Gizmodo: Media Player

Zune PR Head Says Babies Will Choose Zune

Elaine Chow — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 23:30:30 EDT

In a recent interview, Zune PR head Adam Sohn told the New York Times that “babies are born every day without an iPod. We will get there.” There being, presumably, more than the measly 2% market share the player holds now. But babies? Really? Microsoft, I think I've figured out your problem—you're going after a demographic with no buying power. And just like John Kerry touring elementary schools during the 2004 election season, I predict this fool's errand won't win you many more points.

I kid, I kid. As pointed out in the rest of the Bits post, the reason the Zune's so far behind is most likely because it's come out with only one groundbreaking feature in the last two years: Wi-Fi access. Everything else—social networking, FM radio, song identification—is like gravy on a filling, but ultimately boring, plate of mashed potatoes.

If Sohn really wants to capture more of the market, he doesn't need to wait for babies to hopefully choose his product. All he needs to do is make us grown-ups (you know, the ones with expendable income) go “Woah.” [NYTimes]

Low-End Korean GPS is Basically High-End 7-Inch Screen PMP, for $190

Kit Eaton — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:40:00 EDT

The normally navigation-focused guys over at Navigadget have spotted something interesting: The "low end" Easycar U7 GPS system heading for Korean drivers at the moment is basically a pretty high-end media player with a 7-inch touchscreen. As well as helping you navigate, the 0.75-inch deep gizmo plays audio and video files, has a text reader, photo-viewer and accepts digitally-broadcast TV. Check out the gallery to see it in action, and go mad when you learn it costs the equivalent of just $190.

Where did you see a fairly thin PMP with a 7-inch screen and all that functionality for that small an amount of cash? I know there's exchange-rate shenanigans happening, but it sure makes most GPS systems over here seem like a rip-off.

Let us know your take on this guys: Are the Koreans just lucky buggers, or are the GPS makers over here ripping us off?
[Navigadget]

Zvue's Custom Elvis Theme PMP Comes with Pre-Loaded Presley Vids

Kit Eaton — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 06:56:00 EDT

Screw the Journey-themed PMP, this custom Zvue player has real music aboard: from Mr Presley himself. Ten video clips to be precise, and Elvis's signature and photo engraved on the back shell. Part of Zvue's Premier Artists Series, it's got 1GB (expandable to 5GB with microSD,) a 2.4-inch colour TFT screen, FM tuner, voice recorder and will cost about $50 when it's out August 12th in Wal-mart. Uh huh huh. [TFTS]

Sarotech's Abigs DVP-260X Media Player Holds 320GB, Does 5.1 Audio and HDMI, Plus FM Transmitter

Jason Chen — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:20:00 EDT

Sarotech's' 2.5-inch ABigs player seems to be designed by an engineer with a gigantic budget. Why? Because it's got a 2.5-inch display, H.264 and MKV support, 1080p over HDMI and 5.1-channel out, a built-in FM transmitter, a photo viewer, an e-book and both PAL and NTSC compatibility. The 160GB version is available for $278 and the 320GB version is available for $328 from Korea, which isn't all that bad considering everything you get from it. If you still want the Korean flavor of this Sarotech but a bit more US availability, there's always Cowon's PMPs. They've got not quite as massive storage, but their format support is phenomenal. [AVING]

Brando's New Cartridge-Style HDD Dock Goes Full Multimedia Player

Kit Eaton — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:31:00 EDT

Clearly one to take a good idea and run with it, Brando has just come up with this new cartridge-style HDD dock that also acts as a media player. So via its s-video and composite sockets you can stream audio, pictures, and video (including divx, with subtitles) to TV and it even has a remote. It takes 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch SATA HDDs (and SD cards too) and connects via USB 2.0. Hmm: a largish rectangular "cartridge" which you plug in to a socket to play movies on TV, why's that sound familiar? Available now for $84. [Brando]

