I agree with ecologists and energy preserving, so I want to make you aware about sun’s free energy that is out there. Thus, I want to greet the manufacturers of the eMotion Solar PMP.

This gadget has a built-in solar battery charger so  you won’t run out of juice. Its storage can upset some people because it has only 1GB internal memory and support only 2GB SD card. I think its performances can’t meet the market’s needs. The EM-SOL1GIG PMP supports MP1, MP2, MP3, WMA, WAV, ADPCM, AMR music files, AVI and MPEG4 video files and also JPEG, BMP, GIF for viewing photos.

Its screen of 320 x 240 pixels can offer a decent gaming experience for old school boys. Furthermore the device features an e-book reader and USB 2.0. The package includes a charger  adapter for other electronic devices such as mobiles, cameras, music players. Protect the environment and go for it!

Buy it here for $159.

via Popgadget

The recent release of iRiver, is a lovely PMP. The gadget has a smooth line, nothing fancy, but still gorgeous. It comes in several colors (white, black, pink, light blue and chocolate). Nevertheless the Chocolate model tops the rest. iRiver E100 sports a 2.4″ LCD screen and retails in three versions of 2GB, 4GB and 8GB internal memory.

iRiver E100 plays MP3/WMA/OGG/ASF/FLAC audio files as well as MPEG4/WMV9/XVID videos files. Also it supports JPEG/BMP/PNG /GIF files. Although a 8GB version could store a lot of photos, tracks and videos, the PMP features miniSD support.

I should mention here that iRiver E100 features voice recording option and FM tuner. Besides, it has an USB port for faster transfers, but the lack of Bluetooth is unacceptable at this level. It delivers up to 5 hours of video streaming and up to 17 hours of listening. The E100 is available in stores, with prices starting at €79.00 (or $119) for a 2GB model, €99 ($155) for the 4GB version and €129.00 ($194) for the 8GB.

Product page via Akihabara

That’s a cool idea someone would say. I find it very interesting too and somehow very simple. Chris Armstrong, the business founder, started wondering about how difficult it is to rent a movie when he spent time in line to get one at a local store in Galway, Ireland. Then he thought to create a company that rents movies on flash memory cards.

The company called PortoMedia has kiosks where people can download movies directly on flash drives. The kiosks will have hard drives that can hold 350 to 5,000 titles. Depending on hardware speeds a movie could be download in less than one minute.  PortoMedia will use IBM’s help to develop the transaction system, hard drives from Seagate Technologies, and Samsung’s flash memory devices. Toshiba will fabricate the chips for the high-speed interface.

Armstrong said, its company has signed deals with several retailers from US. The MoviePoint kiosks have already been tested in Dublin at the end of 2007. PortoMedia will sell a proprietary ultra-fast USB interface for customers. A start pack will cost $60 and will include a flash key, a dock, and six movies. Then the customers will use the same flash key to buy other titles from the MoviePoint kiosks. As Armstrong said, the company will establish the future fees for the number of viewings.

Renting movies on flash memory cards will be a great business for movie makers, as well as for the stores. There are many advantages upon DVDs or Blu-Ray discs. First of all, delivering the movies on flash sticks will reduce cost for transporting and packaging the DVDs. Furthermore, the stores won’t have the shelves full of DVDs. Comparing with the Internet downloads, this solution is faster and safer.  I hope PortoMedia will be successful in this business.

The original story here.

Have you ever wondered how cool would it be to watch TV on the streets, on your own Sanyo LVT-WD40 PMP even if it’s raining? These guys had, and they made it waterproof just to make everyone jealous that you can view stock exchange quotes and your favorite serial in the rain. It is available in Japan and supports their digital 1Seg format (that sucks, if you’re not in Japan, right?), has a 4-inch display that plays 480 x 272 resolutions and you’d have to pay $450 to get your hands on it.One last thing. The battery runs for 6 hours.

