Philips has announced its newest player to embrace the world of technology – the Philips GoGear Connect. In some respects, this player is unlike any media player that we have previously seen out of the Philips camp.

From a company that has fought many proprietary format wars over the years, Philips has announced that its newest PMP is to sport Google’s Android OS (v2.1). Philips’ adoption of the popular OS will further bolster Google’s ever-increasing hold on the market.

There’s more to this player than Android. The device with its shiny, stylish design features a 3.2-inch touchscreen (320 x 240) with haptic feedback and accelerometer. Consumers will be able to choose from either 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and even 64GB. When space becomes a tight squeeze, the SD slot will come in handy.

But we’ve left the best until last. Although details are sketchy, we understand that the GoGear Connect will feature built-in GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, and even a camera. The Connect will allow consumers to take advantage of the Android Marketplace using the WiFi interface.

A July launch date has been officially stated, but another trusted Philips source has suggested that a September date is more likely (to coincide with the IFA trade show in Berlin).

No word on price.

[Source]

One player that we overlooked at CES 2010 was the Cydle P29H.  Rather unfairly, the P29A, seemed to receive all the attention.

The P29H is being touted as a multimedia player with embedded HD Radio™ technology. The device features a 2.9-inch OLED touchscreen with haptic sensor containing a single home tactile button situated towards the bottom of the device. The display shuffles from landscape to portrait depending on orientation.

Expandable via a microSD slot, the storage capacity is limited to a default of 4GB or 8GB of flash memory. As far as we understand, the player will handle both audio and video files; although, exact file formats remain unknown.

Featuring a modern white-look, the P29H looks a bit hefty with a thickness that is above average. It could be down to that lithium-ion battery with an unknown charge life.

Additional features incorporated into the device include a voice recorder, picture viewer, calculator, calendar and clock. A release date of Q2 is expected. Take a look at the accompanying video snapped at CES.

[Product Page]

Spanish-based Energy Sistem have revealed 3 new PMPs which are due to hit [European] stores come March. One of the players, the TV2090, was leaked mid-January, but another two are set to accompany the TV2090 come their release.

The TV1070 and TV2070 which not only closely resemble the 2090, pretty-much carry the same features. To remind those of you not in the loop, the new range incorporates an integrated DVB-T tuner for on the move activities.

As we understand, there is no default flash or HDD storage which means that storage has to be provided through the available SDHC slot – the sole storage medium. The players supports a number of formats not limited to DivX, Xvid, AVI, MPG, MP3, and WMA.

The display is fitted alongside integrated stereo speakers for those situations when the headphones are just not suitable. Still no word on how frequently you could be recharging that lithium-ion battery, but were more than willing to wage good money that it weighs like a tank.

The difference between the three models comes in the display size. While the TV2090 features a healthy 9-inch display, the TV1070 and TV2070 sport a shorter 7-inch screen. And again, the TV2070 comes bundles with additional accessories to beat out the TV1070.

Although still available in March, the prices appear to have undergone revision. The 2090 which was initially expected to cost 133 Euros or roughly 181 Green Backs will now set you back a more reasonable 102.59 Euros ($139 USD). The TV1070 will sit at 68.88 Euros ($94  USD) and the 2070 at 81.81 Euros ($111 USD).

Source: gmp3

The entry-level Kenwood MG-F500 garnered some serious attention upon announcement at the end of last year. Sure it doesn’t have all the frills like touchscreen and WiFi capabilities, but all these nice features come at a price.

Kenwood seem to think that they are filling a gap in the market with their new MediaKeg player. The guys over at imp3 have managed to get their hands on the MG-F504, a 4GB version of the F500 series.

A slew of images have been released showing the F504 in all its splendor.  It provides a great opportunity to get a feel for the player’s size and user interface. Initially compared to a brick, we think that we might have been too hasty in dismissing the player as a mere brick.

The MG-F500 series line is available, but it appears that the MP3 player will be exclusive to Japan only.

