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Axxen unveils egg-shaped i-EGG speaker at KES
With the bevy of proprietary speaker systems out there, it's refreshing to see Axxen drop an unbiased (albeit oddly shaped) boombox of sorts that'll play nice with just about anything. Hot on the heels of its minuscule Playdisc, the company is still making noise at KES by unveiling its i-EGG DAP speaker, which sports a "futuristic" oval enclosure, detachable stereo speakers, a 3.5-millimeter audio input jack, USB port, and an SD slot for loading up your tunes. This battery-powered device also touts stereo out -- in case the mysterious internal wattage isn't robust enough for you -- and it supports both MP3 and WMA from your USB thumb drive / SD card of choice. While pricing information was not disclosed, we do know that Axxen plans to hatch this in late October for the Korean market.[Via Akihabara News]
Scitec SSF-512 MP3 player with speaker
Now that Samsung swung the doors wide, Scitec can step through with their own version of the MP3 player with integrated speaker. The 25-gram SSF-512 with OLED display brings an FM tuner, voice and line-in recorder, 10-hour playback off AAA battery, and a piddling 512MB of flash to host your MP3/WAV/DRM'd WMA audio. No details about that speaker but really, how good can it be? Available in silver and black 'cause even pirates need to jam. On sale today in Japan for a ¥8,980 or about $76. Argh.[Via Impress]
Engadget China's ultimate fake PSP collection
They say that imitation is the best form of flattery. Well, Sony should be incredibly flattered by the endless amounts of cheap PSP knock-offs there are on the market. While the bootlegs that we unearthed earlier could do only the most primitive of things, it appears that the latest batch discovered by Engadget China take a lot of Sony's functionality as well. For example, the system pictured above features a 16:9 screen and can play MP3 and WMA music files, and play MP4 movies. Sounds vaguely familiar... Check out Endadget to see the rest of their finds.
Pontus EN-3700 in-car sat nav also rocks the tunes
We're no strangers to the Pontus line of consumer electronics devices from Japanese manufacturer Edia, and now the company has announced yet another in-car nav unit that's heavy on the multimedia features but light on the internal storage -- and by light, we mean that it has none. Therefore, the EN-3700 gets all its maptastic goodness from the included 1GB card (its predecessor, the EN-3500, only shipped with 512MB), though you also have to pack your MP3, WMA, JPEG, and BMP files in with whatever maps you need to store. As for the screen, it's a 3.5-inch little touchscreen number with a QVGA display -- not bad, but since they're cutting corners in the storage department, we'd expect a little more for our 74,800 yen ($642). If you're looking for a way to navigate your way around Japan (or just locate one of the seemingly abundant McDonalds locations) and this sounds like the right GPS system for you, you should be able to snatch one up sometime this month.
SAFA's SS200 series players
Take a healthy dose of Samsung's YP-K5, sprinkle in some LG chocolate, and bake-in the latest Korean design trends for a pair of new DAPs from Safa. The SS220 is a bit of a mystery. In addition to featuring touch-based controls and a built-in speaker, we know it's capable of splashing a range of unspecified video, photo, and text formats up onto its tiny 1.5-inch screen. It also packs in an FM tuner just in case the few reticent GBs of audio dumped to flash can't slake your jones. We know a bit more about the other player -- the SS200 -- a 71 x 48 x 12-mm wafer with a 2-inch, 260k color, 220 x 176 pixel display. The SS200 is capable of 6/8-hours of video/audio playback with support for MP3, WMA, and WAV media formats. No ship date or pricing unfortunately, hell, we can't even say for sure which of the two is pictured above. Let's just be thankful for the scraps they've thrown, mkay?
FairUse4WM peeps stay one step ahead of Microsoft
Mere days after Microsoft started pushing a new IBX version for "protecting" PlaysForSure files from its users, the FairUse4WM guys have thrown down a new version that deals with that and other little DRM-circumvention obstacles. The new release -- version 1.2 -- knocks out DRMv1 files you've ripped yourself with protection, breaks down individualized WM9 files and has a workaround for WM11beta2. Of course, we're guessing it won't be long until Microsoft has another quick update to break FairUse4WM again, but it seems like a more drastic update might be in order to shut down this hack for good. We're sure you're well familiar with our stance on this whole issue, and hope that version 1.2 treats you right.
