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Cowon bumps its iAudio lineup to 4GB
Sure, the big boys like SanDisk and Apple are already onto 8GB capacities in their flash players, but that doesn't mean we can't celebrate the small victory of Cowon finally making it over the 2GB hump and busting out 4GB updates for its iAudio F2, iAudio U3 and iAudio T2 players. Not bad at all for the size of some of these things. All three refreshes should be headed our way this November, no word on price just yet.[Thanks, Old Surinam]
iriver's black 4GB Clix ventures beyond the mythic
We're still a bit in the dark as to when exactly iriver is going to bust this thing out in retail, or for how much, but they've at least confirmed a 4GB refresh for their imminently lovable iriver Clix player, along with a stylish black version to make hanging out with those smarmy iPod kids a bit less of a struggle.[Thanks, Owen]
iOPS reveals BlueQ 4GB DAP
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then it seems like Korean manufacturer iOPS has mad love for almost all of the major DAP makers on the market. Having already taken design cues from Samsung's YP-U1 and Apple's iPod mini -- they actually got sued for that one -- it looks like the company now has its sights set on the iRiver Clix with its latest offering, the BlueQ. Formerly known as the Q18, this model sports a 1.8-inch, 262,000-color screen, up to 4GB of flash storage capacity, and most impressively, Bluetooth support for wireless enjoyment of your tunes or 30fps vids. Expect to see the BlueQ in stores sometime in mid-August for an unknown price, but probably not in the US. Watch out Sandisk and Creative -- we hear that iOPS' engineers just got their hands on a Sansa and Zen V.[Via DAPreview, photo courtesy of popco]
SanDisk joins the SDHC club
With Toshiba and Panasonic having already unveiled their respective 4GB SDHC cards, you didn't really think that industry powerhouse SanDisk would be too far behind, did you? For the uninitiated, SDHC (or SD 2.0, as it's also known) is a new FAT32-compliant format designed for capacities up to 32GB, with cards that look exactly like regular SD models, but that won't work in any but the newest of digital devices. SanDisk's offering -- available sometime before the end of the month -- is rated as a Class 2 card, meaning that it guarantees a minimum transfer rate of 2MB per second. The $200 pricetag also gets you a "free" MicroMate card reader, which is not only handy but vital to making the most out of your new card, as the SD readers you currently own won't have any idea what to do with this thing.
Toshiba's 4GB SDHC card announced
Toshiba has been quietly undercutting the US, SD card market for years hawking their wares under the brands of PNY and Dane-Elec among others. Now, they've stepped out from behind the curtain with their new, self-branded, 4GB SDHC (SD 2.0) cards which will initially feature a minimum write speed of 4MB/s (class 4) with the promise of 32GB cards in the coming years. Said to begin shipping globally in September for an undisclosed price, Tosh's foray into these next-gen, SD-incompatible cards for FAT32-enabled hosts will join Panny's roughly $265, 4 gigger to help keep the price down on yet another memory card format nobody wants.[Via DigitalCameraInfo]
RCA releases H100 and H116 HDD-based DAPs
RCA's got a new pair of hard drive-based MP3 players for those folks still grieving over the death of the iPod mini, complete with 4GB and 6GB hard drives, black and white screens, and even a little bit of design flair in the form of chrome accents. The only real difference between the H100 (pictured) and H116 (available at Target as the H106), besides the size of their drives, is the fact that the more capacious H116 ships with a combination car charger/FM transmitter -- oh, and the non-touch-sensitive scroll wheel is black instead of green. Both models feature 1.5-inch displays with white on black text, 16-hour rechargeable batteries, PlaysForSure and Windows Media Player 11 compatibility, and Media Transfer Protocol (MTP support). You're certainly not getting a lot of extras here, but then again, you won't be paying much for these models either; $139 will score you the H106, while two more gigs and the car kit will set you back thirty bucks more.
