Project Phenix will make it easier and faster for consumers to organize, store, and move their high-definition digital movies and TV shows, including full 1080p quality content, across multiple SCSA-enabled devices. It adds to the UltraViolet cloud backup by allowing local storage and backup so that content can be accessed online or offline by any SCSA-enabled TV, laptop, Blu-ray player, tablet, mobile phone, or game console.

The new DRM standard will ensure the security of high-definition content and other premium copyright-protected content on local and portable hard drives as well as on flash-based memory products such as USB thumb drives, SD cards, and SSDs. It will complement existing content protection technologies and is expected to be available for licensing later this year.

[via Engadget]

Those crazy Will it Blend guys took a shiny new iPad, crammed it into their blender, and ground it to dust. The probably could have sold the iPad dust to the Apple fairies to sprinkle on the heads of geeks while they sleep. We learned this week that there are three iPhone OS 4.0 variants floating around. It’s said to be common for Apple to test multiple versions of a new OS at one time.

Microsoft launched the update for the Zune HD 4.5 and it is available now. The update adds cool new features like Smart DJ mix, an expanded codec, and the Zune HD was announced in a 64GB capacity. If you are a fan of the original Battlestar Galactica series, you have to appreciate this slick car. The car is street legal and looks like one of the Vipers from the original show.

Early in the week we reviewed the Hercules eCAFE EC-1000W netbook. In the end, the netbook looks different from the masses, but the price for performance is too high. The Lenovo C200 AIO with Ion 2 was unveiled this week along with the new IdeaPad S10-3s. The AIO has an 18.5-inch screen and includes a DVD drive and lots more.

ATI whipped out its FirePro V8800 graphics card mid-week. It is claimed to be the most powerful professional video card ever. OCZ introduced the new Z-Drive series SSDs this week that plugs into PCI-E slots. The PCI-E connectivity it said to remove throughput bottlenecks the SATA 3Gbps port has.

Onkyo debuted a new netbook this week called the MX1007A4 with a processor that is slow — the Atom Z515. However, the power-sipping rig promises 14.4 hours of battery life. The ugly and expensive Prive phone turned up mid-week. It’s a late 80′s style brick phone covered in real gold and diamonds costing as much as a house.

Amazon listed an intriguing 3D TV that needs no glasses to view and has a built-in Blu-ray player this week. The catch was there are no pics and the StreamTV maker is not a company we have heard of. The cool looking Archos 7 tablet cleared the FCC this week. That should me we see the thing on the market soon to fight the iPad.

The <a href="http://www.slashgear.com/logitech-squeezebox-touch-finally-on-sale-in-us-0880831/"Logitech Squeezebox Touch is finally shipping. This thing was announced a long time ago and was held up for some reason, you can finally get one. Apple finally started sending out the checks resulting from the settlement over the class action suit for iPod nano first gen owners. The checks were for $37.50.

Dish unveiled the coolest DVR in its line called the VIP 922. The DVR has Slingbox tech inside and has a 1TB HDD. That long awaited Eee Keyboard got its own video promo late in the week. We still don’t know when the thing will hit store shelves.

An Apple patent turned up this week outlining NFC transaction tech for the iPhone. The patent shows how the iPhone could be used to pay for things like a credit card. Super Talent unveiled a new line of dirt cheap SSDs this week that don’t offer tons of performance, but only cost $65. Capacities range from 8GB to 64GB.

Creative launched new ZEN PMPs this week including the X-Fi Style, Style 100, and Style 300 PMPs. The line is very colorful and the X-Fi version has a 2.4-inch TFT screen. The big news of the week was the iPhone 4.0 OS event. You can glean most of the details of the new OS by checking out our iPhone OS 4.0 wrap up. Thanks for reading!

While pricing for the app is likely to be free, it’s been suggested in the past that users would be required to sign up for Spotify’s premium service.  While the company offers an ad-supported free desktop version, interspersing tracks with occasional adverts, the premium £9.99 per month ($16) package removes the adverts and increases audio quality.

Updated: Spotify have confirmed that it will be only accessible to Premium subscribers; check out their demo video after the cut

Although this is the first time Spotify has been seen on the iPhone, this isn’t the first mobile version of the Swedish company’s software.  An Android build was demonstrated back in May, which you can see in the video below.

Of course, the release of the iPhone version depends on Apple approving it for inclusion in the official App Store.  Since the app will allow users to choose from a large catalog of audio and listen to it without paying for individual tracks, there’s talk that the Cupertino company may not permit it since it will likely compete against their own iTunes service.  Even if cleared for release, US music-lovers will have to wait a little longer for access: the Spotify service is currently only available in Europe, though the company says it plans to launch in the US by the end of 2009.

