By Ian Chiu

iPod video & PSP owners with a Celery (Celeron as it’s known to some) or a Pentium 4 feel the pain when they try to rip their DVDs into H.264 (AVC) format. The process is painfully slow and tedious. This little USB dongle called the ADS Instant Video To Go will put the smile back on their faces. In this review at Everything USB, a Celeron 2.2Ghz (a more than 3 years old Intel CPU) took about nearly 4 hours to complete transcoding of a high bitrate 30 min. MPEG-2 VOB into H.264 640×480. When the hardware accelerator of the ADS dongle kicked in, the time required to finish the same task was just 36 mins, close to the original run time. The improvement is nothing short of breathtaking. However, those without a duo core won’t benefit greatly from this as software encoder is beginning to take advantage of multi-threads. Read on to find out everything about this hardware accelerator and whether it’s worth $64.

[ADS Instant Video To Go H.264 USB Encoder review @ Everything USB]

By Andrew Liszewski

While I’m not crazy about the physical size of the video-capable iPods (I prefer the Nano) I do like the fact they have a video-out option. It definitely makes up for the small screen and with the right software can serve as a portable, pocket-sized Tivo. And while the ridiculously overpriced ‘official’ Apple AV cable works well enough using the iPod’s headphone jack there are higher quality solutions. SendStation’s PocketDock AV for example attaches to the iPod’s dock connector instead and provides an s-video connection which should give a better picture than the standard composite hookup.

Besides the obvious fact that the PocketDock AV is far smaller than any of the other docks on the market it can also be used while your iPod is in a case thanks to a built-in extender for the dock connection. And as an added bonus the cable used with the PocketDock AV can also be connected directly to a 15″ or 17″ PowerBook for outputting the screen content to a TV.

The PocketDock AV will be available from SendStation in the near future for about $37.

[ SendStation PocketDock AV ] VIA [ SlashGear ]

By Andrew Liszewski

From Calgary-based Peapod comes this full featured MP3 player designed specifically for infants and toddlers who are at least a year old. Instead of a headphone jack the player has a built-in speaker the child can use to safely listen to stories or music and drive mom and dad crazy with endless Raffi.

The exact amount of internal memory on the player is not specified but the site claims the player can store 2 hours worth of audio and will run for about 40 hours on a single AA battery probably due in part to the incredibly basic LCD screen. It also has a very simple button layout to make it easy for kids to use but probably more likely to make it easier for their parents to setup. The biggest kid-friendly feature is the rubber overmolded design that allows the player to survive guaranteed falls, throws and of course a good chewing. Let’s see an iPod deal with that kind of abuse.

Of course I think the Peapod is just a handy excuse for parents when the RIAA comes knocking since they can claim it was really junior who was responsible for all that torrent traffic. I don’t think their lawyers would convict a toddler right?… Right?

The Peapod MP3 player was shown for the first time at the Toy Fair in New York this week and is expected to be available some time in May of this year.

[ Peapod MP3 Player ] VIA [ Gear Live ]

By David Ponce

Not sure why any company would go and name their portable media player “Tomato U7″, but there’s no understanding those wacky Koreans. (Just kidding guys, we love you!) One thing’s for sure, the U7 may be small, but it packs a bunch of features. At 25 grams, and 38x64x14mm, it’s smaller than a typical cellphone, yet manages to fit a 1.8 inch CSTN screen that displays 65k colors. It comes in 512MB, 1GB or 2GB sizes, and plays back a bunch of formats, including of course MP3, MP4, WAV, WMA, ASF, OGG, WMV, AMV, JPEG. Aside from that there’s an FM tuner, voice recorder, equalizer, e-book reader and games. Battery life is rated at 10 hours.

But, it looks like it might be Korea only, and we have no idea how much it costs. We’ll just have to lust for it from afar.

[ Product Page ]

By David Ponce

Company Blu:sens, from Spain, is releasing an MP3 player with a lot of promise. It’s called the G14, and its claim to fame is that it’s able to do what Microsoft’s Zune didn’t have the guts to. It features WiFi, and it’s not crippled with DRM. This means, in case you’re not following, that you’ll be able to share songs with your friends, wirelessly, and let them keep them. Not only that, but you’ll be able to share all the songs in your playlist, unlike the Zune, which allows record labels to dictate which songs can be shared in the first place. What’s more, the company claims that the device will be able to interact with more than other versions of itself. You’ll be able to connect it to your network, and load the device without having to plug it in. There’s also Bluetooth, for added connectivity.