Meizu Mini Player coming to America
Ask, and ye shall receive. When we mentioned that we'd like to spend some time with Meizu's M6 Mini Player a few months back, we were pretty sure that like most foreign gadgets we feature, this one would always remain just out of reach -- so imagine our surprise when we learned that pre-ordering has already begun to bring the M6 stateside. You'll probably recall that this model, which has the nano squarely in its sights (promotional materials even warn the iPod to "step aside"), comes in either 1GB ($139), 2GB ($159), or 4GB ($220) capacities, and besides supporting the usual assortment of MP3, WMA, WAV, and OGG audio files, does the AVI playback thing on its 2.4-inch QVGA screen as well. Also included are an FM tuner, voice recorder, calendar, stopwatch, USB On The Go support, and a couple of games, which is a lot more features than the nano offers, so it looks like Apple has reason to be mighty worried come July or early August when the first shipments of these arrive. Keep reading for a few more comparison shots that show just how mini this Mini really is...
Buffalo drops 4GB USB drive
Having already joined the ranks of 8GB thumb drives, Buffalo has busted out a separate line of "entry-level" USB drives that top out at a mere 4GB. The RUF2-E series apparently don't have the same "UltraSpeed" transfer times of the higher-end RUF2-R series, and they've further differentiated them with a questionable clear bluish-purple casing. Prices start our reasonably at 2,000 Yen ($17 US) for the 128MB model, but you'll have to fork over a whopping 47,800 Yen (or $415 US) for the pleasure of being able to carry 4GB on a string.[Via Digital World Tokyo]
Creative reveals Zen V and V Plus flash-based DAPs
So it looks like Creative's made good with the "mystery MP3 player" they promised us in that rather uninspiring teaser campaign: meet the Zen V. Available in 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB capacities, the V's smallish size and 1.5-inch, photo-capable OLED clearly indicate that Creative's got the slightly-smaller nano squarely in its sights, with the V Plus (offered in the same capacities) going for the knockout punch by throwing in video playback and an FM tuner in the usual hope that adding more and more features will somehow make iPod owners realize what iChimps they've been. Both models come in several combinations of black or white highlighted by either green, orange, or blue accents, feature a line-in jack for direct-from-disc recording, support PlaysForSure subscription services, and offer a claimed 15 hours of battery life before recharging becomes an issue. The V will be available in July for $120, $150, or $200, depending on capacity, while the V Plus will be coming in August and priced at $130, $170, and $230 for the 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB versions, respectively.Read- Zen VRead- Zen V Plus
Sony to offer fast, high capacity Micro Vaults
Sony will soon be bulking up its line of Micro Vault USB thumb drives, so to speak, by adding several new models that offer either increased capacity, increased transfer speeds, or both. Though not reaching the 8GB plateau of the Micro Vault Pro, the upcoming units still manage to pack between 256MB and 4GB of data into a pocketable design, and all feature Sony's Virtual Expander software for automatically compressing your bits to store up to three times the drive's labeled capacity. Besides the storage boost, Sony will be offering the same size drives in a lineup called the Excellence range, which promise zippier read and write speeds of 29Mbps and 23Mbps, respectively. While all the new models are expected later this month, Sony is keeping pricing details...hold for terrible pun...locked up in the "vault."