We have visual confirmation, after seeing a picture from a Target Store price scanner, that the US Playstation 3, the 40GB model that includes Spider-Man will be available from 28th October 2007 for $399.99. If we think that the Spider-Man 3 Blu-ray and DVD disks will be available from October 30th it makes me believe that it’s true.This however, is still a pretty good rumor, because the 40GB PlayStation 3 would make a great gift for the Holidays. Let’s just hope Target is right about that one.

via GamingBits

Sony has chosen three designers to pimp some of their products due to a public showroom event. Hajime Yoshio, Zan Pon, and Ryuji Otani had the priviledge to create fine designs for Vaio VGN-CR90 laptop, SO 704i mobile phone and A800 Walkman. Unfortunately this great looking devices are not available for consumers.

Even you can’t purchase these devices, they are exposed for public at Sony Building - Plaza Ginza in Tokyo.

Sony Canvas via Akihabara

The newest DAP-PMP from Samsung has been released in Korea. The wonderful player has been launched in three versions: 2GB priced at 199000Won (or 154Euros), 4GB at 239000Won (or 185Euros) and 8GB which costs no less than 289000Won (or 224Euros). All I could say it that Samsung YP-P2 looks very good. Neither the specs are not so bad: 3″ touchscreen, Bluetooth, FM radio and DNSE (Digital Natural Sound Engine). All those packed in a 9.9 millimeters thick case. My only concern is the price, which seem a little higher for this product.

via Akihabara News

RCA Jet Stream is a media player, if you would thought about anything else. Nothing spectacular, but let me explain you why this would be interesting. The RCA Jet Stream has a tiny OLED screen, offers 1GB of storage, an FM tuner, and battery life of 12 hours. We don’t want to neglect its in-fashion design.

Besides all this, the MP3 player comes along with two wireless ear buds. The wireless headphones don’t use the regular Bluetooth but the Kleer wireless technology. As Engadget sustains this technology takes on Bluetooth because of lower power consumption. It is said the battery lasts 10 times as long as Bluetooth headsets. However the range for this Kleer wireless technology is only 5-6 feet.

The device went to FCC for tests. It will probably hit the market somewhere at the beginning of 2008, although there are no official announcements. RCA Jet Stream and the wireless headsets will be retailed for $129, says Engadget.

via Engadget

Finally Microsoft has unveiled its new line of Zunes, which includes three new media players featuring touch-sensitive buttons for easy navigation, Wi-Fi to sync music, movies and photos wirelessly and flash memory for two of them.

Its seems the new line will gain success immediately. The top model features 80GB hard drive, a 3.2-inch screen and it is slimmer than the old 30GB model. The 80GB hard drive player is available in black and ships with a set of “premium” in-ear headphones for only $249.99. The deal is more than amazing as the old 30GB Zune retails for $200. Thus the customers will find it attractive - a new model with double memory storage for an extra $50. The other two Zunes use flash memory. The 4GB model, described as ultraportable, is priced at $149.99, while the 8GB version is $199.99.

Like the old models, Zune players feature incorporated FM radio and as I told you above, they support wireless sync to transfer files. Besides, the new generation sports a scratch-resistant glass screen and a new navigation button. The touch-sensitive control is a combination between a mouse-button and a touch pad, allowing the users to scroll down the tracks, to select songs or to change the volume. It looks much like the Click Wheel on Apple’s iPods. However, Microsoft can’t compete at this time Apple, as they have a little share of the market. For example, Microsoft has sold 1.2 million players in one year, while Apple has sold over 100 million players since 2001, when the iPod had been launched.

Microsoft has greatly expanded the social aspects of its new media players, by launching the Zune Social, a beta online music community. Zune Social aims to create a powerful online community, allowing its users to share music, to send and receive recommendations and of course to find some friends. The company also restocked and redesigned its Zune Marketplace online store. Now the catalog includes over 1 million MP3 files that are not protected by DRM (digital rights management). I think iTunes has a rival.

via Yahoo News

This Christmas will bring more than one Zune model in stores since Microsoft apparently confirmed the rumours regarding the second generation of its wireless portable device. As anticipated, the news confirms the coming of more than one flavored Zune but it doesn’t reveal details concerning what the coming models will be (Draco, Scorpio and maybe more …).

To better battle Apple’s dominance on the market the new Zune models will support more iPod like features (podcasts), but some extra ones as well. One thing is for sure there will definitely be WiFi support and it will probably be expanded beyond what we see in Zune 1.0.

The portable device is set to come in time for the Holiday season and Microsoft promises also ” to expand the international footprint of Zune” for other geographical markets.

[Source]