Archive for Portable Media Player
Posted on Apr 16, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:22 am
There’s a lot of video on the web – from streaming movie rentals a la Netflix and Blockbuster to user-generated material on YouTube to broadcast TV shows at Hulu – but accessing them in a single interface and spreading them across your playback devices can be a challenge.
New versions of two tools seek to change that.
Vuze has a new media player application that integrates online video with playback across a range of devices including the iPhone, iPod, Xbox 360, and PS3.
ZeeVee, on the other hand, has unveiled a new version of its Zinc tool that makes watching TV shows hosted at various sites, as well as Netflix Watch Instantly movies, easier and more intuitive.
Both applications are free and compete with other, similar tools like boxee.
This space is getting dense with competitors. It will be curious to see who wins out and why. Will the decisive factors be usability, content diversity, deep pockets, features, or something we haven’t even thought of yet.
What do you think?
Posted on Mar 18, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:20 am
South Korean portable media player heavyweight iriver has unveiled its P7 PMP and, when docked, it sure looks like an information appliance to me.
The device, which sports a 4.3-inch screen, an FM tuner, and can play all sorts of audio, video, and photo files, can be docked on a desktop and used as show in the picture to the left, or taken out of the dock and used on the go. It comes in four versions – 4/8/16/32 GB. The battery, iriver claims, offers 7 hours of life.
When looking at the P7 in its dock, though, it certainly looks like an information appliance: multiple data types on the screen at the same time, a small package that easily fits onto the corner of a desk, a PC connection.
The crucial thing it lacks? A web connection. A little surprisingly, the P7 doesn’t seem to carry any kind of network connection, WiFi or otherwise. Here’s hoping iriver adds that down the line – it would make the device much more useful. No word on U.S. release date yet, though, so maybe there’s still time to add the feature?
Posted on Mar 16, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:50 am
Gadget maker Archos is set to take the wraps off a tablet device running Google’s Android OS in the third quarter of 2009 and I’m interested.
The device, which Engadget identifies as being based on the Archos 5, will sport a 5-inch screen, a 500GB hard drive a 7-hour battery, a built-in phone, all kinds of media capabilities, and a network connection.
Two things interest me in particular here. First, the device runs on Android, Google’s answer to the iPhone. Just as the iPhone has the App Store, Android has its own marketplace, meaning that developers can create software for the device that can add all kinds of features. Second, with a network connection and its big screen, this device is like a mini digital picture frame or a portable photo album.
I could easily see something like FrameChannel being ported to Android and helping to make this device a hit. As usual, I say that with no inside or special knowledge of any plans – I’m just speculating. I think it would be cool, though.
Posted on Dec 24, 2008 by Sam Costello at 2:23 am
Speculation abounds across the web that this is a photo of Sony’s new WiFi Walkman, rumored to be making its debut at CES early this month.
The device will reportedly come in 16GB and 32GB flavors and will sport a WiFi connection, support for audio and video feeds, and a 3-inch (or 3.3-inch) OLED touchscreen.
The support for feeds, in combination with the big, appealing touchscreen, caught my attention. After all, if it supports feeds and can connect to the Internet, then couldn’t it also display Internet-delivered content such as photos, news, cartoons, and sports scores?
No word on what operating system the Walkman runs, or whether it supports traditional RSS feeds, but it will be interesting to hear the full details when Sony reveals them.
Posted on Jul 24, 2008 by Sam Costello at 2:26 am
We’ve long thought that both the personal media player (PMP) and GPS markets could be ideal platforms for Frame Channel — both are devices that connect to the Internet wirelessly and download content automatically, one aimed at the car, the other at the portable market.
Until now, though, I’ve never seen a device that combines a PMP and a GPS. But now I’ve seen it.
The CDT GPS PMP (the name bakes in all the ingredients) is a portable unit that combines the major aspects of both devices. It boasts a 3-inch LCD, 2GB of memory, support for all kinds of audio and video formats, a touchscreen, and a wireless data connection.
The device is available only in China right now, but it weighs in at the bargain price of just US$102.
It would be interesting to see this device, or ones like it, hit in the US. It never hurts to pack more features into a small, affordable package.
Posted on May 16, 2008 by Sam Costello at 2:25 am
Huddling close together around vacation photo prints can be fun, but isn’t it better to project those photos in all their wall-size glory? Now you can do that without needing to worry about your slide carousel.
The Sunview iView IPL630 PMPP combnes a portable media player with a pico projector, a tiny, low-power digital projector. Now, all you have to do is load the PMP up with your favorite movies or digital photos and you’ll be able to project them on any nearby wall.
Pricing and availability details about the Sunvision are scarce, but here are the tech specs: a 3.5-inch LCD, a 5.2 x 3.1 x 1-inch enclosure, a speaker, an SD card slot, and a remote. It runs Windows CE.
Most PMPs these days have WiFi. The Sunvision doesn’t, but you’d hope that’s coming in a later version. With that onboard, you’d be able to stream web content to the device and then project it, opening the door for art installations, constantly updated photo shows, and streaming video.
