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Chinavasion recently unveiled their new MP4 player that they claim is the world’s thinnest portable media player. It even beats Brando’s disappearing screen MP3 player, in fact this 4GB CVSJ-1304 beats the former record holding device by a whole millimeter!

To give you some perspective on how thin this 4.5mm thin device is, it would take 4 credit cards stacked on top of each other to be at equal thickness. It comes with a 1.8 inch touch screen, with a resolution of 160 x 128, supports media formats such as MP4, MP3, WMA, ASF, and WAV. Additionally, it comes with an FM tuner, a rechargeable battery and USB connectivity. It is already on sale for only $39.55, which is a great price for a 4GB MP4 player, especially one that is this thin.

Via [PMP Today]

A Japanese accessory manufacturer has added a unique twist on an ordinary household gadget, the flashlight. They have added a 300,000 pixel CMOS camera and microphone. Carrot Systems created this so-called AD-1500 flashlight to enable security personnel and crime fighters to record the actual events as they happen.

All activities are recorded in MP4 format and it automatically switches to infra-red mode when used at night or in dark areas. The AD-1500 can only cover a distance of up to 4 meters but I think this is enough to capture evidence and actual events in real time. However, internal memory is limited to only 128MB.

This innovative approach to ordinary gadget makes sense. It would be nice though if this could automatically stream the footage online for archiving purposes. Well, that’s looking forward I guess.

Unfortunately, its price of approximately $800 limits its potential, at least for the everyday consumer.

Via [CrunchGear]

A fantastic new portable media player has emerged today from Mpio which combines up to 8GB built in memory with a sleek, 15.4mm (0.6-inches) thick, 3.81-ounce shell. The V10 is running Windows CE 5.0 and can support an array of video formats such as H.264, DivX, MPEG and VOB. Of course this isn’t all the V10 has to offer, it comes with MP3 playback, an FM radio, e-book reader, photo viewer and it even has an electronic dictionary.

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The Singapore-based Shiro Corporation joins the other consumer electronic manufacturers at CES 2008 to reveal their latest MP4 players. Looking at what the latest entries by Shiro, I can only say the MP4 players are going to be the devices a lot of yuppies will be, if not already, showing off in the near future and it could well be either one of these Shiro VJ, MD or MR.

Top of the line Shiro VJ is seductive, sleek and trendy looking. The large 2.4-inch TFT LCD with a 262K colors rendition takes your video and photo viewing pleasure to the next level which makes it comparable to watching video on television, sharp image and rich color.

Here are some of the features for Shiro VJ:

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They may make make great cables and switches but now Gefen is getting into the handheld video recording game. Their generically named Personal Video Recorders will be much like standard digital video recorders, encoding into MPEG4 and saving to a standard USB storage device or PC. Gefen will release both a high def (1080i) and low def model, though dates and pricing were not specified. The coolest part of these will be that they can grab TV programs or video from other camcorders thanks to built-in switches. Looks like it pays to have a video switch production background. Gefen will demo the Personal Video Recorders at CES this week.

Read [Gefen]

NeoDigits has introduced their HELIOS X3000 and X5000 HD Network Media Players. The X-Line’s built-in LAN, WIFI and USB ports make it easy to connect and share digital audio, video and images however and to whomever you want. Using the X-Line, connect your television to any PC running the NeoLink or other media software as well as your laptops, camera, hard drives, projectors, MP3 players, and more. Just like that you can create your own home entertainment network in your home to share content. Or for business use, connect your conference room to your corporate server and stream your multimedia presentation straight to your projector screen or for display on public televisions.

Upscaling to 1080p resolution, the X-Line lets you watch standard DVD titles, MP4, DivX, XviD, DVD VOB, XviD HD, DivX HD, HD TS, WMV HD and more in dazzling high definition. NeoLink is able to synchronize with Apple iTunes, Real Rhapsody and Napster, supports Windows Media/WinAMP playlists, and does real time transcoding for Real player (RMVB) and 3GPP formats. NeoLink also lets you use your player’s intuitive Graphical User Interface (GUI) to directly access your RSS feeds and other favorite online media links from your web browser’s bookmarks.

On top of that, the X-Line’s GUI lets you access the HELIOS Media Portal allowing you to stream internet radio and television, along with broadcast internet news onto your television without having to use a computer. With future firmware upgrades, you will be able to customize your own HELIOS Media Portal as well.