Gizmodo: multimedia player

Celrun TV HD Multimedia Player Supports Almost Every Codec Under the Sun

Haroon Malik — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 04:25:00 EST

The Celrun TV multimedia player comes equipped to the back teeth. The HD multimedia player totes Ethernet, WiFi b/g for basic, network accessible storage; digital and analog TV tuners, IPTV support, DVR functionality, 320GB HDD, two USB ports, as well as RGB, S-VIDEO and HDMI outputs. Add to that the ability to playback H.264, WMV, AVI, Xvid, MOV, VOB, MPEG1/2/4 and a whole host of other supported codecs in between, the Celrun TV is certainly a souped up performer on paper. No idea as yet whether we'll see it Stateside, but if it does make an appearance, we'll be sure to let you know. [Akihabara News]

iRiver's Multimedia Unit2 has Everything We Could Want, Including Apple-esque UI

Kit Eaton — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 08:32:31 EST

We know that iRiver has been working on its all-singing, all-dancing multimedia player-dock-thingie the Unit2 for over a year. The Apple-esque interface, its voice over IP internet telephone (yes, a telephone) and the removable 16:9 touchscreen make it look quite amazing. And expensive. We don't know the price yet, though. Seeing the unit and the telephone in action, which unfolds to show a full QWERTY keyboard, makes it even more attractive.

It looks like Unit2 is a very slick piece of kit, packing in more functions than a Swiss army knife, and that video has just increased our lust. But we really want to know when we can get our mitts on it.
[Akihabaranews and iriver]

Multimedia Player-Projector Built Like a Flashlight

Charlie White — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:40:00 EDT

Designer Can-Hong Huang takes a page out of Sony's dildo-shaped music player playbook, coming up with this multimedia player that also takes on a phallic shape. This design concept is not only a cylindrical MP3 player with rotating control knobs on its barrel, but instead of a screen it has a flashlightesque projector on the end that can turn any white wall into a mini movie theater.

The rest of the design involves a gorgeous dock into which you plant this pole, and along for the ride are a couple of kooky-looking wireless earbuds that bear a strong resemblance to one of our favorite bowls from back in the college days. Was old Can-Hong really trying to make those buds look like little blue-bowled hash pipes? Try explaining those away to your mom. [Yanko Design]

Tomato U2 Multimedia Player is Not Quite Ripe

Charlie White — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 14:45:00 EST

All right all you iPod worshipers, don't start throwing tomatoes at the Tomato U20 digital media player just yet, because it actually looks pretty nice and has more features than the iPod nano. It's available in 1GB, 2GB, and 4 GB capacities, and plays back audio and video in your choice of MP3, MP4, WMV and ASF formats.

Too bad it has that tiny 2-inch 4x3 screen, but slightly makes up for that by including an FM tuner and a miniSD slot for when you inevitably run out of disk space. The as-yet-unpriced Tomato U20 looks nice, but considering the competition in this hot multimedia player market right now, we're still thinking it's a few lettuce leaves short of a full salad. You can start throwing those tomatoes now. – Charlie White

Product Page [Tomato Limited, via dapreview]

iRiver Unit 2: Media Player Piggybacking on a Mini Boombox

Charlie White — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 11:09:37 EST

iRiver has outdone itself with the Unit 2, a minisystem whose 7-inch 800x480 16:9 screen pops off, giving you the choice of a stationary boombox or porto-player. It's also a polyglot of content, playing all types of digital video and audio files from its 30GB onboard disk or SD slot, plus you can pop in the requisite DVDs and CDs if you must.

It even goes beyond that: There's Wi-Fi inside so you can listen to Internet radio, stream and download. The only downside is that iRiver isn't saying anything about price or availability. The topper? Our buddies at Sci Fi Tech say it sounds great. Unit 2, get thee hence! – Charlie White

iriver Unit 2: 50 gadgets in one [Sci Fi Tech]

Samsung YP-T9B On Its Way: Tiny, Video-Playing with Bluetooth, Too

Charlie White — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 09:30:48 EDT

While fanboys fawn over iPods with their short feature list, Samsung brings the IP-T9B, the little MP3 player that could, stoked with stuff that everybody really wanted Steve Jobs to announce at Tuesday's love feast: video playback (although it's only 15 frames per second at 208 x 176 on a 1.8 inch screen), Bluetooth support for wireless headphones, FM radio with voice recording, a couple of 3D games thrown in for the fun of it, and a nice long 30-hour battery life (6 hours for video). Supported formats include MP3, WMA, OGG, ASF, AVI, RMVB and MPEG-4.

We're a little bit closer to knowing when the Samsung IP-T9B will be available, because it's just been spotted in China. These are the first high-quality pictures we've seen of this attractive little 4GB multimedia player, which is less than a half an inch thick and weighs just 1.7 ounces. It's so small it might be too small, especially for video playback. Also missing: Apple's unique user interface, click wheel, integration with iTunes, bla bla bla. Good luck with this one, Samsung. And Apple, start your copiers! Don't worry, you can settle up in court later. – Charlie White

Samsung YP-T9B: Bluetooth-enabled YP-T9 [c|net Asia]

Design Concept: Multimedia Player from Karim Rashid

Charlie White — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 11:47:40 EDT

Here's a design concept for a flash memory-based media player by design heavyweight Kareem Rashid. The player takes a curvaceous form which sits balanced like a rocking chair when viewing the screen in landscape mode, or it can stand up on end for vertical viewing. Turn it upside down and you see a blue LED clock glowing through its iridescent plastic material.

Getting even more radical is Rashid's design for an alarm clock and CD player, where there's no bottom or top, no up nor down. It just looks like a glob of goo that somehow solidified, into which you insert a CD. As if anyone is even using CDs any more.

Nevertheless, we'd like to see that media player actually manufactured someday. The CD player? Eh. Nevertheless, design concepts are often a dime a dozen, but carry a bit more gravitas from an established designer such as Rashid. – Charlie White

CD and Video Players by Karim Rashid [Cube Me]

Karim Rashid's Site