Flash Music Players mobiBLU - DAH-1500i Cube MP3 Player
SWISSMEMORY - s.beat MP3 Digital Audio Player
SanDisk - Sansa c100
Flash Video Players LG - FM30 Portable Digital Player
SanDisk - Sansa c100
Samsung - YP-D1 Pocket DSC MP3 Player
Hard Disk Video Players / Recorders Creative - Zen Vision:M Samsung - YM-P1
Portable Media Player
LG - PM70 Portable Media Player
RCA - Lyra X3000 Personal Multimedia Recorder
Dream’eo Solo Portable Media Device
This year's
Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas in January (www.cesweb.org)
was focused on two totally opposite product categories --
big displays and small screens. We want our video big for
the home theatre, with high-definition displays and cameras
and DVDs -- but we also want our media to be mobile, in
small portable players with tiny screens and personal
headphones.
Even though the Apple iPod
has defined the portable music and now video player market,
there's still lots of innovation happening in portable media
players, with alternate approaches to designs, features, and
price points. This new year will see further refinement and
design improvements in portable players, with higher
capacities allowing video playback in smaller devices based
on flash memory, and further size reductions and new
features like GPS in disk-based players.
Here's a look at some of
the promised new products for this year.
To show the range of
amazing portable music players, start with the
mobiBLU DAH-1500iCube MP3 Player (www.mobiblu.com),
a tiny cube less than one inch square (0.94 inches, and 0.63
ounces). It's available in capacities from 512 MB for $99, 1
GB for $129, and 2 GB.
mobiBLU DAH-1500i Cube MP3 Player
The cube is a full music
player, plus FM radio, plus voice recording using the
built-in microphone, and even a clock. It plays MP3 and WMA
(Windows Media Audio) formats, with Equalizer modes and SRS
WOW bass and surround sound effects, and supports purchased
music protected with WMA DRM (Digital Rights Management).
The mobiBLU sports a
bright blue self emitting OLED (Organic Light Emitting
Diode) display, with the ability to navigate through folders
to organize your music. It's powered by a built-in
lithium-ion battery for 8 to 10 hours, recharged though the
USB connection or with an optional AC charger.
Or for something
completely different, the Victorinox Swiss Army Knife (which
added a USB drive last year), has now been upgraded to be a
full-fledged music player -- the SWISSMEMORY s.beat
MP3 Digital Audio Player (www.swissbit.com).
It's a full knife with all the fold-out cool tools, plus a
full-fledged music player available with 1, 2, or 4 GB of
storage. It supports drag-and-drop loading and playback of
MP3, WMA, WAV or OGG Vorbis digital audio files, plus
includes an FM radio and voice recorder.
SWISSMEMORY s.beat MP3 Digital Audio Player
The s.beat even comes with
a remote control with dual earphone connections to share
your music. Because of difficulties traveling with all the
knife tools, the s.beat is also available in a flight
version without the tools, or you can remove the MP3 player
/ USB drive from the knife body to carry on board.
Meanwhile, SanDisk has
redesigned its popular Sansa line of flash-based portable
media players to compliment their impressive features and
pricing with sleek new designs. The SanDisk Sansa
c100 series audio players (www.sandisk.com)
feature a 1.21-inch color screen for convenient navigation,
and for viewing thumbnail-size album art, and photo
slideshows with music. It's available with 1 GB for $119 or
2 GB for $169.
SanDisk Sansa c100 audio player
The c100 also includes a
FM digital tuner with 20-channel presets, supports FM
on-the-fly recording, plus voice-recording with the built-in
mic. It plays MP3, WMA, and Audible audio files, andincludes Microsoft PlaysForSure support (WMA DRM),
for purchasing music downloads or for subscription music
services like Rhapsody To Go. It runs on a single removable
AAA battery for up to 15 hours of music playback.
As music
players have added capacity, performance, and color screens,
the next step then become obvious -- add video playback as
well, as Apple did with the iPod. In comparison, the
LG FM30 Portable Digital Player (www.lgusa.com)
with 1 GB provides video playback in a small matchbook size
(2.4 x 1.6 x 0.55 inches), and even includes an attachment
to wear around the neck. It supports MP3, WMA, OGG and ASF
music, and MPEG4 video. The battery provides up to 60 hours
of continuous music playback. [
As of April 2005, LG had decided not to introduce these
products at this time. ]
Then there's
the new SanDisk Sansa e200
media player is still light and fashion-based, but has
enough capacity in flash memory to store and play more
videos. The design is sleek (1.7 x 3.5 0.5 inches), built
with a Liquidmetal Titanium alloy back casing that is highly
resistant to scratches. It's available with 2 GB for $199, 4
GB for $249, and 6 GB for $299.
