Samsung Smart TV customers can install the Cloud Player app via Samsung’s Smart Hub. Playback of music is also supported through any speakers or sound systems connected to Samsung Smart TVs, which effectively turn your home theater into a booming stereo system where you can play your entire music library.

As far as Roku users, you can download the Cloud Player channel from the Featured or Music category in the Roku Channel Store. Of course, the app is free, and users will be able to listen to their music library on the Cloud Player through their TV and out of whatever speakers they have connected.

On a similar note, Amazon released apps of their Instant Video service to the iPhone and iPod Touch. Amazon’s answer to Netflix and Hulu has over 30,000 movies and TV shows to choose from, and now they’re available at your fingertips while you’re on the road, assuming that you have an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad (which was supported by Amazon earlier in the year).

The new beta is packed with all of the features you would expect in a mobile music player, and it also comes with video support even. You’ll also find podcast support, handy category navigation, a car-friendly user interface, even WiFi syncing if you happen to use MediaMonkey for Windows, since that’s the only way to take advantage of the feature.

The app can also wirelessly syncs play history (play counts, last played, date added, etc.), and it’ll also sync playlists, videos, and podcasts. However, in order to take advantage of all the new features, you’ll have to update to the beta version of the desktop player for Windows as well — both are free downloads.

The app might not be for everyone, but folks who want excessive control over their local music collection should definitely consider giving it a try. It’s not available in the Google Play store, so for now you’ll have to download the APK file from the Reddit thread, since MediaMonkey decided to release it on their closed forums.

[via Reddit]

If you’re interested in buying the music player, you’ll have a hard time searching for it under the name “Pebble.” Samsung has rebranded the device and has officially called it the “Muse.” It may seem counterintuitive since Pebble makes a whole lot more sense, but either way, it’s available now in the US for only $50.

Users with a Galaxy device (Galaxy S II, Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note II, etc.) will be able to connect to the Muse with the help of the Muse Sync app that users can download for free. The app is used to transfer songs and other data without needing to connect to a computer. The Muse player features a metal clip, 3.5mm headphone jack, 4GB of internal storage, and SoundAlive audio tech. So, while you may not be able to fit your entire music collection on it, it’ll definitely hold a few hundred songs for you to enjoy during your daily 5-mile jog.

The device is available now to purchase on Samsung’s website for $49.99, and while it’s not the most versatile music player out there, $50 certainly isn’t too bad of a price. Still, most users will likely stick with their smartphones as their music-listening device, but we certainly can’t blame those who would rather leave their phones at home to prevent damaging or losing it during exercise.

[via Android Community]

In fact, Kiko gets the same proprietary algorithms as the company’s far more expensive network media players – Linn famously opted-out of CDs, persisting with turntables until it jumped directly to streaming systems, and then set up its own high-bitrate record label, Linn Records, to sell digital music of the quality it believed was required -  which are applied to its range of inputs. You get three HDMI and one S/PDIF, RCA phono, and a TOSLINK digital optical, together with ethernet for streaming from an internet service or your networked PC/Mac/NAS.  There’s also a 3.5mm aux-in and a headphone socket on the front panel.

The output is to the matching Kiko speakers, which pairs each driver with a 33W RMS amp and use a digital crossover. There’s also an HDMI output for your TV or projector. Various free apps, such as Kinsky for iPhone and iPad [iTunes link] are offered for remote control, media selection, and more.

Of course, Linn’s main rival isn’t B&W or Bose, whose AirPlay-compatible systems start to look cheap in comparison to the Kiko, but brands like Bang & Olufsen. The Danish company’s BeoPlay A9, for instance, is far more outlandish in its appearance than the Linn system, but costs roughly the same (though doesn’t have the same flexibility in streaming or connectivity).

Does that make the Linn Kiko a bargain? At £2,500 in the UK and around $3,390 in the US, it doesn’t come cheap, though you’re getting the culmination of several years of R&D not to mention in-house production of the curved aluminum casings (available in six colors).

Exactly how that technology works, however, is unclear, though it’s apparently been sufficient to convince some of the big record labels. Warner Music, Universal Music, and Sony Music have all expressed an interest, apparently, with WMG already having a stockpile of 192kHz/24-bit masters it intends to leverage for Pono.

Hardware details for the Pono player haven’t been shared, though there are a few things we can glean from its TV appearance. The wedge-shaped gadget takes a simplistic approach to controls, with only three buttons visible on its front panel beneath the display; it’s possible there’s a touch-sensitive scroll pad integrated into that panel, however, similar to Apple’s older iPods.

On top, there are what look to be two headphone sockets, perhaps to push the idea of sharing musical enjoyment rather than hogging it all to yourself. The musical system itself is expected to be called Studio Quality Sound (SQS) based on a trademark Young filed earlier this year.

Pono will launch sometime in 2013, Young has confirmed, and going by Ret Hod Chili Peppers bassist Flea, it’s worth waiting for. The Pono tracks aren’t “like some vague thing that you need dogs’ ears to hear” he argued, having had a demonstration in Young’s car, “it’s a drastic difference.”

[via Gizmodo; via The Verge]

The total size of your GeeXboX 3.0 download comes in at 140MB. You have the addition of new firmware and driver support to thank for that bump up in size. Of course, those additional firmware and drivers improve hardware support, so we’re thinking it will be quite easy to live with the increase in download size. The development team still wants GeeXboX to be available on “as many PCs and devices as possible” though, which suggests that future releases of GeeXboX won’t be quite as big.

Still, 140MB definitely isn’t bad for what you’re getting. Have a look at the full list of release notes below, straight from the GeeXboX website:

New features

• XBMC Media Center 11 “Eden” frontend.
• PVR support for DVB Digital TV, to watch and record live TV
• Improved remote control support
• Support for Full HD videos on PandaBoard
• Support for Full HD videos on Cubox
• Improved HDD installation
• Installation support for (U)EFI systems
• Installation support for SSD’s

Supported Architectures

• x86 32 and 64 bits PCs
• ARM TI OMAP4 Pandaboard
• ARM nVidia Tegra2 Harmony
• ARM Cubox (armada5xx)
• ARM Snowball ux500

System

• Linux Kernel v3.4.4.
• Systemd v188.
• BusyBox v1.21
• Connman Network Manager v1.6.
• Xorg Server v1.11.4.
• Mesa v8.0.3
• OPKG Package Manager v0.18
• USB persistent user data storage.

Audio Drivers

• ALSA v1.0.24.1.
• Support for Analog, SPDIF and HDMI output devices.

