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Toshiba upgrades portable DVD player offerings with 9-inch screen

Toshiba just announced two new portable DVD players hitting this March. While we weren't thrilled with the SD-P71S, it seems the high-end SD-P93S has gotten quite a makeover.

The P93S will feature a 9-inch 180-degree swivel screen along with a pearl-white finish. In addition to MP3, JPEG, and DivX playback, the unit boasts a five hour battery life. We're also glad to see that Toshiba has added an SD card slot for even more playback options.

The P93S will retail for $180, while the smaller, step-down, seven-inch-screen model will go for $130. Both portables will be available in … Read more

DivX sues Yahoo over canceled ad deal

Yahoo is in yet another sticky situation as a result of a canceled advertising deal.

Digital media company DivX on Monday filed a lawsuit against Yahoo because the search company backed out of a two-year advertising agreement the companies reached in September of last year. DivX said the canceled deal will hurt its revenues.

Under the terms of the agreement, consumers who downloaded DivX video software tools were offered a co-branded version of the Yahoo toolbar as well as a version of Internet Explorer 7 with other Yahoo services. Before the Yahoo agreement was reached, DivX had a search tools … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 845: BOL the vote

Hey, here's a thought: a free, open-source video codec that could be universally portable and playable. I'd vote for that, wouldn't you? In other news of the day, Dash stops making hardware to focus on software, Apple brings in an IBM guy to run the iPod division (other than Steve Jobs), and BlackBerry sneaks the Bold into stores today. Yeah, today. There's got to be something wrong with that thing.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 845

Apple’s iPod chief to step down http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10082065-37.html

Dash Navigation pulls the plug … Read more

Review: Cowon O2 portable video player

Our official rated review for the Cowon O2 portable video player is now up on CNET Reviews, along with a full photo gallery and a First Look video.

We've been putting the O2 through its paces all week and it's held up remarkably well. It's still not the sexiest piece of tech we've laid eyes on, but it's got more muscle than any other portable video player in its price range.

Audio enthusiasts will also want to give the O2 a look, considering it supports desirable lossless music formats such as FLAC, Apple Lossless, and … Read more

Hands-on with the Cowon O2 PVP

It hasn't been a terribly exciting year for portable video players. Despite its relatively small screen, the iPod Touch is one of the few PVPs we've been giving an unqualified recommendation for in 2008. The Archos 5 is ambitious, but the battery life just isn't there; the Q5W is overpriced and bulky; and the A3 left us feeling kinda "meh." Thankfully, the Cowon O2 looks like it's going to close-out our year of PVP reviews on an upnote.

First off, let me mention the official U.S. MSRP for the O2, because I know there have been a few guesstimates floating around. The Cowon O2 will retail for $219 (8GB), $249 (16GB), and $299 (32GB), which you can pick up in either black or white. If 32GB isn't enough storage for you, keep in mind that the O2 includes a SDHC card slot for quickly swapping out content and increasing storage as you need it.

The second thing to notice about the O2 is its stupefying amount of file support. On the video end the O2 can play back AVI, WMV, ASF, MP4, MKV, OGM, DAT, MTV, DivX, XviD, MPEG-4, WMV 9/8/7, H.264, M-JPEG, and MPEG 1. The O2 is also agnostic when it comes to video resolution, accepting files all the way up to 1,280x720 at 30fps. For me, native format and resolution support is huge deal, because my home media collection is all over the place and few things test my patience more than re-encoding batches of video files.

Another huge deal for me is battery life, and Cowon is claiming that the O2 will get up to 8 hours of video playback (under "optimal" conditions) before surrendering. If Cowon's right, 8 hours of video playback would put the O2 far beyond the 4 hours of video life on the Archos 5, and ahead of the 6 hours of video on the iPod Touch and even the iPod Classic. Audio battery life isn't as impressive, with only 18 hours, but it's still ahead of the 12 hours of playback time on the Archos 5. Another thing to bear in mind is that all of the O2's competitors require a proprietary cable to recharge the battery, which can be a huge pain if you lose the cable while traveling. The O2 charges best when using the included AC adapter, but you can charge over its mini-USB connection, as well. … Read more

Review: JVC KW-NX7000 navigation receiver has us grinning all the way

The JVC KW-NX7000 isn't cleverly named like its sibling, the El Kameleon, but it is just as cleverly designed. With its smart features, such as the proximity-based interface or the flash-memory-based navigation data, we found the KW-NX7000 extremely easy to use. We didn't like the sluggish iPod navigation or the omission of Bluetooth technology. However, the solid performance and fun little touches, like the custom greeting messages, ultimately made us fall in love with this receiver.

Read the full JVC KW-NX7000 navigation/DVD receiver review.

Review: JVC El Kameleon KD-AVX44

The simple, blank faceplate of the JVC El Kameleon KD-AVX44 belies a plethora of features, including in-dash DVD/DivX playback, Bluetooth connectivity, and USB digital-audio playback, and that's just the beginning of this receiver's abilities.

Read the full review of the JVC El Kameleon KD-AVX44.

DivX returns to Web video with the HD-licious Vreel

When I put together a small comparison test of video services earlier this year, an overwhelming number of people got on me about not including Stage6, a side project of the people behind the popular DivX codec to showcase what their technology was capable of. Shortly thereafter, Stage6 shut its doors in a rather dramatic fashion--giving users mere days to find somewhere else to host their high-resolution videos.

That was in February though, and since then a group of half a dozen developers has put together their own solution, called Vreel. Originally planned to launch back in March, it … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 736: Plurk that Plurkin' Facebook

Facebook comes under attack by Canadian privacy groups, but everyone's already moved on to Plurk. Er...maybe. Also: self-destructing DVDs are back! Yay! They were such a good idea the first time around, we're betting they'll be a monster hit, what with their wasteful, throwaway nature and ridiculous pricing and all. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 736

Mars lander’s robotic arm makes contact http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9956964-7.html

U.S. town tells Street View to push off http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/02/north_oaks_street_view/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9956753-7.html

Motley … Read more