Insight Blog

RAmos have updated their RM850 to the RM850+.

I think that the updated RM850+ will be much better. The original 850 was built on the previously popular Rockchip RK2606 but as times change and developments progress, so must the manufacturers. So Ramos, similar to Onda with their 979+ and 989+ models have taken an old design and popped in a new chip, this time the Rockchip RK2706. This has already proved popular for RAmos as it can be seen in the very popular RM970 widescreen player.

Whats your opinion? Comment!

Report From: Apple PR

Apple has slashed prices of their 1gb iPod Shuffle to only $49. And now are to release a 2GB version in the same colors of the 1GB models for only $69.

- Language Update: this phone will only support English as its menu interface language. Pictures show the Chinese (simplified) version of the phone. They will be updated to show the English version soon.

- Comes with 1GB Transflash/TF memory card
- Fully operational Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional operating system on-board
- Built-in Touch Flo-like 3D Cube menu interface
- 2 mega-pixel main digital camera with macro feature (adjustable with dial)
- 128MB built-in RAM
- TI OMAP850 200MHZ CPU
- Dynamic screen sensors:
- Automatic backlight adjustment (ambient light sensor)
- Automatic orientation sensor / accelerometer - rotates screen as you physically rotate the phone
- Face proximity sensor - shuts down the screen when phone close to face

- 3.2" Touch LCD (240px x 320px)
- Built-in Pocket Office software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
- E-map (requires external GPS receiver)
- Memory card encryption (provided via Windows Mobile 6)

Ringtone: 64 chord; Ringtone format: mp3, midi, wav, wma, amr
Music: background play supported
Video: 3GP,MP4,AVI,ASF,WMV,RM (RM may require 3-rd party software), support to play in full screen, speed and adjust saturation; supprot to play
Camera: 2.0 megapixel; the max photo resolution 1600*1200, built-in macro switch;...

Toshiba Japan has annouced two new flash memory based digital audio player to its Gigabeat series. This shiny and stylish U102 and U101 come in an aluminum casing and features 2GB and 1GB onboard memory respectively.

Other features include a 1.1-inch OLED display with 96 x 96 resolution, FM radio and transmitter, 1 bit DAC and DCTSC system for better sound quality The media support include WMA, MP3, WAV and even WM DRM 10 playback. It measures 76.7 x 36.2 x 11.4 - 12.4mm and weighs 42g.

They will be go on sale in Japan from May 19. The U102 will be available for 14,800 Yen ($123) and U202 for 17,800 Yen ($150).

Twin Bird Japan has released a water proof MP3 player, which is called SD ZABADY. It can be submerged in up to 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes. SD ZABADY comes with a built-in 128MB flash memory card and it can be expanded up to 2GB via SD card slot. The supported media includes MP3 and WMA. It also comes with a 45mm speakers with 500mWx2ch output.

The Twin Bird SD ZABADY portable audio player is powered by 3x AAA batteries which will provide you up to 18 hours of continue playback. It measures 205 x 34 x 70mm and weighs approximately 240g.

Exemode DMR525 is a 6 in 1 media player which is very reasonably priced. It features a 5-megapixel digital camera, a 2.4-inch TFT LCD display, TV recording with video playback, MP3/WMA music playback, voice and a video recorder that allows you to captured VGA quality video at 30fps. It also comes with 128MB build in memory which is expandable up to 1GB via the built-in SD card slot. With built-in 0.5W speaker, Exemode DMR525 measures 106×60x20.5mm and weighs 100g.

Samsung YV-150 Voice Pen is an mp3 player that masquerading as a recorder. It supports MP3, WMA and WMA-DRM music and it has an FM tuner too. Your recording can be saves in three modes SP at 32kbps, HQ at 64kbps, and SHQ at 128kbps. Best of all, it comes with a “text-to-speech program” which converts text into MP3 voice so that you can listen to a file at leisure and it has a 20-hour playback time.

The device comes in both 512MB and 1GB memory and built-in speakers. Samsung YV-150 Voice Pen is compatible with 6 languages including Chinese, English and Japanese. It measures in at just 33 x 97 x 18.3mm and weights 40g. It is available in China, the 512MB model retails for 1249CNY ($163) and 1GB for 1549 ($202).

PhoneScoop show us a hands-on video of Nokia 6500, which features a 2.2-inch TFT screen, 3.2-megapixel camera, microSD card slot, EDGE, 3G, 20MB built-in memory and Bluetooth 2.0.

Thomson F1 MP4 player has a 2.4-inch wide QVGA screen with 320 x 240 resolutions, a built-in speakers, a USB 2.0 connectivity, microSD slot and preloaded with some classic games. It supports MP3, WMA, WAV and AVI format and it is capable of viewing text files and jpeg and bmp pictures.