PMP Today

Hey Zune owners, get your players out and get that new Firmware Update 1.4 which accordingly to ZuneInsider should improve the “shuffle experience”. Makes us wonder a bit if this is worthy of a 0.1 increment in the version number, if that is indeed the most notable part about this update.

Keep in mind that this new update is firmware only, software is still version 1.3. So we’re not sure when you will be seeing some new features, some of which were somewhat hyped some weeks ago.

If this is not enough to brighten up your day, check out that awesome video from yesterday, which shows us that in the future to get your firmware updates, you’ll probably just have to put your Zune on a cool interactive countertop computer.

[via ZuneInsider]

The MVP-808 is a slim mini PMP at 80×61×17.5mm. It’s 2.8-inch LTPS LCD is a clear 960 x 240 pixels. It is similar in size as the Cowon D2, which has a smaller 2.5-inch screen. The MVP-808 plays WMV, DIVX, MPEG4, MP3, WMA, OGG, AC3, VCD, DVD and JPG. It has 2GB of internal storage with SD/MMC memory extension and a USB port for PC sync. No price yet at this moment.

[via generationmp3]

Will the iPhone beat Motorola’s RAZR line in sales? Motorola has sold over 50 million units of its RAZR line, which is often believed as the most popular cell phone model of all time. Industry observers even call RAZR the “iPod of cellphones.” RAZR, however, even at the peak of its popularity (way back in 2004) has only enjoyed 6% market penetration. If you think about it, Apple’s target 10% market share if met would immediately put iPhone at the top spot of the list of most popular mobile phones of all time.

If you believe that you’d be dead wrong. The RAZR’s 50 million collective sales is only a quarter of what the true world’s most popular cellphone model has racked up. Nokia, for the record, has sold over 200 million of its 1100 monochromatic GSM phones since it debuted in 2003, just four years ago. If the iPhone going to be as influential to the cellphone industry as one tech guru has predicted, then the Nokia 1100, and not the RAZR, is its true benchmark. With over 2 billion mobile phones in consumer hands in 2005 ( and probably significantly higher in 2007), Apple will have to put exactly 200 million or more iPhones in user hands to reach 10% market share.

Well, nobody said iPhone will have it easy.

[via wikipedia, also here and here]

PSP has announced its new firmware number 3.50, which allows you wireless access to your Sony Playstation 3. Your PSP will be able to access videos, music and pictures through a WiFi connection. Your PS3 has to have the latest 1.80 firmware update forRemote Play to work. The wireless PSP access to PS3 is aonly limited to viewing and listening of content. Remote game play is still far off in the future. The RSS menu will also be far more user-friendly on this new firmware update with the introduction of the RSS Channel Guide. This is pretty much it for now for the Sony Playstation Portable. You can download the new 3.50 firmware directly here.

[via computerandvideogames]

Hot on the heels of the mini, the SLICKR is one thing and dapper-looking player with slim features (85.5 x 55 x 9.8mm)  and boasting a unique 2.83-inch TFT screen with 1.6million colors. What else can you expect from a company as cool, fashionable and attuned to the zeitgeist as Venzero. Sure SLICKR is derivative of Motorola’s mobile phone names - RAZR, RIZR, etc. - but instead of going out of its way in concocting strange shapes and sizes for its player, Venzero opts to work on what’s already commercially available and successful and adding slight touches that is uniquely Venzero.

The SLICKR’s specifications include music support for MP3, WMA and WAV files and video playback for AVI files. For added music on-the-go pleasure, Venzero lets you tune into FM stations. As for storage, it’s got an onboard 2GB flash memory and extension is possible via miniSD cards. Venzero also introduce MUSICMARKER, a music note-taking functionality that lets you record off-hand music that you like wherever you are. Just push a button and the SLICKR will record that background cafe music, which it will label later on when you sync it with your PC. The SLICKR is priced at €119 or around $160.

[via dapreview]

Among many innovative features of the newly announced “Surface“, multi-touch recognition technology, we get a glimpse of Microsoft Zune being used on the awesome countertop monitor. As with some other wireless devices, as soon as the Zune is placed on the Surface enabled monitor, all of the contents of that player become automatically available to user for manipulation, transfer, and organization. While you probably won’t be getting this for your kids this Christmas, the video above still shows us how far the user interface development has come, and shows us that we will probably get to use our good old mouse and keyboard as paperweights at some point in our lifetime.[via ClicZune, thanks Stephane]

Steve Jobs kept a few things about the iPhone a secret, like the additional flash memory and a slightly different WiFi connectivity than what other phones use. The idea here is not to turn consumers off from iPods, especially the new iPod Video. Below is a list of previously unknown iPhone features, at least according to this Vim3 weblog: Read the rest »

Grundig’s new video and music players comes in 1GB and 2GB and are respectively called MPixx 2001 and MPixx 2002. Besides the differences in internal storage capacity, both players share the same 1.8-inch 65k-color TFT LCD display and an onboard FM tuner. Both MPixx plays encoded MPEG, WAV, SMV, JPEG, BMP, MP3, WMA through the included software, as well as MPG, AVI, WMV, Real Player, Quick Time, DVD and MP4. It also supports JPEG and BMP viewing with slideshow. If for anything else MPixx offers a style that is unique from the crowd of MP3s out there with similar functionability. Other features include a USB port, dictation function and 21 hours of music playing. The 1GB is avalable for €79 and the 2GB for €89.
[via ictblog, product page]

Philips new Mp3 players with video playback have just upgraded its screen from a 1.5-inch with 160 x 128-pixel resolution to a 2.2-inch 65k colors 320 x 240-pixel LCD. The GoGear SA6015 & SA6025 will respectively have 1GB and 2GB of internal storage. Besides, the screen size, there’s nothing else that sets these new models from the MP3s announced last month: FM tiner, mic MP3, WMA (DRM), WAV audio and WMV video support (also AVI, VOB, MOV after conversion). The new players retail for € 119 for the 1GB and € 139 for the 2Go.

[via generationmp3]

Microsoft seems to be brewing a really special product that’s either totally groundbreaking or a mere exercise in technological hyperbole, like “the world’s smallest cellphone.” A Microsoft insider mistakenly emailed Gizmodo’s Wilson Rothman announcing “something totally new coming out of the Entertainment and Devices division, and it’s going to change the way people interact with technology.” If you believe that then you’re probably a little skeptical too because this product, or whatever this announcement may be, have to be seen to be believed. If there’s anything significant out of Microsoft to be announced at all, the timing is exquisite. Tomorrow is the WSJ’s D5: All Things Digital Conference where WSJ’s Walter Mossber and and Kara Swisher are going to sit down and have an unscripted and totally informal dialogue with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, among others (here’s a list of the official speakers). WSJ’s D5 is going to begin some at 7:05 PM tonight San Francisco time, and Bill and Steve are probably on schedule around the time June hits the East Coast.

[via gizmodo]