Samsung Keeps Lead In Flash Memory,
iSuppli Says

World's Fastest Flash Memory Card?

Intel braces for Flash memory boom

SanDisk 256MB Flash Memory Drive for $33

Flash memory takes a licking and keeps
on remembering

The one question I have is how these things fare against time itself, given that CDs and DVDs tend to delaminate, tapes crumble, and HDDs' bearings seize up -- it'd be great to have media that you could bury in a time-capsule for a couple decades with confidence.

They were dipped into cola, put through a washing machine, dunked in coffee, trampled by a skateboard, run over by a child's toy car and given to a six-year-old boy to destroy.

Perhaps surprisingly, all the cards survived these six tests.

Most of them did fail to get through two additional tests - being smashed by a sledgehammer and being nailed to a tree.

AMD unveils low-power Mirrorbit flash
memory

Devil Duckie USB Flash Memory Drive

New Memory MiniMouse comes with 64MB
flash storage

KURO-SHOT Flash Memory Stick Camera

Here's my first thought upon seeing the KURO-SHOT flash memory drive with a VGA camera (besides that I want an orange creamsicle). When is Philips going to update the KEY019? I can't tell you how many people have flipped out when I recommended it to them, then backed off when they discovered it only has 128MB of memory built-in (although this KURO-SHOT has even less, at 64MB). I want to see the KEY020 that's half the size with 1GB of memory built-in.

USB Memory-sized digital camera, KURO-SHOT [TechJapan]

Image drives fate of flash memory cards

iRiver PMP-100 Series On Sale (Maybe?
Soon? We Hope?)

iRiver's PMP-100 series portable media players have gone on sale today via the iRiver e-store, with other online retailers to follow later in the week. Two models are available for now: the PMP-120, with a 20GB hard drive; and the PMP-140, with an eight-million amazing awesomes drive (or 40GB, if you want to get all technical). Prices are $500 and $600, respectively (ouch!).

For the record, if portable video is in your sights, these are the units from iRiver you probably want. Instead of being tied to Windows Media Center (that's the PMC-100 series), they'll pretty much play whatever you decide to throw at them without a pesky transcoding. Of course, now that I've written this, I still don't see them available for purchase on the e-store, no matter what iRiver's press release might say.

Read - Press Release [MobileMag]
Read - e-Store Page [iRiverAmerica]

Related
New iRiver PMC-100 Pictures [Gizmodo]
iRiver PMP-140 (P)Reviewed [Gizmodo]

Update: So MobileMag informs me that iRiver informed them that the PMPs are quite literally stuck on a slow boat from China. Maybe you should have held back on the press release then, huh?

iRiver H300 Series Officially Announced

We mentioned the new iRiver H300 series launch a little bit earlier today (just a link), but we thought we'd give them a big US welcome with this healthy, near life-sized image. With the launch of these new 20GB and 40GB players with color screens, 16 hour battery life, and the ability to played both free and restricted WMA music (and OGG Vorbis, nerds!), plus all the usual iRiver tricks, like a built-in FM receiver and real-time MP3 encoding, well... things are finally starting to look up in the hard disk player market, and we're glad to see it.

The H300 players should be available for purchase both on iRiver's site and retail in early October for $329 (20GB) or $429 (40GB).

Press release after the jump.

iRiver H300 Series Player Pricing

DPReview has a little more information about iRiver's upcoming H300 series players, with much of the same information we reported previously, but this time with a price: ¥47,800 (~$430) for the H320 20 GB version and ¥59,800 (~$540) for the H340 40GB version. That's more expensive than the iPod, even, but you get a color screen, 16 hour battery life, and a device that meets the USB On The Go specification (USB Host, basically) so that you can connect almost any USB device to the unit and transfer files back and forth without a computer. (Thanks, Junki!)
Rea d [DPReview]

Related
Two Nice New Players from iRiver: iFP-900 and H300 [Gizmodo]

iRiver T20 and T30

In addition to the attractive U10, iRiver has also announced the T20 and T30 [pictured left and right, respectively], both of which are not anything special in the 'function' department, but have fairly unique designs. The T30, especially, looks as if it could be holding the power core that drives a giant mecha, as long as that power core was a AAA battery. The T20 happens to be the first iRiver player with a sliding USB plug, a feature of which we are fans.

iRiver U10, T20, T30 introduced in iRiver 2005 Lanching Show [MisticRiver via I4U]

iRiver T20

I use my Shuffle regularly, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't cheat on it with other flash players. The iRiver T20 is kind of like that cool young thing at the office, all flash and excitement. You just want to pop out its sensuous USB port again and again while the poor, morose Shuffle sits around the house waiting to yell at you when you walk through the door. "I have a lanyard," it screams to you as you hit the fridge for a beer. "I have a lanyard!"