Spotify on iPhone:

Spotify on Android:

Billed as a low-cost way to shuffle media content from a set-top box, DVR or computer onto your cellphone, a little like a Slingbox, the Media Mover can transcode video from storage and stream it – locally or remotely – over WiFi or Bluetooth connections.  The pre-production unit Motorola demonstrated at The Cable Show also had a low-resolution camera – which could be used as an impromptu monitoring device – and an SD slot.

In their show demo, Motorola used the Media Mover to funnel video to a Q9 cellphone, to a laptop running VNC with the relevant DRM plugin, and to an iPhone.  What they wouldn’t share are specific pricing details nor content partners, but we’re hoping the Motorola Media Mover comes sooner rather than later.

The YP-Q2 measures 3.98 x 1.93 x 0.39 inches and weighs 7.4oz.  It has an FM radio, picture viewer, audio and video playback and an integrated microphone, together with mobile gaming support.

No word on pricing as yet, but the Samsung YP-Q2 will be available in white and black.  It’s not exactly the most compelling PMP in the world, but if they can bring it in cheaply enough then the good looks might find it a few fans.

[via Pocketables]

The USB and memory card slots on the front allow you to use the PDMC as a digital mediaplayer too; alternatively plug in your iPod and use the whole thing as a speaker system.  Still bored?  How about a DVB-T digital TV tuner.

If your arms are weak like mine then you can use it desk-bound, with an AC adapter, but there’s also a rechargeable 3,600mAh Li-Ion internal battery.  No word on how long you can expect it to last, however.  It’s available now for £127.58 ($175).

[via OhGizmo!]

In audio, the Sony PMP will handle MP3, WMA, AAC-LC and WAV files, while in video it will play AVC (H.264/AVC), MPEG-4 and WMV files.  Unfortunately maximum QVGA 320 x 240 video resolution is supported, rather than the display’s own maximum.  Still, it’ll cope with up to 30fps with bit-rates up to 5,000kbps in WMV files, 2,500kbps in MPEG-4 and 768kbps in AVC.

Other confirmed functionality includes the various equalizer settings – customs and presets – together with the FM tuner, WiFi b/g and YouTube support.  Runtime is estimated at up to 33hrs when playing music or 9hrs video playback.  Unfortunately there’s no availability information for the US, but the 16GB Sony Walkman NWZ-X1051 is priced at £214 ($310) while the 32GB version, the Sony Walkman NWZ-X1061, is priced at £283 ($410) in the UK.

[Thanks Toby!]

To load either your iPod or a DVD, the iLuv i1155 opens up like a laptop; inside there’s a DVD bay and a cut-out for the PMP. The screen is on the outside, so the i1155 is intended to be used as a slate, not with the lid flipped up like most portable DVD players. Somewhat strange is iLuv’s choice of iPod accommodation: the compact slot will only fit the iPod Classic, iPod Video and 3rd generation iPod Nano, and the latter will require an adapter (sold-separately) in order to bring its display up to the window cutout to the right-hand side of the LCD.

The point of any dock of this nature is to give you a bigger, better display than what comes on your iPod, and happily iLuv didn’t stint on their choice. Measuring 8.4-inches and true 16:9 wide-aspect, the LCD is clear and bright, with no shadowing, and has reasonable viewing angles to either side. We’d say around 130-degrees maintaining decent color. An adjustable stand flaps out of the back of the unit and allows it to be propped up at various angles.

Control is either via the included remote or the touch-sensitive buttons on the i1155 itself. Although these roughly resemble the layout of an iPod’s scroll-wheel, there’s actually no scrolling functionality; instead you get simple illuminated skip/pause/stop/etc keys. For DVDs, it’s everything you need to navigate the standard menus on the i1155′s screen; iPod navigation is done on the PMP’s own display, visible through the small window, with only actual playback on the main display.

Sound quality from the i1155 is decent, and there are two headphone sockets in addition to the integrated speakers making it handy for in-car use. Unfortunately the DVD player mechanism itself is far from discrete, with a continuous, loud spinning sound whenever it’s playing a disc. Compounding that, the volume from the internal speakers doesn’t go as high as we’d like; you could hook up a larger, amplified pair through the audio output jack, but that seems an unnecessary chore when the i1155 is meant to be a standalone solution.

Fully charged, the iLuv i1155 lasted us 2 hours and 42 minutes in DVD playback. That’s almost twenty minutes short of iLuv’s expectations. iPod playback lasts longer, but not as much as you might expect; the company predicts around 4 hours, and we got within a stone’s throw of that. What all that means is that you’ll be wanting to carry the included AC adapter and cigarette lighter adapter with you; a full charge takes 4-5hrs.

