New Gadgets

If you have been waiting for Iomega to launch its new ScreenPlay DX HD media player, your wait in now over. Its now been launched and is available to buy in stores for $229m for a 1TB Iomega ScreenPlay DX HD Media Player or you can double up to 2GB of storage for an extra $70.

Its a DivX-certified media player providing access to videos, movies, photos, and songs on the Internet using the built-in web browser with Flash 10.1 plug-in. The Iomega ScreenPlay DX HD is equipped with support for 1080p video playback as well as Dolby / DTS decoding and features services such as Pandora and Netflix to keep you busy.

Connectivity is provided by a DX. 802.11n USB 2.0 adapter, includes a ful QWERTY keyboard remote and supports : H.264, WMV, RMVB, MPEG-1/2/4, DivX, DivX Plus HD(MKV).

Asus has added another media player to its O!Play range with the launch of the Asus O!Play Mini, unfortunately the O!Play Mini doesn’t support USB 3.0 like the O!Play HD2, but it does offer support for Full HD playback in 1080p.

Other specifications on the Asus O!Play Mini include one USB 2.0 port, a multi format card reader which supports SD/MMC/MS/XD cards, there is also a HDMI 1.3 port in the rear.

The Asus O!Play Mini also comes with 7.1 channel Dolby Digital audio, AC3, DTS 2.0+, True HD and DTS-HD sound, and it supports a wide range of file formats which includes MP4, MOV, XVID, AVI and many more.

The O!Play Mini will go on sale early in 2011, and it is expected to retail for around $90.

Pioneer have just unveiled white version of its CDJ-350 and DJM-350 mixers it launched back in March giving an alternative to the black and creates a white 350-W System.

The CDJ-350-W media player has a BEAT display that helps the DJ to see where the beat position of a song is. It also has a beat loop, loop divide, and hot loop function, to name just a few of its huge list of features.

The DJM-350-W is a DJ mixer with functions identical to its black version but also offer two additional audio effects : Noise and Short Echo and includes compatibility with DJ Software, direct recording to USB devices.

The media player is capable of playing MP3, AAC, WAV and AIFF files and is compatible with FAT 12, FAT16, FAT32 and HFS+

Pioneer’s white DJ system will be available in January 2011 and come with two CDJ-350-W players and one DJM-350-W mixer for a suggested retail price of $2,445

The presentation of the modern media player L1200 was issued by the Chinese corporation Newman-Hyun. The main charm of this unit is a 12-megapixel camera with 12 times digital zoom function and the special “lens”.

It can be rotated on 180 degrees, which helps the user to shoot himself/herself without anyone’s help.

Exposure positioning frame can vary in a range from 1 / 10 to 1 / 2000 seconds; an opportunity to make a coherent series of images. According to the manufacturer’s website, the most interesting function of media players is the opportunity of direct connection to your TV to record TV-programs. In addition, the device has USB 2.0 port and SD / MMC Memory Slot.

But unfortunately, the Chinese L1200 has significant disadvantages. The striking fact is the significant difference between the abilities of the device camera, and moderate playback for such advanced players. Media can play video files AVI MPEG4 at 24 frames per second, is able to read MP3 audio files and JPEG image files. The biggest flaw of the device is an 3-inch TFT LCD display, which has a small settlement in 320×240, and at the same time reproduces the entire 260000 colors. “Budget” media player has a very good camera, but with significant disabilities it will cost no more than 130 dollars.

Today, our attention is attracted by a very practical device, that the company Brando offers. It is a  USB-adapter with which a computer hard drive can be turned into HDD-Player.

This adapter is universal: it can also be used as a powerful means of transferring data at up to 480 megabits per second. It supports 2.5 inches and 3.5 inches size hard disks. In addition, the device can connect to a memory card of SD (HC) format or any USB drive.

But still the main feature attracting the attention is the ability to play multimedia files on a TV without connecting to a computer. The adapter supports video formats MPG, MPEG, VOB, AVI, MP4, DIVX and audio formats MP3, WAV, AAC, MPA, WMA, AC3. In addition, it can view images in the JPG format.

The device is managed by remote control, as well as through a button located on his case. The size of the adapter is 110 × 33×44 mm and weight – about 100 grams. The price of the device is also very attractive, just 69 dollars.

During the two months Microsoft was regularly informing about the upcoming new model of Zune media player. And now, finally, it happened: Microsoft officially introduced the Zune HD. Will the new model to compete with iPod Touch? Yes it will! 

What does the media player start with? Of course with a display! Zune HD has touch screen 3.3 display with 480 × 272resolution. The minimum HD-video resolution is1280x720, so Microsoft’s marketing specialists turned wise enough to use “HD” in the title of the gadget. However, this is partly justified. First, the Zune HD is a first gadget that has a HD radio, through which the student receives additional information about the artist and song while listening, but the quality of the sound is”much better” in comparison with conventional radio. Secondly, the media can really play HD-video, and not onliy in one but mass resolution. Also, with the help of an optional docking station, you can play any video on the external screen by connecting it via HDMI. 

Separately, it is worth mentioning that the Zune HD display uses OLED-matrix, which means areduced resource consumption and longer battery life without recharging.

Zune HD is equipped with a built-in accelerometer, but it is rather a simple standard than an outstanding feature. 

Zune media players were always intended as devices to connect the internet via Wifi, and the Zune HD is not an exception. Using a browser of a new gadget will be even easier thanks to multi-touch technology. The integration of Zune HD from Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace is offered, and this will allow users to download videos (movies) directly from the Internet, and for music fans there is a  Zune Music store with 5 million tracks. 

By focusing on the functionality of Zune HD, Microsoft PR specialists did not inform about the main thing: the media player’s memory and its value, and date of release is very vague – “the beginning of autumn.” Well, lets wait!