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!

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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.

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- 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;...

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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).

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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Phonescoop show us a hands-on video of Sony Ericsson K850, which features a 5.0-megapixel HSDPA, 2.2-inch display, and a host of multimedia application.

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Features
- 3.2 inch full color LCD touch screen
- Built-in digital FM tuner (87.5Mhz~108Mhz)
- Fully unlocked
- Built-in Bluetooth
- Tri-band GSM network support: 900/1800/1900 Mhz
- Phone supports English and Chinese languages (other international languages are available but vary in each production batch)
.
- 256MB TF memory card included
- English user's guide included
- USB Data Cable, Stereo Headset, AC Charger (110V~220V) included
- 2 x rechargeable lithium batteries included

Purchase HERE

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Despite Apple's attempts to keep iPhone

As many as 400,000 unlocked iPhones were running on China Mobile's cellular network at the end of last year, according to market research firm In-Stat.

Apple has sold 3.7 million on iPhone's in 2007, and more than 10 percent of them are in China. While Apple might not be completely happy with this fact. At least this shows that China is interested in purchasing these smartphones even at high prices.

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Yet another iPhone Clone! This is making my sick!

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The former BenQ prototype gets official today. Called the BenQ Mobile Internet Device, the device features a 4.8-inch touchscreen, 0.3-megapixel webcam, and "high-speed mobile internet access." No price of date for release yet.

article from the gadgetsite

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Chinese manufacturer Tsinghua Tongfang has come up with a nice looking new widescreen MP4 player, the PMC-M860, sporting a decent set of video and audio formats.

Specs:

–2.6 inch 4:3 widescreen player (400×240 resolution)

Supports RMVB, RM, FLV, and AVI video formats; APE, FLAC Lossless Audio(and other?) audio formats

Sleek metal paneling–

The original article also listed an M880 model. It’s hard to tell from the poor translation what exactly it is, other than another widescreen RMVB player, but there was a pic:

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A great deal for the Garmin Nuvi 750 for under $300. You save $100 off the HSN price of $399.95. I personally own one and they are great!

Purchase HERE

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The Teclast M30 should be available soon and already there are a few reviews on the Chinese sites. Take a look at the link below, this one has screen shots of the player in action:

Teclast M30 in action (images)

So is this player any good ?

It has potential, Teclast have put some thought into the hardware of this player. They have used the latest AMOLED SCREEN that is supposed to be the bees knees in screen technology and is also used by big companies like Samsung and IRiver.
They have also decided on a separate chip for audio, the Wolfson WM8987 , this is supposed to give better audio than using the built in one on the players main chip (Rockchip RK2706)

So, all the hardware is there to make this a great player, not to mention an expensive one, all this stuff ain’t gonna come cheap, add to that there is no expansion slot and a smaller battery to allow a thinner case.

But the main problem with this player maybe in the chip they have chosen, this is the RK2706. If they have used the bog standard implementation from rockchip with no modifications then this will...

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Not content with turning the mobile phone market on its head with the IPhone and at the same time causing every MP3/4 player manufacturer on the planet to try and emulate their touch screen technology, Apple have decided to try and jump on a new bandwagon - the games market!!!

The image below is only an artist rendition but is this what we can expect, can Apple also turn the games market into a new battle ground?

With their track record, do you think Apple will help or hinder the games market, hop over to the mp4nation forum and have your say.

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Oppo has a new player in the works, a new 3.0″ Touch screen player (16:9 aspect ratio). The player seems to have a similar design as their older Oppo V9. Not too sure what chip is at the core of the player, but it will be able to play a host of video formats, including AVI and RMVB. It also seems to be part of their ‘Smart’ player line, so it may be able to have third party apps loaded onto it

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Maxian has a new player in the works and it is one to cetainly drool over. The E900T comes with a 4.3″ touch screen , can handle WMV, MPEG, AVI (DIVX/XVID) and H.264 formats at 800×480 max resolution. It supports Dolby Digital or DTS sound and S/PDIF connection. It runs on Windows CE and has either 30GB or 60GB of internal memory.

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Yet another contender for the iPhone, the Portege G810 from Toshiba is making the headlines as the latest pmp phone device. This one uses Windows Mobile 6, has built in GPS, Wi-fi & Bluetooth. Some pmp features include a 2.8″ QVGA touch screen, a 3 megapixel camera, a microSD card expansion slot and an FM Radio tuner! It is slated to hit the market later this year.

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Freescale Semiconductor has announced their new i.MX27 chipset. Based on a ARM926 core with a max speed of 400mHz, capable of H.264/MPEG4 codec D1 resolution: 720 X576 @ 25fps; 720×480 @ 30fps; full-duplex codec at the same time can achieve VGA resolution: 640 x480 @ 30fps. The chip seems to be intended to bringing high definition videos to hand held devices.

It seems that Freescale is working with a mainland company to use their chip in different products, including MP4 players.

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