Newman's do-it-all, swivel-screen M790 DAP
You'd think that we would have heard of a company that's made (or perhaps rebadged) literally hundreds of DAPs and PMPs since 2004, but until we came across the swivel-screen M790, we'd never caught wind of a Chinese manufacturer called Newman. Most of its products are simply cookie-cutter devices that resemble so many of the other products we've featured on these pages, but the M790's unique design and large-ish 2.5-inch screen convinced us to give it another look. As with many foreign products of its ilk, this DAP's exact specs are a little hard to come by, but we do know that it sports a QVGA resolution, built-in speakers, a camera of some undetermined pixel count (machine translation pegs it as a 20 megapixel shooter, but frankly we're a bit suspect), and support for MP3, WMA, JPEG, and unspecified video files. Storage on this one is a paltry 512MB (expandable through the SD / MMC slot), but that's just as well, as it'll take a pretty long time to load up even that amount of data over the sluggish USB 1.1 connection. Also along for the ride are your typical assortment of dictionaries, games, voice recording, audio line-in, and the all important timekeeping functionality. It seems like you can pick up the M790 sometime this month (maybe even right now!), but it's obviously not available in the US, so factor in the cost of a plane ticket to China along with however many yuan this happens to be retailing for.[Via Anything But iPod]
EGGE's egg-shaped digital media player
Upon initial inspection of this Korean contraption, you could easily find yourself mistaking it for a Tamagotchi, but thankfully this egg-shaped gizmo plays a more productive role. Instead of a few silly pixels wasting your time with unrealistic demands, the EGGE is a low-maintenance digital media player that supports MP3, WMV, MPEG, and AVI formats. Rocking either 512MB or 1GB of capacity, this minuscule device also sports an FM tuner and built-in EQ. Underneath the dome-shaped glass is a 1-inch OLED display that actually supports full motion video (although you may need some type of magnification to reap any enjoyment whatsoever). The internal battery only keeps the in-ear party going for 10 hours, but supposedly plays nice with both OS X and Windows via USB 2.0. The EGGE also packs a nifty flipscreen feature -- when worn from your neck, raising the unit to eye-level yields an upside-down predicament, but with the press of a button, the screen is flipped for your viewing satisfaction. (Sure, an orientation sensor would have made more sense, but where's the fun in that?) While this unit packs some good features into a miniature package, we can't confirm a US hatch date nor market price, but there's always those digital pocket pets, The Egg, the USB Egg, the Tele-Egg, the egg incubator, boiled egg inks, the Pivo, and even other egg audio players to curb your egg-shaped cravings for the time being.[Via Shiny Shiny]
Creative's new Zen Neeon 2
First Creative rolled out the hard drive-based Zen Neeon, then it brought the model up-to-date with a little flash memory, and now the company's added a full color screen and dubbed this new device Neeon 2. Available in 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB capacities, the newest Neeons clearly have their sights set on the nano, even allowing you to play back specially-formatted video on the admittedly-cramped 128 x 128, 1.5-inch display. As with most Creative DAPs, you're also getting an FM radio, voice recorder, and line-in audio capture, but the color screen definitely takes a toll on battery life, as this model offers a maximum 20 hours of listening. When these Neeons drop later this month -- perhaps in Asia only -- they'll go for $125, $170, or $190, depending on capacity -- not a bad deal, especially for those folks who like personalizing their players with Creative's swappable skins.[Via Cnet Asia, thanks to everyone who sent this in]
JVC Victor busts out line of colorful boring DAPs
What's a budget-class device manufacturer to do when they can't be bothered with making their line of MP3 players interesting through the tired methods of design and feature inclusion? JVC Victor has answered that age-old question by dressing up their new XA-F112 (top) and XA-F52 (bottom) in all sorts of snazzy colors and calling it a day. The prices aren't anything notable, with the 1GB F112 going for around 17,000 Yen ($147) and the 512MB F52 managing 13,000 Yen ($113). The players support MP3, WMA and PlaysForSure, along with voice and line-in recording, and feature a mere organic EL display, yet manage to be almost an inch thick. But if no-holds-barred design isn't your thing or the risky color schemes are catching your eye, you should be able to pick one of these up this September in Japan.