Video Drivers

• Support for Intel, nVidia, ATI, Matrox and VIA GPUs.
• Support for CRT, LCD and HDMI output devices.
• OpenGL and OpenGL|ES hardware assisted graphics acceleration.
• VDPAU, VA-API and Crystal HD hardware assisted video decoding for nVidia, Intel and Broadcom GPUs.

Input

• Mouse and Synaptics touch pads.
• HID Keyboards.
• Remote Controls.
• PluseEight CEC devices.

Networking Features

• NFS shares.
• Samba auto-discovery.
• UPnP / DLNA media discovery.
• ZeroConf services announcements.
• HTTP server.
• FTP server
• SSH server

MediaCenter

• XBMC Media Center 11 “Eden” frontend.
• Movies and TV Shows, with subtitles support.
• Music Collection
• Pictures and Slideshows
• CDDA, DVD and (non encrypted) Bluray support.
• Media Database Support.
• Internet MovieDB / TVDB metadata and covers grabbers.
• Skins
• Vu+ addon
• Xvdr addon
• Vdr server
• Tvheadend server

That’s quite a long list, so GeeXboX enthusiasts have a lot to look forward to with this latest release. A download of the ISO is available right now from the GeeXboX site, and in order to begin using it, all you need to do is download it, stick it on a USB drive, and reboot your computer. After that, you’re free to enjoy, and be sure to check out our interview with the folks behind GeeXbox while you’re waiting for your download to finish!

The brand new iPod Touch will be available in 5 different colors actually, and two size flavors. You’ll get the 32GB model starting at $299, as well as a 64GB flavor for $399. The main color will be the “raw brushed aluminum” then you’ll get black, red, yellow, and blue. Add in the iPod Touch Loop (wrist strap) and you’re good to go.

Hey did we mention Siri? The all new iPod Touch with its awesome 4-inch Retina screen, dual-core processor, multiple colors, sleek 6.1mm design and more will also have Siri support thanks to iOS 6. Apple has just detailed everything and you can read more by clicking here.

For those interested in the impressive new iPod Touch (or any of the 5 colors) you can pre-order it online at Apple’s online store starting September 14th for just $299. Then we can expect the brand new iPod to hit stores starting in October although an exact date wasn’t given. If that price is too high the previous generation has received a slight decrease in price too. Stay tuned for full details and retail dates.

Start your journey with a look at how the original Kindle Fire has been updated with a select number of features right alongside a price drop to $159 – that’s madness! The new set of Kindle Fire devices come in both 7 and 8.9-inch display sizes, the latter also having a 4G LTE iteration coming with a new data plan that will run you just $50 USD a year – that’s 250MB of 4G LTE data a month for a total of $50 USD a year! Don’t get too pumped up though, there’s a catch: you still gotta pay overage costs.

There’s also a catch for those of you that aren’t fans of advertisements in your devices – the device you payed for and supposedly own. Amazon’s entire Kindle Fire lineup now also has Special Offers showing up on their lock-screens – with no option (other than hacking, of course) to get rid of them. Per Amazon’s press release:

“Special Offers

The new Kindle Fire family comes with special offers that appear on the lock screen. Examples of special money-saving offers that customers will enjoy include a $5 credit in the Amazon MP3 Store and a $5 credit for select titles in the Amazon Instant Video Store. Customers will also receive special offers and screensavers from brands like AT&T, Discover and Intel, such as a special offer of a $10 Amazon.com Gift Card when a customer uses their Discover card to purchase a digital product on Amazon.”

You’ll be glad to know, however, that we’ve got no reason to believe that this line of tablets is immune to hacking – as it was with the original Kindle Fire. Also, it does appear (according to several sources, but not yet confirmed by Amazon directly) that the Kindle Fire HD lineup is coming with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich behind their own customized user interface. That’s good news for you future-looking developers out there with diamond software modification in your eyes.

Kindle Fire HD 7 hands on:

The Kindle Fire HD lineup comes with a collection of software innovations like X-Ray and Whispersync. Have a peek at the timeline here to see our hands-on with the Kindle Fire HD duo as well as notes on the software features at hand:

Prices for the Kindle Fire HD lineup are as follows (followed by the refreshed Kindle Fire and the Paperwhite as well):
Kindle Fire (Refresh): US $159 / UK £ 129
Kindle Fire HD 7: US $199 for 16GB and $249 for 32GB / UK £159 for 16GB and £199 for 32GB
Kindle Fire HD 8.9: US $299 for 16GB and $369 for 32GB / UK N/A thus far
Kindle Fire HD 8.9 4G LTE: US $499 for 32GB and $599 for 64GB
Kindle Paperwhite: $119
Kindle Paperwhite 3G: $179
Kindle (Refresh): $69

Most if not all of these devices are now up for pre-order on Amazon with ship dates either in mid-September, early October, or November – it’s a spread!

Have a peek at the information we’ve got on the Paperwhite – including its 3G iteration with free – yes free – 3G. The smallest and lightest Kindle has also been updated with a few new software updates like improved fonts and 15% faster page turns as well. We’ve got hands-on with the three biggest beasts here, and of course more details than you can shake a stick at from throughout the day today. Stick around our Amazon tag portal for more information as it pops up between here and release time!

UPDATE: The full event video is now up via Amazon – enjoy!

You can connect the A-400 to your network through its Gigabit Ethernet port, but a Wi-Fi dongle is also available separately if you want to go wireless. The A-400 comes equipped with an SD card slot, an HMDI 1.4 connector, and an eSATA port to make local media playback easier, and you can upgrade the player with a 2.5 or 3.5-inch HDD or SSD to turn the A-400 into something of an external storage device for your content. Not too bad, but the media player seems to be lacking a Blu-Ray drive, a feature that will be sorely missed by some.

Once you’ve got your A-400 connected to the Internet, you can access the Syabas Apps Market, which contains “over 90 free and premium TV apps,” just in case you find your streaming options to be lacking. The whole thing is run by Sigma Design’s Dual Core 800Mhz SMP 8911 chipset, which should give you the power you need when you take advantage of the A-400′s 3D playback capabilities. As if that wasn’t enough, it seems that Syabas is considering tossing a USB 3.0 port into the mix before the player launches.

As for when that will be, we don’t have a specific answer yet. The Popcorn Hour A-400 is slated to launch in Europe sometime next month, and will come sporting a price tag of €289. For the moment, it seems that this is only scheduled for a European launch, but it probably won’t be long before the A-400 makes its way to the US. Stay tuned for more information.

