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Creative has unveiled their latest MP3 player, the MuVo T200, which is overall just a run-of-the-mill player. The T200 comes with 2GB or 4GB of storage space and can play MP3, WMA and WAV files. The player has a USB thumb drive style to it, complete with an end cap that removes to expose the USB port, the player can also be used to store and transfer files.

In addition to the basic music player along with thumb drive functionality, the T200 features a small 128 x 32 pixel color LCD, FM radio, voice recorder and works from a built-in rechargeable Li-ion battery that offers up to 9-hours of playback.

The 2GB model is available in black, white or pink and the 4GB model comes in black or white. The MuVo T200 is currently available and retails for $99 and $149 respectively.

Product [Creative] Via [akihabara news]

Portable media players with 250GB of internal storage are hard to come by, for one many people don’t really need anywhere close to that amount of storage. However, Newman has recently introduced a player that comes in a few different models with storage options ranging from 80GB up to 250GB.

The M8000 comes loaded with many nice features including 4-inch TFT screen, built-in camera, TV-Out, gaming support, a PVR and other multimedia support. It is also an HD quality portable media player and the video clarity should be really good, especially with the big 4-inch screen. The only drawback to having a portable media player with a lot of storage is that sometimes it will take a long time to turn on and to find the video you want. Hopefully that is not the case with the M8000. 

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Rumor had it that Cowon would be coming out with a 16GB model of their D2 portable media player, however, until now it was simply just a rumor. Recently, that rumor has been confirmed as Cowon has officially announced their D2 with 16GB of storage. This announcement came from one of Cowon’s main retailers, Jetmall.

So far, the price of the 16GB D2 is relatively high, considering what some other 16GB portable media players are retailing for. The D2 is set to cost $240, however, if you want to add a 16GB SDHC card to the mix, it will cost an additional $70. Basically, a 32GB D2 would round out at $310. Even then, that price is still a little bit too high for my liking. Going back to the base device, the 16GB D2 costs $240. Keep in mind the 16GB Creative Zen costs $180 and the 16GB Sansa View is $150. Of course on the flipside their are some that are retailing higher such as the 16GB Sony NWZ-A729 which is priced at $290 and the 16GB Sony NWZ-A829 for $320.

So there are a lot of portable media players under the D2’s price, yet there are also some that are over, so it’s right in the middle and ultimately should sell pretty well. If Cowon wanted their 16GB D2 to be the one of the most popular portable media players of its class, they should consider lowering the price into the ballpark of $150 - $180.

Via [AnythingButiPod]

The Zune has some reason to celebrate, and while they are still far from Apple and the iPod, they have just reached the respectable 2 million sold mark. This new level comes just about one year from when Microsoft announced they sold the first million Zune’s, and with the increased sales some increased market share comes as well. Microsoft has been (albeit small) affecting the market share of some others such as Creative, who recently saw a two-percent drop. While the Zune has still not been able to affect the iPod with any major significance, its seems to be in the game for the long haul and has only been improving since its initial launch back in November 2006.

Via [electronista]

The new Pioneer AVIC-T10 comes loaded with many nice features, unfortunately, it is set to release only in Japan for the time being. The AVIC-T10 comes with a 5.8-inch VGA touch screen, 4GB of internal memory, Bluetooth capability for hands free calling, and has HSDPA support. To use that, you have to connect your device through your phone. Additionally, it comes with a TV 1Seg tuner, has decent format support including WMA, MP3, and AAC. It also comes with many useful services including Smart Loop Traffic Congestion Information, Parking Availability Information, Gasoline Price Information, and PinPoint Weather reports. My guess is that the first service, the Smart Loop Traffic Congestion Information provides traffic updates, the Parking Space service lets you know where there are available parking spots (that’s pretty cool), the Gasoline service lets you know where the cheapest gas in the area is, and the PinPoint service updates you on the weather. The last service is called the Rendez-Vous service, which basically chooses a convenient meeting place if you want to meet with your friend. It finds out that convenient place by searching through emails sent and received by the same person. All in all, it comes with some pretty nice and unique services. No word on exact pricing at this time, but hopefully it remains relatively inexpensive.

Via [Akihabara News]

Aigo is coming up with a new PMP dubbed the Patriot MV5920 MP5 player. This latest PMP is being touted as a breakthrough device for its dual-core technology that allows HDTV playback at 720p (1280 x 720 pixels). The device also has Wi-Fi and mobile TV support aside from its 160GB hard drive capacity. It’s also categorized as an MP5 player, which is what PMPs are typically called in China.

For around $429 you’ll have this uber-cool looking piece of hardware that comes with other powerful features including a 2.0-megapixel camera, 4.3-inch color display at 16:9 (480x272 pixel) resolution, MP3 player that supports various digital music formats and an integrated DVR recording function. And yes, it’s still portable at 6.14 x 3.23 x 0.78-inches, despite its many features.

The only question left for all of us now is when will it be available in the international market?

Via PMP Today

Software giant Microsoft and Korea-based car company Hyundai reportedly have partnered so the former could provide music for the latter’s cars. By 2010, Hyundai cars to be distributed in North America only are expected to feature a voice-controlled system that is connected to the vehicle’s stereo and other mobile devices.

No official specs have been revealed yet but it is safe to say that Bluetooth connectivity will be present aside from the direct cable connections that we usually find in car’s audio system to play portable devices such as the MP3 players and mobile phones. SlashGear even made a prediction that text messages could be read out loud by the system. 

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While most of Microsoft’s Zune media events have usually been ho-hum press gatherings lately, the most recent one has sparked speculations that Microsoft could be planning to roll out a Zune-Sidekick mobile phone combo soon. This is based on an offhand comment made by Chris Stephenson, General Manager of Marketing for Zune. According to Chris, MS is currently finding ways to integrate and work with the 250-man staff of Danger. Danger, if you recall, is a consumer handset OS maker that Microsoft bought recently. And if Microsoft is working closely with them, it could mean one thing above anything else: that they are trying to add a few handset capabilities to the already multi-connectivity ready Zune. To be sure, we’ll be keeping a watchful eye over this issue, and will be here to update you with the latest news when it hits.

Via [Zune Boards]

Universal Music Group is joining the ranks of music companies who are giving away their music for free and in a legal way. The company has announced that it has reached an agreement with file-sharing site Qtrax to offer free, legal downloads of all its digital music. If you would recall, Qtrax announced sometime in January that it has the support of “all major music labels” in its revenue generating ads music download service. But some of this music companies denied Qtrax’s claim, including UMG. Prior to these events, Qtrax was forced to shut down its service a few months after it was launched in 2002 to avoid some legal troubles.

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The Blu-ray format is getting a new supporter in legendary musician Neil Young, as the singer has recently announced that he will be releasing his entire music archive on Blu-ray. Mr. Young, who was surprisingly among those who spoke during the Java Conference in San Francisco, will release the first installment of his music archives covering his hits from 1963 to 1972 in a ten disc Blu-ray set through Reprise/Warner Bros. Records.

Mr. Young is set to maximize the full capacity potential of Blu-ray discs with the release of his music archives. These BDs will contain not only his popular songs, but previously unreleased songs, videos, handwritten manuscripts and other memorabilia as well. Of course, this is just one part of Blu-ray’s goodness, as releasing his collection in this format would also give out better picture and sound quality. This is aside from the fact that Blu-ray discs can hold more content.

Although this is not the first time that the Blu-ray discs were utilized for such purposes, most of those who released their own BDs have just released their concert videos and were not as comprehensive as Mr. Young’s plan of releasing his full archive.

Read [Associated Press]