Bandy the MP3-playing teddy bear
Kids love teddy bears, and kids love music, so what better way to get the little ones begging for your product than by combining two of their passions into one adorable package? Certainly not the first bear-inspired audio device we've seen, Mogoon's MP3- and WMA-playin' Bandy (not to be confused with the ice hockey-like sport of the same name) trumps most other offerings by featuring a built-in SD slot for loading up tunes or serialized versions of its fictional pre-history; 27 minutes of said history are pre-installed on an internal chip. Knowing that Bandy is bound to end up in some pretty dirty / dangerous predicaments, Mogoon also made the bear dust-proof, splash-proof, and able to withstand falls from up to two meters, ensuring at least a few days of usage before your kids manage to break it. The fun begins this fall -- in Europe, at least -- for around €69 ($88).[Thanks, Sven N.]
Sanyo's DMP-M400SD "bring your own storage" DAP
Sanyo's got a new digital audio player poised to drop on the Japanese market, though it'll mainly be of interest to folks with a couple of extra SD cards laying around, as the DMP-M400SD contains neither a hard drive nor any flash memory. What you are getting with this latest member of the Diply Music line is a pendant-style device sporting a backlit screen that supports MP3 files as well as WMA tracks with or without DRM. Clearly stressing size over features, the M400SD is pretty lean when it comes to extras; in fact, besides acting as a USB mass storage device, there's really nothing that makes it stand out from the crowd -- especially the rather ho-hum 12-hour battery life. If this still sounds like an attractive option to you, then $60 is all it will take to pick one of these up when they're released on the first of next month.
Apacer's Audio Steno AU522 flash-based DAP
What do you get when you cross an iPod Shuffle with Nokia's 7280 fashion phone? (Hint: it's not Transcend's T.Sonic 310, but good guess.) Why, Apacer's upcoming Audio Steno AU522 DAP, of course. This fairly-stylish little number comes in capacities ranging from 256MB to 2GB, supports MP3, WMA, and WAV files, and includes a memory card slot for boosting storage by another gig. A built-in USB connector allows you to use the AU522 as a flash drive or reader for all those MMCmicro cards you have lying around, and you can also record directly from the FM tuner and share your music with a friend thanks to dual headphone jacks. The two-color, 128 x 64 OLED screen is another nice touch, though it probably contributes to the player's mere eight hours of battery life. No word so far on either pricing or availability, but if you really have a desire to snatch one of these up, we're confident that you'll be able to make it happen.[Via MP3 Player Guide]
Genus' SLM radio does DAB and MP3
UK DAB enthusiasts now have yet another way to listen to those sweet digital broadcasts on-the-go thanks to a new portable radio from Genus; and as if that alone weren't exciting enough, the so-called SLM also includes an FM tuner and SD slot for rocking out to MP3s. Actually, there's really nothing here that we haven't seen before from manufacturers like Pure Digital and MPeye, but it can never hurt to have another product on the market driving down prices, right? One feature you're not getting with this unit -- besides the inability to record OTA programming -- is DRM support, so if you want to load up your PlaysForSure- or FairPlay-protected tracks, you'll need to strip out the copy protection with one of those handy pieces of software first (not that we'd ever encourage that sort of behavior, of course). It looks like you can pick up the OLED-equipped SLM right away from either Curry's or directly through Genus, and at $182, it's pretty reasonably priced -- though you'll have to shell out more loot if you're in need of a blank SD card for storing tunes.[Via Shiny Shiny]
Venzero's LilOne HDD-based 6GB MP3 player
While everyone else has been busy watching the World Cup, it appears Venzero has been in the labs, creating a new middle child for their ever-expanding One line of DAPs. At 6GB, the LilOne fits snugly between the original, full-featured 8GB model and the minimalistic, flash-based Mini version that was announced last month. Like it's siblings, the LilOne will play MP3s and WMAs (with and without DRM), with a 1.5-inch screen providing access to short videos and photos. Other features include a 20-hour battery life, a €200 pricetag and the kitschy MusicMarker feature that helps you identify songs you hear on the radio. We're assuming it was size restraints that kept this player from getting the handy retractable USB connector of the original One, but that shouldn't prevent it from giving players like iRiver's E10 and Sandisk's Sansa e260 a little gentlemanly competition.[Via DAPReview]Update: Even though we've seen this around for €200, Venzero is insisting that it'll only cost $200 when it drops in the US. Score!
