Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

Even if it only gave you a couple of months worth of entertainment before it crapped out, I’d still be tempted to pick up one of these cheap, $46-47 PMPs from Chinavasion for the simple fact that they’ve gone the extra couple of yards to include an NES emulator. On the audio/video side of things it supports MP3, WAV, WMA, 3GP and AVI files which are displayed on a 2.4-inch, 320×240 TFT LCD, or on an external monitor with the included set of AV cables. And I assume the same functionality exists for the built-in NES emulator. There’s also a 1.3 megapixel camera which can be used for capturing stills or 3GP videos, an FM radio, a standard sized headphone jack and a miniSD card slot. (Up to 2GB sizes supported.)

[ MP4 Handheld NES Emulator 2.4 Inch Screen + AV Out - 2GB ] VIA [ PMP Today ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The Shiro SQ-S media player doesn’t really bring much new to the table when it comes to portable media players. In fact, while it’s got 16GB of storage on board, support for WMA, WAV, M4A, FLAC, APE & OGG audio formats and an FM tuner that allows you to record broadcasts, the 1.8-inch 128×160 LCD display is kind of sucky, and if you want to watch video on it you’ll have to convert it to an SMV file first. Also lame.

But it does manage to distinguish itself from the hundreds of other cheap portable media players on the market thanks to the large solar cell covering the entire back of the device. This allows you to charge the internal battery via the sun if you don’t have access to a USB power source. Unfortunately I have no idea how long it takes to fully recharge the SQ-S using just the solar cell, or if the promised 38 hours of music playback (screen off) requires a constant source of light or not.

[ Shiro SQ-S Solar Media Player ] VIA [ Fareastgizmos ]

By Evan Ackerman

Thinking about a new PMP? Before you run down to the nearest Apple store and join their legions of mindless hipsters (full disclosure: I am the proud owner of a new iPhone), have a look at the Cowon S9 Curve, which has a whole bunch of impressive features packed snugly underneath an absolutely gorgeous 3.3-inch 480 x 272 16 million color, AMOLED capacitive touchscreen. Mmmmm, AMOLED… More colors, more brightness, more contrast, better viewing angle, faster response time… It’s where it’s at, yo.

The rest of the player is no slouch, either, with a 500 mHz dual core processor, 8 or 16 gig capacities (with 32 gigs on the way), stereo bluetooth, FM, USB and TV out, and an 8 hour video / 40 hour audio battery. There’s no word on price, but I would expect it to be in the same ballpark as (but perhaps slightly more expensive than) an iPod touch. Competitively in there, anyway. Should be available in the US by the middle of this month, but we’ll see.

VIA [ DVICE ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Now here’s a portable DVD player that’s a bit more useful. Instead of being restricted to just playing movies that come on a plastic disc, it also gives you access to all the movies, TV shows and music you might have on your iPod. The 8 1/2 inch widescreen LCD display is a lot easier to watch than the rather compact one the iPod features, and it makes it a lot easier for more than one person to enjoy. The iPod slides into the front of the player and is protected by a clear plastic cover, and I assume it can be then controlled using the DVD player’s included remote since the touch wheel is inaccessible.

On a 5 hour charge the battery pack is good for about 3 hours of DVD playback, or about 4 hours of iPod video playback, and it also charges the iPod while in use. Other features include an AV out port for connecting the player to an external display, dual headphone jacks and support for DVDs, VCDs, CDs and MP3 CDs. You can get it from Hammacher Schlemmer for $269.95.

[ The Portable iPod Video Enlarger And DVD Player ] VIA [ Gear Live ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Companies like Tonka and Fisher-Price have made a name for themselves when it comes to designing toys that can survive the abuse of a small child. But with today’s kids becoming more and more tech-savvy, it only makes sense that in recent years they’ve expanded to making easy-to-use but hard-to-destroy electronics like digital cameras. Continuing with that trend, Fisher-Price is now selling a ‘Kid-Tough’ portable DVD player that features a rubberized shell and shock & skip-proof technology allowing it to survive multiple drops at the hands of a pre-schooler. The 3.2-inch LCD display isn’t gigantic by any stretch of the imagination, but it gives the player about 2 hours of battery life which should make any kid who’s stuck in a car seat more than happy. But that small screen size also means the DVD player can’t really be shared, so the $149.98 price tag is kind of steep if you have more than one kid to distract.

