(Credit:
Philips)
Philips has introduced its new flagship portable video player called the GoGear Muse. At first glance, it's easy to confuse the Muse with the strikingly similar but cheaper GoGear Aria.
Replacing the Opus as the flagship model, the Muse offers a slightly bigger screen (3-inch vs. the 2.8-inch on the Opus). File support has gotten a boost with the inclusion of BMP, GIF, PNG, Ogg Vorbis, APE, Real Video, and Real Audio formats. Unlike the Opus, the Muse is bundled with a pair of in-ear headphones that offer active noise cancelling.
Physically, the Muse is slightly smaller than the Opus and has a slightly shorter battery life. Philips claims the Muse is capable of up to 25 hours of audio playback or 5 hours with video. Other specifications remain similar, with a 20-station preset FM tuner. It also features Philips' proprietary FullSound for CD-quality enhancement of digitally compressed tracks.
This new player goes for $233.55 and is currently in major electronic stores in Singapore, but U.S. availability has not yet been announced.
(Source: Crave Asia)
With estimated unit sales approaching 100 million worldwide, Nintendo has proven itself time and time again as the industry ruler of the portable console market. With the DSi--the second refresh of the Nintendo DS--we're starting to see the company move in an evolutionary direction with its flagship handheld.
The DSi takes with it most of the features the DS Lite had to offer, but adds new multimedia capabilities. The DSi has been on sale in Japan since November 1 of last year and has already sold well over an astonishing 1 million units. Now that Nintendo has announced that the DSi will go on sale April 5 in North America, it certainly leaves everyone asking one big question, "Should I buy one?"
First, let's look at what exactly separates the new DSi from the DS Lite. In terms of actual form-factor, the difference between the two portables is negligible. The DSi is slightly slimmer, but you're not going to see the massive change in size like we saw when Nintendo upgraded the original DS to the DS Lite. What you may notice is that both screens are a quarter of an inch larger. The DSi hardware also actually eliminates the Game Boy Advance slot found on the Lite, so you won't be able to play older Game Boy Advance games or DS titles that make use of the port, such as "Guitar Hero: On Tour."
... Read more
On Sale Now: $169.99
View the latest prices for Nintendo DSi (black)
On Sale Now: $169.00 - $169.99
View the latest prices for Nintendo DSi (blue)
(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)
If our Cowon Q5W review left you wanting more, we've posted our Cowon A3 review just minutes ago. Seems like it's been raining portable video players around here lately. We've also updated the reviews for both of these glorious video gadgets with First Look videos, for those of you who find the act of reading too stressful.
Been looking for a worthy DivX-compatible portable video player with a built-in DVR? Follow me.
Although it's barely creeping into the mainstream consciousness, I'm a big fan of music subscription services. All you can eat for less than the price of your average CD--what's not to like? Sadly, the average music listener usually has trouble reconciling the concept of "renting" with the music medium.
The same is not true when it comes to video services, which is why Vongo has the right idea. Pay a monthly fee of $9.99--less than the cost of your average DVD--for unlimited online access to a growing digital movie library. And if you happen to have a compatible device from the service's growing list, which as of today includes the wide-screened (i.e. video-worthy) Samsung P2, you can take it all with you--a particularly intriguing deal for the frequent-flier. Just a couple of complaints: One, Vongo's library is by no means all-inclusive, though it is extensive enough to satisfy most people for many, many months. And B, the service doesn't include TV programming, an offering sorely missing from the repertoire of Windows Media-based MP3 players. Are you listening, Netflix?
Cowon's A3 portable video dynamo. Click for more photos.
(Credit: CNET Networks/Corinne Schulze)
After spending the last 24 hours abusing Cowon's latest A3 portable video player, I have to say I'm pretty impressed...mostly. As a high-capacity portable video player, the A3 offers spectacular video resolution (800x480) and supports just about every file format under the sun. Along with its built-in video recording capability and a high-quality video output, the Cowon A3 is an undeniable force to be reckoned with in the PVP marketplace.
It's not all gumdrops and unicorns, however. ... Read more
Click to launch our Venzero Slickr slide show.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze / CNET Networks)The high hopes we had for the iPhone-esque Venzero Slickr media player have unfortunately come crashing down. This stunning, little German gem is woefully short on substance, but damned if it's not purty to look at. You can check out our full report on the Slickr over on CNET reviews, as well as our First Look video. Or, for those with short attention spans, take a gander at our annotated slide show.
Click on the photo to see the MediaMate slide show.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze / CNET Networks)We've just wrapped up our review of the BlueRaven MediaMate 7000 PVP over on CNET Reviews. The thing is gigantic! If you're in the market for a wide-screen PVP with built-in DVR capabilities, but the Archos players are out of reach, the MediaMate might be an acceptable alternative. It's bulky, and could really use a higher screen resolution--but it'll get the job done. Here's our slide show.
Depending on where you get your video content, it can be a real pain to get movies and TV shows onto your iPod or PSP. Enter Streaming Networks' iRecord PRM-100 ($199.99), which lets you record video in real time directly to any USB mass storage device at a rate of around 3 hours of recording time per gigabyte in H.264/AVC format (with AAC audio tracks). Now you can record your gaming sessions and prove to your friends what a great Halo 2 player you are. You can even record music in MP3 format, though real-time music encoding isn't exactly popular these days.
Belkin may have to work on that name a little, but I'm happy to see some more competition entering the portable video iPod accessory space. Like the Sonic Impact Video-55, this Belkin device lets you dock a 5G iPod to view its video content on a more capacious screen. Unfortunately, Belkin had very few details to provide on the floor at CES, though I was able to snap the shot at right. I can also tell you that the device has a 7-inch wide screen, an external stereo speaker, and an A/V input for use with other devices. Stay tuned for more details as they surface.
The Boxon is all screen
(Credit: Mike Kobrin)In addition to its recent release of the Cube2, MobiBlu launched a pair of flash-based MP3 players at CES 2007.
The Boxon is a bit reminiscent of the iRiver Clix in that it's all screen on front, but it measures just 2x1.7x0.5 inches and weighs about 1 ounce. It has VoIP phone capabilities, too, so you can use it to make Internet phone calls--hot! Available in 1GB ($109) and 2GB ($129) capacities, it'll do video, photos, FM radio, voice/FM recording, direct line-in encoding, and audio playback, but it can't handle PlaysForSure subscription content.
The newbie-oriented X3 still packs some good features
(Credit: Mike Kobrin)The X3 is an entry-level player with a 1.8-inch color LCD screen. It's got plenty of features like FM tuner and voice/FM recording, but it doesn't support any DRM scheme. Still, it's cute and costs $89 for 1GB or $109 for 2GB. Maybe a nice iPod shuffle alternative for Apple haters or screen-lovers.