Hands-on with Napster's new 1GB player
Napster isn't so shy about their new DAPs after all. We just got to spend a little time with Napster's new 1GB PlaysForSure promotional player, and we liked what we saw for the most part. The tiny device probably won't be seen outside of its current role of attracting 1-year subscriptions, but it manages a nice look, decent user interface and a commendable 40 hour battery life -- not bad for $50. Of course, the player's first role is to support DRM10 PlaysForSure files from Napster To Go, but regular old WMA files and MP3s are supported as well, and it doesn't seem that Napster has made an effort to lock down the player from other services. You can also play back MPEG-4 video on the tiny, but nice, 128 x 160 LCD, but you'll be on your own for content since Napster doesn't currently offer any vids. There's also JPEG and FM playback, and everything is accessible via a convenient and fast iPod-like menu system. We'd estimate the player is 10-12mm thick, but while it's shorter than the iPod nano, the player felt comfortable in our large hands, and the buttons were plenty easy to use. It might all come down to your preference of music service, but we can't see this little OEM player standing in your way. Keep reading for some more pics.
Logitec announces line of colorful in-car DAPs
Japanese manufacturer Logitec -- who, as we found out the hard way, is in no way related to the American Swiss firm Logitech -- has just announced a colorful set of in-car DAPs that plug directly into your vehicle's lighter socket. What's more, the MP3- and WMA-capable LAT-FM300U includes both a built-in FM transmitter and line-in jack, so you can broadcast directly to your head unit from either the device itself or from an external player like an iPod. And judging by the $68 price tag and lack of storage information, it sounds like you'll probably need to bring along a more capacious device on trips lasting longer than an hour or so, as we doubt you'll be getting more than 512MB of flash memory when these drop in early August.[Via Digital World Tokyo]
Tower Records debuts digital download service
Although there are already numerous options on the market for filling up your non-iPod DAP with digital content, Tower Records has managed to find what it thinks is an untapped niche of music aficionados who are looking for both better sound quality and more variety than current solutions are offering. Enter Tower.com/Digital, a Puretracks-powered service going live today that company executives say will leverage the experience and industry connections of the nationwide retail chain to give music fans access to a "broad and deep catalog" with tunes not available from other sites -- even if the other sites offer more total tracks than Tower's 1.2 million. Plus, the WMA-formatted downloads are said to be encoded at a higher bit rate than songs from competing services, and can be burned to disc for playing on "many existing CD players." Despite their supposedly higher sound quality, Tower.com/Digital (they've got to rethink that name) tracks will still sell for the usual 99 cents, with whole albums also adhering to generally-accepted pricing and going for $9.99.[Via Cnet]
Digital Cowboy's SOUND Cowboy: keeps your saddle light
So, here we have Digital Cowboy's new SOUND Cowboy audio excrescence. This AM/FM radio with an aptitude for MP3 and WMA PlaysForSure playback features 256MB of on-board memory, SD expansion, and a "drip-proof" sheath of boxy plastic to keep your Hank dry for up to 10-hours off battery. The perfect companion to that eucalyptus bath you've been hankerin' fer after a hard day's ride eh Buckaroo Panzai? So go ahead, pick 'er up (if you can) when it drops in June for an expected ¥9,980 or about $87. [Via Impress]
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]