LG’s giving our Danish friends a little something to look forward to: the 3-inch 400 x 240 touchscreen T80, which has 4GB of storage, DVB-T and FM tuners, and OGG support (as well as the usual MP3, WMA, MPEG-4, etc.) in a chubby 0.5-inch thick package. We hear it’s priced at a hefty €299 (~$470 US), which might prove a tad prohibitive to sales among the intelligent.source:engadget
Now, we know the official story on the CeBIT Meizu shutdown was related to MP3 codec licensing, and not the M8’s iPhone-like UI. Still, it does seem strangely fortuitous that more pictures of the phone’s interface have just appeared that seem to showcase a move away from Apple’s familiar look. The Chinese site CNMO has new shots of the device’s music player, which now appears to incorporate song info, EQ display, lyrics, and volume / tracking controls all on one screen. The pictures also show a couple of different music browsing options, both in landscape and portrait mode. Is this a signal that the company is putting some distance between the M8 and the iPhone? Only time will tell.
Update: Some commenters here and on the MeizuMe forums are claiming that these renderings are fake / fan art. So it might not be healthy to get too excited about the above screenshots.
source:engadget
Man, Fidel’s out and already the kids are getting crazy: the Cuban government is finally allowing general consumers to buy various electronics, including DVD players and computers, for the first time. Only companies and foreigners were previously able to buy computers, while the looming threat of terrible Hollywood movies had forced Cuban authorities to seize DVD players at the airport. The change is due to “the improved availability of electricity,” and Cubans can look forward to also picking up microwaves, 24-inch televisions, and rice cookers to plug into the new juice. Of course, it’s not all flip flops and high-fives: air conditioners will not be available until next year, and the deadly menace known as the toaster will be restricted until 2010. Hope you like plain bread with your communism movies
source:engadget.com
If you are looking for a good portable Wi-Fi player, the Cowon Q5W offers users features that make it an exciting find. The Cowon Q5W offers wireless connectivity as well as a wide range of entertainment options in a device that can fit into your pocket. It is one of those new gadgets that once you own, you would never even think of leaving your home without it.
The Cowon Q5W offers quite an interesting mix of features that allow it to become a handy player everywhere you go. With its Wireless LAN capability and Wireless Internet features, you can start exploring the world from your pocket. Its 5-inch 16 million color LCD screen becomes your window to a world that is worth exploring. Its enhanced video features allow you to enjoy movies with great picture quality in such a portable and powerful device.
This gadget is also featured with Bluetooth Technology that allows you wireless convenience when listening to music. The Cowon Q5W becomes a wireless portable audio player that can deliver rich audio sound through your earphones. It is also a voice enabled online messenger that allows you to chat with friends with enhanced talk quality through wired headsets. You can also surf through the Internet along the way wherever you can have Wi-Fi connectivity in your area.
The Touch Screen Technology feature and its Wing Click GUI allow you added convenience when using the different features of the device. It is equipped with simple and easy to understand controls that allow you access menus on the screen and flip through each one effortlessly.
Connectivity features allow the Cowon Q5W it be integrated with other gadgets such as the TV. And with a USB slot, you may also use it to back up files from other devices such as your digital cameras and transfer mp3 files from your mp3 player. Other added features that the Cowon Q5W provides make it an interesting portable media player (and more) worth discovering.
The Archos 605 WiFi portable media player offers mobility and power in a small device that carries more than what one might expect.
It is equipped with a 30GB hard drive and a high resolution 4.3 screen equipped with touch screen technology. The screen displays images with 800 x 480 pixel clarity. As a portable media player, you may be able to play different types of digital entertainment using this device.
Aside from watching movies, TV shows, displaying photos and listening to music using this device, the Archos 605 is Wi-Fi enabled to give you wireless connectivity to the online world. You may be able to stream and watch videos from your PC. You may also be able to download movies and music online by way of the Archos Content Portal where you may be able to get access to a wide variety of digital entertainment options.