[ Fisher-Price Kid-Tough Portable DVD Player ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you’re in the market for a portable DVD player, I say go big or go home. This laptop-sized Monster Screen portable DVD player features a 12.5 inch LCD display with a half-decent resolution of 800×600. (More than enough for a DVD movie.) And besides DVDs, the Monster can also play VCDs as well as MPEG-4, AVI, DIVX and XVID videos whether they’re burned to a disc or loaded via a USB flash drive or an SD card.

And if you get tired of watching movies the Monster also features a built-in TV tuner for VHF-L, VHF-H and UHF frequencies, as well as a couple of video game controllers designed to be used with its NES emulator. (You’ll need to supply the ROMs.) While it’s claimed that the built-in battery can provide “hours of fun”, with a 12.5 inch LCD display I’d actually be impressed if it made it through a 2 hour movie. You can get it from Chinavision for about $200 if you’re just interested in a single unit.

[ Monster Screen 12.5 Inch Portable DVD Player with Games ] VIA [ Coolest Gadgets ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I rarely watch videos or movies on the go, but it’s mostly because I can’t be bothered reformatting or converting them into a format that’ll play on any of my devices. The Aigo Patriot MV5920 however appears to play all formats including VOBs, Divx, MPEG etc. at a resolution of up to 1280 x 720. Unfortunately the display is just 480 x 272, but being able to play back a file that large without you having to downconvert it first is pretty convenient.

All of your media is stored on the MV5920’s 160GB hard drive, and it can also serve as a mobile DVR capturing over-the-air D1 video streams. You can even use the device to stream audio and video since it includes Wifi, but I doubt it has a web browser given the lack of keyboard and touch screen. Other features include a 2-megapixel camera, support for most digital audio formats (no FLAC), a 2300 mAH rechargeable lithium battery and as always, an e-book reader that only supports the TXT format. If you can find one, it will set you back about $429.

[ Aigo Patriot MV5920 ] VIA [ PMP Today ]

By Evan Ackerman

We’ve written about pico projectors a whole bunch in the past, but the SunView portable media player appears to be one of the first commercially available products to contain one. Demoed at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair, the PMPP (that extra “P” stands for “projector,” of course) is a relatively small 133mm x 79mm x 25mm device features at 3.5″ touchscreen, rechargeable battery, speaker, SD slot, and remote control. The highlight is of course the projector, which can illuminate a 53″ screen at 9 lux with a full color gamut VGA (640 x 480) image.

It sounds pretty good, but how well does it work? We’ll have to wait for someone to get their hands on one to find out, although based on our experience with pico projectors at CES, you’ll need a pretty dark place in order to see anything but the most contrasty of images.

Although the SunView PMPP is purportedly available in limited quantities, there’s no word on pricing yet.

VIA [ Display Daily ]

By Evan Ackerman

The one thing I miss about radio is being exposed to new music. I like all the songs on my iPod, but now that I have an established music collection, I rarely add to it. The Slacker WiFi portable radio acts like a cross between your iPod and the radio (sort of like, I don’t know, XM?), letting you access radio stations (or create personalized ones) over the internet, in addition to playing music that you already own. The neat thing is that the Slacker will buffer your radio stations on its HD, so you don’t have to be connected to the internet all the time in order to be listening to new music.

As you might expect, there is a monthly subscription cost to take full advantage of the radio service. The basic radio is free, but includes a ‘limited number’ of ads, and you can only skip 6 songs per hour. The price for premium radio is $7.50 a month, and for that, there are no ads, you can skip all the songs you want, and if you like something, you can save it from the radio onto your player. The player itself features 10 hour battery life, a 4″ screen, 802.11 b/g WiFi, and weighs 5 oz. A 2gb model (with 500mb for personal music, 1.5gb for radio music) will cost you $200, or you can get a 4gb (1.5gb personal music) for $250 and an 8gb (4gb personal music) for $300. Not too bad if you ask me, although I’ve never been a big fan of subscription based music.

[ Slacker Portable ] VIA [ Electronista ]