I know we’ve said it multiple times, but we’ll say it once more for those who may have missed it: Smartphones are hot. Because of that, dedicated media players such as iRiver, iPods, Zunes etc. are seeing decreased sales as people look to consolidate all of their needs to one gadget. iRiver pushes on however with their latest media player, the iRiver B30. By now, you can expect fairly average specs from a player in this category — 2.8″ 280 x 320 display, WOW earphones, and an integrated DMB Tuner. As far as supported formats go, back in the day of my iRiver iHP-120, practically any and every format including OGG (and FLAC if Rockbox’d) were officially supported. As media players have proliferated, with the masses only using a few popular formats such as MP3, AAC, WMA and WAV, support for many of those more obscure, niche formats has unfortunately been dropped. Supported video formats include MP4, DivX, XviD and H.264.
Storing all of your digital collection can be done with either an 8GB model or higher capacity 16GB version. Thankfully iRiver allows end users to further expand their libraries via microSD card as 8GB and 16GB just isn’t what it used to be. Rolling back to that DMB tuner, if you happen to live in a country that supports the technology, take comfort in knowing that mobile TV is but a few button presses away. Sadly here in the states the technology just hasn’t quite caught on.
To rehash, since smartphones are gaining ground so quickly these days, do dedicated media players such as the iRiver B30 have much draw for you? Or are you looking on to bigger and better things?
Red Rerret
Only problem? So far, the only people who will actually be able to enjoy this new found egg/Android bonding are developers. If they’re to create amazing apps then they certainly need some hands on time. But how much longer is it going to take until I can wrap my hands around the slick plastic casing of a Zii Egg humming along with Android? I’m eager to see what these Android powered units bring to the table and how they’re going to compete with the top contenders from Apple and Microsoft. Looking forward to that grand day or has this already done past your geek-radar?
Engadget > Creative via Twitter
Feelin’ like getting some retro mobile gaming in while you wait for whatever it is you’re waiting for? This Portable “game-in-a-game” system that appeared over at BenHeck’s Forums is a prime example of what geeks such as us are all about. Before you even begin to whip out your wallet, perhaps you’d like to know a tad more, hmm?
Forget looking for the latest in gaming tech inside this little working wonder. Instead, some “generic Chinese media player” is the life blood that makes this geeky creation live. With other features including a 2.8 LCD and 4GB storage means even a do-it-yourself kind of person should be able to pull it off on their own relatively cheaply. But of course, it would be so much more enjoyable to simply hit “buy now” and not have to deal with the actual construction of such a toy. If you’re having trouble justifying a purchase, explain to the wife that you can hook it up to the big screen and play just as you and your parents played games back in the day. That’ll warm her up for sure…
Engadget > 8bitfix
- September 29, 2008 10:35 am
iriver SPINN
It may be hard to believe for most of the general public, but there are other mp3 player brands out there besides Apple and its iPod. Iriver has been around for quite awhile, though never enjoying the same widespread uptake as the iPod. The iriver SPINN is somewhat of a new design from iriver. It’s not your typical candybar style player. It has a very unique “spin” control that is supposed to make navigation more natural and fun.
Said player will be released on October 3rd in 4GB ($249) and 8GB ($289) varieties. The device has a 3.3 inch 480 x 272 AMOLED display. FM tuner, Bluetooth 2.0. The SPINN has slightly above average support for file playback including (of course) mp3, WMA, OGG, APE, FLAC, AVI, and WMV (as well as many other types). While the file support and navigation method is one of the player’s strong suits, wireless falls short. You won’t find any wireless connectivity that is becoming more mainstream. If you’re hoping of running this on OS X you’ll be disappointed as the SPINN’s software will only work on XP and Vista…sorry guys…maybe next time.
source: engadget