Arko shows off sexy little DAP
Despite the complete lack of face buttons and therefore the very real possibility of nightmarish usability, we can't help but be drawn to this new DAP Arko was showing off at Computex. We're really low on details at this point, including a model number, so we will merely ascribe our affections to this shiny little object with USB 2.0, MP3, WMA and "etc." support, color display, "low power consumption" and optional FM capability. The last time we saw optional FM in a player of this size was with Safa's SS100, which had to drop FM in its highest capacity 4GB player to make room for all that storage. Hopefully this Arko device suffers from a similar problem and we'll be seeing similar capacities -- though we have no idea how we'll scan through that much music with those tiny side buttons as our only interface. Obviously, we don't have any info on availability right now, but we'll be sure to let you know when we do.[Via dapreview]
Qtek to get its HTC Muse, the S300, early
Remember the HTC Muse Windows Mobile 5.0 multimedia phone? You know, the one with 4GB of NAND storage dedicated to media files as well as dual cameras, including a 2.1 megapixel shooter with flash? Well anyway, DigiTimes is reporting that HTC will be shipping Qtek its version of the Muse, the S300 (not to be confused with Dopod's S300, based on another HTC design called the Star Trek), earlier than expected, as part of HTC's commitment to first release their HSDPA-enabled handsets in European markets. Qtek should be getting their Muses, which also sport 416MHz processors, 64MB of both RAM and ROM, WiFi, Bluetooth, and FM tuners, sometime in the third quarter, according to "market sources." Besides its lack of a keyboard (or even a numberpad, for that matter) and frustrating inclusion of that 240 x 240 display, the Muse looks to us like a pretty hot model, and will certainly give Nokia's N91, Sony Ericsson's W950i, and Samsung's i300 musicphones some strong competition.[Via the::unwired]
Cowon's 4GB iAudio6 DAP reviewed
Cowon's gotten some rather mixed reviews in the past for their line of iAudio DAPs, but the outlook seems mostly positive for the upcoming hard drive-based iAudio6, with Anything But iPod finding very few flaws in the diminutive player's design, features, or performance. Especially impressive is the 1.3-inch OLED screen, which gets high marks for both color depth and clarity -- ABi calls it "simply brilliant" -- and makes watching XviD-encoded movies almost bearable on such a small display. The iAudio6, which we first spotted at CES, can handle up to 4GB of MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, or WAV-encoded tracks on its .85-inch drive, but it's the drive that leads to one of the few knocks on this model, which is a noticeable lag time between operations. Other nice features include USB host capability for device-to-device file transfer with other UMS-enabled hardware, software that automatically tags certain tunes with the corresponding lyrics, line-in and voice recording, and surprisingly powerful output that can drive even large headphones. If you don't mind a bit of a delay when recording or changing tracks, or a bit of eye strain when watching your flicks, then the iAudio6 sounds like it'll make for a solid purchase whenever it becomes available Stateside.[Thanks, James]
Analysts predict 4GB and 8GB iPod nanos with video
Take the following information with the usual grain of salt; when it comes to speculation about Apple's intentions, nothing is ever certain until the esteemed Mr. Jobs is on stage, product in hand, delivering the pitch. This time around, we have word from AppleInsider that American Technology Research analysts are reporting that their most recent "checks" indicate impending capacity doubling for the iPod nano line-- to 4GB and 8GB -- as well as the addition of "basic video capabilities," in models to be released during the "September quarter." If true, none of these developments would be all that shocking, as the current nanos already have sharp little color screens, and storage boosts are just a natural part of any digital audio player's lifecycle. ATR's Shaw Wu also seemingly contradicted earlier AppleInsider info when he cited an anticipated June/July release window for the as-yet-unannounced 13.3-inch Intel-powered Macbook laptop, which AI had previously suggested would be available sometime before June.
Sony Ericsson W950i 4GB musicphone reviewed
Mobile-review has taken Sony Ericsson's upcoming W950i musicphone through their usual exhaustive testing, and although the translated-from-Russian review may be a bit difficult to fully comprehend, the plethora of screenshots and comparison pics alone make it a must read for anyone considering this Symbian-powered handset. Although its 4GB of flash memory and integrated RDS-enabled FM tuner clearly make this a music-oriented device, S-E's inclusion of the UIQ 3.0 interface along with a ton of productivity software (Opera, QuickOffice, PDF , along with the usual PIM suite) allow the W950i to easily do double duty as a smartphone. Easily, that is, for those of us who aren't diehard QWERTY-enthusiasts -- the flush keypad only offers regular T9 input along with the never-pleasant on-screen handwriting options -- or don't require WiFi and a camera in our pocket at all times. Still, the UMTS radio should suffice for most data needs, and music lovers will appreciate the A2DP-enabled Bluetooth and 13 hour real-world battery life, making the ~$740 W950i look like strong competitor for such storage-heavy models as the Nokia N91 and Samsung i300/300x when it hits stores in July.
