PersonalMediaPlayer
Latest
Fifth-gen iPod touch and nano now in stores and in the mail (update: limited release)
If you've been waiting impatiently to get your hands on the latest cellular radio-less iOS device, we've got good news. The fifth gen iPod touch with its elongated screen and colorful backplate is available today in some Apple stores across the globe across the country. And, if you preordered the slinky aluminum and glass media player, it should already be in the mail. The latest edition of the nano, which is becoming more and more like its larger sibling the touch every day, is also popping up on shelves. The seventh generation of the tiny player, complete with multi touch screen and 16GB of storage, is cropping in Apple stores for $149 starting today. Let us know in the comments if you decided to pick up either device.
iRiver B100 wants you to 'touch the supreme sound', pedants grumble
It's been some time since we heard much from iRiver but the PMP maker is keeping busy with the snow-white B100. This capacitive touchscreen media player will offer up to 36 hours of music playback, or eight and a half hours of video watching. The 3.1-inch TFT screen has a resolution of 320 x 480, but it's backed up by a (relatively) long list of media codecs, including OGG, WAV, APE and ASF compatibility. If you're sick of limited playback options, you might want to consider downscaling those screen-size desires for improved format freedom. The PMP launches today, with prices starting at 11,800 yen (around $144) for the 4GB model, while the 8GB version will set you back 13,800 yen (around $168) at online Japanese retailer, Rakuten. The Google-translated PR awaits your quizzical looks below.
Galaxy Player 70 Plus: Samsung's first dual-core media player
Samsung's barely finished packing up from its recent stint in Barcelona, but that hasn't stopped another device surfacing on the Korean peninsula. The Galaxy Player 70 Plus appears to be a powered-up version of its 5-inch device from last year, side-stepping the design tweaks we saw last week on the Galaxy S WiFi 4.2 -- the other new (similarly long-winded) Android PMP from Samsung. Alongside a dual-core 1GHz processor, other hardware improvements include a (Korea-only) DMB TV tuner, 5-megapixel camera and a 2,500mAh battery to keep that expansive screen running for longer. The media player will arrive in both 16GB and 32GB capacities, priced up at 399,000 won ($356) and 469,000 won ($418) respectively, although there's no news just yet on whether the wider world will get to wrap their hands around that substantial 5-inch screen. Until there's more to go on, you can attempt to decipher the Google-translated press release -- it's right after the break. Update: It seems Sony got there first on the dual-core PMP front. Better luck next time, Samsung.
Galaxy Player 4.0 review
Apple users have the iPod touch, but what about Android fans? Where do they turn when looking for an app-running, connected media player -- basically a smartphone without the phone? Well, believe it or not, there are a few options out there (like the Philips GoGear and Cowon's D3) And one of the premier lines is certainly Samsung's Galaxy Player offerings which, as the name implies, borrow a few things from their beloved cellphone siblings. There's both a 4.0 ($230) and a 5.0 ($270) model which have four- and five-inch screens, respectively, but, besides the size, the two are practically identical in the specs department. We toyed with the smaller Galaxy Player 4.0 for a couple of weeks and our thoughts on Sammy's (somewhat pricier) answer to the iPod touch are right after the break.%Gallery-141290%
Cowon announces CE-based R7 media tablet, earns a few perplexed stares
Cowon makes some pretty slick looking Android PMPs, as well as some more underwhelming devices running Windows CE. The latest in the latter category is the R7 -- a 7-inch media player that's being billed as "full HD" (a claim that makes Cowon full of something else). Despite being the size of a small tablet the R7 display is only 800 x 480, though, it will output 1080p over HDMI. While the low-res screen and aging CE 6.0 OS are nothing to get excited about, there are some positives: epic battery life and support for an absurd number of formats and codecs. And, since the R7 comes packing up to 64GB of internal storage and sports a microSD slot, you'll have plenty room to keep you swimming in both audio and video. Sure, Android probably would have made more sense and a WiFi connection for browsing the web would be greatly appreciated but, you've got to admire Cowon's stubborn insistence on doing things its own way... right?
The iPod turns 10, celebrates a decade of destroying physical media
It's hard to believe, but it's been exactly ten years since the iPod was first unveiled, ultimately changing the music industry forever. The iPod wasn't the first, it wasn't the smallest, it didn't have the largest hard drive, but it did have an iconic style and simple to use interface that led march away from CDs. When the history of Apple is written the iPod (perhaps more than the iMac, OS X or the iPhone) will be credited with helping spearhead the company's second coming. Over the years the music player has seen countless iterations and redesigns, and an expansion of the product line to include smaller devices and touch screens -- but for most it's the scroll wheel and white earbuds that define the iPod. Sure, what is now called the iPod classic hasn't seen a serious update since about 2007, but it still holds a special place in our hearts, especially for those of us who don't measure their music collection in a few dozen iTunes downloads.
