Gizmodo: Venzero

Venzero LINQ mini Has Wi-Fi Streaming From Windows Media Player 11

Jason Chen — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 19:20:15 EDT

Never mind that the LINQ mini has only 1GB of flash memory—the thing can stream music directly from Windows Media Player 11, giving it essentially unlimited (or at least PC-levels of) storage if you're hooked up to Wi-Fi...on the LAN. Why is this cool, again?

Other than this, there's a monochrome LCD (wha?), MP3/WMA support, 20 hours battery life in MP3 mode, 5 hours battery life in Wi-Fi mode and the ability to record music being played back from the car's radio, Starbucks speakers or the GAP and identify it the next time you sync your player. All this for $99 means that if you don't mind the black and white screen, the odd combination of features makes it a tempting buy. [Venzero via Generation Mp3 via Dapreview]

Venzero Linq Combines Wi-Fi Internet Radio With Video Playback

Jason Chen — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:00:12 EDT

Venzero's black-sheened players have always looked good, which is why the Venzero Linq looks so promising. Besides having the standard MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, OGG, JPEG and MPEG4 playback, it also supports Wi-Fi streaming from internet radio stations and your Windows Media Player 11 on a PC. That means you don't need to jam-pack its 4GB of memory with songs if you're at home—you can just stream your entire library over wireless. But if you do want portable storage, there's an extra 2GB microSD slot for a total of 6GB of memory. Available at the end of September. [Venzero via GizmLounge]

Venzero Slickr PMP Wants to Be iPhone Nano

kthompson — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 22:26:48 EDT

If it looks a bit like an iPhone nano but doesn't work like one, it could be a Slickr. Sporting the same sleek looks that made the iPhone a hit (in a smaller frame), the Slickr loses a lot of cool points when you realize it doesn't have touch screen capabilities. Even though it's reliant on button navigation, this German beauty still has a few handy features that could make it worth the $129 price tag.

It's smaller than the iPhone in both stature and size, bringing home a mere 2GB of memory with an SD card slot for expansion. You can play MP3s, WMAs, and WAV files, view JPEGs and watch AVI movies on the 2.83" TFT screen. An FM radio is also tucked away inside, and if you don't need to use headphones you can try the built-in speaker instead.

You can also record voice memos in WAV format, which segues nicely to another unique feature of the Slickr: MUSICMARKER. It's basically Verizon's SongID or AT&T's MusicID phone service that listens to a song and deduces the track title and artist by analyzing the sounds. Unlike those services, though, the MUSICMARKER requires users to connect their Slickr to their computer before the analysis can take place, so you won't be able to actually ID any songs until long after you've heard them.

Functional, chic and cheap, the Venzero Slickr is coming stateside sometime in August, but you can pick one up now from Venzero's site if you're willing to splurge on the shipping. [Venzero Slickr via Crave]

Venzero Preps LilOne Portable Music Player

Gizloco — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 13:05:08 EDT

Venzero specializes in giving otherwise cookie-cutter portable music players wacky names, like last month's 1 or 2-GB miniOne, which still hasn't come out, by the way. Now Venzero is releasing a 6-GB micro hard drive-based portable music player, the lilOne. What does the lilOne bring, besides a smile to your face when whispering its name? Well, it plays MP3s and WMAs, DRM'ed or not, videos and photos. The screen is 1.5-inches and has 256K colors, which isn't bad.

Like the miniOne, the lilOne is compatible with MusicMarker, a service that tries to make finding and identifying songs easier. The lilOne is so hot off the presses that it's not even on Venzero's Web site yet. It's predicted to be available for about $250 when it's released, whenever that is. (The miniOne should be available later this month.) – Nicholas Deleon

Venzero adds lilOne to the "One" collective [dapreview.net]

Venzero

Venzero miniONE Portable Media Player

Gizloco — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 15:21:21 EDT

Hold onto your hats because it's time for another iPod wannabe, this time from Venzero. The diminutive (2.95 x 1.73 x 0.35 inches, 0.98 ounces) miniONE comes in both 1GB and 2GB flavors and is compatible with the upcoming MusicMarker service, which supposedly makes finding and identifying unknown songs totally awesome. The miniONE supports all the usual digital music formats, including MP3 and DRM-encumbered WMA. Hooray for choice.

The 1.3-inch OLED display has a color pallet of 265,000 colors and can also be used to display JPEGs and videos. (The player only plays back its own proprietary format, meaning that users will need to convert all those legally-obtained XviDs using the included software.)

The 1GB version will sell for $119 and its 2GB partner for $169. Look for both of them this July, probably without the butterfly. – Nicholas Deleon

Product Page [Venzero via I4U News]