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Kingston announces K-PEX media player
Perhaps a bit jealous of fellow memory manufacturer SanDisk's successes in the portable audio space, Kingston is breaking in with their own portable media device. Titled the K-PEX (Kingston Portable Entertainment eXperience), the unit sports a 2-inch LCD, SD card slot, and about all the video and audio codec support you could ask for. Weighing 2.3-ounces, the device manages a lot for its size: a built-in mic and speakers are included, and you can hook up your camera via USB to pull off pictures on the go. You wouldn't be wrong to think this thing looks like a certain portable gaming device; Kingston is packing in two games with the device, and while third party support is never a given, we're guessing there should be a few more options down the road. We're not sure on date or price just yet, but the K-PEX should be coming to the US "soon" in 1GB and 2GB capacities.
Creative MuVo S200 reviewed
We can't say we were too excited about Creative's MuVo S200 when it was announced a couple of months ago, and now CNET has taken it for a spin and confirmed most of our suspicions. Sure, the player has a cute and tactile -- if flimsy -- build, a roughly 20 hour battery life from replaceable AAA batteries, and all the usual not-made-by-Apple frills like PlaysForSure, FM and a mic. But there just really isn't a lot going on here. The PLED display is minuscule, and the 0.6MB per second transfer speed was the slowest CNET has seen this year. They found the simplicity of the controls appealing and solid to push, but the buttons rattled around when they shook the device. Apparently the on-screen lyrics karaoke feature is a nice addition, and there is some SmartFill software to load the device ala Apple's Autofill, but it lacks most of the "smart" options of Apple's version. At roughly $125 for the 1GB version, the S200 isn't a terrible deal, but we're just not sure what's going to set this apart from the pack.
BenQ's VIIV-friendly DMP300 Digital Media Player
Now that you've picked up a brand new VIIV-powered PC (because computing just isn't computing without VIIV), you probably want a media streaming device to watch all your digital swag on regular TVs, and BenQ's got your back with the new DMP300 Digital Media Player. Like many of the other similar solutions on the market, the DMP300 streams your music (MP3, WMA, PCM), vids (MPEG-1/2/4, WMV9, XviD), and pics (JPEG, JPEG2000, BMP) over a wired or wireless (802.11b/g) network, but also leverages the power of VIIV for accessing certain remote applications and premium content. This model sports a full range of connectivity options -- HDMI, component, S-video, and digital audio outputs are some of the highlights -- and will be available for an undisclosed price under generic branding sometime next quarter.
Cringingly blurry pics reveal Microsoft's "iPod killer"?
An anonymous tipster sent us a bunch of pictures he shot last night from the outside of the Saturn Cafe in Santa Cruz. While we don't normally toss up random pics we get in the tip jar, this guy claims the pics depict the filming of a commercial of a possible "iPod killer" from Microsoft. We can't vouch for the validity of this, or for this guy's camera steadying abilities, but there does appear to be something going on here. The device's screen ratio reminds us of the Gigabeat S, so Portable Media Center seems likely. Keep reading for even more nauseatingly blurry pictures of the device.
MTV pimps branded MP3 players in Europe
Just a few weeks after the launch of their Microsoft-supported music service Urge, MTV has tapped European company Mini Media to produce two MP3 players emblazoned with branding from Viacom franchises such as South Park and Pimp My Ride. The lower-end MIVI-P1GB sports 1GB of storage (expandable with SD), WMA playback, an FM tuner and a voice recorder, while the higher-end MIVI-P1GBV1 adds photo/video playback on a 1.5-inch CSTN screen. Yeah, the specs are nothing special but MTV is hoping the wacky rubberized finish and cheesy graphics will be enough to separate consumers from their cash after the European release slated for September. No word on price or plans for a US release yet, but we're betting we'll see these before we ever see that other MTV player again.[Via I4U]
80s instructional LP for conquering games
The antecedent to all those tips and tricks magazines can be found in this obscure LP from the 80s: Conquer the Video Craze: How to Beat the Hottest Games. In it, "Atari Champion finalist" Curtis Hoard reads off -- in a stultifyingly slow monotone -- the techniques he's used to earn him that honorific. Sluggo at Dinosaur Gardens has not only found this retro artifact, but he's converted it into MP3 for our enjoyment edification. Learn strategies for: Centipede, Defender, Stargate, Dig Dug, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, and Tempest. Wait, Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man? [Via Boing Boing]
Sharp's MP-B300: where thin and ugly meet
This 8.9-millimeter thin Sharp-made eyesore goes by the name MP-B300. It ekes-out up to 1GB of on-board memory with the possibility for more via miniSD expansion. Yeah, the included FM-transmitter is kinda cool, allowing the player to pump tunes over your car's stereo system without any irritating accessories, and it does playback MP3 and PlaysForSure WMA in addition to boasting the ability to record directly off the integrated FM tuner. Still, at roughly the same price as that thinner, not-to-be-named player with color screen, well, we just gotta wonder why Sharp, why?[Via Akihabara News]
MobiBlu B153 audio player reviewed
By now, you probably already know the MobiBlu B153's claim to fame: it's got a battery life that is so impressive that it's in the model number. That's right; this flash player will last about 153 hours, or over six days of continuous use. That might be great if you're off on a camping trip or too lazy to charge your player more than once a week, but how about the player's other features (you know, like its UI and how it sounds)? CNET checked out the B153, and found that, other than the battery life and its ability to automatically download podcast subscriptions, the player is just so-so. Its interface is strictly folder-driven -- forget about sorting by artist or genre. The screen is also small, and support for DRM is limited to purchased WMA files (no subscription support). Oh, and CNET's testers found the battery life to be a mere 146.5 hours. Hey, we're not complaining. That'll still give us six full days of music.
