player

Thursday, Archos will officially announce the arrival of the 30GB 604 WiFi, the industry's first and "only wireless portable video player" (actually, Archos' own PMA430 was the first Wi-Fi-enabled PVP).

The highly sought-after digital swiss army knife is one of several A-list portable media gadgets to enter the holiday game just under the wire. Still to come: the Zune, Cowon's A3, Philips' PMC, and maybe even a video iPod.

Nearly identical to the excellent 30GB 604 (shown in photo) in form--same removable battery, same ginormous 4.3-inch widescreen, same video playback prowess--the 604 WiFi adds a … Read more

It's not too often that iPod accessories make you feel like you've just stepped into a slick sci-fi spy movie. But the Myvu Personal Media Viewer from MicroOptical sure does. This $299 device is a piece of eyewear with attached earbuds that lets you view your iPod's video content on a screen in front of you. It plugs right into a video media player or compatible cell phone and lets you view video that, according to the company, appears to you as though you were two meters away from a 27-inch TV. Plus, it comes with a … Read more

Okay not very nice, though I do give props to the company that came out with a decent sub-$100 PVP way before "sub-$100" was even standard jargon for plain old MP3 players (that was about three years ago). Now HandHeld Entertainment presents its first MP3 player--the ZVUE ZP3--yes, zat's right, ZP3.

The standard thumbdrive-style player features a whopping 512MB and supports MP3, WMA, and WAV files. Additionally, the ZP3 has a voice recorder and eight hours of battery life per AA battery. Charmed yet?

The ZP3 differentiates itself by coming preloaded with 30 "great … Read more

Ever since Engadget posted some not-so-pretty FCC photos of Etymotic's funky-looking, new, Bluetooth stereo headphones, the ety8s have been getting a bad rap. Engadget called them "the wireless abomination whose name shall not be spoke."

Well, the folks from Etymotic dropped by to show us the real McCoy, which should be shipping in a couple of weeks. The fact is the ety8's offer one of the most distinct headphone designs ever created, and when you see them you realize there's a fine line between really cool and wireless abomination. They surely lend new meaning to … Read more

A lot of portable DVD players look like they were made for kids--probably because they were. With DVD drives standard in so many laptops these days, adults have fewer reasons than ever to lug around a separate player.

But for those special occasions when you actually want to leave your computer at home (gasp) and don't plan on watching Spongebob or Dora, this player from Amadana may be just the ticket. It reminds us of a gutted and renovated San Francisco Victorian: Inside its beautiful bamboo exterior all the modern amenities you need. It has a 10-inch LCD, flat-touch … Read more

At the risk of being called an Apple fanboy, a Microsoft basher and a dog kicker, I gotta say the Zune does not impress me.

Microsoft recently sent an emissary to CNET with three Zunes to demonstrate Redmond's new offensive against the Apple/iPod juggernaut. While the Zune certainly has some interesting features, such as Wi-Fi capability and a decent-sized screen for a front-pocket device, the overall theme of the day appeared to be that this should be a considered a first-generation device that nails the basics and is easily expandable through software to learn new tricks.

Fair enough, … Read more

Tons of products are coming out to help you enjoy your iPod while driving, but many of them seem a bit complicated for our Luddite sensibilities. For us, something like the modestly named iMe might be more appropriate.

The dash-mounted dock hardly qualifies as seamless integration, but at least it's versatile. The iME--which also is an acronym for its maker, Integrated Mobile Electronics--is designed to work with all the most popular MP3 players, including the iPod, Zune, and Creative Zen. Its dock, which also charges the player, connects directly to your car's entertainment system and supposedly allows you … Read more

This may sound heretical, but we don't think smaller is always better for gadgets. Especially if it means needing a magnifying glass to use them.

Take, for example, the Digital Cube Mini just released on the Korean market. It does what you want it to do: play videos, live TV, and music, as well as display photos and support e-books, according to Ubergizmo. And it's portable, that's for sure, measuring about 3 by 2 inches and a little more than a half-inch thick.

But is that a good thing? The cube's diminutive stature means that its … Read more

Some studious (and undoubtedly very bored) German iPod fans found mention of a "touch-screen" iPod in the "official Apple document" pictured above. The paragraph, which is part of an Apple developer PDF file, has since been changed by Apple to read "touch wheel" rather than "touch-screen." This is pretty plainly a case of an overlooked typo, but it begs the question: was it an innocent slipup, or did the writer have touch screens on the brain because of current goings-on in Cupertino? This in turn brings to mind another question: how many … Read more