Portables

We won't belabor these two: X-Fi has been spotted plenty of times before, and the Zen Mozaic "is a crap," as our friends at Engadget Spanish put it. There was no functioning WiFi to test out the X-Fi's networking features, but they looked pretty tedious on the surface, and the player is otherwise okay but unimpressive. Meanwhile, the Zen Mozaic is just another in a long line of shoddily built -- if interesting looking -- low-end DAPs from Creative. Next!Gallery: Creative's Zen Mozaic, X-Fi play...

We can't verify the claim, but we have no reason to doubt the authenticity of this picture taken of Microsoft's new 16GB flash-based Zune 16 and FCC approved, 120GB Zune 120. It's not the backstory we find so solid, it's more the thought that some lonely soul is busy Photoshopping Zune rumor images on a Friday night -- an ennui so black we could not possibly fathom. Oh and the French? Zune's in Canada remember, blown-up international and the source country of this photo....

As we've seen, Sony sure doesn't hold back on its exclusive-to-China line of PMX PMPs, and it's just tossed yet another new model into the mix, with the PMX-U55 helping to fill out the low-end of the spectrum (and pick up where the PMX-U50 left off). This one apparently comes in only a 2GB version, and packs a decent enough 2.4-inch 320 x 240 display, a built-in FM tuner, and support for all the usual audio and video formats, not to mention a 7.5mm slim form factor. Of course, like seemingly ev...

In a stunning attempt at making us afraid to pick up another Samsung DAP ever again, Samsung's set-up for its new YP-Q1 and YP-U4 players was in the ass end of the huge Samsung hall at IFA, with lights enough to cook a chicken and some technical errors to boot. For starters, the Q1 (pictured) is just a pain to use, with capacitive touch controls that only work through tapping in the four directions (or center for select), instead of a more natural scrolling motion. The screen is nothing special...

TrekStor has this interesting piece of kit on display at IFA, the Wireless SoundBox. It all starts with a USB stick attached to the computer. From there, your music is streamed wirelessly at a distance up to 25-meters to up to 20 of the boxy, 2.4GHz speakers. The 4x battery (AA, presumably) speakers feature a nice to touch, "softtouch" coating, individual volume controls, and line-in for connecting audio sources directly. The sound quality was about on par with what we'd expect from such a tiny...

As good as the SPINN is, we can't rave about iriver's newest PMP, the P20 launching today at IFA. Looks like our early excitement about the product back at CES was misplaced. First off, it's big -- a true brick by today's PMP standards. Also, we're not sold on the implementation of the SPINN interface here. The P20 uses a combination of vertical and horizontally placed thumb wheels, an "ok" button (why not just press in the thumbwheel like on the SPINN?), and touchscreen AMOLED -- a heap of ove...

We've seen iriver's SPINN (above between the HTC Touch Dual and iPhone 3G) floating around Korea in pics and video for a few weeks now. But damn if this little 3.3-inch DAP doesn't make a distinct impression in person. Of course, you've heard the term "iPod killer" tossed around for years with obvious effect. But this, this little SPINN with brilliant OLED display and up to 16GB of storage looks to be device-for-device superior to the bigger iPod touch. The SPINN navigation is very well impleme...

We heard the YP-Q1 was brewing, and now Samsung has confirmed the new player, along with a followup to the U3 thumbDAP, the previously rumored YP-U4. The U4 borrows a few design cues from Samsung's TV lineup, but while it's certainly sexier than the previous generation, we can't help but think it looks a bit frumpy given the teensy grey OLED screen and stingy 2GB and 4GB capacities. The players boast 16 hours of playback, DNSe 2.0, and come in rose, purple and blue flavors. Meanwhile, the Q1 (p...

We don't know enough adjectives to really explain to you how Sony's latest Walkman sounds (will "good" suffice?). Nor can we show you in video. We can tell you that it's small, really small, with a crisp, clean display and UI familiar to you A820-series lovers. Even better, we can drop in a gallery of Sony's top of the line, 16GB, NWZ-S639F nuzzled up close to the NWZ-A828 as proof of its tinytude. As good as this player is, it's still just another dedicated Walkman player with an itty bitty, 2...

Remember those new Walkmans we saw recently? Well the folks at Sony have decided to get all fancy and official with them. The electronics-maker is introducing S-, E-, and B-Series PMPs, all featuring MP3 and WMA playback, drag-and-drop file management, and a variety of storage capacities. The 4GB NWZ-S736F and 8GB NWZ-S738F sport Sony's "Open Platform" which allows AAC, Linear PCM, and other codec support, 40 hours of battery life, in-flight noise cancellation, and SensMe -- which creates song ...

Sony's IFA press event isn't for another couple of hours, but we managed to sneak these shots of Sony's minor refresh to its Walkman lineup. Everything is looking nice and sleek, and the screens on the S-series players we saw that were on looked sharp and bright, but we're still waiting to see the fruit of Stringer's talk last year about not suffering at the hands of Apple as badly in portable video as they did with portable audio -- these Walkmans just aren't doing it. Stand by for official ne...

It's not officially announced yet, but Samsung's expected to announce the YP-Q1 PMP at IFA this week. The vertically-oriented player will come in 4, 8 and 16GB varieties with a 2.4-inch QVGA screen, support for MP3, WMA, WAV, Ogg, FLAC, MPEG4 and WMV, and an FM RDS radio. No word on pricing yet, but does anyone else think it's funny that Samsung will now have two entirely different slow-selling Q1s?...

