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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).
Sony ready to take on the iPod ... again
Sony senior vice president Takao Yuhara met with reporters yesterday to announce that the company is working on -- drum roll, please -- a new digital audio player, software and download service to take on Apple's iPod. Yuhara didn't provide a whole lot of details, though he did say the player would be "typically Sony," by which we assume he meant it would be hobbled by intrusive DRM, poor support for formats other than ATRAC and prices that will make it completely uncompetitive in a market where you can get a decent 512MB flash player for well under $100. Still, we wish Sony luck. We really would like to see the company come up with an audio player that could return this pioneer to its early Walkman-era glory (we have an idea: hand the division over to the team that designs the Walkman phones). But we fear that what we'll be seeing will instead be this year's answer to the Bean.
Pocketful Memory Player - preloaded with Japanese oldies
Remember the Peanuts? No, not the Charles Schulz comic strip -- the Japanese pop duo from the 60s. If you do (and we have to confess, we don't, despite their appearance in "Godzilla vs. Mothra"), here's your chance to stock up on their classic hits and join the digital audio revolution in one fell swoop. That's the idea behind the Pocketful Memory Player, a ¥7,980 (about $70) digital audio player designed to appeal to Japanese nostalgia buffs of a certain age. The player comes preloaded with a dozen songs from the Peanuts and other groups handled by Japanese impresario Sho Watanabe. Other than that, it's a pretty basic flash audio player, with support for WMA, MP3 and expansion via SD cards. But if you're looking for a way to show Obaachan what she's missing by not owning a DAP, this may just do the trick.
VK Mobile's waif-like VK2020 musicphone reviewed
VK Mobile seems like a very flashy company to us, what with their fashion-over-function ethos, their, shall we say, liberal "borrowing" of design elements from some of the sexier phones on the market, and who could forget the airbrushed nude models that they employed to hawk their products at CeBIT this year? We think PC Mag would agree that the company's quad-band GSM VK2020 musicphone -- that, like the models, we also spotted at CeBIT -- falls in line with this assessment, as their review highlights the handset's RAZR- and SLVR-killing thinness and "wow factor," but knocks it on nearly every aspect important to people who actually like their stuff to function properly. Among the laundry list of flaws reported are this model's small, dim screen, barely acceptable MP3 and call audio quality, lack of even EDGE-speed data, sub-four-hour battery life, limited filetype support, and flaky Bluetooth connection. Still, PC Mag's Sascha makes a good point when he compares the VK2020 to a hot date, in that you're a lot more likely to accept its faults just because it looks so damn good. If you're the type that rushed out to buy LG's silly Style-i non-hands-free, non-headset Bluetooth headset when it became available from Verizon this week, then you'll probably be just fine with forking over $400 to Dynamism in order to sport one of today's hotter-looking imports.
SeaGrand ez6 copies CDs to SDs and USBs
If you're still buying your music on shiny round discs and want to rip it on the go, the ¥19,800 (about $169) SeaGrand ez6 seems like a relatively painless way to get it done. Put a disc in the portable player, plug in a USB drive or SD card, and rip away. Of course, you won't have the usual conveniences of Gracenote integration and ID3 tagging, but if you, say, pick up a CD in an airport kiosk and need to get it onto your digital audio player by flight time, this will get it done.
Samsung's YP-U2 reviewed
Well, there's not exactly a whole lot there to review (especially in the wake of the YP-U1), but CNET got their hands on a Samsung YP-U2 and put it to the test. It came through with a "very good" rating for its FM tuner, voice recorder, PlaysForSure support, but got dinged on the jack placement and shuffle-like 13 hour battery life. But you just can't beat that $70 price point, even if the flip-out USB plug was unfortunately replaced with a gimmicky LED-lit clear plastic cap.[Via Samsung HQ]
Venzero announces Venzero One
Remember that mysterious Venzero audio player that MusicMarker service was getting integrated into? Well, they announced what it is today: the Venzero ONE. Turns out it'll be a 3.8 x 2.3 x 0.55-inch 8GB audio player with an FM tuner, 2-inch QVGA display, FM radio, mic recording (for MusicMarker, of course), OGG and PlaysForSure support, video playback, a 90dB SNR, and even a lightweight RSS reader. It's also got a built-in full size USB On-The-Go port and retractable USB connector (what they're calling Shareport), so you can dock your Venzero with another -- or any other mass-storage compliant device, for that matter -- and move around data, apparently also including DRMed music (assuming, of course, your Venzero ONE is authorized with a PlaysForSure service). Should be available mid-June this year for $289.