By looking at the Archos 605 WiFi, you would not consider it as a powerful portable media player because of its small size. Its great yet simple control features even make it more appealing to users who look for gadgets that provide easy to manage menus and features. Its battery life is also quite acceptable at providing power for 5.5 hours worth of video and 17 hours for audio.
The Cowon iAudio 7 is a flash-based portable media player that looks promising at first, with its sleek black design, fascinating button placement, and a long battery life. However, once you turn on the 1.3-inch LCD screen, you would see a lot of imperfections.The iAudio 7 has a horizontal orientation for video playback purposes, wherein the LCD screen is placed on the left half of the front panel while three touch-sensitive multifunction controls (that looks like a percentage sign) are located on the right side. It also contains a line-in jack for recording and a headphone jack, as well as a mini USB port. Other features include an already-installed media software and a pair of earphones that gives a respectable bass sound.
The images in the screen appear lousy, while the video has to be resized before it would work on the player. The player, meanwhile, can only support JPEG image files as well as AVI, Xvid, and MPEG4 video files. This is in contrast to its powerful audio, fair audio file support, and customizable EQ settings. The audio file support can handle MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, and WAV. However, it doesn’t play AAC (music files in iPod).
Navigation is a challenge in iAudio, especially when you don’t have an eagle eye to view those tiny preview images. The buttons, meanwhile, are easily triggered. A simple transfer from left hand to right hand could skip the player to the next song. Although a “Hold” button could be a great remedy, it is not useful if you intend on navigating the menus while listening.
One good function iAudio has is that you can record straight from FM with a simple press of a multifunction red button. This button can also let you record voices, ideal for podcasters.
Overall, the Cowon iAudio 7 may not be a graceful device, but it is a decent, portable media player.
Slim, great sound, with equalizers, and easy controls. This perfectly describes the latest portable digital audio player (DAP) from Samsung. Known as Samsung YP-U3 or simply U3, the audio player is one of the best in its class today.
At 3.2 by 1.0 by 0.4 inches, the U3 weighs a mere 22.8 grams (0.8 ounces). It features a built-in USB 2.0 connection so cables and wires are no longer needed when transferring songs to and from your PC. The new Samsung player has a four-line OLED display and comes in five trendy colors, pink, white, green, black and blue.
In this iPod crazy world, it is definitely hard for other DAP manufacturers to get noticed. But manufacturers like Samsung are beginning to make a dent in the seeming monopoly of Apple products in the digital audio player market. The U3, for instance, targets the iPod Shuffle as its direct competitor. And the new Samsung DAP has already a number of features that took away the attention out of the more popular Apple product.
Compared to the third-generation iPod Shuffle which has no screen display for navigating through music, albums or artists, the U3 sports a four-line OLED display. Combined with the simple touch-sensitive controls, the OLED display of the U3 is a killer for a DAP that small.
When we talk about portability, the iPod shuffle at 41 by 28 by 10mm and weighing just 17g wins hands down. However, with considerable lack of features and very average sound quality, it does make one think if buying it would be the best thing to do.
A better competitor for the U3 is another newcomer, SanDisk’s Sansa Express. The Express was released just before Samsung announced the U3. The SanDisk’s 1GB audio player device features an OLED screen for menu navigation, a digital FM tuner, FM and voice recording, and upgradable storage capacity via a microSD expansion slot.
Despite the similarities in features and limitations, I would prefer the U3 over the Express. With the slightly bigger and brighter OLED screen, a better overall design, and a skinnier body, the U3 just gives me the correct vibe for a portable audio player. The only thing I find annoying in the U3’s design is the blue LED on one end that lights up whenever the player processes commands and information.
It also features a drag and drop functionality and there’s no need to install a special software to navigate and manage your music files. Although, Samsung included one if you want to manage your files more efficiently.
The U3 supports the usual MP3, WMA, OGG Vorbis and ASF music files. The FM radio tuner has 12 presents. Samsung claims that the U3 gets about 15 hours of listening time. The Samsung DAP charges via USB. It comes in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB capacities and sells at about $79, $99, and $149 respectively.
