PMP Today

Mustek is planting its feet on the PMP industry with a simple offeroing for budget hunters. This is the manufacturer that can do it elegantly as well as multi-featured so don’t be fooled at how, Chinese-looking the MC-1814F is. It has a 1.8-inch screen, measures 78 X 41 X 8 mm, weighs 45g and plays AMV, ASF, MP3, WMA, WAV, JPG. It will set you back only $178.

[via generationmp3]

The Provia A1 from Korea’s HTMS has a gorgeous 7-inch Samsung touchscreen display with a resolution of 800×480 pixels. It’ll even do handwriting recognition, if you use the included stylus. Aside from DMB broadcasts, the device can handle DivX, XviD, H.264, WMA, WMV, OGG, MPEG4 files, thanks to its media player software. Navigation-wise, it comes with 3-D maps, complete with models of buildings and other landmarks.

The Provia A1 has 128MB of RAM, stereo speakers, an SD slot and a USB 2.0 port, A/V inputs, and audio in/out. Inside, you’ll find a 520MHz Intel PXA270 processor. Windows CE 5.0 is the OS of choice.

[via engadget]

The Google Phone has been the subject of a lot of speculative talk on the Internet these days, and Google has refused to confirm nor deny the rumors. But will Google finally release this mysterious phone in two weeks’ time? According to an Indian newspaper, Google already spoke to several Indian service providers such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, and BSNL regarding an exclusive launch on one of their networks. The search engine giant also intends to hold a simultaneous launch in the US and Europe. If the rumors are indeed true, it’s likely that the Google Phone will fall under the price range of $100 - 200 to appeal to India’s masses.

There’s still no confirmed news as to the specific features the phone will have, but we can only guess what things the phone could be capable of based on Google’s activities. They’ve submitted a few interesting patents over the past couple of years–one in 2005 that allows users to locate shops, restaurants, and similar places with respect to their location, and one in 2006 for voice-enabled search. Google has also been releasing applications for other mobile phones which allow users to “connect directly to Google” for “personalized searches”. In any case, all this speculation should be put to rest in a fortnight’s time. We’ll definitely update you once we receive any more news, or rumors.

By the way, the image above is only a concept rendering of the Google phone. The leaked image of the actual phone is far less impressive:

Read the rest »

We knew there was something a little bit off about Trekstor’s i.Beat Blaxx when we wrote about it a couple of days ago. It’s a nice music player with LG Chocolate-like controls and just a hint of video spport for the 1.3-inch screen. But for only $200, it’s a good deal, or so we thought. It was Gizmodo who first brought to our attention to the racist name, Trekstor’s marketing team came up with for this PMP. I mean, iBeat is awfully derivative. Add Blaxx after that, and it’s right out Ku Klux Klan!

Read some of the blog responses so far after the break. Read the rest »

Korean manufacturer D’Cube’s D5 is a special player. It plays your typical AVI, WMV9 video files and your typical MP3, WMA, OGG audio files.  It even has a typical FM tuner and a 2-inch 260K-color 176 X 220-pixel screen, which is way too typical. What makes it special though is the WiseAudio that comes with the D5. WiseAudio automatically finds the PTA (Pure Tune Audiometry) threshold and maximizes listening experience for each environment. You don’t have to go through your equalizer settings.

[via themp3players]

COWON’s amazing do-it-all PMP has been rumored to be released in October, a month after it is released in Europe (as Generation MP3 has claimed). It’s not a bad deal for the U.S. to be only a month delayed compared to the old continent. The COWON Q5 is one of those amazing devices like the N95 and the iPhone and even this Chinese PMP that makes new boundaries for their respective market and at the same time bring all these markets together.

The COWON Q5 is a 5-inch 800 x 400-pixel touchscreen PMP with WiFi, HSDPA, EDGE, GPRS and GPS, FM tuner, DMB tuner and only costs about $595 dollars. There is no fairer deal available.

[via gizmodo]

Affluent International brings the gaming to PMPs with its Sidekick-looking AF-736 model, which features a sliding 3-inch TFT screen. The product supports ASF-formatted MPEG-4 video files (playback at 320×240 pixels, 30fps) and popular audio formats such as MP3, WMA and WAV. Gaming-wise, it supports “game cards” (we assume this means cartridges), and NES games. Yup, the type you can download from the internet.

Image display and e-book functionality are also included. The AF-736 can function as a video- and webcam, and has A/V in (recording) and out (NTSC/PAL) capability. There’s a built-in SD card slot for memory expansion, and a microphone and speakers as well. Vital stats are 119×62x20mm.

[via global sources]

There’s a big chance Creative is finally going to upgrade its Zen V Plus. I’m saying this because the price of the Zen V Plus has dropped again. This also comes weeks after the 16GB Zen V Plus was announced. Very quick developments from Apple’s rival in the MP3 player industry. The Zen V PLus player has a 1.5-inch screen that plays videos. The V PLus also has an FM tuner and line-in recording besides the usual audio file formats it plays.

You can buy either the black or blue Zen V Plus 4GB for $59.99 here. It may not be fashionable once the new Creative player comes along, but at least it’s cheap. Besides, cuteness never goes out of style.

[via dapreview]

The silicone ToughSkin Case for the Zune is Speck’s best-selling item and I can see why. From the looks of it alone, the ToughSkin transforms the Zune into a gadget that looks like it came from a cyberpunk flick. This case does a lot more than make your Zune look ten times cooler though; it adds real protection to it as well. Not only does the ToughSkin protect your Zune from scratches; it comes with a hard screen protector so you don’t have to worry about your screen breaking if you accidentally drop your Zune. While the case may cover up your Zune very well, it’s designed in such a way as to allow you to use the controls as normal. And you don’t need to worry about the silicone tearing because it’s made out of very resilient stuff; if you try stretching it, the ToughSkin will bounce right back to its original shape (don’t overdo it, of course).

The ToughSkin is selling for only $21 in amazon.com, so protect your Zune now and look like a bad-ass while doing so.

[via amazon]

The second round of the LG Prada-iPhone rivalry will begin in October when the LG U990 is announced by 3 for British consumers. The LG U990 is a touchscreen phone like the first LG Prada. The tie-in with the Italian fashion label has been discontinued but like LG Prada, the U990 front is mostly touchscreen with minimal concession to tactile buttons. Though no one expects the new UI to a breakthrough like iPhone’s UI, the LG U990 is groundbreaking in other respects.

Onboard is a 5 megapixel camera with manual autofocus. This camera doubles as a high-end video recorder with 120fps video capture. Regular cinematic frame speed is only 30fps, which means the U990’s camera is capable of slow motion capture. You will have endless amounts of fun time taking videos and playing them back in slow-mo on this phone. The mark of a true convergence device that it enables users to carry only one device for all his needs. The LG U990 at the very least makes standalone digital cameras obsolete. Besides the amazing 5 MP camera, the U990 also benefits from HSDPA connectivity. Read the rest »