Man, Apple's lockdown on product leaks just isn't as tight as it used to be -- remember when having new iPod designs leaked by case manufacturers seemed totally unthinkable? Yeah, those times are over -- check out these silicone cases for a fourth-gen iPod nano and second-gen iPod touch that just appeared on Alibaba. We're not totally sold on the touch cases, but the nanos look way more legit, especially since we've seen some others matching this general look before; while nano KIRFs in this fo...

There's been a lot of iPod chatter in the air lately and now MacRumors and Ars Technica say that we'll be seeing El Steve boom-boom some new gear on September 9th. No specifics on what's in store, but new nanos are obviously on the table, as is that rumored subscription service and possibly a new iPod touch at a lower price. Anything you guys hoping for?Read - MacRumorsRead - Ars Technica...

It's been a while since we've seen any new DAPs from TrekStor, but it looks like the company is set to roll into IFA with a brand new batch, including an updated vibez player, and new i.Beat organix and i.Beat nova players. From the looks of it, the vibez is identical to the version we first saw way back in 2006, with the notable exception of a boost to 32GB of flash memory. The tiny i.beat Organix, on the other hand, is now available in 4GB and 8GB versions (and your choice of four colors) and...

Cowon's sexy little S9 Curve PMP isn't the only device we'll see out of the company at IFA this year -- there's also the L3 nav unit and the O2 PMP. The O2 isn't quite as much of a beast as the S9, but it'll more than hold its own with a 4.3-inch touch screen, a T-DMB tuner, TV-out, and SD expansion, while the L3 nav has a 7-inch 800 x 480 touch screen, SiRF III GPS chip, hidden touch controls, a T-DMB tuner, and an FM transmitter. Well get a closer look at these when IFA starts later this week...

Taste that? It's the sweet nectar of want for Cowon's new S9 Curve. This 3.3-inch media player features an AMOLED capacitive touch panel display that spreads 16 million colors across 480 x 272 pixels. Inside you'll find a 500MHz dual-core CPU, T-DMB digital television tuner, Bluetooth, FM radio, TV-out, and G-Sensor accelerometer. All that and nearly two days (40 hours) of music playback from a single charge. No price yet but we expect to hear more later this week as the big European IFA show k...

Taste that? It's the sweet nectar of want for Cowon's new S9 Curve. This 3.3-inch media player features a AMOLED, capacitive touch panel display sporting 480 x 272 pixels, a 500MHz dual-core CPU, T-DMB digital television, Bluetooth, FM radio, TV-out, and G-Sensor accelerometer. All that and nearly two days (40 hours) of music playback from a single charge. Developing... ...

It's a UMPC! It's a MID! It's a multifaceted PMP that relies on Windows CE 5.0! Whatever it is, the Nurian Avatar F1 comes touting a 5.8- x 3- x 1-inch chassis and isn't likely to stray too far from South Korea. The PMP conglomerate not only plays back MPEG1/2/4, DivX, XviD, WMV, OGG and MP3 files, it also defines words, tunes into mobile TV (DMB) broadcasts and outputs video via the component dongle. You'll also find a 4.3-inch WQVGA display, USB socket, a built-in equalizer and an integrated ...

Sure, magic man and all-around seer Kevin Rose delivered the "news" that a refreshed iPod nano is coming in the form that slimmed up, tapered in, longish tube of a device -- but you might be looking for harder evidence. We've just come across two case-related designs supposedly destined for Apple's next PMP, but both raise as many questions as they answer. Chinese accessory-maker Beelan apparently has a silicon sleeve ready to drop ship to a location of your choice via Alibaba, and iDealsChina ...

Filed under: Portable Audio, WearablesWe've stated it before, but this time you really have ran out of excuses to run. Thanks to Yamaha's BODiBEAT, you can expect your tunes to automatically sync with your steps, giving you new reason to get out of the house and get to steppin'. Granted, the $299.99 price tag is pretty steep for just 512MB of space and 12-hours of battery life (marathon, what?), but we're sure there are a few of you out there willing to pay the premium to keep your head nodding ...

Pucker up, jet-setters -- South Korea's own KAON Media has a new PMP on the way, and for whatever reason, we've found ourselves strangely attracted to what the KM35 has going on here. The "Anywhere TV and Internet" device runs on Windows CE (and handles fresh-out-of-cinema films very well) and features a 3.5-inch 320 x 240 resolution display, 4GB or 8GB NAND flash drive, WiFi, an SD expansion slot, optional FM tuner and your choice of DVB-T/H, ISDB-T or T-DMB TV tuners. Early estimates peg batt...

Kevin Rose of Digg origins claims to have the scoop on the latest iPod nano. Mind you, this is the same Kevin Rose who notoriously claimed that a generation one iPhone would launch in both CDMA and GSM versions with a pair of batteries and slide-out keyboard. Uh hem. This time however, he backs up his claims with a picture of that skinnier, longer, and curvier nano pictured above -- credible because it just happens to be consistent with other rumors we've seen floating around and certainly make...

You know, when you're the editor-in-chief of a site like Engadget, you tend to accumulate a lot of stuff. Companies send you all kinds of interesting promotional materials, gadgets, swag, etc. It's great. Sometimes, though, you just let it pile up in your living room for years and years, then, when a new editor-in-chief takes over, you send all that stuff to him in about ten huge boxes. Luckily, we've got a way of dealing with this other than just throwing it in storage -- we're giving a ton of...

It's just been a few short days since Archos took the wraps off its new Archos 5 and Archos 7 "internet media tablets," but if you're already sold, you can now get your order in for one of 'em on Amazon (and no doubt plenty of other places shortly). Prices start at $350 for the lowest-end 60GB Archos 5, and go all the way up to $550 for a 320GB Archos 7. You can also take your pick from a range of accessories, including a DVR Snap-On or more full-fledged DVR Station ($80 and $100, respectively)...