Yeah, we had our fun just toying with the W7 at iriver's CES booth earlier this year, but the lucky souls at Pocketables were able to secure one long enough to write up a full-blown review. Straight out of the packaging, critics found the design to be attractive enough, albeit a tad chunky; particularly with this device, we'd say opinions on sexiness will vary widely depending on what floats your boat. Nevertheless, reviewers found the touch panel easy enough to navigate, and thankfully, the perceived audio quality was dubbed "great." Those interested in the video capabilities will be delighted to know that all was well on that front too, as the slew of welcome extras (FM tuner, text viewer, e-dictionary, etc.) were all praised. Now, if only this critter would show up in America, we'd have yet another solid choice when it comes to pocket-friendly media players.

[Thanks, Jenn]

iRiver was being awful coy with its stable of hot new gear -- we couldn't even get their reps to say anything would be out in North America, much less finagle pricing or ship dates -- but the new Spinn, iAmoled, and Wing still managed to charm us from behind the glass. We did get to poke around with the W7, P10, and the Unit 2 -- which was still impressive, even though it crashed -- and the Dicple D30, all of which had amazing build quality. Hopefully we'll see this stuff hit our fair shores soon, but for now, check 'em all out in our gallery!

Yeah, the iriver W7 was released today as expected. Everybody move to Korea, what's the use in kidding ourselves anymore?

iriver just took the wraps off their D27 QWERTY dictionary and W7 personal media player they teased us with last week. The D27 if a full-size, electronic dictionary with plenty of audio and video support. It features a 480 x 272 display, FM tuner, 2GB of flash, and up to 27 hours of battery life depending upon usage habits. More interesting for westerners however, is the W7 touchscreen (finger or built-in stylus) media player which shares the industrial design of the W10 -- in fact, it may well be the very same WiFi device with Skyhook positioning only now sporting a W7 moniker for domestic S.Korea release. Video of the W7 in action after the break, plenty of pics and more video just beyond the read link.

Update: More details in. The W7 goes on sale next week and turns out to be a WiFi-less, Skyhook-less version of the W10. The rest is pretty much the same: up to 8GB of storage with miniSD expansion, 480 x 272 WQVGA display, and 4-hour battery for video.

[Via iriverfans]

When iriver teases, our gadget reflexes go all pointy. Mind you, we know absolutely nothing about it except for what you see in that picture. However, there's plenty of speculation on the iriverfans site suggesting that we're looking at the packaging surrounding a new flash player. In fact, South Korea's FCC-equivalent, the MIC, just certified a new W7 iriver player today. W, as in WiFi, with either 4GB or 8GB in tow. Please iriver, just a bit more info before we commit to our gift giving guide?

The all-knowing database gods of the FCC had already tipped us off to Panasonic's newest US-bound Toughbooks, but they've just gotten the official press treatment, complete with beauty shots and -- most importantly -- spec sheets. All models check out with WiFi, Bluetooth, 1GB of RAM, 80Gb of storage, and an optional HSDPA or EV-DO WWAN module, but diverge from there: the ultraportable W7 (pictured) weighs in at just three pounds, but features a 12.1-inch screen, 1GHz U7500 Core 2 Duo processor, dual-layer burner, and a seven-hour battery life, while the slightly heavier 3.3-pound T7 "tablet alternative" drops the burner for a 12.1-inch touchscreen, 1GHz U7500 Core 2 Duo and a nine-hour battery life. Topping out the new line, the 14.1-inch Y7 clocks in at 3.7 pounds with burner and scores a 1.6GHz L7600 Core 2 Duo. Panny says the $2500 Y7 is available now, while the $2100 W7 and T7 should ship in December. We actually got a chance to play with all three just recently, check the gallery for some hands-on action.

If you found yourself quite envious after hearing that Japan would be getting four new Toughbooks while America got the proverbial shaft, it's time to put your beef aside and bust out the party favors. Turns out, a trio of the new lappies have appeared on the FCC's website, giving us great hope that the revamped CF-W7, CF-T7 and CF-Y7 will be headed stateside soon. Sadly, none of the filings are very disclosing when it comes to specifications, but we are assured that each machine will sport Bluetooth, WiFi and integrated support for EV-DO Rev. A / HSDPA. We'll be keeping an ear to the ground for anything official, but for the time being, check out the FCC's uber-sweet photography skills on the W7 / Y7 after the jump.

Read - Panasonic CF-Y7
Read - Panasonic CF-W7
Read - Panasonic CF-T7

Panasonic is getting funky-fresh on everyone today with word of a new lineup of Toughbooks making their way out to store shelves. The company is launching four different models of the hard-as-nails laptops (W7, T7, R7, Y7), all of which are based on Intel's Santa Rosa chipset. The new over-performers are said to be able to withstand a 76-centimeter drop (about desk height) while switched on and continue working, versus the previous model's 30-centimeter rating (which applied only when turned off). The Toughbooks also have an "irrigation system" for the keyboard which can route water away from important bits to a "drain" at the base of the computer. Keep reading after the break to see a rundown of all the new models and specs.

[Via Impress]