Sporting a 4-inch TFT screen, terrestrial DMB digital TV reception and support for the playback and recording of a swathe of formats, Samsung’s new YM-PD1 dazzles.

Giving competitors a clear view of its rear end, Korean everything maker Samsung has offered up a sneak peek of its YM-PD1 portable media viewer which boasts a smorgasboard of features. Centering around 20 or 30 GB of storage and a 4-inch widescreen TFT display, the viewer lines up support for the playback of all popular audio and video formats as well as the ability to record video.

The highlight of the YM-DP1, however, is its ability to receive terrestrial digital broadcasts in the DMB format, in which transmissions thus far are restricted to Europe and parts of Asia. In addition to playback, the player is also able to record video as well as audio received through its stereo FM radio, another feature.

Supporting MP3, WMA, WMA DRM, OGG and ASG formats for audio playback, the YM-PD1 also lines up MPEG4, WMV, AVI, DivX and XviD for video playback, whilst also moonlighting as a photo viewer with JPEG and BMP format support. Furthermore, the device incorporates an SDIO slot for memory expansion, and is also equipped with a TV out for off-device playback.

Fitted with USB 2.0 for rapid file transfers, the YM-DP1 claims up to 6 hours of MPEG4 video playback time from its Lithium Ion battery.

Information concerning the expected pricing and availability of the Samsung YM-PD1 was not disclosed.

Source: Infosyncworld.com

It might look like a Mac Mini, but this one has Intel inside.

Taiwanese computer maker AOpen is scheduled to release two versions of its Pandora desktop just in time for the holiday shopping season, the company said Thursday. The company said Apple Computer’s Mac Mini inspired its latest desktop PC. Pandora is one of several 2-inch-tall computers being sold as home entertainment PCs.

A Linux-based version of the mini tower is expected to retail for $399, while the Windows XP-based box will go for $499, the company said. Both are expected to be sold in the United States through an AOpen reseller.

The squarish metallic box, part of AOpen’s XC Cube product line, is based on a prototype of the miniature desktop computer shown at the Computex trade show in May.

The Pandora device has a slot-load CD drive and a power button in the front, along with three USB ports, a keyboard hookup and a serial port in the back. The computer also has internal wireless networking connectors.

The Pandora’s motherboards are based on Intel’s latest Pentium D processors with 945G and 945P chipsets.

From: Cnet.com

The Hv-KH1000 is a Mp3 playing smart phone. The reason it made first page on Phoneyworld though is because its just packed with features, a very interesting camer and a classy cool design. The KH1000 comes to us from a brand called as “Haiti” – little else is known about the manufacturer. But if the HV-KH1000 is any measure of the company’s products then I would suggest picking up some Haiti stock immediately. The KH1000 is a clamshell, the internal display is a touchscreen and the Operating system is the Windows CE.net

The display is a QVGA 260,000 colors (size of 2.4 inches). The handset comes with built-in memory of 512 megabytes – which should be more than enough but in case you are a memory hungry monster then the SD card slot of the device can accomodate a card having a capacity of upto 2 GBs. The KH1000 comes with a 2 Megapixel camera lens for taking pictures as well as recording video. Other features such as a Mp3 player are also present.

I liked the fact that the KH1000 can have one handed use as well thanks to its clamshell design and accompanying keypad. Navigation through the menus is also simple without use of the touchpad thanks to the navigational joystick. Do check out the close up of the camera lens, it can be at the back as well as front (for self portraits) ; the manufacturer decided to make use of only one lens and rather than have it slide or swivel ; they made it such that it swings from back to front whichever way you want it. The clamshell does have an external stubby antenna – something that I dont think looks particularly good and unless it in some way is used to house the stylus necessary for the phone – the KH1000 would do well to loose it.

Oh and by the way, its for Korea only – pity we dont know more about Haiti – we would have asked them about any intentions of releasing it in the west.

From and More pictures at: phoneyworld.com

Toshiba has today announced the 803, the first combined 3G phone and music player. Building on the TS 921 (Toshiba’s first ever 3G mobile phone for Europe), the 803 features an external music player, allowing you easy access to music on the move.

Furthermore, the external 1.3-inch screen displays artist names, song length and other details. The phone will be sold exclusively through Vodafone.

The handset is capable of playing music while you browse the Internet or perform other functions. ‘The Toshiba 803 gives users their music player and mobile phone in one device,’ said Nick Tanigawa, General Manager of Toshiba’s Mobile Communications Division. ‘Our aim has been to create a product that works as well as a music device as it does as a mobile phone.’

The clamshell handset also features a 2.2-Megapixel digital camera, stereo twin speakers and Bluetooth. It has a claimed standby time of up to 270 hours on GSM and up to 400 hours on UMTS, as well as a talk time of up to 320 minutes on GSM and up to 180 minutes on UMTS.

From: biosmagazines.co.uk
Picture from: Gizmodo.com

Sony just announced their SDM-205F and SDM-205K 20.1-inch LCD displays. Both displays feature a native resolution of 1600 x 1200, two HD15 analogue and one DVD-D digital inputs (allowing for 3 connected PCs), a “fast response time,” and a narrow bezel for some hot side-by-side monitor action. They also feature DCC-Ci which enables image fine tuning from the connected PC as well as asset management, diagnostics, and the ability to shutdown and lock the display all from a remote location. The S205K can also be rotated 90-degrees for your choice of landscape or portrait modes and sports an integrated USB-based KVM switch for controlling two (but not three apparently) PCs from a single mouse and keyboard. Pricing is not yet available — so as far as you know, you can still afford ‘em.

Source: Engadget.com

What’s cooler than cool? Ice cold. What’s smaller than nano? Pico, dude (oh, and i-Ota, get it?). And if there’s any one company we can not only count on to knock off the nano and actually dodge Apple’s shiny white silver bullet at this point, it’s Luxpro, progenitors of the original iPod shuffle knockoff, the Tangent. And while the Pico may not have Apple’s locked-up-tight Samsung NAND flash supply chain, they’re still shooting for the ambitiously miniscule size the nano—if they actually get it out of vector-mockup status, that is. So does that mean Apple’s going to have to throw down with the next smaller scientific term and bust out the iPod femto? Quick, someone register that domain before it’s too late.

Source: Engadget.com

No official announcement yet but Pinstack did manage to score the specs and some more pics of the Blackberry 8700 that is expected to be officially unveiled any day now. Quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE with bluetooth 2.0, 312 MHz processor, 16MB RAM/64MB ROM, and an updated form factor that’s thinner and narrower than the 7200 series. Supposedly the OS will have gotten improved performance and improved UI across the board for navigation and reaction times, web browsing, third party apps, expanded media support, and viewing attachments. Sources say that 8700 (codenamed Electron) will become available via major carriers in the neighborhood of December of this year or very early 2006.

Source: Engadget.com