Creative has announced a new ZEN Neeon 2 MP3 player. The new MP3 player have a new colour screen and changeable creative Stik-On covers.

Measuring 81mm x 42mm x 12.5mm and weighing only 50g, this player will come in either 4GB, 2GB or 1GB of memory capacities, and feature a built-in FM tuner, voice recorder, line in recording and a 1.5-inch colour display for users to view both photos and videos.

Microsoft has confirmed plans to release an MP3 player on the market. The hardware and software packages will all be launched under the brand name Zune. Microsoft said it will use a hard drive, wi-fi and owners will be able to buy tracks that are downloaded direct to the device.

The first Zune player will appear in late 2006.

The vacuum valve is back, revived for the iPod era in the i-Steroid amp and 2.1 speaker combo.
Distributor offering two versions: one black, other white, though the black model’s red trim makes it more suitable, perhaps, for the U2 iPod than the regular midnight-hued model. There are three types of i-Steroid, offering either 28W RMS output or 50W. The 28W model comes in two forms one with and the other without an FM tuner. All three ship with a universal iPod dock and a pair of remote controls: one for the iPod, the other for the i-Steroid.

The i-Steroid line is available now, prices range from around ?130 to ?200.

Reports from around the Web suggest that Microsoft is moving a secret internal project on which I’ve been briefed into the product development stage. If true–and I have no reliable information to suggest it is–Microsoft will go head-to-head with Apple’s iPod in the portable MP3 player market as soon as this holiday season. Here’s what the rumors reveal.

A report in the “Seattle Times” says that Microsoft’s MP3 player is codenamed “Argos” after the ship that Jason and the Argonauts used to pursue the Golden Fleece. It’s being developed by people from the Xbox team, and led by J Allard, an Xbox team cofounder. According to Times reporter Brier Dudley, Microsoft is firmly behind the new player and has committed “hundreds of millions” of dollars to its development and marketing.

Various reports say that Microsoft’s Argos player will be in the market as soon as this holiday season, which is amazingly aggressive since my own sources tell me that the software giant was using it internally as a reference design for partners until fairly recently. It will allegedly include Wi-Fi capabilities so that users can download content from the MTV URGE online service without being connected to a computer, a large widescreen display, a simple iPod-like user interface, and possibly even video game features.

windowsitpro.com

Creative has shown a new MP3 player called Zen V. Available in 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB capacities, the Zen V have a 1.5-inch, photo-capable OLED display, feature a line-in jack for direct-from-disc recording, support PlaysForSure subscription services, and offer a claimed 15 hours of battery life before recharging becomes an issue. The Zen V will be available in July for $120, $150, or $200, depending on capacity.

Philips Electronics anounced a new MP3 players. Nano-like SA9100 and SA9200 have a 1GB and 2GB of flash-based storage, respectively. Both models also sport color screens for viewing photos and album art, a backlit touchpad for navigation, FM tuner, voice recorder, and a rechargeable battery promising 14 hours of playback, and both devices are also PlaysForSure-compliant. You’ll be able to pick up the higher capacity model for around $200 when it hits stores next month, while the single gig unit will cost about $150 at its scheduled September release.

The Zing prototype was shown at the D4 conference, and is rolling out a service that enables other companies to build their own complete music infrastructures – content to player – without the need for a PC.

Working with Zing’s partners, Sirius and Yahoo, the device will use WiFi to download music and to upload data about what you are listening to. If you have one of these players, you can do fancy things, like see what your friends are listening to, then play samples of those tracks, or buy songs and albums directly from the player. If you try buy items when you’re not in range of a Wi-Fi access point, the product will queue up your requests and batch-process them when you do eventually connect.

The player will stream Sirius radio content (via the Wi-Fi connection) and will enable you to flag and buy the songs as you’re listening to the radio stream. Sounds too good to be true!

The Zing player comes with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections built in, along with a speaker and a microphone. Combined with the Wi-Fi radio, means the Zing player has all the hardware a voice-communication platform needs. So as a bonus, the software enables you to talk with your friends, walkie-talkie style, over the Wi-Fi network!

cnet.com

Apple Computer has filed a second copyright lawsuit and a trade complaint in the US against Creative Technology.
This is the latest in a string of legal challenges and counter challenges between the two rival makers of portable media devices.
In its latest lawsuit, Apple claims Creative is infringing three patents relating to using icons, and displaying and editing data.
It is asking for cash damages and a court order to stop Creative from further breaches.

At the same time, Apple wants the International Trade Commission in Washington to block imports of Creative’s music players.

Thomson electronics have launched a new MP3 player for sport fanatics.

The new Thomson Lyra PDP2662S have a water proof body. The MP3 player also displays vital information like calories burnt, pulse rate among others which will help you track your physical training. For navigation Thomson has incorporated a joystick and the battery life is about 40 hours. So basically you can enjoy the same limited track set for over 40 hours. The Thomson PDP2662S is powered by AA batteries and is available for just 70 Euros(90 USD).

LG launches in Korea the FM35 portable DMB TV and MP3 player.

The LG FM35 measures only 92×52x14mm with screen size is 2.4 inch. Battery allow to watch DMB TV for four hours or listen music for a 55 hours on a single charge.

The LG FM35 comes in 512MB, 1GB and 2GB memory configurations with $210, $241 and $294.