo friends in across the Pacific, CNET Asia has put one through its paces. To review, the Zen Neeon 2 comes in 1, 2 and 4GB sizes ($114, $152 and $203 respectively) with a 1.5-inch 128 x 128 color screen, video playback support, voice and line-in recording, and an FM radio. However, the videos that it does play are only AVI RGB565 files (who uses that?), so you'll need to convert first. Also, due to its screen dimensions, a 4:3 or 16:9 video playing on the Zen Neeon 2 results in letterboxing, a definite downside. The new Singaporean player also got dinged in CNET Asia's review for relying solely on that obscure video format and maintaining the old scroll wheel design -- it received a 7.4 rating out of 10. All of that said, we think think that anyone trying to watch something on a 128 x 128 screen has larger problems than letterboxing.

[Thanks, ipod_devotee]