The G14 supports DivX natively, as well as MP3, WMA and OGG Vorbis. It comes in 1GB and 2GB formats, has a 2 inch 256K color display and is expected to cost between 180 Euros and 200 Euros, though availability information is a little scant at the moment.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ Gizmologia ]

By Ian Chiu

To better describe the iriver S10, we’d use “small & stylish”. The midget MP3 player from the Korean portable audio maker is easily the sexist in the market (non-American market anyway). Measuring 1.6″ x 1.2″ x 0.33″, the thickness of the player is only half the length of a US quarter. Even compared to any thumbdrives, the S10 is very small. The vibrant OLED with a 180-degree viewing angle dominates the front of the player, and D-Click navigation system comes from the iRiver Clix. Unfortunately, for a flash player, the S10 scores only 7.5 hrs of playback life (4.25 with the display always on), and it still ships with the lame in-house music manager. UMS is still there, fortunately.

Small. Stylish. The two words go hand-in-hand, and such is the case with the iRiver S10, the smallest MP3 player on the market with a screen. Smaller-than-a-car-remote small. Dangling from your non-American neck this small 2GB player will amaze your friends as the 1.15″ OLED display dances to your music and displays your loved ones in vibrant color, all the while filling your ears with SRS-enhanced sound. Did we mention how tiny this thing is?

[iriver S10 MP3 Player Review @ Everything USB]

by David Edney

3 Group, a wireless company in Europe, announced on Thursday that they will be launching a new service in Britain for Cable TV on mobile phones. Using the Slingbox technology you will be able to watch, record, and view channels on your cell phone. The service simultaneously hooks up to your cable box, and broadcasts it through your internet so you can access it. From there you have access to your DVR to do as you like. Before, you could only use the Slingbox with desktops, laptops and some newer mobile PDA phones, but since phones are becoming more sophisticated and are being produced with faster processor speeds, streaming video is becoming more accessible. The usage will not be unlimited, but pricing was not immediately available. The first two handsets included with the software will be the Nokia N73 and the Sony Ericsson w950i. Now, you have no excuse to miss Desperate Housewives.

VIA [ CNN Technology ]

By Andrew Liszewski

While I don’t mind the occasional trips where I have to share my iPod with another listener I really hate when the cords get completely tangled or when the other person decides to move and ends up ripping the headphones out of my ears.

So I really like the idea behind this portable DVD player from Hammacher Schlemmer even if I have little faith in the resulting sound quality. It uses a built-in FM transmitter to wirelessly transmit the audio from the player to a pair of included wireless headphones so besides not having to worry about packing that splitter cable you can also avoid that web of criss-crossed wires. The DVD player itself is pretty basic supporting both DVD and CD formats with a 960×336 LCD screen, built-in speakers and a 3 hour rechargeable lithium battery. The headphones which are probably as far from studio reference as you can get each require 2 AA batteries but have padded ear cups and an adjustable headband.

The Dual Wireless Headphone Portable DVD Player is available from Hammacher Schlemmer for $199.95.

[ Dual Wireless Headphone Portable DVD Player ] VIA [ Uber-Review ]

By Andrew Liszewski

One of the best parts about the advancement of technology is the fact that gadgets get smaller and smaller. In only five years the iPod went from a clunky white brick to the sleek and small Nano we know today. However it saddens me to think that in many cases devices can only shrink so small. Take screen size for example. Sure they can make screens with decent resolution at less than a millimeter in size but what’s the point when the human eye only sees a small colored dot?

I doubt Apple will ever endow the Nano with video playback capabilities for this very reason but it clearly isn’t stopping other manufacturers. The TA 454 is an all-in-one media player with a screen that’s barely as wide as a quarter. (1.5″ to be exact.) It does however manage to cram a whole lot of functionality into its tiny package with support for JPEG, MP3, WMA, eBook and SMV formats, 256MB of internal memory and an SD/MMC slot when the built-in memory immediately fills up. It’s also mass storage compliant when connected to your PC via USB. While watching video on this thing might be passable I can’t see it being at all usable for eBooks. You’ll be flipping the page every two seconds given how little text could be displayed on that screen.

At least the little device is relatively cheap selling for $79.95 from Gadget Universe.

[ TA 454 Digital Video Player ] VIA [ Uneasy Silence ]