Myvu Corporation introduced a new line of personal media viewers at CES 2008. Dubbed myvu shades and myvu crystal, the personal media viewers turn portable media players into hands-free, private cinemas – all in a trendy pair of sunglasses.
Myvu shades features a glance down design that allows the user to maintain situational awareness. Myvu crystal features increased resolution from QVGA to VGA and has an increased field of view over existing myvu models which provides true DVD quality. Both include a rechargeable battery with up to 10 hours of viewing time for shades and up to 4 hours of viewing time for crystal.
The personal media viewers work with portable media players, including iPod touch, Sansa-View, Microsoft Zune, mobile phones (Nokia N95 and select Samsung models), portable DVD players and various game consoles.
I think they look great but, alas, you have to wear them like granny glasses.
Check out myvu personal media viewers at the webstore.
[myvu Corporation]
Thursday, January 17, 2008
From Techno-Geek to Techno-Chic: myvu Eyewear
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
More CES 2008: Aerielle i2i Stream
At CES 2008, Aerielle introduced the i2i Stream – a device that allows users to share music wirelessly to anyone within 30 feet provided they choose to listen in. Broadcasting over the 2.4 GHz frequency, the i2i Stream guarantees one-to-hundreds broadcasts, with as many as three channels broadcast in the same location without interference. Apparently, it may not work if you're in a Wi-Fi hotspot.
[Crave via Engadget]
Monday, January 14, 2008
MP3/MP4 Wristwatch: Epoq EMP-CVWD-2
This is a preview video of the Epoq EMP-CVWD-2 watch. It features a 1.8" color LCD, an audio and video player, picture viewer, 2GB of memory, an FM tuner, and a microSD port. It supports MP1, MP2, MP3, WMA, WAV audio formats; MP4 video format; and JPEG image format. I definitely prefer the Turtle TWP-800.
[Source: Engadget]
Sunday, January 13, 2008
More CES 2008: Audiovox "RCA" Lyra A6008
I'm a bit late with this but I had to mention it as my first mp3 player was an RCA Lyra. Audiovox launched the Lyra A6008 Slider at CES 2008. Audiovox pointed out that RCA is the company that "started the mp3 revolution".
The player features 8GB of storage and a 2.4-inch LCD screen. The slider function reveals a scroll wheel. PMP Today surmises that when the slider is hidden, the user can interact with the unit via a touchscreen. I think that's a great idea but wouldn't it defeat the purpose of the slider?
[Source: PMP Today and Engadget]
Friday, January 11, 2008
Rollin' on the iRiver: iRiver Past and Future
The Past: This is a comparison chart of the iRiver Clix pmps (click to view actual size).
The Future: iRiver introduced three new pmps that caught my eye at CES 2008 this week.
The iRiver LPlayer appears poised to compete with the iPod nano. It's a tiny device with a 2 inch TFT screen that includes a video player, a music player, a photo viewer, an FM Tuner, a text viewer, recording and D-Click user interface. The iRiver LPlayer will come with 2GB, 4GB or 8GB. 
The iRiver Spinn features a Spinn System Toggle Wheel and plays music and videos, displays photos, and has an FM Tuner, recording capability, DMB, Flash 2.0, a Text Viewer, and an e-Dictionary. The Spinn features a 3.2 inch TFT-LCD screen, Bluetooth 2.0. It will come with 4GB, 8GB or 16GB.
The iRiver P20 pmp has a 4.1-inch AMOLED screen and comes with 120GB or 160GB storage capacity. The P20 features a T-DMB TV, a video player, a music player, a text viewer, an FM radio and video recorder and it features iRiver's new SPINN interface.
Check out iRiver products in the webstore.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Watches and...: Neutrano Watches
More blurring of gadget functionality at CES 2008. New from Neutrano is the Photowatch which blends the wristwatch with a digital frame. The Photowatch features a 128 x 128 LCD display, room for 100 images, time/date, slideshow, auto off, and includes software to zoom and crop images. It provides 8-hours of viewing time and works with Mac and PCs. Hopefully, the watch doubles as a USB flash drive, too.
Neutrano also offers the Watchlight on their site. As the name implies, the Watchlight blends the wristwatch with a light. The beam can be turned on for 30 seconds or 5 minutes. The dial is illuminated by a blue night night. There are three men's and women's models to choose from.
Check out the watches on the Neutrano site.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Not Just for Telling Time: Turtle Wireless TWP-800 Wristwatch Phone
Turtle Wireless, new to CES, introduced the TWP-800 - a revolutionary tri-band GSM phone designed to be worn like a wristwatch. This electronic device comes with a stereo Bluetooth headset, MP3/MP4 capabilities, touch screen, WAP/GPRS compatibility, and more. The TWP-800 will be available to the Latin American market starting mid-January.[Source: CES 2008]
Check out this YouTube video - the watch phone is a dead ringer (sorry, bad pun) for the TWP-800. The video is dated December 6, 2007.