VLC Media Player Now Available For iPhone and iPod Touch

Sean Fallon — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:50:00 EDT

Thanks to Zottd, iPhone users can now port the popular VLC media player to their iPhone or iPod touch, making it possible to drag, drop and play MPEG/MPG, AVI and MP3 media formats. He is also in the process of researching playback for VCD, DivX, WMA, and WMV, and he notes that FLAC and OGG are coming soon. The project is currently in beta, but a public release is on its way. Naturally, you will need a jailbroken phone to take part in this awesomeness. [zottd via Macrumors]

GameStop Squashes Its Bad Zune Habit

Jack Loftus — Sun, 25 May 2008 12:00:00 EDT

It was always strange seeing a video game retailer peddling MP3 players, but nevertheless GameStop has ceased selling Microsoft Zune portable media players. The breakup puts a small speedbump in Microsoft's path to wrest marketshare away from Apple's iPod line, and could slow the progress Zune made against Creative earlier this month. While the initial reaction might be doom-and-gloom for the Zune, the level-headed amongst us will remember that GameStop sells video games, not music players, and big box chains like Target, Best Buy and Wal-Mart will continue to stock it. GameStop said it will continue to sell Zunes until stock is dry, so if you're looking for a deal you might want to stop by your local store. [The Street via Kotaku]

The Mvix MV-2500U: An Ultra Portable, HDD-Based High-Def Media Center

Sean Fallon — Thu, 01 May 2008 15:35:00 EDT

Mvix has announced their new, mini MV-2500U media player, which supports a 2.5-inch hard drive but can still cram in most of the features of its big brothers (the MX-780HD and MX-760) in a package about the size of a PDA. It can also support drives as big as 250GB, which should be enough to store about 100 DVD-quality movie titles. Other features include: 480p, 720p, 1080i compatibility and support for MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4, DVD (VOB, IFO), DivX (3/4/5/6), Xvid, BivX, VCD (DAT) formats. The MV-2500U is available now for $149. Press release after the break.

MvixUSA Launches Ultra Portable HDD-based Hi-Def Media Player
Mvix (USA), Inc., a leader in HDD-based, portable media playback solutions, announces the launch of yet another hi-def media decoder now in ultra small size. The new Mvix MV-2500U supports the small 2.5-inchhard drive, but boasts of most of the key features of its predecessors like MX-780HD or MX-760. It can support HDDs as large as250GB hard disk, enough to carry 100 DVD quality movie titles.

Fairfax, VA (PRWEB) May 1, 2008 — Mvix (USA), Inc., a leader in HDD-based, portable media playback solutions, announces the launch of yet another hi-def media decoder now in ultra small size. The new Mvix MV-2500U supports the small 2.5-inch hard drive, but boasts of most of the key features of its predecessors like MX-780HD or MX-760. It can support HDDs as large as250GB hard disk, enough to carry 100 DVD- quality movie titles.

Introducing this next generation portable gadget in MvixUSA's corporate office in Fairfax, VA, Mike Mallon, the Business Development Manager of MvixUSA commented, "MvixMV-2500U is the perfect companion for the people on the move. People, who enjoy traveling on RVs or boats, can virtually carry their entire home theater collection in this tiny marvel, and enjoy the same hi-def video quality. What differentiates our product from other portable video devices are the quality of video output and versatility in terms of video and audio formats support."

Extremely competitively priced, this black beauty fits everyone's pocket, both in terms of size and dollars
MV-2500U comes in a stunning black look and just measures under 5x3x0.5 inches in dimension, almost the size of a PDA. "Extremely competitively priced, this black beauty fits everyone's pocket, both in terms of size and dollars," commented Mike.

Mvix MV-2500U uses a 2.5" PATA / IDE HDD and supports large-sized hard drives (250GB). When connected to the PC, it works just like an external USB 2.0 hard drive. It comes with a highly functional and ergonomically-designed IR remote control. It is capable of storing and decoding hours of standard or high definition digital video (480p, 720p, 1080i) in over a dozen file formats. Video file formats supported include files encoded in MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4, DVD (VOB, IFO), DivX ® (3/4/5/6), Xvid, BivX ®, VCD (DAT) for both PAL and NTSC systems.

