Hasta La Gadget!

Time for a break from all the MID, smartbook, and netbook action from the Computex show for a glimpse at the latest from Korea’s iriver. The B30, like most iriver devices, starts with elegant hardware. iriver then slips in a UI and physical controls that may or may not be new to its user base. While we appreciate iriver’s dedication to innovation, a bit of consistency would be appreciated, especially since none of the UIs have quite reached perfection. So take a look at the B30 after the break — you feeling those white boxy outlines and rotation delays as the display moves between portrait and landscape? Korea-only huh? Fine by us.

Continue reading Video: iriver B30 taken for a spin around the box

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Video: iriver B30 taken for a spin around the box originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 06:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wait, what’s this? ASUS diving head first into the HD media streamer game? Based on images and details acquired by Hardware, we’d say chances are looking pretty good. Reportedly, the aforementioned outfit will showcase its very own media player at Computex next week in Taiwan, and our expectations are already fairly lofty. The O!Play (codename HDP-R1) is said to be a fair bit quicker than competing models, and the file compatibility list is also worthy of laud. Port wise, this one’s packing eSATA, USB, HDMI, stereo audio jacks, optical digital audio, Ethernet and an AC port. If all goes well, we could see this little bugger in European stores by July, with a price tag pegged at €119 ($168). Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as if that price nets you an internal HDD, but we’ll find out for sure soon enough.

[Via The Inquirer]

Filed under: Home Entertainment

ASUS to introduce O!Play media player at Computex originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 May 2009 17:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Considering that we’re holding a Japanese unit in our hands, our impressions of Sony’s OLED Walkman will be somewhat limited. That said, we figured it prudent to pass along our initial judgments until the US model shows up sometime between tomorrow and next century. After giving the flashy PMP a photo shoot yesterday, we spent the rest of the day (and night, we won’t even front) toying with Sony’s most hyped Walkman in quite some time. Eager to hear just how fantastic / horrible this critter is? Follow us past the break for our two pennies.

Continue reading Sony OLED Walkman impressions

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Sony OLED Walkman impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 May 2009 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While swinging by QNAP‘s CeBIT booth to check out its array of recently launched NAS devices, we happened upon a demonstration that was showcasing a brand new device: the NMP1000. Short for Network Multimedia Player, this set-top-box is pretty much like every other HD media streamer already out there, as it connects to networked storage and pipes out audio and video content to one’s TV via a customized user interface. What we saw looked pretty slick, even though it was inexplicably connected to the LG display via S-Video. As for specs, it’s boasting a Sigma Designs SMP8635 processor, 256MB of DDR RAM, room for one 3.5-inch SATA drive, a single gigabit Ethernet jack, dual USB 2.0 sockets, one eSATA port, HDMI 1.3 / component / composite / S-Video outs and a bundled remote. It supports just about any format on the map, and the on-hand representative told us it should be out next month for “somewhere under $10,000.” Have a look at some in-action shots below.

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

QNAP intros NMP1000 network media player, we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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