We’re not entirely convinced by the iLuv i1155. For a start, the limited number of supported iPods – which doesn’t include any of the current generation nano, touch or iPhone models – cuts down its potential audience significantly; throw in our review unit’s noisy DVD mechanism and it’s a potentially frustrating video dock on both counts. Reasonable battery life, a decent screen and slick design are in the iLuv i1155′s favor, but unless you fit the narrow niche you could do better shopping elsewhere.

Use of previous iPod model names aside, both Ibiza devices have some pretty cool features – namely, Wi-Fi for web browsing, music downloading and internet radio streaming, amongst other things.  The Mini will have a smaller, 2.2-inch screen with a four-way directional pad for control, while the Touch will have a 2.8-inch touchscreen.  The Touch will also be equipped with Bluetooth.

No word yet on a price or release date.  We’ll be sure to keep you in the loop on the iPod.. er.. Ibiza Mini and Touch models when we have more information.

The Samsung P3 has a 3-inch WQVGA-TFT-LCD touchscreen that can display in portrait as well as 16:9 widescreen.  It’s 0.39 inches thick – a pretty skinny device.  It plays your music, media and, if that screenshot is any indication, it’ll have applications and games.  Sound familiar?  Right – it sounds a lot like the iPod Touch.  Fortunately, Samsung wisely added a unique feature.

What’s that feature, you ask?  Samsung is equipping the P3 with Bluetooth capability.  Why?  Well, for starters, you can pair the device with your Bluetooth-enabled phone, which then allows you to use the P3 to receive phone calls – you use your headphones and the built-in mic to talk.  Bluetooth also opens the possibility for wireless headphones and other wireless accessories in the future.

The P3 will debut sometime around July for an undetermined price.  It’ll come in a few different models – 4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB and 32 GB.

That makes it 30-percent more powerful than its E3 predecessor, despite only being 26g and having a rechargeable battery good for 20hrs use. The original E3 did well in reviews, only being gently critiqued for emphasizing bass at the expense of some treble, but the first previews of the E5 suggest it has a far more neutral sound.

It also has onboard volume controls, which were missed on the E3.  The Fiio E5 should be available now, priced at under $20.

[via GenerationMP3]

That means they’re about the size of a new iPod nano, just louder.  The internal rechargeable battery is juiced up via a USB connection, and audio input is a sole 3.5mm socket.  Neatest design feature is the coin-groove at the back, which lets you prop up the XPod speakers.

You also get a color-matched lanyard to dangle the speakers from around your neck, guaranteed to annoy other travellers on any method of public transport you select.  Sadly only those in Korea will have the opportunity to be annoyed; no word on whether the XPod Active Sound speakers will make it elsewhere.

[via technabob]

The Powerstick V2 makes it so you only need one charger. All you have to do is charge it by plugging it into a USB port for about 90 minutes. Then it can be used to charge mobile devices. Plus, it is intelligent, meaning it only uses the energy that it needs. Once the Powerstick is charged up, it won’t continue to drain energy from your computer.

You can get the Ecosol Powerstick V2 now at Best Buy or the company’s website for $59.99. It comes with nine adapters and you can get it in either black or white.

Installation gets a general thumbs-up, with the range of inputs available mostly to everyone’s satisfaction.  SlingCommunity do note that the PRO-HD drops an A/V input from the previous Slingbox PRO, and there’s still no built-in WiFi; however a WiFi draft-n ethernet bridge has been shown to work fine, with sufficient bandwidth. 

What doesn’t disappoint is video quality, with Dave Zatz describing it as ”outstanding”.  This is no doubt partly due to the Slingbox moving from Microsoft’s Windows Media Video format to H.264.

Of course, the limitation on how much you can do with high-definition place-shifting is the broadness of your internet pipe.  In their review ZDNet flag up the fact that, unless you have a 1.5Mbps or higher upstream rate, you won’t be able to view HD content remotely.  Instead, until broadband catches up, think of it as half of a pairing with the SlingCatcher (expected to land in October) to make funneling HD media at different points around your home.

mirasol uses tiny flexible membranes that react to electrical charges, overlaid onto a mirrored surface; light reflected back out through those membranes is refracted so that interfering wavelengths create colors.  Because the membranes used are bistable, once they have been set to display a certain color they require virtually no power to maintain it, only to change.  The system also needs no color filters, no strong backlighting to be visible in direct sunlight and no polarizing lenses.