Inside, there’s either 16GB or 32GB of fixed memory, along with a microSD card slot for adding up to 32GB more. WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS are also present, along with a 2,500 mAh battery, and the whole thing measures in at 165.8 x 85.9 x 10.8 mm and 221g.

Software is obviously Android-based, in this case 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with TouchWiz on top, with Samsung’ new Learning Hub also preloaded, as seen on the Note 10.1. There’s also AllShare Play streaming support and Samsung’s own Chat messenger service.

No word on pricing, but Samsung says the new Galaxy Player 5.8 will go on sale in September. We’re expecting to see more of it this week at IFA 2012 when we can see if that oversized screen really is too big for our pockets.

The 5.8-inch screen with have a qHD resolution, with the display making use of standard LCD technology instead of the company’s popular Super AMOLED tech. That falls in line with previous Galaxy Player releases, however, helping to keep costs down. Other specs for the device include a dual-core processor clocked at 1Ghz, 1GB of RAM, a three megapixel camera and VGA front-facing camera, plus Ice Cream Sandwich and TouchWiz 4.0.

The player won’t be as svelte as some smartphones, but we doubt many will be complaining about the 10.8mm thickness. The device is said to weigh 223g, and it will feature other radios such as Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, and T-DMB for mobile television in South Korea. The battery is rated at 2,500mAh, and a microSD card slot is included for 32GB of storage. There’s no word on how much storage the player will come with as default, but we imagine it’ll fall in the 8 to 16GB range.

Interesting, the design looks to be a cross between the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note 10.1. You have the same white glossy finish and curves as Samsung’s flagship handset, while two speaker grills are located at the top and bottom of the device, not unlike the Note 10.1 where similar speakers sit on either side. It also looks like the device will be going with a physical button plus two capacitive buttons, just like the Galaxy S III. There’s no word on when Samsung plans to release the media player, but SamMobile speculates that it it may make an appearance at IFA.

[via Android Central]

This is the RealPlayer app for Android, and “all-in-one” media player app for music, videos, and photos. This application has been available as a Beta build for some time, this week the developers of the app have delivered the final release version. Also included with this build beyond basic player capabilities is an in-app upgrade for Premium features. You can use the basic version of the player for free or you can pay $4.99 for the Premium Package.

RealPlayer Features – available with the free RealPlayer app:
• Music, videos and photos all in one place
• Available in nine languages
• Optimized graphics for high-res devices
• Playlists
• lastFM scrobbling
• Voice commands for search
• Control playback when phone is locked
• Sharing on popular social media sites
• Move application to SD card
• Set your favorite song as a ringtone
• Headphones controls
• Auto bookmarking of videos
• Home screen widgets to control media
• Access any file format your device supports

Additional Features – available through an in-app upgrade:
• Graphic equalizer with ability to save custom settings
• Metadata discovery using the Gracenote database
• Manual metadata editing
• Cross fading for a seamless music experience
• RealAudio and RealVideo (rmvb) support
• No advertisements

As you can see above, the Premium Package includes an audio equalizer, metadata discovery, a set of widgets for your home screens, and several other personalization bits and pieces. And for those of you out there – we’d love to hear from you – that use RealAudio and RealVideo (RMVB) – you’ll now be able to have those formats supported on Android as well. This version also takes out the advertisements present in the free version. Scott Uomoto, SVP Consumer and Helix Devisions of RealNetworks made it clear that is is no tiny release:

“This is the media player that people want. It delivers on what RealNetworks does best: helping people simplify, connect to, and enjoy their digital media. We drew on the rich heritage of the RealPlayer media platform, whic has close to 500 million users and one of the most recognized brands in media players worldwide, to make the incresingly complex world of mobile media easy to use and manage.” – Uomoto

You can get RealPlayer in the following languages, all you people of the world: simplified and traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Brazilian Protugese. And English, of course. You can download the new updated version (Version 1.0, at last!) from the Google Play app store now – or scan the QR-Code below – grab it!

Over on the other side of the pond, this device is called the Galaxy S Wi-fi, but because of what Samsung has done to promote this device and its sibling the 3.6 here in the USA, they’re going with the Player tag here in the states. You can use this device as a Bluetooth headset, connecting to your phone and taking your calls on the run, connect it to your Bluetooth stereo and run your tunes, and of course get in touch with your Samsung Smart TV with apps like Peel.

Check out our review of the Galaxy Player 5.0 from a few weeks ago and also see our hands-on with the Galaxy Player 3.6 from earlier this week! Below have a peek at our hands-on with the Galaxy Player 3.6 as well.

Of course the real battle here is going to be between this device (and it’s brother the 3.6) up against the iPod touch. Given both, one next to the other, it’s not going to be easy for Samsung to sell this experience as much more valuable than Apple’s answer to the situation. Once May 13th rolls around and this device along with the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 come out on the market here in the USA, we’ll see how well it does in the real world.

This situation might just come down to how well this device is marketed!

The 4 GB of storage space is enough for 2300 songs or 20 hours of video. The player also supports JPEG image files and has USB 2.0 connection for loading content. The little screen can show album and track information in addition to the video and photo files. One of the cooler features of the little MP3 player is that it has an integrated five megapixel digital camera.

The camera also has special effects modes and the player has video and voice recorders. The company claims that students can use the device to record lectures in class. Ebook and text files are supported as well, though the 1.8-inch display will make text hard to read. The little player can be purchased Walmart.com for $29 making it quite the deal.

The 3D Panasonic Blu-ray models feature the Viera Connect IPTV platform, while the 2D models have scaled-down IP VOD systems that package select streaming partners, such as Netflix, Vudu, CinemaNow, and YouTube. The 3D models also feature an improved UniPhier chip processor, 24p VOD output, expanded Viera Connect functionality, and 2D to 3D up-conversion. The 3D players include the DMP-BBT01 priced at $270, DMP-BDT500 at $350, DMP-BDT320 at $200, and DMP-BDT220 at $150.

The 2D-only models include the DMP-BD87 priced at $120 and the DMP-BD77 entry-level unit priced at $90. All of the players have already begun shipping, except for the DMP-BDT500 and DMP-BBT01, which will not ship until May. Additionally, the BBT01 ad BDT320 feature a slot-in drive instead of a disc tray, while the BBT01 also offers a compact design that’s operable in both vertical and horizontal orientations.

