Hasta La Gadget!

The Mini Connected app finally hit the App Store back in December, enabling those with suitably equipped little German/British autos to connect their iPhones and iPods and do what nature intended. Well, everything nature intended except for streaming Pandora. Now that solemn right is a possibility too, with the latest version of Pandora available in iTunes. Update that, plug your iPhone into your Mini, and you can get your stream on, just like we did at CES. However, if you’re more of a domestics guy or gal you don’t have to feel left out, because this new version supports Ford’s SYNC AppLink as well. And, yes, we had some quality hands-on time with that, too.

Pandora for Mini Connected and SYNC AppLink now available for iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Passed on Isabella Products’ Vizit digital photo frame? ‘Tis a shame, really. But hey, if you were one of the millions gifted with a lackluster, non-connected digiframe over the past few years, at least the aforesaid company is giving you a way to make things right. The outfit’s newly launched Mini is one special USB key, embedded with an AT&T 3G SIM and tailor made to provide cellular connectivity to dormant frames. The key is linked to one’s VizitMe content management service, and users will be able to email photos directly or have the device extract content from Photobucket and LIFE.com; once received, owners will see new images pop up on any frame that accepts USB keys. Furthermore, these same emailed images can be viewed on USB-equipped monitors and televisions. The company’s planning to ship the Mini in Q2 of this year for an undisclosed rate, but naturally, we’re more interested in the potential unadvertised capabilities. An off-contract, fee-free USB key with an AT&T SIM card within? Sounds like we’re just a hack or two away from the most beautiful mobile broadband card this world has ever seen.

Continue reading Isabella Products’ Mini USB stick connects unconnected digital photo frames

Isabella Products’ Mini USB stick connects unconnected digital photo frames originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The O!Play HD2 may be the first media device to support USB 3.0, but we’re guessing that hasn’t exactly inspired too many of you to run out and buy the things — assuming you can actually find one for sale. Maybe a slimmer, shapelier form factor would do the trick. That’s the new O!Play Mini, a much more petite entry into the series that makes do with a single USB 2.0 connector along with an SD/MMC/MS/XD card reader up front. Around back are optical audio and an HDMI 1.3 connector, through which it will pump 1080p video and up to 7.1 audio in Dolby Digital AC3, DTS 2.0+, even TrueHD and DTS-HD, plus a variety of other formats. There are also RCA outputs if you prefer your digital steam in audio. File format support looks pretty legendary, including all the usuals plus less commonly supported extensions like MKV, MTS, OGG, and FLAC, even RighTxT subtitles. No word on price or availability yet, but with the HD2 clocking in at $129.99 we wouldn’t be surprised to see this slotting in somewhere under $100.

ASUS O!Play Mini player ditches the USB 3.0 but keeps the 1080p originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Dec 2010 20:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mini seems on quite a mission at the moment to establish itself in the public eye. Only a few weeks after the automobile brand held a funky live-painting event at its classy Ginza showroom, we spotted another marketing stunt out in Shinjuku last weekend.

Like Ginza, Shinjuku closes off its main shopping street to traffic on the weekends, allowing people to roam free across the road. So it was a bit of a surprise to see a renegade car had seemingly disobeyed the rules and entered the pedestrianized zone.

Not only that but the Mini was parked in the ground floor of Kinokuniya book store, where the staff are usually selling things. I’m not entirely sure why Kinokuniya was chosen as the venue (other than the practical reason that it has the space), but understandably it still generated quite a bit of interest from people passing or trying to get into the shop.

Still, doesn’t beat the smartcar vending machine in Shibuya station two years ago…

Mini held an event at their showroom in Ginza over the weekend that saw the art unit Rinpa Eshidan painting a Mini Cooper over two days.

The “What is Mini Ginza?” promotional event was designed to inject “fun” into automotive and to draw some of the Ginza shoppers down to the far end of Chuodori where the showroom is located. Much of the pedestrian traffic tends to gather around the main Ginza junction and fizzle out once you pass the main department stores. Mini is right at the end so they need to fight hard to combat any appearances of languishing.

The Rinpa Eshidan event was also filmed and the resulting vehicle/art work will be on display until November 28th.

The showroom itself, which opened earlier this year, looks pretty cool and is another example of a building deliberately designed low (it’s “mini”, get it?) to stand out from its neighbors. This is a bit of an architectural trend in Tokyo retail of late and we will be keeping our eyes out for more.