The end result is far greater battery life and, in the case of the Skullcandy headphones, a display that can be seen clearly even when taking part in extreme sports such as snowboarding.  In fact, the mirasol display only gets brighter when subjected to direct sunlight. 

Audio quality of the prototype we tried at CTIA was very good, and while the show floor made it difficult to make an especially accurate judgement, we expect the final product to bring some strong competition to prosumer headphones such as the Beats by Dr. Dre and Monster.  Pricing and PMP capacity is yet to be decided, as is exact availability.

The 20 GB 1.8″ hard drive is currently on sale in China for just $45. What a steal! It’s not all that thin, but the shape is comparable to that of a business card or credit card.

This hard drive works just like any other thumb drive and sports a picture of an HDD on the side. This sort of hard drive is identical to that of the ones contained within super thin devices like the MacBook Air and media players.

[via Boing Boing Gadgets]

The obvious difference between this dock and others is its unique pig shape. However, the differences delve into this dock’s functionality as well. With 4 speakers, a 4″ subwoofer and 25 watts, you won’t have to suffer through tinny-sounding music. No, this pig can rock and is designed for 360 degree sound distribution with a Hi-Fi Amplifier, airflow optimizer, high sound stabilization, adjustable bass control and bass reflex technology.

And while it’s designed for the iPod, the iPig is highly versatile, coming with many cradles and a auxiliary 3.5 mm jack to hook up almost any device, from gaming consoles to PCs. You can adjust the volume by touching the pig’s ears and it won’t rattle on your desk due to rubberized feet. Plus, the iPig is green, so he won’t leave much of an environmental footprint, either.

The iPig comes in three colors: white, yellow and pink and retails for $139.99.

It works like this: just plug the car charger into your cigarette lighter and then plug in your USB-charged devices into the various USB plugs. Then, you’re charging as you drive. It’s really that simple.
This plug works between 12 and 24 volts. It also includes a socket for your cigarette, but I don’t think it would be the smartest idea to light up in between all those USB cords.

The 4 USB port Car Charger retails for $22.99.

[via Coolest Gadgets]

This stadium-styled player comes in two forms, the 1GB and 4GB models, priced at $19.20 and $32.56, respectively. Both models, however, have an LCD display and external controls.

This commemorative MP3 player supports most audio formats, including MP3, WMA, WAV and ASF. And if you feel like recording a bit, you can as the player contains a built-in microphone. To complete the package, the back of the player features the 2008 Beijing logo. This doesn’t seem to be an official Olympic product, but it might make a nice gift.

[via Chip Chick]

The 115g box contains the company’s airSOUND speaker array, which claims to encode stereo signals as direct and spatial information, rather than separate left and right channels. According to orbitsound, the “single point stereo soundfield” is heard identically no matter where you are in a room, providing a uniform stereo balance irrespective of the listening position. They’re also keen to differentiate airSOUND from DSP processing, or any kind of artificial effect.

Too good to be true?  We’ll have to wait for the first reviews to find out just how successful airSOUND is.  Meanwhile the orbitsound T3 is priced at $149 (pre-tax); it uses a rechargeable battery said to last for 10hrs use, and has a single 3.5mm input jack.

Press Release:

Here at last – the orbitsound T3: a revolution in personal sound 

orbitound has announced the arrival of its new T3 personal powered stereo speaker. The T3 a whole new product concept – a truly original idea made possible only by airSOUND’s single point stereo technology: a miniature powered personal speaker, which worn around the neck and plugged into an iPod, music phone or any mobile audio/ video player, provides the wearer with a stereo aura around their head as an alternative to headphones. Unlike the sound from headphones, the T3 aura is a fully balanced stereo soundfield produced from the miniature airSOUND speaker array.

Headphones clamp separated mono signals to your ears. To produce a full stereo soundfield you have to hear both left and right channels with both ears, as you do with stereo speakers, to perceive all of the spatial cues. With headphones the left and right ears only hear the left and right speakers – this is why most people hear headphone sound in the middle or even in the back of their head. By comparison, the T3 immerses listeners in their own portable, highly accurate stereo soundfield – with all the spatial information fully intact.

The T3 doubles as a high quality portable speaker system when travelling, or for sharing music with others; place it on a flat surface and connected to a laptop, or digital music player, it produces real stereo signals in the room. With airSOUND an identical stereo balance is heard everywhere – in effect providing an infinite sweetspot, rather the limited fixed sweetspot within which it is possible to hear an accurate stereo balance with conventional two speaker stereo.

Measuring just 102 x 60 x 19mm (22mm at maximum) and weighing 115g, the T3 is powered by a lithium rechargeable battery, providing up to10 hours playing time on a single charge. The amplifier supplies 8 watts of total audio power to the airSOUND speaker array within the miniature enclosure. Audio input is via a 3.5 mm stereo jack socket.