[via CNET]

The media player also has dual band Wi-Fi access and has a 2500mAh battery that should be able to provide long run time for use on the go. The PMP has a five-megapixel camera and a terrestrial DMB tuner. Memory is expandable with an external memory card slot. Two versions of the player are available offering either 16 GB or 32 GB of integrated storage.

The 16 GB version will sell for 399,000 won and 32 GB version will sell for 469,000 won. Samsung also integrates functionality for education, supporting EBS lectures and other educational services such as a dictionary and more. The PMP has an integrated gyro sensor and supports games with motion control and other content. There is no indication of when or if this PMP will come to other countries.

VLC 2.0 has a new rendering pipeline for video that generates higher-quality subtitles and has new video filters that enhance video. The update also brings experimental support for Blu-ray discs. Other notable improvements include a reworked Mac and web interfaces along with improvements in the software to other interfaces to make the player easier to use. The update also patches several hundred bugs that were reported in previous versions.

The software also has new video outputs for Windows 7, Android, iOS, and OS/2. The experimental Blu-ray support has a few caveats with menus that are deactivated in this release, but the developers of version 2.0 say those will be activated soon. Mac users get a new single window interface with two colors available to choose from and extensions for better Lion integration.

The BD-E6500 comes in a sleek low-profile design and offers two HDMI inputs, allowing you to connect a game console or set-top box to the player that then connects to the TV via only one HDMI output. It’s capable of playing 3D Blu-ray Discs and supports Full HD 1080p video playback. But most notably is the built-in WiFi and full web browser that lets you access web-based content and to connect to other WiFi devices.

The BD-ES6000 lacks the 3D and WiFi capabilities of the BD-E6500, but it features a very compact design with a footprint that’s just slightly larger than a disc. It also supports Samsung’s new Disc to Digital feature that allows users to register physical DVDs that get copied to users’ UltraViolet collection and can then be accessed from multiple devices. The content is made available through the Flixster app in Samsung’s Smart Hub.

The power output is as impressive as the size of the tower. It has a total power output of 10,000W and a five-channel amp inside. The bottom-mounted subwoofer has 4,000W of power alone. It has a pair of mid-range speakers with 1,600W of power. The two high range speakers pack in 1,400W. Talk about room filling sound.

The AeroDream One comes in chrome, black, or white colors and is custom made. It looks more like some sort of core for a warp drive than a media player to me. You can order one right now if you have the money, the beast is € 399,000 and takes 6-months to build. It also comes with two tickets to a Jean Michel Jarre concert. Apparently, the designer is an electronic music composer and performer in Europe.

Before we go on and decide how much we love or despise this little monster, you should know a few facts about it, starting with X-Fi. What Creative describes X-Fi as is two things: X-Fi Crystalizer technology “intelligently restores lost detail during file compression” while X-Fi Expand technology “expands a conventional left/right earphone stereo source away from your ears, giving you a more acoustically natural sound staging in headphone audio.” We cannot say a whole heck of a lot about the audio quality as of yet because we were in a very loud and crowded room when we got our first look at this device, but the next feature is quite enticing: wide audio support. Including such awesome lossless formats as FLAC, non-protected ACC (.M4A) files from iTunes Plus, and the regular set of formats in MP3, WMA (DRM9), Audible Format 4 and Audible AAX formats.

You can expand your built-in memory of 8 or 16 GB by an additional 32 GB with a microSD card slot (which does not include a card out of the box). You’ve got FM radio, video output to play movies (A/V cable sold separately), Bluetooth connectivity so you don’t have to connect with any cords at all if you don’t want to, and apt-X codec for superior Bluetooth-connected sound.

Inside the package you get the player, a quick-start guide, some Creative EP-630 earbuds, and a usb cable. The display you’re working with is a 2-inch TFT LCD, and the device does have built-in speakers if you just want to listen without connecting to anything, but they’re mono in scope. The device itself is sized at 46.5 x 63 x 14mm and weighs in at 43g.

As far as what we think of the device: it’s thick. It’s certainly not truly keeping up with trends as far as stylish looks at portable music players, and if it’s aiming to put up a fight against the big players in this particular industry, it will fail. The display is not a touchscreen, so we’ve got to rely on control buttons along the side which, at the moment at least, are rather unresponsive. Should the folks at Creative release this device as-is for €99 and €140 for their 8 and 16GB versions later this month in Germany, we can’t imagine it’ll do extremely well.

On the other hand, if they’re able to upgrade the software or the hardware to make the buttons actually work well, and aim to perhaps jazz up the casing somehow or another with skins perhaps (assuming they cannot make the casing any smaller than it is at the moment, that is,) they may have an oddball wild-card on their hands. The folks at Creative have a choice on their hands here, that’s for sure.

The Galaxy S WiFi 3.6 falls into the same strange category as the iPod touch, that offers almost all the same apps and multimedia capabilities of a smartphone and looks like a smartphone, but can’t actually make any phone calls. This perhaps appeals to those that want a dedicated media playing device that’s more affordable and won’t require an attached wireless contract.

It features a 3.6-inch 480×800 resolution display, a 1GHz TI OMAP processor, a VGA front-facing camera, and a 3-megapixel rear-facing camera. There are clear cost-cutting choices made here with the lower-resolution cameras and the non-AMOLED display. The device is already priced for the UK at £149 ($242) for the 8 GB model and £169 ($274) for the 16 GB model. No pricing or availability has been confirmed yet for the US.

Samsung made several other major announcements this morning, including the Galaxy Tab 7.7 and an unexpected Galaxy Note that straddles both the smartphone and tablet categories with its 5.3-inch screen. Make sure to check out our Samsung IFA 2011 wrap-up.

The X-Fi Crystallizer promises to restore the fidelity that is lost when music is ripped to CDs automatically. The player also has X-Fi Expand that helps to make the sound appear to be coming from full speakers farther away from you when you use headphones. A wide range of audio files is supported including FLAC and other formats like MP3, WMA, and Audible 4. Itunes Plus AAC files are also supported.

The microSD card slot will store up to 32GB more tunes and video than the onboard storage. The player also has video out when used with an optional AV cable. The 2-inch screen has 262k colors and the player comes with 8GB or 16GB of storage. It supports common video formats with WMV9, MPEG4-SP, and AVI (DivX4/5, XviD). Other features include a mic for voice recording, FM tuner, integrated speakers, and Bluetooth 2.1. The player is good for 20 hours of audio per charge and five hours of video. The 8GB version is $99.99 and the 16GB version is $139.99.