Galaxy Player 4.0 and 5.0 land on shelves, deliver Gingerbread without the phone
Right on schedule the Galaxy Player 4.0 and 5.0 have made their way into retail channels and are ready to deliver their particular brand of phone-less Gingerbread right to your greasy little fingers. Both devices sport a 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage, which can be expanded via a microSD slot as well as the usual bundle of Sammy customizations, like TouchWiz and Media Hub. The only difference between the two PMPs is size and price, with the 5-inch model coming in at $270 and the 4-inch a more modest $230. You can pick both up at your local electronics retailer, such as the one that claims to be the best, right now.
Sony announces Walkman Z PMP: 4.3 inches, Tegra 2, Gingerbread and 'Throw'
We already got some brief hands-on time with this Gingerbread-sporting PMP at IFA, where it went by the name of "Walkman Mobile Entertainment Player." Now it's just been announced as the Sony Walkman Z, which rolls off the tongue a whole lot easier. Beneath that 4.3-inch WVGA display lurks a 1GHz Tegra 2, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and a battery rated for 20 hours of music and 5 hours of video. There's HDMI out as well as Sony's Throw feature for pushing media wirelessly to a Bravia TV. Pricing remains "open" apparently, but Sony does commit to availability in Japan from December 10th. You'll get a choice of 16, 32 or 64GB models in either red/black or black/blue, or you can wait for a limited edition white version in early 2012. If you're planning on sending it our way, Sony, then you should know we'll be utterly broke by then. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
New Archos 2 Vision PMP pictured, priced, and predictably short on battery life
Meeting what we'd call the bare minimum for being able to say there's "touch capabilities," the new Archos 2 Vision PMP has quietly stepped out of the shadows and onto UK retailer MyMemory's website. Just under the 2-inch, 220 x 176 resolution display is a tactile slider for menu navigation and volume control. The credit card-sized player also sports a FM tuner and recorder, a microSD slot in addition to internal memory, and support for MP3 / WMA audio and AVI video -- nothing too fancy here. Battery life is a depressing 10 hours for audio and 4 for video, which at €60 / $85 for 8GB and €99 / $140 for 16GB models, is just a tinge south of acceptable in our book. Europeans still intrigued can pick one up now, while US consumers will either need to pay a premium for import or just wait patiently. [Via DAP Review]
PSP second place behind iPod
Everyone wants to compete with the iPod, but only one company has been successful at getting close to the iPod's dominance as a personal media player (PMP). No, it's not Microsoft. It's Sony. People have criticized Sony for failing to capitalize on personal media like Apple has, but many forget that the PSP is not just a games machine, but a PMP as well. According to MP3newswire.net, the PSP is in second place in the competitive PMP market, selling one system per every 2.3 iPods sold. Considering how people seem to buy iPods by the dozen, we can deduce that PSP sales are quite brisk.With a beautiful, large widescreen, and the ability to do so many other things (games, internet, etc.), the PSP is easily the best PMP out there. Yes, some may argue that Memory Sticks are expensive, but with recent price drops, that argument simply doesn't hold too much weight to it.[Via PSP World]
Etronics' Inkel Widetouch W-7.0 offers GPS, PMP, and DMB
We love the idea of having GPS and PMP functionality in the same gadget, and when we see one of these devices with a 7-inch widescreen we certainly sit up and take notice, but unfortunately we'll need to make some friends in Korea if we ever hope to install the Inkel Widetouch W-7.0 from Etronics in our ride. Without any detailed specs on this upcoming model, we're going to assume that it's very similar to the ARM-powered Widetouch 5.6 we spotted last month, as both units also offer an optional DMB tuner to complement the media playback and navigation features. As usual, no word on pricing or release dates for this piece, but since the DMB-equipped 5.6 was going for around $600, we can safely assume that a similarly-configured 7-incher will cost at least a hundred bucks more. Keep reading to see just how fun it is to roll around with one of these in your Mercedes...
