Today’s DAP Headlines:
AVC from Japan burps up more than half a dozen new DAPs, all weird or boring in their own kind of way. Some new details on the Samsung XM NeXus emerged, RCW showcased an ultra-slim portable television and Creative isn’t too happy about specific “deals” (involving Apple & Samsung). Speaking of Samsung – their YP-D1 has recently crashlanded on their (Korean) homepage.
We’ve mentioned AVC from Japan only shortly ago, but apparently that wasn’t enough yet – the Japanese corporation launched plans for several new DAPs and accessories yesterday. They’re all there on our website, so we’ll just shortly mention the most interesting ones in here.
The SN-A800 is a very slender little flash-based bugger (thinner than nano) with a very distinctive design. Too bad it tops at a 1GB storage capacity, though – and prices aren’t that attractive either (up to 240 bucks). The SN-M550 is a bit cheaper and will run for some 130 hours continuously on one single battery charge, the SN-F120 just looks weird and the DockLink SN-DS10 can be used as a portable set of stereo speakers. It’s also a dedicated DAP by itself (128MB flash memory inside) and one can use the thing for transferring files from and to MP3 players.
A little snippet on Samsung’s upcoming XM device, the NeXus, won’t hurt anyone either, now will it? It turns out that this device measures some 3.37×1.85×0.65 inch while weighing 4.4oz. and that it’ll come with a 1.5-inch FTSN screen, 1GB storage capacity, voice recorder and an estimated battery life of 16 hours per charge. Also note this one: “While docked in its cradle, the NeXus can receive and record live XM broadcasts and transmit the audio wirelessly via the cradle’s FM transmitter”.
Not as slim as the above-mentioned AVC SN-A800, but far from being “fat” regardless is RCW’s Ultra SlimTV. This enlarged credit card-type of portable television measures 112 70 9.7mm in size and comes with a 480 x 234, 2.54-inch color screen as well as a built-in antenna. Should be out there (in Japan) by early 2006 at approximately 145 USD.
They don’t mention the actual company name, but it’s hard to miss out on Creative’s lash-out‘s “victim”: Samsung. Creative’s CEO (Mister Hoo) said that “The MP3 market is now consolidating, but there is a shortage [of flash memory] because of the special deal we talked about”; that “special deal” would involve Samsung, which supposedly offered Apple buckets full of flash memory chips at bargain prices. Meanwhile, Creative’s results for the first quarter of their fiscal year aren’t too great either. Despite noticeable improvements here and there, the best they could come up with is this one: “Our key goal for this quarter is to return to profitability by the end of the calendar year.”
While we’re at it – why not quickly mention yet another Samsung-related DAP item, namely the YP-D1? It’s basically the same thing as the YP-T8 – a DAP that’s shaped like a cellphone and comes will kind of cool features – but Samsung added a 2MP photo camera to the existing concept to perk things up a bit. Works for us.
Well, that’s it for today, dear readers. See you again tomorrow!