The news of Mvix MV-2500U comes within three months of launch of MvixUSA's flagship model MX-780HD (introduced during CES in January). MvixUSA foresees a very positive response for MV-2500U from the market, particularly in mobile entertainment segment. "MV-2500U is our exclusive product for the mobile community, who wants to maintain the quality of their digital lifestyle, even when they are on the move. We continue to innovate in products and features, catering to different markets and supporting our customers with our unmatched technical support platform," Mike added.

[Mvix]

Iomega Screenplay Mediaplayer HDD Does HD Upscaling

Kit Eaton — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:25:10 EDT

Iomega's new Screenplay HD Multimedia drive promises that you can "leave the PC behind" since it stores your movies, pics and tunes and connects directly to your HDTV. You simply save them via the USB2.0 connection, and it's standalone from there on. It can upscale to to 720p and 1080i, plays a wide bunch of formats and connects via HDMI, SCART, composite audio and video or coaxial S/PDIF. With 500GB inside it should be able to store about 750 hours of MPEG2 at 780 x 480 pixels: that's around 500 movies as we mentioned yesterday. It's available now for $218.45. [Iomega and TFTS]

DigiArt i90 Camera-PMP Combo Frees Pockets From Multiple Gizmos

Kit Eaton — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 04:51:25 EDT

Out first in Korea (where else?) Digix's Picto DigiArt i90 is one of those crazy-sounding convergence gadgets. Combine a seven megapixel camera and PMP in one case, and you save people from carrying several gizmos, or so the idea goes.

Mind you, the camera sounds okay for holiday snaps, with 3x optical zoom, some sort of "Image Stabilizing Helper" and video at 30 fps maximum resolution 740 x 480 pixels. It's also able to shoot up to ISO1000, and has a nine megapixel interpolated mode. With a 3-inch LCD screen, MP3 player, video playback (unknown formats), voice recording and SD memory slot, the whole thing squeezes into a pretty slim 0.7-inch deep package. Costs around $185, but we've no idea if it'll be available here.

Now: choose between a strange combo gadget or bulging pockets with dedicated, but good, gadgets? Personally, I'd go for the latter. [Aving]

Tactile MP3 Player Begs to Be Touched

Sean Fallon — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:45:38 EST

One look at this "Tactile MP3" player concept may have you thinking that it is a device for the blind. While, the control buttons do resemble Braille, this MP3 player is really for anyone that enjoys running their fingers across small raised bumps (and who doesn't love that!). It also has a clean design and a small form factor that is somewhat appealing. I can definitely see this type of approach being incorporated into real world products somewhere down the line. [Yanko Design]

32GB Creative Zen Available Now, Really?

Christopher Mascari — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:46:03 EST

A few weeks ago Creative confirmed that the 32GB Zen was coming, but sadly would not see the light of day till the second quarter of 2008. Well, it appears that Creative's US site is showing the 32GB Zen in stock and available for shipment. For some reason the Zen product page doesn't show the 32GB model in stock when selected in the drop down menu; but when placed in the cart, it shows that it is indeed available. So if you were planing on layin-down $349.99 on the largest capacity Zen when it was finally available, your time has come. Oh, and as a bonus you might actually be able to get this in time for Christmas, if you order soon. [Creative]

Toshiba Gigabeat T401 Slims Down, Beefs Up Sound

Charlie White — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 09:57:08 EDT

The Toshiba Gigabeat T401 just saw the light of day, and it looks like Toshiba is hopping on the slim and trim bandwagon with this 9.9mm-thin music player with a 2.4-inch screen. Plus, the company says it has improved the player's sound with "H2C" tech, giving you better highs and less noise. We're liking this small form factor, about the same width and height as a credit card. It kinda reminds us of a smaller version of the Zune, with its Wi-Fi connectivity and Windows friendliness. Available in three colors as you can see, let's take a look at a close-up of the black one.