• rechargeable battery powered
• ultra light and compact
• produces real spatial stereo sound
• works with iPods, music phones, personal media players, laptops, games consoles, etc.
• powered by airSOUND® single point stereo technology™
• recommended selling price $ 149 ex tax
• available now from the orbitsound e-store at www.orbitsound.co.uk/shop

airSOUND® single point stereo™ – how it works

airSOUND single point stereo is an amazing new listening technology that resolves fundamental problems associated with conventional stereo by returning to the first principles of stereo reproduction, encoding stereo signals as direct and spatial information, rather than separate left and right channels. This, in combination with other electro-acoustic principles, the design and engineering of which are the subject of airSOUND international patents, enables the reproduction of uniform spatial stereo signals from a single speaker enclosure. This single point stereo soundfield is heard identically anywhere in the room, providing a uniform stereo balance irrespective of the listening position. The airSOUND stereo signal is not produced by DSP processing, or any kind of artificial effect, it is true stereo sound.

airSOUND offers major performance, operational and cost advantages:

• frequency and phase response are uniformly accurate throughout the stereo soundfield.
• a far smaller number of enclosures is required to cover any given environment compared with conventional stereo systems; due to stereo signals being reproduced from single enclosures, and there being no loss of energy or sound quality through frequency cancellation effects between adjacent cabinets, as in left / right stereo installations.
• power draw for an airSOUND enclosure is about 40% less than a conventional stereo system producing similar sound levels.

Standard L / R stereo is encoded by airSOUND amplifiers in the speaker enclosure to direct and spatial signal information: the direct signal is reproduced from a front firing driver and the spatial information from side firing transducers, in reverse polarity to one another. These signals combine in the air, in front of the speaker enclosure to produce a uniform stereo soundfield throughout the room. orbitsound® is the first range of CE products to feature airSOUND single point stereo.

Each PMP measures 79.5mm x 40mm x 12.8mm and weighs 43g, and include a built-in speaker for headphones-free entertainment.  Compatible audio includes MP3, WMA, WMA-DRM 10 and Audible (Format 4), while pictures must be JPEG format; video is converted, via the included software, to a proprietary format, which is an annoyance.

The 2GB Creative ZEN Mosaic is available now, in black or pink, priced at S$99 (US$73) and the 4GB in black, pink or silver at S$129 (US$96).  Available later in August 2008, the 8GB model will be priced at S$169 (US$125) and the 16GB model at S$249 (US$185), both apparently in black.

Creative have also made a number of accessories for the new ZEN Mosaic, including a speaker system with built-in Li-Ion backup battery and FM antenna, an armband case, a caribiner case and a protective silicone skin.

It supports vast majority of media files including MP3, WMA, ASF, FLAC, OGG, MPEG, WMV9, and XVID. The Lplayer comes with voice and FM radio recording function. As for battery life, it runs up to four hours video play and twelve hours music playback.

The iRiver Lplayer Multufunctional MP4 player is now available for 109.99 (4GB) and 159.99 (8GB).

Singapore prices worked out to $145.69 for the 8GB, $209.31 for the 16GB and $253.85 for the 32GB models.  Buy.com has them listed at $149.99, $199.99 and $279.99 respectively.  No sign of availability yet; all three models are listed as out of stock, and there’s no sign of the limited edition Red Cliff  version.

Strangely, despite Creative saying that only the 16GB and 32GB versions have WiFi, Buy.com have the 8GB listed as including it too.  I’m thinking that’s a mistake on their part.

[thanks Tom!]

Capacity will range from 8GB, through 16GB and topping out at 32GB.  However the smallest model won’t include WiFi.  All boast a 2.5-inch LCD display, SD/SDHC expansion card slot, FM radio and voice recorder.  Perhaps more interesting is that these are the first PMPs from Creative to carry the company’s clever X-Fi audio enhancing technology.  In this case there are two systems; Crystalizer claims to fill in detail lost during music compression, while Expand increases range and virtual effect.  Unlike traditional sound tweak setups, X-Fi has actually impressed many reviewers.

The 8GB will launch later this month for $145.69, while the $209.31 16GB and $253.85 32GB models are available now.  There’ll also be a special edition Red Cliff version, to tie in with the new John Woo film.  Obviously John isn’t a fan of big storage, as the PMP – which includes a special arm-band holder, pictures of the cast and the movie trailer preloaded – will only be available in the two smaller capacities.  At least the prices will be the same.  The arm-band will be one of a number of accessories Creative offer, including a leather case, silicon skin and screen protector sheets.  A Creative TravelSound Zen X-Fi Docking Speaker System is expected at the end of September.

