Trigem’s Atom-based LLUON Mobbit crashes below the $500 UMPC sweet spot
You know what we could really use right now? A chunky slab of XP running on a device that is simultaneously too big for our pockets but less functional than a netbook. Oh, what’s that Trigem, you’ve got that? Suweet. Meet the LLUON Mobbit PS400, an Atom Z520-powered UMPC MID with a 4.8-inch (1,024 x 600) touchscreen LCD, 2 megapixel camera, 1GB memory, choice of 30GB hard disk or 16GB SSD, WiFi, and Korean WiMax (WiBro) and digital television (T-DMB). Here’s the interesting part: the price. According CNET, it will cost “around” $411 (600,000 won) when it ships in January — that’s a lot of kit for that price (the similarly-speced R50A from ASUS costs over $1,800). If true, then the Mobbit looks to have finally achieved the pricing goal set by Microsoft and Intel for these UMPC-class devices way back in early 2006. Add the RAM- and touch-friendly Windows 7 OS and we might finally be home… albeit 3-years (too?) late.
Sony mylo 2 firmware version 1.100 adds WMV and SHOUTcast support
Sony’s do-everything-except-for-make-calls mylo has been updated to firmware version 1.100, and is now available at Sony’s support site as a 61MB download. Because you ran out of things to do with your mylo about, say, ten minutes after unboxing it, rejoice — the update adds WMV file support, SHOUTcast widget support (the widget is a separate download), a “Game” item on the HOME menu for easier access to all those games you downloaded to the COM-2 unit, and, of course, improved “system stability”.
LG’s touchscreen T80 media player only has 4GB
LG’s giving our Danish friends a little something to look forward to: the 3-inch 400 x 240 touchscreen T80, which has 4GB of storage, DVB-T and FM tuners, and OGG support (as well as the usual MP3, WMA, MPEG-4, etc.) in a chubby 0.5-inch thick package. We hear it’s priced at a hefty €299 (~$470 US), which might prove a tad prohibitive to sales among the intelligent.
Weekend circulars show jailbroken iPod touch with Installer on board
We’re not sure who nodded off in the art department, but we’re fairly certain they’re going to be wide awake come Monday morning. Apparently, Radio Shack is running circulars this week featuring the iPod touch… with the Installer and MobileChat icons. We’re sure Apple will be stoked to discover that a jailbroken iPod is hanging out in one of America’s most-viewed ads, and we’re equally sure that buyers will be pleased to learn they don’t really get an IM application with their purchase. Champagne for everyone!
Blockbuster offers to buy, um, Circuit City: digital downloads be damned!
Huh? Blockbuster just made public its February 17th offer to purchase Circuit City for $6 to $8 per share. As of this morning, Circuit city has not provided the requested due diligence necessary to move the deal forward. As such, Blockbuster is pulling a Microsoft and making the proposal public in hopes of inciting shareholders. They’ve even gone so far as to publish an open letter from Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes to Phil Schoonover, CEO of Circuit City. Really, is this how all corporate affairs will be conducted in the future guys? What really boggles the mind though is Blockbuster’s quest for even more brick-and-mortar as digital downloads begin to take off. Hit the read link for the full contents of the letter.
E100 is now for sale, still kind of chubby
We weren’t terribly impressed by the iriver E100’s size or functionality, but at $110 for a 4GB player with this size of screen, it’s certainly hard to complain. For $50 more you can get an 8GB player, and both sizes come in pink, black, blue and brown and white flavors. You can pick it up now at Amazon.
W7 portable media player gets reviewed
Yeah, we had our fun just toying with the W7 at iriver’s CES booth earlier this year, but the lucky souls at Pocketables were able to secure one long enough to write up a full-blown review. Straight out of the packaging, critics found the design to be attractive enough, albeit a tad chunky; particularly with this device, we’d say opinions on sexiness will vary widely depending on what floats your boat. Nevertheless, reviewers found the touch panel easy enough to navigate, and thankfully, the perceived audio quality was dubbed “great.” Those interested in the video capabilities will be delighted to know that all was well on that front too, as the slew of welcome extras (FM tuner, text viewer, e-dictionary, etc.) were all praised. Now, if only this critter would show up in America, we’d have yet another solid choice when it comes to pocket-friendly media players.
RAmos goes sleek with V8 portable media player
Particularly of late, RAmos has really been exceeding expectations, and it seems to have raised its own bar once again with the easy-on-the-eyes V8. Sporting a svelte, black enclosure and a 4.3-inch display, this portable media player handles MP4, AVI, DivX, RMVB, MP3, WMA and FLAC file formats, boasts a TV output and even includes a text viewer. You’ll also notice that it automatically detects rotation and orients the on-screen imagery in response. Per usual, price remains a mystery here, but at least this one is apt to be worth more than whatever change is currently residing in your pocket.
ICO G1 satellite successfully launched, DVB-SH headed to America
Just months after Alcatel Lucent and SFR hosted DVB-SH trials across the pond comes word that the mobile TV technology is headed Stateside. ICO Global Communications is donning the party hats and going through buckets upon buckets of ice cream in celebration of a successful satellite launch that will eventually bring those yearned-after mobile television goods to the US, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. The ICO G1 was placed into its initial geosynchronous transfer orbit yesterday afternoon, and now the company is eagerly awaiting certification that the bird is fully operational (and can pass the final FCC milestone) by May 15th. If all goes to plan, Las Vegas, Nevada and Raleigh / Durham, North Carolina will be gifted with ICO mim (mobile interactive media) service trials “later this summer,” though a commercial launch isn’t slated to occur until “later in 2009.”
The first commercially available pico projector
Hong Kong always gets the good stuff first. Witness the SunView PMP Projector… or more handily known as a PMPP. The little silver box is the first commercially available pico projector — created in by Sunlink International in collaboration with iView Limited — and is currently trickling out in small quantities (though there are plans to ramp up production). The device is an integrated PMP running Windows CE, is capable of producing a 640 x 480 projection, has an embedded 3.5-inch LCD display, and utilizes an SD slot for additional storage. There’s no word on pricing — or if this is going to make it onto our shores anytime soon — though we’re pretty sure a crafty importer can probably get one of these into your hands.