Bush: government research developed iPod
Apple has long boasted of its culture of innovation, and how this led to such products as the original Mac and the iPod. However, it turns out that, at least in the case of the iPod, Apple had a hidden ally: the US government. During a speech at Tuskegee University, President (and iPod user) George W. Bush told his audience, "the government funded research in microdrive storage, electrochemistry and signal compression. They did so for one reason: It turned out that those were the key ingredients for the development of the iPod." While we have to gratefully acknowledge the efforts of government agencies such as DARPA in some of the fields mentioned by the President, we also feel obligated to point out the accomplishments of private companies in the US and abroad, including IBM, Hitachi and Toshiba -- not to mention the Fraunhofer Institute, which developed the original MP3 codec, and codeveloped (with Sony, AT&T and others) the AAC format used by Apple in the iPod. Still, we have to bow down before his Steveness; we knew he was well-connected, but until now we had no idea of his level of influence in the area of government research. Hey, Steve, while you're at it, why not get the government to resolve the display problems plaguing the next-gen video iPod? We're sure they'll get their best minds on it and fix it in no time.
BenQ MP3 player adds retro Sega classics
BenQ is launching the GBA micro-esque (and by extension XGP Mini-esque) Joybee EG10 MP3 player in Japan featuring ten Sega Game Gear and Master System games, including Sonic Blast, Sonic Spinball, Columns, Putt and Putter, and more. The unit also contains an SD slot, ostensibly for holding your tunes on. This thing is obviously housing the hardware to play retro Sega titles, so how hard will it be to hack ROM playback into these boys when--and if--they leave Japan?See also:Coby DVD player with 8-bit Sega games[Via Engadget]
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.
MobiBLU Cube 2 - successor to "world's smallest" MP3 player
MobiBLU is apparently getting ready to roll out a successor to the DAH-1500/1500i, the company's diminutive flagship product. The new model, apparently known as the Cube 2, doesn't appear to shave an millimeter or gram off of the DAH-1500's tiny footprint, but does add a new cross-shaped controller, along with a two-color OLED display. (We assume MobiBLU has kept the player's MP3/WMA/FM specs.) And we still don't recommend wearing it as jewelry.[Via DAPReview]
mobiBLU's B153 153-hour player US-bound
Looks like Hyun Won's got plans to bring their mobiBLU DAH-1900 to America as the B153, but the 153-hour player's gonna see some minor changes; its namesake, for one, and it'll also have direct podcastready support for software-free content downloads. It'll still have the FM tuner / recorder, line-in encoder, OLED display, and PlaysForSure support, but since the B153 doesn't come in capacities larger than 2GB (yet) you'll probably wind up listening to the same tracks a few times if you can't make it back to your music library for a while -- unless you fill up with low-bitrate Podcasts, anyway.
Samsung YP-U2X on sale in the US
Samsung YP-U2, here. Get yer Samsung YP-U2, here. It's a little less classy than its predecessor with the fold-out USB port, but Samsung's 512MB YP-U2X -- previously seen at CES -- is now available online for $70, four line LCD display, FM tuner, voice recorder, PlaysForSure support (sorry though, this one's sans OGG), 13 hour battery and all.
TomTom GO 910 portable GPS system reviewed
You might wish you had sprung for a GPS device before this weekend's little trip to the in-laws, which may or may not have involved two hours of being lost in a pair of cul-de-sacs, but we figured you'd still like to know what you're missing out on. The TomTom GO 910 heads the GO series, and sports a 4-inch widescreen touchscreen, Bluetooth, MP3 playback off of the 20GB hard drive, and extensive iPod integration. Sounds like most of the features function well and as advertised. There's quick and easy rerouting, clear directions which even include street names read aloud via text-to-speech, and an easy to use remote for those backstreet drivers. The only problem the reviewer had with navigation was an outdated POI database that guided him to a stadium which had been torn down five years prior. The Bluetooth connection offers up traffic and other information over your phone's wireless Internet connection, though, while the phone does have maps for Europe, the US, and Canada, there's no live traffic info for the US yet. The other main caveat with the player is the price. At $799 you probably afford to pay a man to dress up as a princess and drive you to wherever you need to be, but we're not sure if he would take as kindly to an iPod connector cable.[Thanks, Bob]
iRiver Japan announces 2GB T10
iRiver Japan is Reigncom's only region we've seen make the announcement today, but they've got a 2GB version of their lime green T10 due out there for ¥19,980 (about $170 US). Doesn't look too different than the MP3, WMA, OGG, ASF playing, FM tuning, voice recording device we're well used to otherwise, and it's still got that same damned single-cell AAA battery, making it one of the more capacious players to take said cells. Expect these to go on sale the 26th of this month over yonder in the land of the rising sun -- who knows (if and) when, elsewhere.