The Insignia brand of Mp3 players from Best Buy has become popular among consumers because of the better value they offer in their full-featured audio devices. The new Insignia Pilot, available in 4 GB and 8 GB capacities, are priced at just $130 and $160 respectively. Not bad for a portable audio device which has all the features you’ll ever need and more.The Pilot Mp3 is equipped with both audio and video playback, photo viewer, FM radio, voice recorder, and has a built-in SD card memory expansion slot. The latter feature is convenient for those who don’t want to be limited by the 8 GB memory of the Pilot Mp3. It can play MPEG-4 and WMV videos, display JPEG photos, and support a handful of audio formats, including Mp3, WMA, WMA DRM, WMA Lossless, WMA Pro, OGG, WAV and Audible. It also has Rhapsody DNA integration, which basically allows you to transfer Internet radio channels to the player for easier access.
But the best feature of the Pilot Mp3 is the integrated Bluetooth. Its built-in stereo Bluetooth function allows you to listen to music using your wireless Bluetooth headphones. This is definitely a plus for enjoying music on-the-go as it maximizes movement, without having those dangling headphone cords bothering you. The Bluetooth connection with the Pilot Mp3 can go to about 30 feet. Now you can leave the Mp3 player on your desk and won’t miss a track on your music playlist while you’re on another room getting coffee.
The Pilot Mp3 is a bit lengthy compared with most compact flash players in the market. It has a simple black body with brushed silver trim. The face of the player, when held horizontally, has a 2.4-inch color LCD screen on the left and the control pad on the right. The control buttons somewhat resemble that of the Apple iPod’s clickwheel, except that the scroll ring is only enabled for four-way clicking.
Some of the Pilot Mp3’s playback features are also comparable to the iPod Classic. There is an album art display along with the current playing tracks. You also have the option of switching between screens to view a larger album art or other artist information. The main menu uses icons while music is organized using the step-down structure of displaying the artist, album, genre, etc. on the display screen.
On the other hand, sound quality isn’t that impressive with the Pilot Mp3. Deep bass isn’t quite discernible, even with the use of high-end earphones. Also video quality is on the downside, as there are noticeable pixelation during video playback. Nevertheless, battery life is extended for up to 25 hours of audio playback. It also has an effective photo display. The Insignia Pilot Mp3 player is really an economical device, which gives you more value for less the price.
The BD-P1400 is one of Samsung’s third generation of Blu-Ray players. It is one of the least expensive high-definition DVD players, and it offers excellent image quality on Blu-ray movies, with an outstanding soundtrack support. The player is compatible with HDMi 1.3 which supports 10.2 Gbps bandwidth, automatic audio synching, Dolby TrueHD and DTS=HD.
This player doesn’t come with an HDMI cable so one need to purchase it separately. To get the best viewing possible out of any HD DVD player, an HDMI cable and HD television is required. Although it can play Blu-ray discs without the HDMI cable, the picture will not be nearly as enhanced as it is meant to be. One can buy a HDMI cable for about $40. It’s also important that an excellent surround sound setup is included to take advantage of the audio performance. In addition to Blu-ray discs, the Samsung BD-P1400 can play standard-definition DVDs and CDs. It cannot play any discs of the competing HD DVD format.
The BD-P1400 has classic Samsung style with an all glossy black front, with a thin strip of silver along the bottom. To the far left is the Power button surrounded by a blue light. The LED display is located in the far right. It is thinner than a regular DVD player, although it is just as wide and deep, so it can easily fit into any space designed for electronic equipment. To install the Samsung BD-140, just plug it in and attach the HDMI cable.
One inconvenience about the player is that it takes a lot of time before it could play a disc. It takes several minutes before it could play the disc. The bottom line is, it is able to deliver a system that is of good value in a relatively affordable price. There are noticeable flaws, like the freezing of movies, but this could be easily cured in future advances.
Cowon has dropped their new N3 player that has GPS and a 7-inch touchscreen along with a DMB tuner, 600MHz Alchemy AU processor, dual SDHC slots (but no built-in memory),and Software that is based on Windows CE 5.0. No release dates or prices has been released to the public, but it is said to launch at the CES 2008.