Native AVI files can be played on the T30, with software included to convert RM/ VOB/DAT/RMVB/MPG/MPEG/MP4/ASF/WMV/MKV files. MP3 and WMA audio (including that with DRM9 protection) and JPEG/BMP image files work too, as do plain text files. There’s also a voice recorder and FM radio. Unfortunately only SD cards up to 2GB in size appear to be supported.

Rather surprisingly for a budget PMP, both a USB charging cable and AC adaptor are provided (you’d normally just see the former); the T30 shows up as a mass-storage device when you plug it into your PC, or can work as a USB-host device.  Battery life is quoted at eight hours audio or four hours video, which is on the low-side. 

Available now, the Nextar T30 isn’t going to drag anybody away from Apple’s stable, but if you’re passing through Walmart, BonTon, Academy, Seventh Ave. or DBL you might decide to throw one in your basket.

Press Release:

Nextar Introduces A Sleek and Stylish Portable Media Player For On the Go Entertainment

Slim 3.5” LCD Display and Hi-Fi Stereo Output Bring Videos, MP3 Music, Digital Photos, and FM Radio to Life

La Verne, CA – June 17, 2008 – Nextar, a designer and marketer of bold and new consumer electronic products with mass appeal, has introduced its newest portable media player to its fast growing mobile device lineup. With its 3.5” flat panel TFT LCD color display and hi-fi stereo output capability, the slim, feature-rich Nextar T30 is ideal for watching videos, playing MP3 music, viewing digital photos, or listening to one’s favorite FM radio station.

“Users will find our new T30 portable media player with 4 GB of built-in memory and a SD media slot the perfect solution for enjoying their favorite movies, music, and memories virtually anywhere they want,” remarked Eddy Zheng, Nextar founder. “Its slim size of just half an inch in depth and light weight of just 3.7 ounces allows this player to go virtually anywhere with you.”

The Nextar T30 has a 3.5” 262k color TFT QVGA display with a resolution of 320×240. The high-quality flat panel LCD offers a brighter display and a smoother motion picture. It ensures that images can be clearly seen, even in bright sunshine. The unit supports USB host transfers allowing users to download content directly from computers.

Power is supplied by a built-in rechargeable 1000 mAH Lithium Ion battery. Uncomplicated recharging is accomplished either by connecting the unit to a PC via the T30’s high-speed USB 2.0 port or by the included DC 5V power adapter. Battery life of eight hours for MP3 usage and four hours for watching video can be expected.

The Nextar T30 supports the AVI video format. The unit’s bundled AVI converter software allows RM/ VOB/DAT/RMVB/MPG/MPEG/MP4/ASF/WMV/MKV formats to be played as well. Supporting MP3 and WMA digital music formats, it plays back MP3, WMA, and DRM9 audio files in hi-fi stereo. ID3 tag and lyrics display functions provide title, artist, and album information, and lyrics for anyone wanting to sing along.

The unit supports JPEG and BMP photo files. Support for txt.format allows users to read an e-book while listening to music. The new Nextar portable media player has a built-in FM tuner. Digital voice and FM recording capability is also provided.

Other features include: convenient side-mounted buttons; software-controlled lock-up function; built-in 4GB memory capacity; and a flash media slot for up to 2GB SD or MMC cards. Accessories include an USB cable, AV cable adapter, earbuds, and a carrying pouch. Dimensions are: 4.1” (h) x 2.9” (l) x 0.5” (d).

Pricing & Availability
Retailers including Walmart.com, BonTon, Academy, Seventh Ave. and DBL have already added the T30 portable media player to their shelves. It has a MSRP of $99.99 .

About Nextar
Nextar, headquartered in Southern California, is a global designer and marketer of consumer electronics. From the categories it enters to the products it develops and the manner in which it goes to market, Nextar’s decisions are based on its unique ‘bold and new’ philosophy. It currently offers products in the following categories: portable personal audio and video; digital photo frames; GPS navigation; and Bluetooth. In addition to tried-and-true consumer electronic retail outlets, Nextar products also are boldly marketed through non-traditional avenues such as department stores, automotive, mass merchants, food and drug, and do-it-yourself.

Nextar is an affiliate of Tofasco(SM), a rapidly growing company that sells products worldwide in a variety of industries. For further information regarding Nextar, visit its website at www.nextar.com or call toll free 888-849-0846. 

