Crave

Touch-screen MP3 players and PVPs are all the rage, and it's no wonder: the migration of controls to the display of a device makes it possible to dedicate most of a player's surface area to the screen. Thus, larger screens on smaller gadgets. Surely, the Apple iPod Touch is a testament to the potential success of this setup, and Samsung's first foray into this arena, the P2, was no slouch, either, drawing praise from critics and consumers alike.

As such, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Samsung's follow-up, the P3, is quite the impressive device, packing a wealth of features and some of the best sound to be found in a portable media player.

Better yet, the P3 is priced to sell at $149, $199, and $299 for the 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB models, respectively. For those who are keeping track: that's the same price as the iPod Nano, not the Touch.

Read the Samsung P3 review.

Samsung P3--photos

Archos GPS In-car Holder

(Credit: Archos)

The Archos 605 WiFi PVP already does a lot of things. It's an MP3 player, a video player, a photo viewer, a PDF viewer, and a Web portal. Now, it can be your personal navigator. Today, Archos announced the GPS In-Car Holder, an add-on accessory that brings the features of a portable navigation system to the PVP. The GPS receiver is built into the car mount, so you can simply slide your 605 WiFi into the cradle and connect it to your windshield and car stereo (via line-out) to get real-time tracking and voice-guided turn-by-turn directions. Maps of North America are provided by TeleAtlas (a European and a Chinese version will also be available) and will include a points of interest database as well as traffic and lane assistance.

The Archos GPS In-Car Holder will work with all models of the 605 Wi-Fi and has an expected shipping date of sometime in May. Pricing starts at $129.99 or you can get a bundle package (30GB Archos 605 WiFi + GPS In-Car Holder) for $399.99.

(Credit: iriver)

Every year, we CNET Editors approach CES with a mixture of excitement and some underlying, stress-induced dread. The show is always a lot of work--and spending five days in the dry Vegas climate when accustomed to San Francisco's damp (cigarette smoke-free) air almost guarantees coming back with a cold--but at least we have some shiny new gadgets to look forward to seeing. And yet CES 2008 just didn't quite deliver in the MP3 and PVP category...or several others, apparently.

Don't get me wrong: Senior Editor Donald Bell and I saw plenty of cool gear. However, most of it had already been announced in one country or another sometime in 2007, so you can understand why we came away from the show a bit underwhelmed. Still, it was nice to get my hands on some devices that had heretofore been available only in Asia, such as the iRiver W7, which won Best of CES for the MP3 and PVP category. There's just something I find so appealing about being able to snap a portable media player into a car cradle and get directions. Plus, iRiver's overwhelming showing of 12 new MP3 players at CES this year restored my faith that the ReignCom subsidiary isn't disappearing anytime soon. I'm really hoping some of the players using iRiver's neat new Spinn interface make it to the States before too long.

(Credit: Philips)

We're also pleased to see Bluetooth technology making headway in MP3 players and headphones. In particular, it was interesting to discover that Open Interface, developer of Soundabout Lossless--an innovative technology that promises a dramatic improvement in the quality of stereo Bluetooth streaming--has been acquired by Qualcomm, a company that has the financial muscle to pimp the technology to major headphone manufacturers. (We can only hope that Qualcomm actually runs with Soundabout Lossless rather than leaving it to languish unimplemented.) Plus, we can now add another Bluetooth-capable MP3 player to the catalog: the Philips GoGear SA5200BT. Philips is also releasing another media player with Rhapsody DNA integration, which means the subscription music model is gaining more momentum.

(Credit: SanDisk)

Finally, we had the big memory jump from SanDisk. Not exactly surprising from a company that makes flash memory, but still great news and definitely a step in the right direction. The company is coming out with a Sansa View with 32GB of internal memory, with an additional microSD card slot that can accept SanDisk's new 12GB cards. That means you can have a portable media player with 44GB of flash memory--not too shabby. There's also a Sansa Clip coming soon with a 4GB capacity--for $79. Nice.