The interface is very polished and does look a lot like Mac OS to my eyes. It has big icons for major functions like music, video, and the integrated FM tuner. The screen has a resolution of 800 x 480. It also supports HD resolution video when connected to your TV or computer via an HDMI input. The P8 supports all the file formats that you expect with AVI, WMV, MKV, and XviD.

The P8 also supports a number of audio files with MP3, WAV, WMA, OGG, FLAC, and APE. The P8 can also view photos and has eBook capability along with voice memo recording as well. It will hit Russia first with a version in 8GB and 16GB both supporting microSDHC cards for expansion. That expansion allows for up to 32GB more storage. The player weighs in at 227g and measures 145 x 54.5 x 13.8mm.

[via DesignBoom]

I would buy it for the looks alone. If we had digital media players in the 60′s, this retro design is what they would have looked like. The back of the device is black walnut wood and that cool engraving is done by hand. That is impressive enough; the design looks fantastic. The front of the device is brass colored and has buttons and a slider along with a little screen. The audiophiles out there will want to know what is on the inside though.

The player has the ability to play 24-bit/192 KHz WAV files. It has a CIRRUS Logic CS4398 DAC and CS8422 SRC for dynamic range up to 120dB with a signal-to-noise ratio of 108dB. The headphone jack also has power for high quality headphones with 13.3 mW and supports 6.3mm and 3.5mm headphone plugs. The price is not for the budget shopper though with an MSRP of $799.

[via Wired]

The company has announced that it will be adding new features to the C-200. The new features include new apps that provide access to Howcast, Khan Academy, and BBC iPlayer. The device will still support all of the other features it always has like streaming of home video, music, movies, apps, games and a lot more.

The device also has apps for Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Revision 3, and flicker among others. “Popcorn Hour players have been the heart and soul of Syabas’ product offerings for years, and has driven the growth of our core user base,” said Armando Lopez, VP of Strategic Product Marketing. “Digital media enthusiasts looking for more control and more horsepower in their home entertainment experience will enjoy the Popcorn Hour Media Jukebox and the latest addition of apps we have provided.”

However, no official announcements have been made by Microsoft on the demise of the Zune. When asked about the situation, Microsoft sent an e-mail statement:

“We have nothing to announce about another Zune device — but most recently have introduced Zune HD to Canada via the Zune Originals store and remain committed to supporting our devices in North America. We are thrilled by the consumer excitement for Zune across many new platforms, including Windows Phone 7 and Xbox 360. Our long-term strategy focuses on the strength of the entire Zune ecosystem across Microsoft platforms.”

Current versions of the Zune, the last one being the Zune HD released in 2009, will continue to be sold until they’re gone. After four years of lackluster sales and low consumer interest, the Zune can finally be laid to rest.

[via Geekosystem]

The full list of supported formats is in the table below, but highlights include MPEG 4, H.264 and RM/RMVB, as well as direct ISO support and Dolby Digital AC3/DTS Digital surround sound.  There are also various image and audio codecs, while outputs include composite, component, both optical and coaxial digital audio, and HDMI 1.3.

A memory card reader and 10/100 ethernet port – that allows you to use the HD2 as an iTunes/Samba/FTP server – round out what’s looking to be one of the more interesting media players around right now.  The ASUS O!Play HD2 should be appearing in UK sales channels by the end of this week, priced at £109 ($172) with no internal drive fitted.

Press Release:

Connect to a Cosmos of Entertainment with ASUS O!Play HD2

World’s First USB 3.0 Multimedia Centre Combines Enhanced Content Sharing with Greater Storage Flexibility

With the HD2 model, the O!Play range expands its multimedia functionality to cover even more ground, including the world’s first media device with USB3.0 support to transfer high definition video and audio in ultra-fast speeds. The new device also features standard 3.5-inch hard drive compatibility, NAS support, iPhone® interconnectivity and DLNA compatibility for effortless access to online entertainment.

Better Sharing with USB 3.0, 3.5-inch Hard Drives and Network Attached Storage Support
O!Play HD2 features USB 3.0, which works up to ten times faster than USB 2.0, so even an entire HD movie only takes around 70 seconds to transfer.
O!Play HD2 expands the amount of content users can keep with support for 3.5-inch hard drives and an easy swap-and-store design so consumers can easily use O!Play HD2 as an external hard drive.
Complementing its mass storage capabilities, O!Play HD2 can be configured as a network attached storage (NAS) device for seamless network integration. It comes pre-setup with iTunes, Samba and standard FTP server functions. Users can manage their content and data quickly, all on one device. It even works as a jukebox, with on demand browsing of stored music files.

iPhone® Remote Control
Special enhancements make it possible to use an iPhone® as a remote control with O!Play HD2. This feature supports all major playback and content handling settings, extending O!Play HD2’s range in addition to promoting greater device integration.

Rich Connected Entertainment
O!Play HD2 brings more online entertainment home. It delivers access to live streaming of over 20,000 radio stations, Picasa and Flickr, plus a wealth of infotainment, including weather and stock quotes.

Easy Home Networking with DLNA
DLNA, or Digital Living Network Alliance, offers a standardized format for handling content such as movies, photos and music across different devices. O!Play HD2 comes fully compatible as a DLNA client, helping users share content through networked devices. This makes media streaming throughout the home effortless.

Multiple Format Support and Upgradable Firmware
O!Play HD2 supports the most popular formats, including MPEG2 (AVI/VOB), MPEG4 (AVO/Xvid), M2TS (Blu-ray), MKV (H.264), rmvb and DVD functional navigation of ISO and IFO formats. It also supports Dolby TrueHD decoding and pass-through, taking full advantage of Blu-ray Disc quality to produce 100 percent lossless audio. O!Play HD2 lets users experience 7.1-channel audio output for theatre-like enjoyment.

ASUS offers constant online updates to O!Play firmware and drivers. As new standards emerge and existing ones are refined, O!Play devices receive prompt operational revisions.

That means it’s capable of handling MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, XVID, H.264, H.263, WMV9 and VC1 encoded media in a vast number of different container formats (AVI, MPEG/MPG, VCD (ISO, MPG, NRG), DVD (VOB, IFO, ISO, NRG), WMV, ASF, TP, TS, TRP, M1V, M2V, M4V, M2P, M2T, M2TS, BDMV/ BD ISO, MTS, MOV, MP4, RMP4, MKV, MOD and 3GP), which is before you get to the various image and audio file types supported.  Then there’s the online media support, including Flickr and Picasa photos, Apple movie trailers, Internet radio, Mediafly and weather forecasts; you can also use the NMP-1000P as a standalone BitTorrent downloader.