SanDisk Sansa e200 media player
Like the SanDisk c100
music player, the e200 plays music and displays photos, with
FM radio and voice recording, plus it adds video playback
and microSD expansion slot for additional capacity. The
rechargeable and replicable lithium-ion battery provides up
to 20 hours of playback.
But why stop at just
adding video? In this time of converged devices, how about
including a camera, as with the Samsung YP-D1
Pocket DSC MP3 Player (www.samsung.com),
in a vertical phone-style form factor with a built-in 2
megapixel digital camera. It's available in capacities of up
to 1 GB for $249 and 2 GB for $299.
The YP-D1 has a 1.8" color
TFT LCD display. It plays music (MP3, WMA, OGG, including
Microsoft PlaysForSure), JPEG photos and text files, and
MPEG-4 video. It includes a FM radio and voice recording,
plus a built-in speaker so you can listen to music or radio
without earphones. It also can act as a USB host, allowing
stored content to be displayed on a connected TV. It's
powered by a Li-ion battery with up 20 hours of music
playback time.
While music players based
on flash memory can be wonderfully small and light, they can
offer only up to a handful of gigabytes of capacity at
affordable prices. The next step up is to full-fledged
portable media players based on a hard disk, offering
capacities of 20 GB or more, plus larger screens and
(stereo) speakers better for shared viewing, and more
capabilities and connections, including video output to
display on an external television.
For example, the
Creative Zen Vision introduced last year is a nice
portable (but not really pocktable player) for enjoying and
sharing videos, photos, and music. It features a bright
3.7-inch, 640 x 480 display with 30 GB capacity for $399,
and weighing 8.4 ounces. Or to squeeze into a smaller, more
vertical package, there's the new Creative Zen
Vision:M (www.creative.com)
with a 2.5-inch, 320 x 240 display and vertical touch pad,
at 4.09 x 2.44 x 0.73 inches and 5.75 ounces. It's available
with 30 GB for $329 -- in five colors (blue, green, pink,
black, and white).
Creative Zen Vision:M
The Zen Vision:M includes
an FM tuner, radio and voice recording, video output to a
TV, and personal organizer storage that syncs with Microsoft
Outlook. It plays audio (MP3, WAV, and WMA), displays JPEG
photos, and plays MPEG-4 and WMV video -- with PlaysForSure
support for both purchased music and video. It uses a
rechargeable Li-Ion battery that provides up to 14 hours of
audio or up to 4 hours of video playback. Creative also
offers a variety of portable and personal speaker systems
for enjoying your media at home and on the road.
The next big step in this
year's devices is to go beyond video playback to add direct
video recording, so these devices become a portable DVR
(Digital Video Recorder).
For example, the
Samsung YM-P1 Portable Media Player has A/V inputs for
recording from TV and video, and A/V outputs for playing
back on a television. It has a large wide-screen 4-inch
TFT-LCD screen with full 16 million colors, and weighs 0.76
pounds. Plus, the YM-P1 has a built-in SDIO slot for
expanded memory and future accessories. It's listed with
20 GB for $399 and 30 GB for $449.
The YM-P1 plays music
(MP3, WMA, OGG, and even AC3), photos (JPG, BMP) and text
files, and video (MPEG4, DivX, Xvid, avi, WMV). It supports
Microsoft PlaysForSure Audio and Video for purchased music
and movies. And it includes FM radio, voice recording, and
even built-in games. The battery provides up to six hours of
video, and up to fifteen hours of audio.
[ As of April 2005, this product was no longer expected in
the U.S. market. ]
And the LG PM70
Portable Media Player sports a 30 GB hard drive,
4.3-inch widescreen display, and built-in stereo speakers.
It has direct composite A/V line-in recording from TV
sources, and line-out connections to an external TV. Besides
music, photo, and video playback, the PM70 also provides
personal information management (PIM) features, so you can
sync with Microsoft Outlook and view your contacts and
calendar, and even read email.