The lack of desire for most Chinese PMPs is often most deserved. That’s not to say that we don’t get the odd player out of the Chinese Republic that utterly startles us. With Onda and a few others being the exception, Chinese PMPs lack that special overall build quality and attention to detail.

The Window G85HD is attempting to destroy any misconceptions consumers might have of Chinese PMPs. This sleek, all-white looking player packs a 4.3-inch touchscreen with a user-interface that makes most others look plain silly. Not only is the interface original, but it is very responsive to the human touch.

The G85HD PMP comes in either a flavor of 8GB or 16GB of internal memory including an accompanying microSD card slot. If the 4.3-inch display is just not big enough, consider making use of the 720p video output.

Additional features incorporated into the device include an FM-tuner, Chinese-English dictionary, and support for a slew of file formats.  No word on price or availability, but as it goes with most Chinese imports, don’t expect this bad-boy to make it out of Asia.

Check out the video of the G85HD in action. It’s a treat…

[Engadget]

If the recent announcement of several portable TV devices is anything to go on, it appears that the beloved mobile TV is making a come-back. If neither the Kula TV, TV2090, nor P29A tickled your fancy, consider Newman’s CTV8.

Being marketed under the Newsmy brand, the CTV8 packs a nicely-sized 4.3-inch display with built-in stereo speakers situated either side of the screen. As we come to expect, the Digital TV viewer doubles up as a PMP providing up 8GB of storage.

The CTV8 features support for a host of audio/video/image file types including some of that open-format goodness not limited to AVI, FLV, WMV, MPG, MP4, and ASF video files and MP3, OGG audio files.

Featuring a voice-recorder, E-book reader, and picture browser, the DTV incorporates automatic channel search and broadcast recording for an enhanced viewing experience.

The TV aerial can be neatly folded away when not in use, and the player takes a page out of the Sony S540’s book with its kick-out stand.

The CTV8 is expected to retail for 699 yuan (~$102 USD), but don’t expect to see this PMP outside of Asia.

[Source]

The company that brought you the MP3 format, Thompson, has announced a proprietary alternative to the FLAC format dubbed MP3HD.

MP3HD is a lossless format with music bitrates averaging from 500 to 900 kbps (depending on the genre). The big bonus about the new format is that it is backwards compatible with your standard MP3 format. Furthermore, MP3HD will utilize the same .mp3 extension (which brings with it some advantages and disadvantages). Thomson state that an average Rock track will encode at around 876 kbit/s giving an overall size of 26MB.

All we have to go on is provided figures because it does not appear that an encoder is available for us to perform any sort of side-by-side comparisons.

“Find me an MP3 player that supports MP3HD!”, I hear you say. Well, All4MP3.com have announced that the yet-to-be-released Samsung IceTouch or YP-H1 will be the first MP3 player to include an MP3HD decoder for playback.

APE, FLAC and MP3HD – this could get interesting…

[Source]

I felt a lump in my neck when I saw glimpses of a PMP dubbed the “Baidu” M36. Trawling through images of the device, I came across a picture depicting a URL on the backside of the player – baidu-digital.com. As far as we understand, the M36 shares no connection with the Chinese online search giant. We’ve gone as far as comparing WHOIS records: baidu-digital.com versus baidu.com (along with some other information gathering).

The M36 bears an impressive 3.0-inch TFT display with traditional Chinese patterns alongside the side of the player. Limited to a 4GB storage capacity with the added benefit of an SD-slot, the M36 features support for a slew of file types including MP3, WMA, OGG, APE, and FLAC audio files and RMVB, AVI, FLV, WMV, MPG, 3GP, MP4, and ASF video files.

The big feature with this player is audio file management because the M36 provides voice search functionality – an interesting concept. No word on the hit rate; although, it is suggested that the “recognition rate is high”.

No word on price or availability, but don’t expect to see this piece of hardware outside of China.

[Source]