Connectivity includes ethernet (wireless is optional), two USB 2.0 host (for hooking up external storage, optical drives or even keyboard/mouse peripherals), a USB 2.0 device port (for treating the QNAP as an external drive), two eSATA (one Host, one Device), HDMI v1.3a, component (Y, Pb, Pr), composite, analog stereo out and an S/PDIF optical port.  No word on pricing or availability.

Press Release:

QNAP New NMP-1000P Delivers Digital Home Experience with Premium-quality Video, Audio, and the Ease of File Sharing and Backup Capabilities

New NMP-1000P Networked Player with High Performance Wolfson Stereo DAC is Ideal for Audio and Video Enthusiasts Looking to Playback Wide Range of Multimedia Content while Enjoying the Crisp 1080p Videos and Dolby® and DTS Multi-Channel Surround Sound in Addition to the NAS Features and Internet Media Streaming Capability.

Taipei, Taiwan, September 2010 – QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class NAS servers, NVR Video Surveillance Systems, and Network-based Media Players today announced the NMP-1000P Network Multimedia Player, a unique new product for audiophiles and AV enthusiasts. NMP-1000P features the latest Sigma Designs® video/audio decoder that is capable of displaying ultra realistic full HD movies with advanced menu navigation, crystal clear next-generation Dolby® and DTS multi-channel surround sound, high-quality lossless music, digital pictures with background music, and other multimedia content. NMP-1000P is also powered by a high performance Wolfson stereo digital to analog converter for truly outstanding audio experience.

What’s more, the intuitive user interface of NMP-1000P makes it a snap to download movie covers and related information, and to discover and catalog content from any connected storage device or network drives. NMP-1000P retains Turbo NAS functionality for backup of all networked computers, convenient cross-platform file sharing among Windows, Mac, and Linux/UNIX, multiple user accounts and access right management, and remotely access to media files with the built-in Web File Manager and FTP. NMP-1000P even streams thousands of TV shows, news, podcasts, music, photos, and other content from Mediafly™, Apple Movie Trailers, CNN, SHOUTcast, Internet radio service, Flickr, Picasa, and more.

“NMP-1000P is truly the missing piece in today’s digital homes for enjoying premium-quality picture and sound,” said Jason Hsu, Product Manager of QNAP Systems, Inc. “Today’s users demand that contents be available on the fly and they don’t want to deal with a multitude of different devices and interfaces to make it happen. NMP-1000P is the culmination of QNAP’s extensive experience in developing network appliances and software applications which can satisfy the consumers’ need to get the content they want from virtually any source, and play it with the best video and audio quality on the living room TV using a single networked device.”

NMP-1000P can be connected to a home network via wired or wireless 802.11b/g/n (a variety of compatible wireless USB adaptors are sold separately) network connection. NMP-1000P can host a user-supplied 3.5-inch SATA hard drive with up to 2TB capacity for local content storage plus hi-speed USB and eSATA external connections for storage expansion, as well as directly connected to PC via USB and eSATA for fast data transfer, all within a sleek compact set-top box with a remote control and friendly user interface for easy navigation.

Boxee reckons that people will want to be able to watch anything from their computers on the TV, and they are right for the most part. Perhaps the biggest thing that the Boxee Box has over the Apple TV in the minds of the makers and many consumers will be the open nature of the Boxee device.

Boxee will let you play whatever you want on its Box in 1080p resolution and it is an open device. We all know that anything Apple is far from open. In the end, Boxee reckons that there is room left for the updated Box in the market despite the fact that it will be $100 more expensive than the Apple TV. I think we will have to wait until November when the new Boxee Box launches to find out if that is true.

The MP-501 measures in at a minimal 175- x 128- x 15mm, and if you were to hold it in your hand, you probably wouldn’t even noticed its negligible 250 gram weigh-in. You can connect the MP-501 to a USB-connected device, which can then stream a plethora of video formats. But, if you’re more interested in the HD side of things, then you’ll be excited to know that it can output up to 1080p HD, thanks to an HDMI cable.

There’s even a mini-USB port on the back-side. So if you’re watching all those HD videos, you’d want to make sure that your media player can handle it. The MP-501 has an ARM Cortex A8 processor tucked away inside, And thankfully, it can play pretty much any file format available, as long as you don’t have any of that pesky Digital Rights Management (DRM) going on. Price wise, you’ll be looking at only $49, so that’s not bad at all.

[via Akihabara News]

The new WD Elements Play has been announced and it packs its own internal HDD for storing media directly. The Elements Play device comes with 1TB or 2TB of storage. With that much storage, it’s more like an external hard drive that has connectivity for a TV built-in.

That connectivity is for full 1080p resolution using component and composite connectivity along with USB 2.0. The device measures 1.6″ H x 8.9″ L x 5.9″ W and weighs 2.31 pounds. The device supports DTS 2.0 digital sound and has a HDMI output as well.

There are also two USB 2.0 ports, one up front and one on the back, which can be used to hook up external storage for local playback.  As well as MPEG-1/2/4, Xvid, WMV9, RealVideo and FLV files, the LT-V100 can handle various audio and image files (including Ogg Vorbis and FLAC), though not copy-protected content.

No word on whether the Buffalo LinkTheater LT-V100 will make it outside of Japan, nor if there’ll be a wireless version, but considering the company has a WiFi-equipped version of their previous LinkTheater model that seems probable.  It’ll hit Japan at the end of this month, priced at 12,075 yen ($136).

[via AVWatch]

The CinemaGo is, for all intents and purposes, just a re-imagining of the CinemaTube of last year. You still get the eSATA interface, USB 2.0, built-in WiFi, and a BitTorrent manager. On top of all that, you also get access to MUZEE Internet radio channels as well. Additionally, the box is also able to handle 1080p output, and it’s perfectly capable of supporting formats like MOV, WMV, and MKV, amongst a whole plethora of others.

As for storage, you can choose to either put media onto the box thanks to an attached hard drive, or if you’re into that whole futuristic wireless thing, you can utilize your home network, or a general Web-based connection. As for pricing, you’ll be looking at spending $149.99 when the CinemaGo releases later this year. Oh, but wait. If you pre-order now, you can circumvent that price, and actually get it for only $109.99. So, this may be the best time to pre-order.

