iRiver’s P7 PMP has been spotted in the wild, complete with retail packaging. The 4.3-inch touchscreen P7 comes with either 4GB, 8GB or 16GB of internal storage (plus a microSD card slot to add to that), and according to iRiver has a “magazine style” GUI with various panes of image, audio, video and radio information.
Hands-on video demo of the iRiver P7 after the cut
Last month words got out iRiver is shipping its multi-talent Wave Home multimedia communication hub in Korea, today, we learned the first unit has reached KT Telecom subscriber; one lucky Korean has already posted an unboxing ceremony and a preliminary review of the new iRiver on his blog.
Koreans can now buy the iRiver WAVE HOME, the innovative touchscreen VoIP phone and home communications hub that was only launched at CES last month. On sale through KT Telecom, the device has a cordless VoIP handset – that also works as a remote – as well as a 1.3-megapixel webcam, internet access and widget-based GUI.
Check out the video demo of the iRiver WAVE HOME after the cut
iRiver Japan has today let loose of its P20 Portable Multimedia Player that was first introduced back in IFA 2008. The Japanese release will see to a 80GB storage version with the features that were previously covered : 4.1-inch AMOLED screen with 480×272 pixel display with ability to provide 12-hours of audio, 9-hours of video, or 8-hours of DMB contents from a host of multimedia formats to FM radio, voice recording, gaming and viewing office documents.
iRiver have seemingly released a black version of their SPINN PMP, although at present it only appears to be available in South Korea. Specifications for the PMP seem to be the same, aside from the color change, which means a 3.3-inch AMOLED touchscreen and iRiver’s nifty spinning control wheel.
iRiver’s SPINN media player has received a new firmware update, version 2.0, bringing with it increased GUI usability and a handful of new features. Among the changes are a new memo pad feature, allowing handwritten notes and sketches, new picture handling tools, bigger album art displayed during track playback, and timed recording of FM and, where supported, DMB digital radio.
We kicked off the week with our yearly visit to Macworld, finding a slightly subdued show floor but plenty of excitement about Apple’s final keynote address at the conference. Anticipation was high, with several new products expected to launch; instead, however, the only hardware news was a 17-inch unibody MacBook Pro. No Mac mini update, no iPhone nano, no new iMac, and certainly no new iTouch tablet. Phil Schiller attempted to channel some Jobsian enthusiasm over iLife ‘09 and iWork ‘09, which are certainly adept pieces of software, and the price changes for iTunes could shake up the download world a little, but it wasn’t the “going out with a bang” for Macworld that many expected.
After that, it was CES 2009, and the SlashGear team decamped to Las Vegas to cover the best-known consumer electronics show on the calendar. The impact of the recession has certainly made its mark on CES, with what looked to be a lower attendee turnout and several booth cancellations. Headline gadgets were also fewer and further between, though there were still a few notable announcements.
If iRiver’s other launches – the WAVE HOME and new Mickey – this week were somewhat unusual, their P7 PMP is far more mainstream. Controlled primarily via a 4.3-inch resistive touchscreen, the 4GB, 8GB or 16GB NAND flash media players can handle audio and video files, as well as text files and FM radio.
Video demo of the iRiver P7 PMP after the cut
iRiver’s Mickey PMP is something of a novelty compared to other mediaplayers from the company, but the iPod shuffle rival does manage to endear itself in-person. Available in pink or sky-blue with 2GB of storage for your audio files, the Disney-branded MP3 player has LED eyes that indicate volume, playback and other status details, together with expressions.
At a CES with fewer than usual slam-dunk gadgets, iRiver’s WAVE HOME still stands out as one of the more interesting developments. Our demo video with the touchscreen communications and media device is now processed, so make sure to check it out after the cut. In it, all of the WAVE HOME’s primary features are demonstrated: VoIP calls, messages, internet access, media playback and more.
SlashGear Japan
