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August 21, 2006

Ergonomics Over Sleekness: The Curon QCOX

We're back to Korean news with this one. Specifically, this PMP comes to us from South Korea, and it's got an interesting name. Aside from being worth a ton of points in Scrabble, the QCOX is a bit unconventional in its design. It turns away from the conventional super-sleek appearance and has an unusual control mechanism.

Control is handled by the knob on the side of the device. With a 4.3" LCD screen, it also sports an FM tuner, GPS capabilities, and music, video, and document playback. Apparently it also supports TV out with HD quality, unlike anything we're really familiar with when it comes to linking a PVP to a TV. Though, this may become more common as the AMD processor that's in it is gaining popularity.

It is an HD player with 30 gigs of memory. It will be going on sale in South Korea next month, with a price tag of between 500,000 and 600,000 won (approximately $500 to $600).

Posted by mark at 11:49 PM

Archos Rolls Out Five New Portable Video Devices

Here's a refreshing change. There's some PMP news coming out of a non-Asian country. Archos, a well-known name in the world of portable video players, has unveiled five new devices, which they're calling their "Generation 4" line of PMPs. They're all going to be HD players, but the size differs between models.

The first to come out will be the 404 and 604 models (pictured), with 3.5" and 4.3" screens, respectively. Each of these will have 30 gigabytes. The 404 will be $300, and the 604 $350. There's nothing really special about these. Their features are fairly simple. However, the 404 will eventually be released as a special version with a built-in camcorder, and also a special version of the 604 will launch later in the year, with a touchscreen interface and wireless connectivity. Regular versions of each will ship in September. In addition to both versions of the 404 and 604, there'll be a monstrous 160 gigger with the model number 504. Details about this one haven't been released, though. Finally, we've got some interesting new products to talk about that will actually be released in the United States.

Check out other Archos devices

Via Engadget

Posted by mark at 6:12 AM

The XPIN MX-430 is Packed With Functionality

There's a new PMP that's been announced, the XPIN MX-430, and it comes to us from Korea (where else?) that seems to have everything you could possibly want from a portable device without it being a UMPC, even though it does have many characteristics of an ultra mobile computer.

Headlined as a "mobile infotainment system", it can play virtually all video formats, in addition to being able to have connectivity with DVD and DivX players. It also has a built-in GPS antenna. Additionally, it's got an LCD touchscreen, which I've always thought it the only way to make a worthwhile portable video player. It will cost roughly the equivalent of $600, but like many things in Korea, there's no sign yet that this will be coming to the US.

Via Sci Fi Tech

Posted by mark at 5:36 AM

August 17, 2006

China Announces PVP For Your Wrist

Sadly, there are few portable video players out there that really distinguish themselves from one another. You could probably walk into a Korean A/V store and you'd find a wall of devices that looked identical. So, there's something that really piques my interest about this new Chinese watch that also is a remarkably capable video player.

The F209, as it's called, has a 160 x 128 resolution, with an OLED display that looks pretty slick. MPEG-4, XviD, and AVI files are all playable, which is pretty nice for something that you wear around your wrist

There's everything you expect from a dedicated PVP - a USB port, headphone jack, and playback control buttons. It sounds perfect for those times when you need to kill an hour or two but didn't have the foresight to lug around your portable video device.

This is only in China for the time being, with 799 renminbi (CNY) as the price for a 512 MB capacity, which is about $100, or 1,099 CNY ($125) for the 1 GB version. That's not too bad for a video player or for a nice watch, but if these ever make it to the US, expect those prices to inflate drastically.

Via Engadget and Wrist Dreams

Posted by mark at 7:22 AM

The Solvo S330. Looks Pretty Cool.

Here's another cool-looking portable media player from Korea, this time courtesy of Solvo. It's in sleek, black casing with a very impressive 480 x 272 WQVGA screen. It supports MPEG (1/2/4), DivX, XviD, OGG, and MP3 formats. This full-featured baby also sports built-in GPS and a DMB tuner.

There's also a pre-installed dictionary application. Additionally, there's support for Flash games, a feature that's regrettably not included in most of the portable video devices out there. The S330 weighs in at only 240 grams.

At this point, we have no idea if it'll be coming to the U.S. or at what price it'll go for in Korea. It's quite possible that this will just be another addition to the pile of Korean-exclusive PMPs.

Engadget via TechEBlog

Posted by mark at 2:56 AM

August 16, 2006

Bluedot BMP-1430 30GB Linux Portable Video Player

Japanese Bluedot offers a portable media player that runs Linux and allows you to run your own Linux applications on it.

The Bluedot BMP-1430 features a 30GB HDD, 4.3 inch wide-screen, 480×272 pixel resolution, photo album, file manager, FM radio, text viewer, calendar, calculator, stopwatch and alarm clock.
Supported video formats are MPEG-1/-2/-4, WMV7/8/9 and XviD.
The Linux PMP measures 133x79x25.5mm. Apparently the hardware is developed by Digital Cube, most likely it is based on a Digital Cube T43.
More details on the Bluedot site (Japanese). Via CrissCross.

Posted by i4u at 7:14 AM