Watch 4GB's worth of your fave Windows media video (WMV) on that 320x240 display, and the company says the battery won't run down for five hours. Or you can listen to 16 hours of WMA-9 lossless or WMA audio slathered with plenty of DRM until the lithium ion battery runs out. Of course, you can always listen to MP3s on the thing, too. Expect to see it in Japan on September 7 for $214. [Toshiba]

Trevor Bayliss' Eco Player is One for Worthies

AddyDugdale — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 14:00:10 EDT

Trevor Baylis, the Brit who invented the wind-up radio 16 years ago, has applied his not inconsiderable brain to doing the same thing for MP3s and videos and come up with a 2GB Eco Player that will give you 40 minutes of music on just one minute of winding. And that's not all it can do.

There's a full-color 1.8-inch LCD screen, as well as FM radio and voice recorder, an LED flashlight function and it can even charge your phone in an emergency. And if you don't fancy running around with a crank, there's also an internal battery that you can charge via USB and get 20 hours' worth of juice.

While it's not exactly beautiful (the design of its buttons reminds me of those kitschy bow-tie tee-shirts) and it's a bit large, I can see the worthies of this world displaying it as a badge of their planet-hugginess.

Costing around $350—a lot more money than they spent on a website that can only be described as shonky—the Eco Player should be available at the end of this month. [Ethical Superstore via Shiny Shinyand British Eco]

Blu:Sens WiFi/Bluetooth G14 Media Player Ditches the DRM

www.gizmodo.com — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 13:41:55 EST

Blu:Sens' G14 took the Wi-Fi capabilities of the Zune and the Archos 604, added Bluetooth A2DP capabilities, and left the DRM in the gutter. Unlike the Zune, the G14 is expected to be able to share wirelessly with other media players, as well as your PC. Likely by windows file sharing. Good news aside, the G14 is only available in 1GB or 2GB models and has a measly 2" screen, an entire inch smaller than the Zune's. The G14 may support Mpeg4 and WMA video playerback, but with such small capacities what's the point? If Blu:Sens increased both the screen size and storage it might be worth the trip to Spain to pick one up. Until then, I've gotta pass. – Todd Haselton

Blu:Sens G14 [Musicgizmos]

MediaStreet eMotion PMP/DVD: Plays All, Looks Ugly

Charlie White — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 13:19:20 EST

This MediaStreet eMotion Portable Media Player DVD tries to include everything but the kitchen sink, but ends up looking like a toilet seat. It can play back DVDs on its 3.5" LCD display, and also handles CDs, digital music and video files. On top of that, it tosses in a 3-in-1 memory card reader and USB 2.0 port. But what about an internal disc? It's unclear how much it can hold, or if there is one at all.

Whaddaya expect for $139? Well, it can't be too uncool, because there's a special Public Enemy-branded version due to hit the streets in the Q2 of this year, loaded with the SLAMjamz/Public Enemy catalog of music and videos. But that design? Maybe MediaStreet should stick with me-too digital picture frames. – Charlie White

Press Release [MediaStreet, via LetsGoDigital]

More Details Emerge: Archos 404 and 604

Charlie White — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 09:57:07 EDT

We first heard a tiny bit of information about the Archos 404 portable media player six weeks ago, and now a few more facts have emerged, showing the diminutive unit (5.11" x 3" x .6" thick) with a 3.5" LCD display that's in a 4x3 format with 320x240 pixels, supporting a variety of video and audio formats as long as your arm (spec list after the jump). We're also hearing the Archos 604 is forthcoming, with comparable specs except with a 16x9 (480x272) widescreen display instead of a 4x3.