More Affordable, Less Gadgety: Sony Ericsson Walkman W350
In my previous post I ran through the multitude of features of the Sony Ericsson Walkman W760 Phone. For completeness, this is the Sony Ericsson Walkman W350 phone. It is more affordable but also lacks many of the features of the W760. The W350 flip handset comes with a Memory Stick Micro media card slot and Bluetooth connectivity. There is no 3G just tri-band EDGE. With Walkman on Top, key MP3 functions including play, pause and scroll are outside the phone’s flip cover so it can used just like a standalone MP3 player. Like the W760, it features Media Manager software and TrackID. A 1.3 megapixel camera and an integrated FM radio rounds off the list of features.
[Source: CES 2008]
A first look at the W350:
More Than a Phone: Sony Ericsson W760 Walkman Phone
The Sony Ericsson W760 further blurs the line between gadgets. The Sony Ericsson W760 Walkman is a UMTS/HSDPA 850/19002100 and GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 phone. It’s the first truly global Walkman phone with tri-band HSDPA, enabling broadband speed downloads of the latest music and content wherever in the world it is used. It features built-in GPS with Wayfinder Navigator and a GPS-supported fitness application called Tracker that can tell you how fast, for how long and how far you ran or walked.
It also features powerful built-in stereo speakers. When outdoors, use the phone with the Active Speaker MAS-100 case that protects your Walkman phone at the same time as being a built-in speaker and FM radio antenna for enjoying music with friends.
The W760 Walkman Phone has SensMe & TrackID. Use SensMe to quickly select music and tracks or navigate through a playlist with Shake Control - shuffle and skip through tracks, or adjust the volume, with just a shake of the phone.
The Media User Interface rotates depending on how you’re holding the phone, so you can see everything you need at a glance. Auto rotate works for images, videos and games too.
The phone allows you to play games in landscape mode, with sound from stereo speakers and use dedicated gaming buttons like a gaming console. It is preloaded with the latest games, including Need for Speed ProStreet. The Sony Ericsson W760 features a 2.2” screen for great game play and Motion Sensor Gaming that allows you to play top games on your phone in 3D quality, using the motion of the phone to control the game.
A quality 3.2 megapixel camera is built in to the phone. Just slide open the phone, press the camera button and capture the moment! Pictures can be stored on a 1GB Memory Stick or transferred to a PC using Media Manager.
The Sony Ericsson phone will be available in select markets starting Q2 2008.
[Source: CES 2008]
Sunday, January 6, 2008
More Than a Camera: Samsung i8
Wow. The Samsung i8 blurs the line between camera and portable media player (pmp). It features an 8 megapixel camera with 3x digital zoom, 2.7" LCD display with auto-brightness technology, Samsung Digital Image Stabilization, Face Detection, Auto Red Eye Fix and Multi-Slide Show.
As a pmp it features MP3 and WAV audio playback, support for MPEG, AVI, MOV, WMV and ASF files, a 2.5mm headphone port, an external speaker with SRS 3D acoustic technology, and a World Tour Guide function.
It comes in blue, white and pink and will be available in February.
A more detailed description can be found at CES 2008.
[Source: Ubergizmo]
More Than a Watch: The LG Watch Phone
I admit to being easily distracted by gadgets. This little CES 2008 gadget by LG is a watch phone. It's a tad big and would have been awesome with a touch screen but... it's a watch phone! It isn't shown in the video but I assume it uses a Bluetooth headset for actual communication. Pretty neat!
[Source: Engadget]
Saturday, January 5, 2008
For the Stylish Fitness Conscious: Garmin Forerunner 405
A few weeks ago I wrote about the Garmin Forerunner 205 and 305. Well, the newest GPS-enabled fitness device from Garmin was introduced at CES 2008.
The Forerunner 405 has something for everyone. It can track a runner's speed, distance, heart rate and location accurately and effortlessly, while the revolutionary patent-pending touch bezel on the face of the watch makes navigation a snap. Tap, hold or run a finger along the bezel to begin a new workout, access the training history or challenge a Virtual Partner. The Virtual Partner’s pace can be adjusted without having to interrupt your workout by stopping. The Forerunner 405 is water-resistant and can be used outdoors or indoors (with an optional foot pod).
Using ANT+Sport technology, the Forerunner 405 sends workout data to the user's computer via automatic wireless data transfer. There's no need to take off the watch or bother with cables as the computer automatically syncs with the Forerunner 405 as soon as the user enters the room. And the data transfer is two-way. Runners, joggers, cyclists and hikers can send courses, goals and workouts to their Forerunner 405 before they begin, and then the data gets sent back to the user's computer when the workout is over.
The Forerunner 405 does all that and it's a stylish watch. Nice.
[Source: Ubergizmo]
