v30
Latest
N95 8GB gets hooked up with firmware v30, too -- just two more N95s to go
That delightful little gift to original N95 owners in the form of firmware v30 has now spread to the European-spec N95 8GB, too, offering better battery life (allegedly), a new Flash Lite client, upgraded media player, "enablers" for Comes With Music (sounds promising), and a host of other tweaks that make the N95 better than ever. In fact, it might have some N95-1 and N95-2 owners saying "N96 who?" -- but North American N95-3 and N95-4 owners, as usual, might let their eyes wander toward the newer piece anyway since there's no indication when they'll be seeing the upgrade.
Toshiba Gigabeat V30 goes pink and blue
The buzz (was there any?) surrounding the Toshiba Gigabeat V30 has all but faded. Not unusual what with the bigger, badder V60 and Tosh's other DAP -- the Zune -- already kicked out the door. So in a knee-jerk fit of marketing us-too-idness we've come to expect, out rolls the pastel pink V30E with integrated 1Seg TV tuner. Also available in navy blue, you know, just in case pastels are too much of a challenge to your man palette. Otherwise, same specs for that same ¥49,800 (about $434) when these hit December 15th in Japan. Pictured in blue after the break. [Via Impress]
Toshiba's Gigabeat V60 launched
Toshiba just doubled the capacity of their Gigabeat V30 earning their Microsoft Portable Media Center player a swank new V60E moniker. That's 60GB of disk tucked into the chassis for up to 255-hours of hot, hot animal network action recorded off the OneSeg ISDB-T mobile TV tuner. We're still talking a 3.5-inch QVGA display here but bumps can be found in the enhanced EPG now allowing for up to 16 shows to be scheduled for recording up to 1-week in advance. They've also managed to squeeze a bit more juice out of the battery which now boasts 27-hours of music playback (MP3/WMA/WAV/WMA 9 Lossless/DRM'd WMA), 9-hours of WMV vids, or 7-hours of OneSeg TV which should be spot-on based on reviews of the V30 sib. Expect the V60E to pop for Japan starting 8 December for ¥59,800 (about $507) with the a 30GB, V30E hitting a bit sooner on 22 November for ¥49,800 (about $423). If history serves, then we can expect a tuner-free version of the V60 to arrive in the US a few months later.[Via Impress]
Toshiba Gigabeat V30 reviewed
If you've been on the lookout for a sizable screen to enjoy Microsoft's Portable Media Center and all the interface joys that lie therein, the new Gigabeat V -- which has finally made it to the US in a 30GB, tuner-free version known as the MEV30K -- is a bit of a mixed bag. Sure, PMC is all there, enjoyable as ever, and CNET found the screen to be plenty bright and colorful, but they found it grainy as well, perhaps due to Toshiba stretching out the QVGA resolution over a whole 3.5-inches. They also found the thumb stick to be a bit "spongy," and the other controls were a bit awkward as well. Other little inconveniences like a lack of FM, no video input and a weird requirement to unplug USB when charging make this player hard for the reviewer to recommend. Luckily, the 25 hour and 8 hour battery life estimates seem to be no lie, audio quality is excellent and Toshiba has slashed the price down to $300 mere days after launching it for $400, which ain't bad at all for a 30GB PVP with a 3.5-inch screen, no matter how it reviews.[Thanks, Nana]
