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Samsung's P3 unboxed and caught on video


Word on the street has it that the Samsung P3 will be getting its official launch at CES in January, and to whet your appetite we've got a video unboxing for you courtesy of those crazy kids at Generation MP3. Apparently the same form factor as the venerable P2 (but in an all aluminum enclosure), the PMP sports haptic touch, WQVGA 3-inch (480 x 272) display, Bluetooth, microphone, speaker, FM tuner, plays all the expected media formats, and will be available in 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB. Also in the video, we get a pretty extensive look at those widgets everyone's been talking about. But don't take it from us -- you can see for yourself after the break.

Black Friday Giveaways (part 6): Zune 120 and premium earbuds


Don't be crazy alright? Just get your comment in below, because if you win this one, you're walking away with a totally boss Zune 120 plus a sweet pair of those premium earbuds. You'd have to be crazy, stupid, or some lethal combination of both not to jump at this one. Now here's how it's done.

We'll put up a gadget on the site, and you can only enter it until the next gadget lands (usually within a couple of hours). If you miss your shot, sorry, we're moving on to the next gadget. Good luck! Oh, and don't forget the rules. (Yeah, there are always rules.)
  • Leave a comment below. That's it! Who loves you, baby.
  • You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.) You can enter different giveaways in today's Black Friday giveaways, but you can only enter this one once.
  • If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you'll be fine.
  • Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers or US contest laws if you have to be mad.
  • Winners will be chosen randomly.
  • Entries can be submitted until the next contest goes up. After that we're all done. Good luck!
  • Full rules can be found here.
Last round's winner: hammerhead_12! (Remember, winners are selected at random.)

Energy Sistem rolls out 4040 Touch PMP


As far as PMPs off the beaten path go, Energy Sistem's always seem to be a slight cut above the rest, and it's new 4040 Touch looks to be no exception, with it packing some reasonably high-end features into a bargain-priced but not too cheap-looking package. That includes a 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen, 16GB of storage, a microSD card slot for further expansion, a built-in microphone, an FM tuner, support for most of the usual audio and video formats, and even support for Microsoft's PlayFX, all for a fairly reasonable €120, or about $150. If that's more than you need, the company apparently also recently rolled out its 5020 and 5021 models, which drop the touchscreen and cut the storage down to 4GB, and the price down to €85, or just over $100. Just don't be too surprised if they wind up looking slightly less polished that Energy Sistem's photos.

[Via PMP Today]

Black Friday Giveaways (part 4): Archos 5 and DVR Station


Now come on, this is some seriously sweet stuff. The multi-function Archos 5 (now with updated firmware which the company says addresses a handful of issues we had) is a choice deal unto itself, but toss in that DVR Station, and we think it's clear just how serious we are about holiday cheer. If you don't throw your hat in the ring for this one, you may just be faking a love of gadgets. Want to make this happen? Here's how it works.

We'll put up a gadget on the site, and you can only enter it until the next gadget lands (usually within a couple of hours). If you miss your shot, sorry, we're moving on to the next gadget. Good luck! Oh, and don't forget the rules. (Yeah, there are always rules.)
  • Leave a comment below. That's it! Who loves you, baby.
  • You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.) You can enter different giveaways in today's Black Friday giveaways, but you can only enter this one once.
  • If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you'll be fine.
  • Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers or US contest laws if you have to be mad.
  • Winners will be chosen randomly.
  • Entries can be submitted until the next contest goes up. After that we're all done. Good luck!
  • Full rules can be found here.
Last round's winner: Curt! (Remember, winners are selected at random.)

Archos 7 acquired in the wild, critiqued in French


Mmm, the Archos 7. Seven full inches of touchscreen loveliness, just waiting to be caressed as you slide over your favorite artists one by one. Poor attempts at seduction aside, this magnificent piece of PMP has been spotted in the wild over at ArchosLounge, and the lucky soul who managed to acquire it even took the time to spill his impressions... in French. From what we could gather via the wonders of Google Translator, the Archos 7 wasn't actually a surefire upgrade for those with the 5, particularly not at the listed price. Still, the unit brought a lot of smiles to the face of the owner, and we're pretty sure it'll do the same for you. Click the read link for a few more looks.

Samsung's YP-P3 becomes a reality -- thanks, FCC


Well, what do you know? That Samsung YP-P3, which was rumored back in May, is more than just a figment of someone's vivid imagination. Thanks to the wonderful FCC, we now know that Sammy is pressing for approval to release its next-generation PMP here in the States, though that's absolutely all that we know right now. There's no attached user manual, no splendid internal / external photos and no other juicy details to pore over. But let's focus on the positive, shall we? The P3 is for real, and it's coming soon.

Hidden TV out features discovered in iPhone 2.2 SDK

So, get a load of this. While tinkering within the iPhone 2.2 SDK, ArsTechnica discovered a neat little tidbit that could lead to some pretty extensible applications. In essence, the MPTVOutWindow class enables your iPhone to beam out video to a connected TV rather than the built-in screen. Of course, dock-connecting iPods / iPhones have been sending out videos for ages now, but this could actually enable applications to be used on the big screen. Sadly, the current code won't allow screen interaction while the TV out function is active, but the accelerometer is still a go. Check out a short demonstration clip after the break, and feel free to let your imagination run wild after peeking the read link.

[Via AppleInsider]

ATSC gives initial thumbs-up to MPH mobile TV standard


Merely weeks after a handful of TV broadcasters voiced their approval of the MPH mobile TV standard, the almighty ATSC has elevated its specification for Mobile Digital Television to Candidate Standard status. Or it will early next week, based on the futuristic December 1st date on the press release. Anywho, the thumbs-up brings the standard one huge step closer to actual implementation in the United States, though a final standard isn't apt to be agreed upon until late next year. Not that the delay is really a problem -- after all, a grand total of 19 people in this great nation even care about TV on the go, right?