Sennheiser's Style, Sport, and Street range of headphones
Sennheiser is set to drop 17 new headphone models (just a sample in that pic above) onto the world's ears next month spread across the new Style, Sport, and Street product lines. A select few of these units like the MX 90 VC (pictured) will flaunt a new twist-to-fit ear securing system which relies upon a small rubber "stopper" you can twist thereby securing the headphone to the outer ear. The Style range of headphones gun for optimum sound quality while remaining stylish and elegant via a "metal look" (and very German) design. The antithesis of the Style range must be the Sport range then, which dishes out a healthy slathering of neon "fresh" green knowing that jockos everywhere secretly long for the color palette of wee little girls. These headphones are designed with max comfort and secure fit in mind and rock regardless of rain, sweat or low temps... making them equally at home for postal delivery. Rounding things out is the Street line-up which conspicuously omits any old-school can designs but are said to be specially designed based on teenager feedback nevertheless. These headphones feature unusual design, secure fit, and practical accessories with plenty of bass for use with both MP3 players and gaming systems. Expect to see all the new skull candy in stores starting next month.[Thanks, Dan F]
More info on TakaraTomy's luxe nano channel audio player
TakaraTomy is forging ahead with production of the nano channel, the merged company's high-end, super-deluxe digital audio player. The flash unit, due out in Japan this July, comes in sizes ranging from a capacious 128MB to an absolutely massive 1GB, and features a groundbreaking 1.2-inch display that can actually be used to display video! Not only that, but you can actually play your music on this gadget for six full hours on a single battery charge. It even comes in red, blue and silver. This marvel of modern technology, not surprisingly, goes for a premium price: ¥9,800 ($82) for the 128MB version. Okay, we're done. Oh, one other thing worth mentioning: TakaraTomy is launching a web site where customers can download animations to play on that 1.2-inch screen. We assume they'll be able to squeeze all of 30 seconds worth of vid onto the 128MB version.
Woodi CA-C360 MP3 player
What do you get when you release an irked rodent onto a keyboard? Why, the randomly named Woodi CA-C360 MP3 player of course. This 39.6 x 54.4 x 11.6-millimeter player, while featuring a clean design is just another regular ol' MP3/WMA player with 1.8-inch 65k color LCD, FM tuner, voice recorder, line-in recording, and image viewer available in capacities from 256MB to 1GB. Woodi, they ask? Probably, not.[Via Akihabara News]
iRiver announces E10
And here it is, everyone, iRiver's hot new hard drive-based E10 portable audio player. Unfortunately it doesn't have Bluetooth / A2DP as we might have hoped, but it does have a 1.5-inch color display, video playback, FM tuner, IR blaster (apparently it can be used as a remote), a 32 hour battery (yeah, that doesn't sound quite right), and a 3.7 x 1.7 x 0.55-inch footprint. (Our previous report also had it pinned with six gigs of storage.) MisticRiver quotes the price -- and the mentioned specs -- at about $240 US, but we'll all have to sit tight while we wait for US launch plans and a proper formal announcement.
Toshiba's Dynabook whale DAP
We know oddly shaped DAPs are hard to come by, so we thought we'd run this whale seal-influenced unit by you, just in case you've been scouring the market for a marine mammal that can pump the tunes. The Toshiba Dynabook IPCZ100A sports 512MB of storage, stores a USB 2.0 connection in its tail, and has a small LCD display in its belly. There's no WMA DRM support or really much of anything, but, well, it's a seal, so let's cut it some slack.