Perhaps most intriguing is an optional docking station, compatible with all the players in the x04 series, that will turn these babies into personal video recorders, laying down video in DivX 5.0, or even H.264 with the appropriate plug-ins. Availability wasn't announced, but the company earlier mentioned these players will be available in July or August, so we're thinking we'll be seeing them fairly soon. Pricing for the Archos 404 will be $435, and the Archos 604 will be $508. – Charlie White

More details on Archos' x04 lineup [DAP Preview]

Archos 404:
30 GB capacity
3.5" display
320x240 pixels, (604 model has 480x272), 16 million colors
MTP/UMS capable
Format support: MP3, WMA, WAV, JPEG, BMP, PNG, MPEG4 ASP (Level 5), XviD, DivX 4, DivX 5, WMV9 (max resolution of 704x 480 @ 30fps, 720 X 576 @ 25fps)
Voice recorder
PDF viewer
Built-in speaker
15 hours of battery life playing audio, 4 with video

Design Concept: Tripod Media Player

Charlie White — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 12:26:13 EDT

If you've ever tried to watch video on an iPod, you know the problem: what do you do with the iPod during the movie? Just hold it in your hand? One guy we know, when he's flying in a plane, uses a flimsy plastic cup handed out by flight attendants as an iPod holder.

Lisa Kohanshis designs away that problem with flexible screen technology incorporated into a stand-up screen idea using a triangle motif. It's a small triangle that fits in your pocket when you're listening to music, and when you want to watch a movie, you pull it apart, unraveling its flexible OLED display. Speakers are mounted in the top of the two triangles, aiming right at your ears. Remove its embedded triangular-shaped remote to control the movie from afar. Somebody build this one, stat. – Charlie White

Tripod: Mp3 Player & Movie Player [Yanko Design, via SciFi Tech]

Buffalo Wireless Media Player

Charlie White — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 10:04:57 EDT

Buffalo throws its hat into the crowded media player ring with its LinkTheater Wireless-A&G Media Player (PC-P4LWAG). Sitting right there next to your TV, it's designed to work wirelessly (802.11 a/b/g) with your Viiv-enabled PC, bringing all that music and video to your TV.

It uses Mediabolic's Media Player software and the Philips Nexperia media processor, and the company says its wireless installation is just as easy as pushing one button. No word on pricing yet, but we're hearing it will be available in the UK July. Anyway, this certainly doesn't have high enough technology to deal with high definition. Someday. – Charlie White

Buffalo's Viiv-Ready Wireless Media Player [Bios Magazine]

Digital Cowboy WMV HD/DVD Media Player

Jason Chen — Fri, 26 May 2006 18:51:17 EDT

Digital CowBoy, not to be confused with Analog CowBoy, released a DVD/HD based media player. You can choose either a DVD or HD drive to put inside, and out comes a full HD video (1920x1080). Connect this to your HDTV set watch all your ripped movies. The formats supported are: "Mpeg-1/2/4, DVD (IFO, ISO, VOB), WMV HD, MP3, WMA and OGG."

Remote also included. Price unknown. – Jason Chen

Digital CowBoy WMV HD DVD - HDD Media Player [Akihabara News]

Sony Announces Type L VAIO Desktops

Charlie White — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 11:18:11 EDT

Sony announced its Type L all-in-one desktops which will be released first in Japan, a product line designed to be equally at home as a PC or multimedia player. There are two models, one with a 19-inch 1680x1050 LCD and another with a smaller 15.4-inch 1200x800 LCD. Either gives you a choice of the 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo T2300 or a 1.6GHz Celeron M420 processor.

The fold-up design covers up the bottom two thirds of the screen but still leaves the top of the screen visible for playlist information. Then you can control your music with the included remote. Neat.

Product Page [Sony Japan]

Elentec iubi blue Compact Bluetooth PMP

Charlie White — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 10:25:51 EST

Now that we know Origami is nothing but a glorified media player with DRM slathered all over it, it's time for other media players to come out of the woodwork, such as the Elentec iubi blue Compact Bluetooth PMP. This one has a 4.3-inch LCD (take that, video iPod), and it claims to support music and even video files wirelessly with its Bluetooth compatibility. Plus, you can plug in an optional TV tuner and then you'll be carrying around a personal video recorder that can timeshift your favorite programs. At just a half an inch thick and weighing 10 ounces, it might just slip into an oversized pocket. It reportedly plays eight hours of video on a battery charge and 15 hours of music. Look for it to be showing at CeBIT in Hannover this week.