Cowon Q5

(Credit: Cowon)

We first got a glimpse of Cowon's super-portable media player, the Cowon Q5, back at CES 2007, but details were pretty foggy on specs, pricing, and availability. However, things are clearing up as the company has announced final pricing and specs for the United States, and the forecast for this PMP looks quite rosy.

First, the Q5 will come in two models: a 40GB version for $499.99 and a 60GB version at $549.99. Both devices are expected to ship by the end of Q2 (sorry, Cowon didn't get any more specific than that), and they have quite an impressive roster of features. Let's take a look, shall we?

• Runs Microsoft Windows CE 5 Professional and features an AMD Alchemy Au1200 500MHz processor
• Has integrated Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and a HSDPA modem (oh yeah, you read right) so you can wirelessly browse the Web over a cellular network
• Optional GPS package, which comes with TeleAtlas maps of the United States, text-to-speech functionatliy, and an 11 million points of interest database
• A 5-inch, 16 million-color TFT touch screen with an 800x480 pixel resolution and built-in stereo speakers; measures 5.4x3.4x0.7 inches and 13.4 ounces
• Support for AVI (DivX and XviD), ASF, WMV, MPEG, and MP4 video codecs
• DVR functionality with video recording from TV, VCR, or camcorder
• Support for MP3, WMA, WAV, AC3, AAC, FLAC, and OGG Vorbis files; line-in recording and an FM radio
• Photo and document viewer; voice recorder
• Rated battery life of 13 hours of audio and 7 hours of video playback

Phewf! That's a whole lot of PMP right there, and we can't wait to get our hands on one. Let's just hope it's not one of those overhyped gadgets that fail to deliver on performance.

W10 in music playback mode

(Credit: Mike Kobrin)

iRiver is showing off a few new products at CES, but the coolest among them is the W10, a Wi-Fi-capable portable media player with a 3-inch 480 x 272-pixel touch-screen LCD. In addition to 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB of internal flash memory, this hottie will sport a Mini SD slot for expandable storage. It runs on Windows CE and supports plenty of different audio and video formats (MPEG-4 SP, WMV9, MP3, WMA, AAC, and H.264).

W10 in music Wi-Fi positioning finder mode

(Credit: Mike Kobrin)

But the niftiest features are the Wi-Fi positioning finder, thanks to a partnership with SkyHook Wireless, and VoIP capability for using the device to make Internet phone calls. Other bells and whistles include an FM tuner, a voice recorder, and a built-in speaker. Don't look for this before Q3 2007, though, and pricing hasn't been announced.

W10 in VoIP phone mode

(Credit: Mike Kobrin)

(Credit: SanDisk)

This Editors' Take refers to a preproduction version of the SanDisk Sansa View that was never manufactured. The following link takes you to our review for the final production model of the SanDisk Sansa View.

With so many MP3 players supporting videos nowadays, it's tough to distinguish where they end and where portable video players (PVPs) begin. Still, I say any screen below about 2.5 inches doesn't cut it when it comes to video--it's not worth the eyestrain. SanDisk's Sansa View, however, offers a 4-inch widescreen, which qualifies the device as a PVP in my book. And that means that SanDisk has just released its very first PVP. It's even more of an oddity since it's flash-based, and very few "true" PVPs are (the only one that comes to mind is the now-defunct GoVideo PVP4040...128MB!).

SanDisk has plenty of experience creating portable A/V devices, so the View isn't much of a surprise--it was only a matter of time. This player doesn't really bring anything new to the table, though it is attractive and fairly compact for a PVP (78.5mmx123mmx16.9mm). The relatively low capacity is an immediate concern--8GB really isn't that much--but there is an SD-card expansion slot for adding more memory. (Or you can simply store specific content on different cards for popping in when needed.) The player also offers A/V out for viewing content on a TV, and it supports slide shows. A user-removable, rechargeable battery and support for subscription WMA tracks round out the features.