iubi Blue 30GB PMP gets specs, pricing
With all the foreign PMPs we've featured on these pages, we can't blame you for not remembering a Bluetooth-enabled model from iubi that we brought you a few months back, but one look at its recently-released specs will definitely make you want to keep this one on your radar from here on out. Sporting a 30GB hard drive and a 4.3-inch, 480 x 272 widescreen LCD that Advanced MP3 Players calls "razor sharp," the iubi Blue (model number IUBI2500) supports nearly every codec known to man, including MPEG-1/2/4, DivX (3.x, 4.x, and 5.x), XviD, WMV 7/8/9, AVI, H.264, MOV, and Real -- and that's just for video, which can also be fed to an external monitor at 720 x 480 resolution. On the audio side you've got support for MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, AAC-LC, and AC-3, and best of all, the Blue features 3D sound enhancement from Wolfson for output that's described as "earth-shattering." Moreover, you're also getting A2DP for rocking wireless headphones, USB on-the-go functionality for dumping photos from compatible cameras, and like the Archos lineup, direct AV recording thanks to the included MPEG-4 encoder. Already available in Korea, this feature-packed model is expected to hit British shores soon for just $461, and may very well be htting our own gadget shelf shortly afterwards.[Via DAPreview]
Toshiba Gigabeat S60 shows up in ads, but not in stores
We know that many of you (and by you, we mean us) have been looking forward to Toshiba's Gigabeat S PMPs ever since you we saw them way back at CES in January, so we can all start getting a little excited about a print ad from Midwest electronics chain American TV that shows the hot little player on sale for $400 after rebate. The reason we can only get a little excited, however, is because calls to several of the company's retail locations reveal that they don't actually have the S in stock, with one clerk unable to give any arrival estimates, while another claimed that "we're getting a shipment today, maybe." It wouldn't be prudent at this juncture to start tossing out nasty terms like bait and switch, as we're sure American didn't knowingly advertise a product that they don't have in stock, but it's still a little irksome to see an ad for something you can't buy. On the plus side, both salespeople were able to confirm that Toshiba has not in fact gone and gutted this model's capacity to the mere 60MB that American is publicizing.[Via DAPreview]
Inkel's WIDETOUCH 5.6 does navigation and multimedia
We see a lot of GPS-enabled foreign PMPs pass through here, but rarely are they being pitched by a mascot quite as appealing as Inkel's Starfox-meets-Robin Hood spokesperson. Available in black or white, the WIDETOUCH 5.6 features -- you guessed it -- a 5.6-inch widescreen LCD for navigation and media viewing, 400MHz Samsung ARM CPU, and built-in DMB receiver on select models. That digital TV option hikes the price up to almost $600, but since this model will only be sold in Korea, things like pricing and availability probably don't matter much to you.
Sorell DN10 GPS/DMB-enabled Korean PMP
We haven't featured a foreign PMP on these pages in awhile, so for those of you hungry for a feature-filled device that you'll never get your hands on, we proudly present the Sorell DN10. With only 1GB of internal flash memory, the DN10 isn't going to win any capacity awards, although an SD card slot allows you to jack that total up to a still-low-but-acceptable 3GB. Features, then, and not storage, are what should draw Koreans to this model, as it boasts a 3.5-inch screen and both a GPS receiver for navigation and DMB tuner for watching OTA programming when they get sick of the two movies that they were able to cram onto the device. Filetypes supported include AVI, DivX, XviD, WMA, MP3, and JPEG, and pricing comes in at under $400 (measured in won, of course).
Viliv announces new US-bound PMP, the P2
So apparently the viliv P1 personal media player is doing so well in the US, that the company has already announced plans to release their new model, the P2, Stateside as well. The P2 takes all the P1's multi-codec goodness (MPEG-1/2/4, H.264, DivX, WMV 7/8/9, XviD, MP3, WMA, OGG, AC-3, and WAV), subtracts the iPod resemblance, and adds a 60GB option as well as an optional GPS receiver. Powered by a 400MHz AMD processor, the P2 runs on Windows CE 5.0 and sports a large 4.3-inch, 800 x 480 widescreen LCD, and also can also act as a USB 2.0 host device. Expect to see these for sale sometime in the middle of August, although pricing has yet to be announced.
Samsung's YM-P1 20GB PMP available for pre-order
It's hitting our shores a little later than expected, but you can finally queue up for the US version of Samsung's hot little YM-PD1 personal media player (pictured), the YM-P1 (the absence of the "D" refers to the lack of a DMB over-the-air DTV receiver). Since we've been following this model for some time, you'll no doubt recall that it features a 4-inch widescreen TFT display, sports in-line recording to a 20GB hard drive, and supports a gaggle of formats including MP3, WMA, OGG, AC3, MPEG-4, DivX, XviD, AVI, WMV, JPEG, and BMP. You can also jack up the memory a bit via the SDIO slot, listen to and record FM radio, and even play some videogames (although the controls don't look all that well-suited for serious gaming). SamsungHQ spotted the P1 available for pre-order on Datavision's website at $370 (where "Our prices are too low to advertise!"), although there is no mention of when the devices will actually be shipping, so don't toss your Archos aside just yet.
