Toshiba has officially announced the Gigabeat T400, a $120, 4GB MP3 player that has the potential to give the iPod Nano and Creative Zen a run for their money. We'll have our full review up on CNET in the next few days, but our initial impression is that the audio and video quality are both excellent. We are pretty bummed, however, that it has a maximum capacity of just 4GB, with no room for expansion. Also, where's the Wi-Fi found in the Japanese version? Still, with a 2.4-inch QVGA screen, and support for WMV video, as well as MP3, WMA (with or without DRM), WMA Lossless, and WAV, you get a lot of player for the price.
Need a closer look before you make up your mind? Set your eyes upon our Toshiba Gigabeat T photo gallery.
Shred the gnarl, bro.
(Credit: Toshiba Corp.)We still love our dear Toshiba Gigabeat S portable video player, but its definitely beginning to look its age. Lucky for us, Toshiba has announced the release of a seeming successor to the S-series called the Gigabeat T401, which is due out in Japan the first week of September. No word on when (or if) this latest video-worthy Gigabeat will hit the States, but we're optimistic after Toshiba's latest stateside release of the tiny Gigabeat U.
The Gigabeat T401 keeps the styling of the Gigabeat S but ditches the bulk of hard-drive storage in favor of leaner and more stable Flash memory. With only 4GB of space, however, the Gigabeat T is a long way from satisfying those who've outgrown their 60GB Gigabeat S. (Is it just me, or are high-capacity portable video players drying up these days?) At least the rest of the specs look accommodating: a 2.4-inch screen with 320x240 resolution; support for MP3, WMA (including DRM), WMV files, and a battery capable of 16 hours of audio and 5 hours for video.
The Gigabeat T will be available in either puppies, flowers, or total annihilation.
(Credit: Toshiba Corp.)A Wi-Fi-enabled version of the Gigabeat T called the T401S will also be debuting in Japan starting in early October. I can't quite glean from the Japanese product page what the wireless connectivity will actually do. Hopefully we'll see some kind of browser support, wireless music transfer, or content streaming services. If the Japanese price is any indication, the non-Wi-Fi Gigabeat T will run around $250 if it hits the U.S.
Anyone else notice that this thing looks almost identical to the new Creative Zen player?
(via DAP Review)
Click to launch the Crave slideshow for the Toshiba Gigabeat U.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze / CNET Networks)The nano-sized heir to the highly-esteemed Toshiba Gigabeat S MP3 player has arrived and we've just posted the full review up on CNET.
As you might suspect from our previous musings on the Gigabeat U, the player is by no means revolutionary. Still, its certainly a classy, rugged, and affordable alternative to an iPod Nano or Creative Zen V Plus. Quench your thirst for gadget pictures by taking a gander at Crave's Gigabeat U slideshow.
Toshiba's U.S. version of the Gigabeat U.
(Credit: Toshiba Corp.)Toshiba announced today they its latest version of the Gigabeat U, the U202, is now available in the United States through direct order. Crave reported on an earlier, Japan-only version of the Gigabeat U (the U201) back in March, when we marveled at its high-quality 1-bit DAC and built-in FM transmitter. This latest version of the Gigabeat U has an updated look, but it seems to have dropped the Gigabeat U201's nifty built-in ability to broadcast playback over FM. We're kinda bummed.
Sure, Toshiba was able to shave about $50 from the Gigabeat U's price, but the Japan-only U201's FM transmitter seemed like such a unique method for sharing music to other FM-tuner equipped devices. I think it's also fair to assume that Toshiba's silence on the type of audio input converter used on the latest U, means that it's probably not the same high-end 1-bit DAC advertised on the U201. [Correction: Despite my earlier guess, it does look like Toshiba held onto 1-bit DAC line-input recorder afterall, so users looking for a device capable of making high-quality direct recordings should be pleased.]
Regardless, a $99, 2GB, color screen Gigabeat U with an FM receiver and line-input sounds relatively tempting, but still pretty "meh" compared to the product Toshiba could have given us. To add insult to injury, the U.S. version of this Gigabeat U comes in only two colors (black and silver), while the Japan version comes in 24 colors! Then again, does the world really need a mauve MP3 player?
I'll reserve judgment until an actual review unit comes across my desk.
Don't mistake it for a microwave. Toshiba's latest version of their V series PVP will hit Japan in June.
(Credit: Toshiba)Toshiba announced that they will be releasing an updated version of the Gigabeat V portable video player on June 1st in Japan. The new Gigabeat V series will be available in 40GB and 80GB capacities priced around $409 and $491 respectively. Beyond increased capacity, the new series improves on the features of last year's Gigabeat V30 by offering a 4-inch, 24-bit color display with a resolution of 480 x 272. Like its brother the Gigabeat S, the V series also uses the Microsoft PMC interface and supports Windows Media DRM 10 and WMA 9 lossless. The new Gigabeat V series also prominently supports 1Seg digital television (all the rage in Japan) by including dedicated channel buttons on the front of the player.
No word on whether we can expect to see the new Gigabeat V series in the US anytime soon. With the lack of 1Seg broadcasts in the US, you would probably see the digital TV feature stripped out of the design for American consumers.
(via Engadget)
Toshiba Gigabeat U series
(Credit: Toshiba)In a few years it'll all be Wi-Fi and satellite, but until then, sharing your music by broadcasting it over short-range FM gets us about halfway toward wirelessly sharing our music with our friends. Toshiba's newly announced Gigabeat U series MP3 player lives in this middle ground. It's capable of receiving, transmitting, and recording an FM broadcast, giving you the potential to broadcast music from your Gigabeat to anyone with a device capable of receiving FM. If the receiving device happens to be capable of making recordings from FM (like the Gigabeat U), then you've effectively copied music from device to another.
Most of that scenario can be done with any current MP3 player and a handful of aftermarket add-ons, but the groundbreaking part of this equation is that Toshiba is using a radically high-end 1b digital-analog converter during the recording process. In the pro-audio world, portable recorders that take advantage of 1b digital-analog converters are big news. Korg makes one called the MR-1 that retails for around $700. Consumers may think a 1b recorder sounds like a bad deal considering that CD-quality recording is 16b, but when it comes to audio converters 1b is actually a good thing. It means that the audio conversion happens so quickly that it can handle processing the recording in single bit chunks and thereby introduce less distortion. I haven't heard anything recorded by 1b converters, but it sounds promising in theory--especially if it's a matter of re-encoding files from someone else's player. The Gigabeat U also includes a way to automatically split an incoming recording into separate tracks, perhaps in a way that detects silences between songs (just a guess).
In the same breath, while the built-in broadcasting and high-end recording features on the Gigabeat U sound innovative, in a year's time devices with unrestricted Wi-Fi file sharing will come along and make these features seem awkward. Even with some of the Gigabeat U's features becoming obsolete soon, this still looks like a great little player. At just around 12mm thick, with a 1.1-inch organic EL color display and 20 hours of battery life, you could do a lot worse. It only comes in 1GB and 2GB models for now, which is a bit small--especially if you'll be using this for tons of recording. There's support for Windows Media DRM10, MP3, and uncompressed WAV files. You also can utilize the high-end recording converters by recording through the Gigabeat U's combination headphone/stereo line-in jack.
The Gigabeat U is launching in Japan this April at an estimated $118 for the 1GB version and $142 for the 2GB. There's no known U.S. launch date.
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