ELENTEC iubi blue compact Bluetooth PMP [AVing.net]

Mind-Reading Music Player

Charlie White — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 06:45:58 EST

Disney, ever on the prowl for new ideas even if it has to spend billions to buy them, has filed a patent for a media player that monitors your mood and then picks out songs accordingly. As this player suggests a video or song for you, you accept or reject that pick, and then the player learns from that, too. It will do this magic, according to the patent filing, with a wrist band that works like a lie detector. The thing takes note of your body temperature, and if you're sweating and your pulse is racing it's going to dredge up some pretty tense music to go along with that. Or perhaps it will try to calm you down with some trance tracks. Maybe Steve Jobs, as soon as he takes total control over Disney, will incorporate this idea into future iPods.

Invention: The moody media player
[New Scientist]

The patent filing is here.

Jens of Sweden 24-Karat Gold Media Player

Noah R — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 09:08:59 EST

Oh, you silly iPod fans. Can't you see that Jens of Sweden out-classes you all! This is the MP-500, it plays MP4 video, MP3s, does voice recording, has stereo speakers and USB 2.0. Jens throws in a watch, an alarm and an FM radio with 24 automatically-set stations as well. Thinner than a box of matches and smaller than a credit card, the MP-500 comes in 1GB ($190) and 2GB ($243) sizes (not including VAT). The "Excentrique" edition has a 24-karat gold backside ($275). But all the bling in the world won't make up for the screen on the MP-500. It's a 1.6-inch, with 260K colors and a mere 128 x 128 resolution. Jens is also pimping Sony headphones and microphones as accessories. Available in February.

Product Page

Creative Zen Vision: M - iTurning iJapanese

tgrumet — Wed, 07 Dec 2005 09:20:17 EST

Oops! After all that hype about a December 8 unveiling, looks like Creative's big product launch was undermined by Japan, where the Zen Vision:M was unearthed a day before its London debut. The product, which is a bit of a mouthful, if you please, is indeed green and white (though it also comes in black and white as well as all-white), has a 30GB hard drive, a 320x240 pixel, 2.5-inch screen with and plays MP3 and WMA-DRM audio files. But, as you may have guessed, it also plays 4 hours of video (or image playback) in MPEG-1/2/4, WMV, Motion JPEG, DivX 4/5 and Xvid formats. Sure, it's a shot at the Video iPod—but it's twice as thick—however, unlike Apple's offering it's got an FM tuner and voice recorder tucked in for good luck. Not a bad little product if you ask me, though maybe the interface does look a little familiar....

So here's our question: Why did you buy a portable video player, if you did at all? Poll after the jump.

News of Creative ZEN VISION:M 30GB [Creative]

LG Embraces Media

tgrumet — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 11:25:06 EDT

I never really saw the sense in having a product that just played back media. It's a nice thought, but kinda crap if you ask me. So I like the idea of LGs LRM-519 media viewer that plays back your media, as well as records it. It's powered by Microsoft's Windows Media Center Extender platform and has a 160GB hard drive as well as dual USB 2.0 ports for extra storage if you need it. Throw in Ethernet and WiFi and you've got yourself a great addition to the home network. The Dual Layer DVD drive supports MP3 and WMA for audio playback and JPEG for image viewing. And in case you were wondering, that hard drive lets you record about 90 hours of video from cable, satellite or plain over-the-air signals. All for $600, though Microsoft has to be a dick and charge a $250 one-time fee for it's Program Guide service. You can also pay $10 a month if you prefer slow torture.

LG LRM-519 media mogul now out [InfoSync World]