The iPod killers of summer '06
Companies are still trying to find that elusive iPod killer that they know must be out there. Competition is a good thing, so I thought I would link to MP3newswire's report of the contenders this summer. The article lists a dizzying array of MP3 players in every form factor you can think of. Some have more features than the iPod, and cost less.It is interesting to note that at the very end of the article is an ad for the iPod, which I think just about sums up these MP3 players' chances.
Pioneer VSX-516 6.1ch receiver with USB, MP3, AAC and WMA playback
Pioneer continues to pump out surround-sound receivers with the ability to play digital audio files via a USB port, and the latest in the line, the VSX-516, adds a few new tricks, including support for the latest Dolby standards. The VSX-516 also continues Pioneer's support for WMA9 Pro, for lossless playback. And the VSX-516 also represents a decent price drop: Pioneer's first amp with similar features, 2003's VSA-AX10Ai-N, went for a whopping ¥500,000 (about $4,400), while the new model is just ¥49,500 ($440), or about a tenth of the price of the older model. What a difference three years makes.
iRiver N12 to go up to 2GB
Sure, we weren't exactly brimming with excitement about the iRiver N12, when we first caught sight of it a couple of weeks ago. But we've heard at least one good thing about the new player that sets it apart from its lookalike predecessor, the N11: the N12 will be available in capacities of up to 2GB, for a price in Japan of about ¥21,980 ($195). Other specs remain the same: OLED display, and support for MP3, WMA and PlaysForSure. Yeah, we know what you're thinking: iRiver's about to give up on the digital audio player business altogether in order to focus on WiBro gaming, so why should I even consider buying one of their players? Well, don't worry. We still don't expect this one to make it to the US, so unless you're in Asia, chances are they're not about to try selling it to you to begin with.
Samsung division CEO bans SGH-B570 8GB musicphones
We've heard stories about companies banning the use of certain kinds of products, such as cameraphones or digital audio players, since they could potentially be used to snap pics of or download classified info. But in what must be a first-of-its-kind case, Samsung has actually banned employees from using one of the company's own products out of industrial espionage fears. Ki-Tae Lee, CEO of Samsung Electronics Telecommunications Network, has apparently warned employees not to pick up the company's SGH-B570 cellphones, because the music-playing phone's 8GB capacity "is more than enough to steal all confidential data about our company." No word yet as to whether Lee is also banning Samsung's various thumbdrives, USB hard drives and audio players, which can also be used to slurp company data. Also, we have to admit to being just a little disappointed that all of the company's confidential data can fit on a single 8GB cellphone. What does that say about Samsung's R&D capabilities?Read (sub. req'd.)
Logic Express 7.2.1 maintenance release
Logic Express has been updated to version 7.2.1. This is mainly a maintenance release, tackling compatibility and reliability with the following issues: Intel Macs: ReWire and ReCycle support, Standard MIDI file export, OMF import, VSL EXS instrument compatibility Blank Sample Editor window in some circumstances Unexpected halt of software instrument output Compatibility with Logic 7.1 songs Direct playback of MP3 files EuCon support for the Euphonix MC and CM408T control surfaces The update should be available via Software Update, or you can grab it from Apple's download page.