However, it’s entirely unclear whether this is an actual media streamer or just a wireless display and control system. The former would be useful, whereas the latter would be a whole lot more unnecessary considering you’d just have to route video from your computer to your TV in some other way. Sadly Amex Digital are obviously too busy collecting compatibility logos to update their site with any usable detail.

I’ve got a request in with them to hopefully find out more, but until then this is a suspend-judgement device. I’ll update this post if/when I hear back.

Update 5/18: Amex Digital have pointed me in the direction of their well-hidden press release, which confirms that this is merely a USB-powered display which can relay IR signals from a remote control back to your HTPC.  You’ll still need to connect your PC to the TV in some other way; the iMON HD Mobile is not a media streamer.  It’s available now, priced at $59.

[via Akihabara News]

Check out the video overview of the Gigabyte M700 after the cut

You can think of the system as similar to a Slingbox, but with a built-in client. The docking station will have a variety of TV inputs (depending on region, so a US version might be set up for cable TV while a European model might use DVB-T) together with other audio/video inputs and outputs and an IR port, as well as room for an optical drive and an SD card slot. Gigabyte have apparently developed their own TV control software, so the eventual UMPC might not come with Microsoft’s own Media Center OS.

The M700 itself weighs 650g and has an optical mouse, capacitive scroll-bar, GPS and a 1,024 x 600 touchscreen. Demo units have been running Windows Vista Home Premium. Inside there’s 1GB of RAM (expandable to 2GB) and a rather small 40GB hard-drive (with 60GB an option), together with WiFi b/g and Bluetooth 2.0. Front and rear cameras make video conferencing straightforward.

Gigabyte expect to have the M700 on sale in Q3 2008; it’s currently available for pre-order at Mobilx, but with no price publicised.

[via UMPC Portal]

Using a non-replaceable rechargeable battery, Creative are promising up to 9hrs playback from a single charge. Music is transferred to the PMP via its built-in USB 2.0 plug, and hooking it up to the computer also recharges it. MP3, WMA/WMA (DRM9) and Audible Format 2,3,4 files are all supported, and Creative tentatively suggest you can fit 133hrs of WMA-encoded music onto the 4GB storage.

An FM radio is also present, with 32 preset slots. Voice recording is also supported. The T200 measures 2.5 x 7.63 x 0.86-inches and weighs 20.6g. No US price has been revealed, but the 2GB version is on sale on Creative’s site for $49.99 and the 4GB will sell for 6980 yen ($67.38) in Japan.

[via Akihabara]

As well as text, the BEBOOK is capable of playing MP3s and audiobooks. Endless Ideas claim a battery life of 7,000 page-turns, though that’s obviously reduced if you listen to audio. The reflective screen is not backlit, but it is readable in sunlight.

The BEBOOK measures in at 184 x 120 x 10mm and weighs 220g. Included is a USB cable, leather case, earphones and, ironically, a printed user manual. It’s available now, priced at €329.95 ($509) with free international shipping.

[via MobileRead]

iRex are positioning the new version as dedicated to book reading.  The original iLiad is used by several European newspapers as a way to deliver daily content to subscribers via the e-book’s wireless connection.  New titles can be loaded to either device via the USB connection.

The device has an 8.1-inch screen and a 400MHz Xscale processor, with 128MB of internal memory expandable via CF/MMC slot up to 8GB.  iRex quote up to 7,000 page turns per full charge, with the e-book only requiring power when changing the image, not to display it.  A recharge takes three hours.

The iLiad “Book Edition” should go on sale on May 9th.

[via MobileRead]

Of course, the best thing about it is the WQVGA display, which should do reasonable justice to films and other media clips on the move.  iMP3 were impressed by its clear & lively vocals reproduction ad decent audio spacing, though they criticised its slightly lacking bass.  Video similarly was handled well, with good audio/visual sync and minimal stutters even with high-bitrate files.

No price or availability details as of yet, though if you’re lucky (and don’t live in China) you may find it showing up on import sites.  Expect a competitive price compared to what Apple are offering.

[via Generation MP3]

There’s no display, just a color-changing LED the tone and flashing of which you’re meant to observe and decode to fathom its status.  Not that there’s really much to tell; controls are limited to play/pause, track skip, random/repeat and volume.  Case color options are green, red, purple, black & white and a marble-effect white.

File-wise it’ll play MP3, WMA and OGG tracks, with up to 13hrs battery life.  There’s also an FM radio.  Best of all, it’s a mere $39, undercutting Apple’s clip-happy Shuffle by ten bucks. 

[via Gizmodo]

It measures in at 62x101x12 millimeters and weighs a mere 110 grams. It has a 4200RPM drive inside with a 2MB cache and comes with Prestigio’s backup software.