[ As of April 2005, LG had decided not to introduce these
products at this time. ]
Then the RCA Lyra
X3000 Personal Multimedia Recorder (www.rca.com)
provides even more recording flexibility with a remote
control and Home Theater Docking Base so it can act as a
programmable "VCR" to time-shift your favorite shows. It's
available with 20 GB for $399, with a 3.6-inch, 320x240
screen, and still relatively pocket-sized at 0.75 inches
thick and under 8 ounces.
RCA Lyra X3000 Personal Multimedia Recorder
The X3000 supports MP3,
WMA (including subscription), and Audible audio, photos, and
MPEG-4 video. It includes a SD slot and can transfer photos
directly from an SD memory card or compatible camera. RCA
also plans a DirecTV2Go interface to transfer recorded
content from a DirecTV DVR at 10X speed to watch on the
device, or play back on another TV.
Finally, for even more
capability and integration in your portable player, there's
the Dream’eo Solo Portable Media Device (www.dreameo-usa.com)
with 3.5" touch-screen LCD display -- that not only plays
media, but also provides GPS tracking, with complete maps of
the entire U.S. and Canada, plus guidance as you drive with
detailed maps, turn-by-turn voice directions, and automatic
routing. It sells for $999 with a 20 GB hard drive, measures
4.96 x 3.19 x 0.94 inches, and weighs 7.76 ounces.
The Solo includes an
internal mic for audio recording, plus S-video output to
both NTSC and PAL TVs. It also has a SD / Multimedia Card
and I/O function card slot. It plays audio (MP3, WMA, and
WAV), photos (GIF, JPEG, PNG, BMP), and video (WMV, MPEG-4,
ASF, AVI, DivX up to 320 x 240). It uses a rechargeable
Li-Ion/polymer battery, that 6 hours of audio and 3 hours of
video playback.
So the
evolution of portable media players continues, beyond
playback to video recording, from small screens to
widescreen, with memory card expansion slots and even WiFi
networking (as in the Sony PSP), and adding a digital camera
and GPS mapping. You can wear a tiny music player around
your neck, slip a small video player in your pocket, or
bring along a player with a larger screen for sharing with
groups.
But no matter
how much we enjoy our entertainment, a media player is still
an optional device in our lives, while we always have our
mobile phone everywhere we go. And mobile phones are getting
more integrated as well -- with cameras, plus photo, music,
and even video playback. But mobile phones were still not
really designed as media players, and did not have the ease
of connection to PCs to manage your media libraries --
although the Sprint TV and music services and the Verizon V
CAST video services were steps in the right direction.
The new Verizon Wireless V CAST Music service (www.verizonwireless.com/music)
blows away these limitations, connecting a full-fledged
online service to a mobile phone designed as a media player,
so you can both synch your music collection to the phone to
listen on the go, and have the instant gratification of
finding and downloading new music directly to your phone.
Verizon Wireless V CAST Music service -- Samsung a950
The V CAST Music service
is initially available with the LG VX8100 and
Samsung a950 phones. The LG VX8100 includes a
USB port so you can connect with your computer like other
media players, and also has a MiniSD card slot. You can
synch your songs over USB using Windows Media Player 10, or
copy them on a memory card. However, songs must be in WMA
format (or will be transcoded when synched); the phone does
not support MP3. The service does supports Windows Media DRM
for purchased music, so you can buy music online from your
computer from the V CAST Music Online Store for 99 cents --
and then just copy the song the to the phone to play there
as well.
But when you need
immediate gratification, you also can search the V CAST
Music service directly from the phone, and buy and download
the music immediately. A download arrives in only a minute
or so, delivered over Verizon's high-speed EVDO network.
Purchases from the phone cost $1.99, but are dual downloads
-- you can then also download a separate copy on your
computer (also at higher quality).
mobiBLU DAH-1500i Cube MP3 Player 
SWISSMEMORY s.beat MP3 Digital Audio Player 
SanDisk Sansa c100 audio player 
SanDisk Sansa e200 media player 
Creative Zen Vision:M
RCA Lyra X3000 Personal Multimedia Recorder
Verizon Wireless V CAST Music service -- Samsung a950