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Toshiba still whittling away at their fuel cell prototypes
We can't say portable fuel cell power has really "arrived" yet -- perhaps when it no longer doubles the mass of the device it's attached to, then we can talk. But at least Toshiba isn't giving up on the technology, and they showed off some prototypes at CEATAC 2006 to demonstrate the fruit of their many years of labor. It doesn't look like they've managed to do much slimming since the last time we saw a couple prototypes this June, but the unit they've slapped onto the V30T looks promising, and the laptop version (peep after the break) seems at least more integrated than the last one we saw. No more word on when these things are going to get real and start providing us with that power-cord nirvana we've always dreamed of, but it's nice to know that we could always swipe one of these at a temporarily unguarded tradeshow booth. You know, for emergency use. Or something.
Toshiba Gigabeat V30T: a Portable Media Center with mobile TV
While we've been patiently waiting for the US launch of the Gigabeat S (set for release today tomorrow according to Amazon), Toshiba has been quietly prepping their new Gigabeat V series of Windows Portable Media Centers. Sure, the V30T player looks nothing like its sleeker sib, but that's due to the fact that this portable flaunts a new Wansegu (AKA, OneSeg) ISDB-T tuner for viewing the Japanese-flavor of mobile digital television launched last month -- in other words, the T-DMB / DVB-H / MediaFLO of Japan. Now on top of extracting that sweet TV from the ether, the V30T features a 3.5-inch, 320 x 240 display, support for WMV/WMA/MP3/WAV/JPEG and PlaysForSure WMA formats, and a brawny battery capable of up to 7/9/25 hours of TV/video/music playback, respectively, while keeping it all less than an inch thick. But this is all about the TeeVee Jack, so the V30T packs in a 30GB drive which, when combined with the EPG, allows you to record broadcasts up to 24 hours in advance for a maximum of about 130 hours of recorded, portable video. Expect the V30T to drop late June for about $450 in green.[Via Impress Watch]