Word is the drive works with any OS as long as you have it formatted in FAT32. there are 80GB and 160GB models that go for $110 and $160 respectively, so, if file transfer speed is less of a concern than fashion for you, this is the drive for you.

[via UberReview]

Plug it into its desktop stand, and Photoskins displays live widgets from your computer – weather, stocks, webcams and more – automatically synchronising them.

Emtrace previously won a CES award, at the show in 2007, for their WidgetStation.  No release date for the Photoskins widget viewer has been set.

Emtrace Technologies

Of course, the real reason we’re interested in the Pro HD is not the aesthetics but the fact that it can blast 16:9 aspect video through a choice of ATSC, S-video, composite video and component video (with analog or digital outputs for audio), and all for $399 when it launches in August this year.

In-built WiFi is the obvious omission, although rumor has it that Sling Media have USB adaptors for just that waiting in the wings, and while the lack of HDMI sockets may cause some to scratch their heads it’s undoubtedly because of the frustrating HDCP copy-protection such a connection goes hand-in-hand with.

Hands-On: Slingbox Pro HD [Gizmodo]

Safa has a 1.8” player called the X-Lay. It plays audio and video and is APE, FLAC, WMA, WAV and MP3 compatible. I can’t imagine you’d get much enjoyment out of watching it for long, however it comes with a FM radio, a photo album and e-book capabilities as well, which is pretty nice.

The 1 GB X-Lay will net you about $95 while the 2GB is $116. At that price anyone who opts for the 1GB is crazy, spring for the extra $20 and get double the storage.

Safa to launch new 1.8 inch mp3p ‘x-lay’ playing APE and FLAC [via Coolest-Gadgets]

Anyways, this thing has a touchscreen, 4.3-inches worth to be exact, DMB-TV capability, GPS, and an E-Dictionary. On top of that it runs WinCE 5.0 in your choice of 3 flavors (standard, DMB, and Navi) with your choice of 2 capacities, 30 and 60 gigabytes.

The format list alone is highly impressive, MP3, WMA, AC3, OGG, WAV, AAC, FLAC, MPEG4, DIVX, XVID, and WM9, that’s an amazing list, I am sure there are several picture formats supported too. You can get them for 326 and 362 Euros respective to their capacities.

Istation U43 portable media player [via ubergizmo]

Wizpy from TurboLinux is a gizmo packed with features such as media playback (MP3, OGG, WMA, AAC, DivX,) – FM radio, sound recorder, e-book reader, and photo display device. Another notable attraction of this gizmo is its computing applications that includes browser, email, and office software. The Wizpy sports 256,000-color OLED screen weight only 60g. Plugging this gizmo to a PC using USB will give user their own operating system environment. Wizpy was launch in Japan earlier this year.

[via Wizpy]

Fitting more into the “easily accessible” category than the “discretely hidden”, the AppleTV outputs video and music via the car’s existing stereo, and Brandon has coded a special GPS plugin that takes the data from a USB-connected sat-nav puck and displays his location on a map.

The whole thing is powered by a 300-watt inverter under the dash, and has separate controls for power so you can enjoy it even if you’re not moving.   Even better, it automatically syncronises when in range of his home network, so you never need be without the latest Gary Numan download.

Brandon-Holland [via Crunchgear] 

Just up front, I want to state that SlashGear has no deal with Microsoft to keep the embargo of these photos, and they weren’t sent directly to us, they are from Zune-Online.com, but the embargo was until midnight of the 3rd, or tonight for those of you who stay up late. Now on to business, its nice to see that MS is finally giving the 2nd gen Nano a run for its money, too bad they are a full generation too late. Also, the 80GB Zune, once again, a day late and a dollar short, Apple now has 160GB iPod classics.

I won’t even bother comparing them to them to the new Nano’s or the iPod Touch. And what is with that stupid square-like button in the center? I mean they screwed up the UI navigation on the first set of Zunes and now they came back and asked how they could make it worse? Don’t even get me started on the colors, we had a matte black, a matte white, a fecal brown, and then eventually a few better colors the first time around an now they get worse?

Oh, I must give credit where its due, you can finally sync your Zune’s library wirelessly with your PC. Below is a copy of the caption that apparently accompanied these Photos:

**EMBARGOED UNTIL 12:01 A.M. EDT, Oct. 3, 2007** One of three new Microsoft Corp. Zune portable media players that were announced Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2007 is shown at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash. The model shown is a flash-memory model that is available in 4-gigabyte and 8-gigabyte sizes. The new devices now offer wireless syncing with personal computers. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

The First Real Zune 2 Photos! [via zune-online]