[Via mocoNews]

Cowon S9 Curve launching in the US mid-December with balls to spare


Oh boy, it's almost here (we think). If we're reading the machine translated text correctly, then Cowon's S9 Curve, first revealed in August, is expected to land in the US mid-December. No price was listed for the 8GB / 16GB audio and video player with a 3.3-inch, 480 x 272 pixel AMOLED display and Bluetooth. Cowon is, however, pushing the player's BBE technology (like that found in the A2) meant to doctor the sound quality. Nothing official on the rather pathetic Cowon America website, but we'll let you know just as soon as something pops.

iriver's E100 reaches Season 2 on the Who Cares channel


Really? Was it just the choice of color holding you back from purchasing iriver's respectable, monument to plastic? If so, you're in luck, the E100 just reached "Season 2" which includes a re-run of all the same specs (up to 8GB storage, 2.4-inch display, audio/video playback) dipped in a few new color combinations. Better, yes, but it's still just the E100. We'll wait and see if they blow-out CES again like they did in January 2008 -- that's something worth caring about.

[Via Akihabara News]

Microsoft working on its own Tegra-powered superphone? Doubtful.


The popular rumor floating around at the moment is that Microsoft intends to announce self-branded handsets powered by NVIDIA's beefy Tegra architecture for next-gen phones and MIDs at the GSMA's Mobile World Congress in February of next year. Let's put aside for a moment the fact that Redmond continues to vehemently deny having any interest in getting into the hardware end of its Windows Mobile racket -- concealing the truth is a part of doing competitive business, after all -- and turn our attention to the practical matter of whether this makes any sense whatsoever. First off, Windows Mobile's strength lies in its incredibly deep and wide partner base, a base that includes visionary teams at HTC, Samsung, LG, Motorola, and countless others. With Android and Symbian finally becoming viable opportunities for third-party manufacturers, Microsoft doesn't want to do anything that's going to hasten the revolt before it's able to wrap up version 7 (or at the very least, 6.5) -- and competing with your own licensees would be a bang-up way to do that. Granted, Microsoft did exactly that by introducing Zune following the PlaysForSure initiative, but let's be honest: Windows Mobile and Zune don't play in the same league. Zune's a hobby, a side gig; WinMo's a monster, a long-term cash cow that's got to be treated with the same franchise tag as Windows itself.

Pasen is dead, long live Pasen's new REI-16 PMP

Pasen is dead, long live Pasen's new REI-16 PMP
To say that we've been underwhelmed by Pasen's offerings thus far would be like calling the Meizu M8 slightly delayed, but supposedly we're in for a pleasant surprise when next we meet a player from the company. The brand has been bought out by Italian Kiwii LTD and is pledging that those awful interfaces and stolen icons are things of the past. The proof will be in the REI-16 PMP, pictured above serving as a precarious looking wheel chock. It should make for a better media player, and while details are few it's said to offer a "gorgeous" 3-inch touchscreen, "sexy" user interface, and support "tons" of audio and video formats (including ogg). An integrated FM transmitter will pipe tunes to your car, plus there's video output for your TV and even emulation for 8-bit console games. It certainly sounds promising, but we'll have wait for the full specs and some hands-on impressions before we can call Pasen reborn or just rebranded.

Marantz's IS301 wireless iPod dock elegantly cuts the cord


Wireless iPod docks were all the rage back in 2006 (seriously, we remember nerds camping out for them), but the trend sort of petered out as 2007 emerged and focus turned to more important matters. Now, Marantz is looking to bring it all back in style with the IS301, a Lucullan wireless iPod dock that transmits both audio and video sans cabling and includes a port-filled receiver for tight-knit home theater integration. Practically every dock-connecting iPod (no iPhones allowed, at least not officially) will work fine here, and there's also Bluetooth 2.1 support for receiving and beaming tunes from BT-enabled devices. Expect the bundle to storm Japan in January for ¥26,250 ($277), after which we Americans will drop down on bended knee and plead for a US version.

[Via Impress]

Scosche Passport FireWire-to-USB iPod adapter gets reviewed


Okay, so this adapter doesn't directly convert a FireWire 400 socket into a USB port, but for all intents and purposes here, it does as much. You see, Scosche's Passport was designed to channel the energy from older FireWire-based iPod charging gear into the USB prongs that the newer iPhone / iPods only accept. Macworld was able to get ahold of one for review, and in testing, it found that everything worked well when toying with new iPods, and while it was designed specifically for in-car applications, critics found that it even worked (albeit inelegantly) with dock-cradle accessories. Was it worth $30? Absolutely, so long as you'd rather burn $30 than replace that mess of wires you've got behind the dashboard (and you would).

Teclast's upcoming 3.5-inch PMP plays media, is portable


So far it doesn't look like Teclast's OEM is trying to fool anyone with their new as-yet-unbranded media player, which is sort of disappointing -- we know how much you love a good KIRF. Aside from the uncommon (and theoretically stunning) 3.5-inch OLED widescreen display, this seems to be a pretty benign device. Features include capacitive touch controls, support for CMMB and DVB-T broadcasts, and if their past products are any indication you can probably expect output to TV or FM transmitter. You can expect this to ship in China under the Teclast flag eventually, but at the moment we've got no name, no price, no storage capacity, no release date -- just the above facts and one lonely picture to keep you warm on those long winter nights ahead.



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