Press Release:

brite-View CinemaGo with Internet Radio Debuts

The Perfect Compact Player, CinemaGo Offers Personalized Entertainment at Home or on the Go

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 30 /PRNewswire/ — brite-View by Xpike Innovation yesterday launched the CinemaGo (BV-5005HD Mini CG), a special version of the highly successful CinemaTube (BV-5005HD). The small, sleek CinemaGo’s eSATA interface data transfer speed is three times faster than a USB 2.0 interface. CinemaGo also includes a Wi-Fi adapter for easy network access, a torrent download feature and MUZEE internet radio channels.

CinemaGo’s vivid 1080p high-definition picture quality can be displayed on HDTV in all video formats, including MOV, WMV, MKV, AVI, VOB, DIVX, FLV and RMVB. Content can be delivered from a locally attached hard drive via the home network or the internet. MUZEE broadcasts thousands of sports, music, news and talk show channels from 210 countries. San Francisco Giants fans can listen to KNBR in a Miami hotel room, and music fans can groove to the latest European dance hits on Digitally Imported.

The CinemaGo’s compact design is perfect for enjoying personalized entertainment whether at home or on the go, even in the car. The eSATA interface, a feature requested by brite-View customers, lets users watch Blu-ray movies without waiting for the movies to load. Networking multiple CinemaGo devices enables content streaming and file transfer between attached hard drives.

“A good digital media player transforms your TV into an entertainment hub, showing content from your computer, a storage device or the network,” said Robert Lo, CEO of Xpike Innovation. “The CinemaGo does exactly that, with the potential to do much more.” Lo said talks with partners are ongoing, and hinted that firmware upgrades may bring even more web-based content and services to the CinemaGo.

The CinemaGo is available now for pre-order on brite-View’s website for $109.99.

About Xpike Innovation, Inc.®

Xpike Innovation, Inc. designs and manufactures consumer electronics that spice up your living room without breaking the bank. Xpike Innovation is a leading provider of home networking applications, online media access and digital home solutions, including full-HD media players/streamers featuring torrent download, powerline Ethernet adapters and 1080p HD wireless transmission kits. Backed by nearly 30 years of electronics industry experience, Xpike Innovation products provide rich Internet-based multi-media user experiences for consumers to enjoy with their HDTVs.

brite-View™ is a brand owned by Xpike Innovation, Inc.

Krunker reports that the PopBox has been delayed until July 23. The delay was confirmed in a blog post by the manufacturer that basically stated the firmware was ready, but the software wasn’t. A few details of the device were offered up to help smooth the delay though.

One is that the media player will only work with HDTVs using component and HDMI. A list of apps available at launch was also offered with notables being YouTube, Photobucket, and Twitter. Netflix was expected and talked about back at CES, but Netflix will not make it for launch. The company also points out that new apps in the future will be fully supported with no need for hardware updates. The device also supports hardware security for premium content providers.

“I’d like to set the record straight regarding Boxee’s access to Hulu. Boxee uses a web browser to access Hulu’s content – just like Firefox or Internet Explorer. Boxee users click on a link to Hulu’s website and the video within that page plays. We don’t “take” the video. We don’t copy it. We don’t put ads on top of it. The video and the ads play like they do on other browsers or on Hulu Desktop. And it certainly is legal to do so.” Avner Ronen, Boxee

Zucker told the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet that Hulu’s management had decided to block Boxee’s access, and that NBC were in fact open to negotiations.  However Boxee’s statement from Hulu clearly stated that “Our content providers requested that we turn off access to our content via the Boxee product, and we are respecting their wishes”; moreover Boxee claim NBC has never been receptive to attempts to negotiate.

Boxee announced last month that it would be launching a premium content service over the coming summer, and the first standalone Boxee Box by D-Link will soon be on shelves.  Meanwhile Hulu are tipped to be considering a premium bundling scheme of their own, with a $4.99 paywall for some of the more popular shows they offer.

It supports up to 1080p HD 24fps video playback in H.264, WMV and MKV formats (among others) in addition to streaming YouTube, Shoutcast radio, RSS feeds and podcasts.  The Iomega ScreenPlay Director HD will arrive in the US later in January 2010, priced at $249.

As for the Iomega ScreenPlay Plus HD, it drops the network connection and supports either 720p or 1080i HD via HDMI; there’s also a single USB 2.0 port.  Onboard storage is either 1TB or 500GB (the 500GB model is already available now, priced at $169 in the US) and it can handle MP3, AC3, WAV, WMA, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (AVI-VOB), MPEG-4 (AVI/DivX/XViD) and JPEG formats.

Finally, the Iomega ScreenPlay TV Link Director lacks internal storage and instead supports either USB 2.0 connected hard-drives or DLNA streaming content across a network.  Otherwise all the specifications are the same as the ScreenPlay Director HD.  It will go on sale later in Q1 2010, priced at $129.

Press Release:

Iomega Announces New ScreenPlay HD Media Player Products That Deliver Online Premium Content as well as Your Digital Videos, Photos and Music Directly to the TV

New “ScreenPlay Director” from World’s Leader in HD Media Players Features Full 1080p High Definition, Network Connectivity, Increased CODEC And File Support, 1TB Capacity and Much More

SAN DIEGO, January 5, 2010 – Iomega, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC) and a global leader in data protection, today announced the launch of a new generation of ScreenPlay™ HD Media Products, including the top of the line Iomega® ScreenPlay™ Director HD Media Player, a feature-rich HD media player that makes it easy to browse your home network for content to watch on the TV, and also incorporates the Roxio CinemaNow™ entertainment platform from Sonic Solutions® (NASDAQ: SNIC), giving consumers instant access to buy or rent movies and other premium entertainment from the Internet to view on your TV.

The new family of Iomega ScreenPlay HD Media Player products, on display at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, represents the most versatile multimedia product offerings in the market today: three different products with different features at different prices – something for everyone that wants to enjoy their videos, photos, music and all of their digital content on the TV, as well as renting or purchasing premium content from the Internet – all without being connected to the computer.

Roxio CinemaNow
The Roxio CinemaNow entertainment platform incorporated into the new ScreenPlay Director HD Media Player products (available only to U.S. consumers), gives users instant access to buy or rent movies and other premium content via the Internet to watch on standard and high definition televisions.*

“With Roxio CinemaNow, consumers will be able to access premium content directly from Iomega’s ScreenPlay HD Media devices,” said Huberman. “Now U.S. consumers can rent or buy movies over the Internet without needing their computer or ever leaving the livingroom. We are excited to partner with Sonic Solutions to add this functionality to our industry leading ScreenPlay line up and further differentiate our products from others in the marketplace.”