Sony Ericsson V630i 3G musicphone shows up in UK
Sony Ericsson keeps cranking out the high-style musicphones, and the V630i looks to be the latest edition to the line -- for UK Vodafone customers, that is. The phone, which eschews the Walkman branding used in other recent music-centric models, includes 10MB of internal memory, Memory Stick Micro support, a 176x220 display, 2 megapixel camera, trimode GSM support, and A2DP for Bluetooth stereo output. In sum, it reminds us a lot of another recent Sony Ericsson, the W810i, which has a similar feature set, but lacks A2DP (and that alone, of course, makes this one a new fave). [Thanks, Goku]
Toptone M808: a Skype phone and PMP love fest
Ok, here's an interesting point of convergence for you: the Skype phone and portable media player. Yeah ok, Toptone, the apparent Chinese OEM of this one-inch slim device, will actually pre-install any softphone solution into their M808 VoIP phone but we know it's Skype that most of you are digging on. As a media player you get an FM radio, up to 512MB of flash memory to store your audio (MP3, WMA, WAV) and video (WMV, MPEG-1/2/4, AVI) files for playback on the itty-bitty 1.2-inch, 65k color OLED screen. Of course, it also features a built-in Microphone to record voice memos, lectures, or whatever covert shenanigans you might be into. But plug this USB 2.0 pup into any PC with Internet connection and Skype will autolaunch with all your personal settings whether or not the PC has Skype installed. We just hope that autolaunch is configurable, eh? Expect these to drop under a dizzying array of names with pricing starting at $75 for the 128MB model in your choice of silver, red, or blue. [Via Slashphone]
Memorex unleashes three new no-frills DAPs
We can always trust Memorex to liven up the party, and here they come now with three new music players that pin down the low-end of the market fairly well. The players are headed by the MMP8565, which features 1-2GB of flash memory, a monochrome LCD, and busts out the MP3, WAV, WMA and WMA-DRM tunes. It's a fairly small unit, at 0.6-inches thick, and manages a respectable 12 hours of battery life. Rounding out the trio are the MMP8550 and MMP3774 players. The simple-as-it-gets disc shaped 8550 has a mere 256MB of storage and not much else. The gum stick shaped 3774 has a bit of a "me too" form factor, but spices up things a bit with a SD card slot to augment the 512MB of included storage. It also has an FM tuner. There's no word on prices or availability for these things, but they're supposed to show up at Target.
ASUS' "Goose" clamshell takes flight
While we're all for cellphone manufacturers giving their handsets "regular" names along with those annoying model numbers (Chocolate, RAZR, everything HTC makes), we're sure that there are still enough good words left that ASUS didn't need to resort to naming their latest cameraphone after a common waterbird. Besides its rather clunky pseudonym, "the Goose" sports a pretty attractive set of feathers features, including a two megapixel camera, music playback via the built-in MP3 player or FM radio, Bluetooth, PictBridge support, 64MB of RAM plus a microSD slot, voice recognition capabilities, and perhaps the ability to to use it as a webcam. No word on when a gaggle of these Geese will be touching down (probably just in Korea), nor for how much, but we've already moved on to wondering about that "Superman" phone that seems to be referenced in the background of this pic...[Via MobileMag]
Sharp's Music Carry QT-MPA10 portable music player
Sharp just announced their new QT (cutie?) MPA10 Music Carry machine. This portable music player features either 512MB or 1GB of flash memory, supports MP3/WMA/WAV playback, and slaps on an FM/AM radio which can be recorded into MP3 format for kicks. Powered by 6 AA batteries, the roughly 16 x 7 x 5-inch, 5-pound (with batteries) player sports a couple of 2W, 8-cm speakers. From the looks of the machine translation, it seems to also playback audio from any device (MP3 player or musicphone) that can operate as a USB mass storage device. And of course, a timer function is included which turns the device on and off automatically throughout the week for use as an alarm clock or wage monkey's cubicle mood enhancer. Let's just hope that Sharp's little box doesn't suffer from the same limitations as that goofy little Philips PSS110. We'll know soon enough as the QT-MPA10 is set to drop in Japan on 16 June for an undisclosed price. [Via Akihabara News]
Sony Ericsson's W710 Walkman quad-band GSM/EDGE clam for sportos
Sony Ericsson has yet another Walkman phone lined up for Q3 launch with the W710 clam for active types. As such, the W710 features a motion sensor and slew of fitness applications which can be managed from both the internal 176 x 220 TFT and 128 x 128 external STN displays to measure running speed, distance and time, or simply count steps back and forth to the Twinkie source. It ships with a 512MB Memory Stick Micro card (expandable up to 1GB) and features a standard 3.5mm jack, RDS FM radio, 2 megapixel shooter, MusicID service, Bluetooth (A2DP stereo audio not specified), and measure in at about 1-inch thick and 3.6-ounces. And just in case you'll be using it to make calls, it goes quad-band GSM with EDGE support meaning this device is also a US athletic supporter. More snaps after the break.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
The million dollar cellphone
How much would you pay for "the Bentley of cellphones"? $1,000? $10,000? Try a cool million bucks. This one-of-a-kind quad-band handset by Goldvish sports a blinding 120 carats worth of VVS-1 grade diamonds, according to designer Emmanuel Gueit, and as you'd expect from a seven-figure phone, features such amenities as Bluetooth, a camera with 8x digital zoom, MP3 playback, FM radio, included 2GB memory card and an EDGE connection (though curiously no 3G option or WiFi -- it seems a million bucks isn't what it used to be). For those of you not willing to drop such an obscene amount of money on a phone that even the designer likens to a boomerang, Goldvish also offers several other diamond-encrusted 18k gold models in your choice of rose, yellow, or white, starting at a much more reasonable $25,600.[Thanks, Langer]