Top of the Line: The New ScreenPlay Director HD Media Player
The new ScreenPlay Director HD Media Player boasts full 1080p high definition playback (24fps) and 1TB** of space to save all your multimedia files. The ScreenPlay Director is DivX® Home Theatre certified to play popular DivX video, and supports many of today’s popular CODECs and file types, including H.264, WMV and MKV, as well as plenty of others. (For a comprehensive list of supported video, audio and photo files, please go to www.iomega.com.)

The ScreenPlay Director is compatible with PCs and Macs, and has an Ethernet connection so you can store, access and share videos, photos and music across your home network or store all the files in one convenient location on the ScreenPlay Director. The new ScreenPlay Director is DLNA compatible to interact with other compatible devices on your home network, and is WiFi ready so you can connect to your network wirelessly, if desired. (USB WiFi adaptor sold separately.)

The ScreenPlay Director also includes a selection of popular online media pre-configured for easy access, including YouTube, Flickr, Shoutcast Internet radio, RSS feeds and podcasts. You can also configure the ScreenPlay Director to add other RSS feeds and podcasts, making it a snap to customize the player with your choice of online content. With three USB 2.0 ports, you can attach other external storage devices, a camera, flash drives, or a WiFi adapter.

The ScreenPlay Director HD Media Player, available later this month in the U.S., can hold up to 4 million photos, 18,500 hours of music, or 1,500 hours of video***.

The New Iomega® ScreenPlay™ Plus HD Media Player
Another new product in the ScreenPlay product family is the new entry-level HD media player, the ScreenPlay Plus, which acts as both a high definition multimedia player as well a high capacity storage device for your media library. Available in 500GB and 1TB capacities, the affordable new ScreenPlay Plus supports native high definition 720p and 1080i video playback, and is DivX® Home Theatre certified to play DivX video, too.

The ScreenPlay Plus is compatible with such media formats as MP3, AC3 (Dolby® Digital Encoding), WAV, WMA, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (AVI-VOB), MPEG-4 (AVI/DivX/XViD) and JPEG. The ScreenPlay Plus includes an HDMI connection and a USB 2.0 port for accessing additional storage from a portable hard drive or a USB Flash drive.

The New ScreenPlay TV Link Director
The Iomega® ScreenPlay™ TV Link Director provides all the capabilities of the ScreenPlay Director HD Media Player but at a fraction of the cost. A small, compact device with no onboard hard drive, the ScreenPlay TV Link Director gives users the flexibility to bring their content to the device using their own USB drives and USB 2.0 Flash drives or by browsing their home network. The ScreenPlay TV Link Director is DLNA compatible and is an ideal companion to Iomega’s Home Media Network Drive. The ScreenPlay TV Link Director is perfect for users with plenty of storage capacity in existing USB drives.

All of the new Iomega ScreenPlay HD Media Player products come with an improved remote control that makes it easy to view movies and photos, listen to music and access the Internet without leaving your seat.

Premium Software from Iomega
The Iomega Protection Suite of software is bundled free of charge with many Iomega products, including the new ScreenPlay HD Director and ScreenPlay Plus Media Player products. Available via download, the Iomega Protection Suite includes Iomega QuikProtect for simple scheduled file-level backup; a choice between EMC® Retrospect® Express or Express HD to back up your data, plus applications and settings; and a free subscription to a market-leading software that protects your PC with anti-virus, anti-spyware, and web security protection.

Pricing, Availability and Warranty
The new 1TB Iomega® ScreenPlay™ Director HD Media Player will be available in the U.S. later this month for $249.00. The new 500GB Iomega® ScreenPlay™ Plus HD Media Player is available now for $169.00, and the new ScreenPlay TV Link Director is expected be available in the U.S. later this quarter for $129.00. (All pricing is U.S. suggested retail.) All of the new ScreenPlay HD Media Player Products are backed by a three-year warranty (with product registration).

To see all of the current ScreenPlay HD Media Player products, simply go to www.iomega.com.

Cirago has a new multimedia center called the CMC2000 that packs in some nice features in a small package. The device can record video via AV inputs and supports time shift. It can record and playback media files at the same time and has an integrated LAN jack and can be wirelessly connected with an optional USB adapter.

The device has a built-in NAS storage unit with 1TB of storage space good for up to 1000 hours of recorded programs. A pair of USB ports is built-in that allows you to add more external storage when needed. The device supports MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, and ISO video formats along with MP3, WMA, and OGG audio. Supported image formats include JPEG, JPG, and BMP. The device will ship in Q1 2010 with 500GB and 1TB capacities to follow.

The Squeezebox Touch fits into Logitech’s existing range of media streamers, and offers control via a 4.3-inch touchscreen.  There’s also a more traditional remote supplied.  As well as music playback – the device has no integrated speakers of its own, but can support sampling rates of up to 24 bits at 96 kHz for use with an existing speaker system – it can be used as a WiFi b/g connected digital photo frame, pulling in pictures from Flickr and other sources.

Logitech’s range is a little trickier to set up than, say, that of Sonos, but makes up for that by being cheaper to buy.  The Squeezebox Touch is expected to cost $299 when it arrives this coming February.

Thanks to the touchscreen you can watch YouTube videos, listen to internet radio and more, as well as use the MZK-DWPR (we’re hoping it gets a better production name) as a digital photo frame.  There’s also an FM radio and some unspecified internal storage for local media playback; however Qisda seem to have omitted DLNA or UPnP streaming support, so you’ll have to hook up the router to your computer (via the miniUSB port) and transfer some files across first.

More details in the user manual, also over on the FCC’s site, together with some more photos.  Adding a display to a router isn’t new – we reviewed the D-Link DIR-685 back in July, though that lacks a touchscreen and speakers – but we quite like the Qisda’s form-factor.  Hopefully it won’t be priced out of contention whenever it finally launches.

[via Engadget]

Boxee have also partnered with three content firms: The Escapist, Suicide Girls and Clicker, the latter of which is a little like IMDB but for the TV.  Global shortcuts and a new Boxee menu have been added for quicker navigation, while the Now Playing menu and the OSD have both been reworked for improved visibility.

Under the hood, a switch of the graphical back-end from OpenGL to DirectX means Boxee can now use Direct X Video Acceleration, allowing you to use lower-spec’d machines but still have the same video performance.  There’s also NVIDIA Ion support for DXVA and Flash 10.1 video processing.  There’s still no word on when a generally-available beta will be released, however.