The T20 includes an LCD screen (!!!), line-in MP3 recording, and plays Ogg files. Priced at $99 for 512MB and $139 [UPDATE - It's Pounds, baby, Pounds, not Dollars. I don't know. Multiply by two, essentially, to get dollars.] for the 1GB model, I'm thinking that if you're considering a flash player, you may want to consider one of these instead of that plain-Jane Shuffle.

iRiver gives iPod shuffle a wake-up call [T3]

iRiver IFP-790

More iRiver PMP and PMC Details

iRiver N10 First Impressions

SorobanGeeks passes on some first impressions straight from Korea of iRiver's new wearable flash memory MP3 player, the N10, as well as some pictures that are probably stock photography but that I hadn't seen; this picture showing how the headphones double as a necklace was especially interesting, I thought. You guys know how I feel about flash memory players -- I like them, smaller is better, but I just hate paying so much for so little storage -- but on up side the prices for the N10 are at least somewhat more reasonable than some players in the past -- a 1GB version should sell for around $440. If that's still too painful just wait. The hardware to decode MP3s is a fraction of the cost and the price of flash memory should continue to fall for a while.

And you know what's making me come around on these flash players? Cool designs like pendants. That's what they should have been doing in the first place. If I'm going to get reamed for a 1GB, it should at least look cooler/more interesting than an hard disk player.

Read - N-10 En Direct de Seoul ! [Akiba.Soroban]

Related
iRiver N10 OLED Flash Player [Gizmodo]

More Hands-On With the iRiver PMC-100

SorobanGeeks got their hands on the iRiver PMC-100 series, the Microsoft Portable Media Center player that's expected any day now in stores. They also had a short sit down with the Vice President of iRiver's parent company, who seems to have a real hard on for Microsoft in the upcoming portable player wars, because the "PMC OS will work in total harmony with the future operating systems of Microsoft." I suppose that's true in a sense, but I still think that until someone can provide plug-and-play functionality, be it Big M or someone else, none of these players are going to be widely adopted. They're just too big of a pain to use.

You know who should make a portable media player? TiVo.

Read - iRIVER Press Conference... 1ères photos live de leur PMC !!! [Akiba.SorobanGeeks]

New iRiver PMC-100 Pictures

DAPreview found some new hi-resolution shots of the upcoming iRiver PMC-100, the Microsoft-based Portable Media Center that is the cousin to the non-Microsoft PMP-120/140. It looks considerably different than the original, more slab-like mockup we'd shown you, but it does look a lot more practical to use. It also looks like it is probably just a remolded bit of plastic that fits over the same hardware that powers the PMP-1xx series players.

I still like the old design better, but I also know which one I'd rather hold in my hands for two hours at a time.

Read - Fresh pics of the iRiver PMC-100 [DAPreview]

Related
More iRiver PMP and PMC Details [Gizmodo]

iRiver IHP toolkit 0.3.0

iRiver H10 Official

iRiver officially unveiled the H10 today in Korea, the 5GB hard disk-based player that looks a lot like a mini Creative Zen Touch (or Zen Micro, even). It's got pretty much the same specs as everything else in this segment, except notably the 1.5-inch screen. It'll be available on the 22nd in Korea for around $340. If they want to make it in the American market, let's hope they drop the price a little before it gets here.

iRiver H10 is out! [DAPreview]

iRiver PMP-140 (P)Reviewed

Soroban Geek's Portable Media World got their webbed hands on a pre-release version of the iRiver PMP-140, the upcoming personal media player that is the one that isn't the Windows-branded Portable Media Center (that's the PMC- models). Although the review is a little heavy on pictures and a little light on opinion, they seem fairly impressed with the device. It does look nice enough (from a feature perspective, at least; its case is ugly as sin), and I've got fairly high hopes for this one. DRM-free means, if nothing else, greater ease of use as a rule of thumb.

Read - Teasing Preview iRIVER PMP-140 (UK/US) [PMW.SorobanGeeks]

Related
Sony HMP-A1 VAIO Video Pocket Review [Gizmodo]
More iRiver PMP and PMC Details [Gizmodo]

iRiver H10 Review Excerpts

The first review I've seen of the iRiver H10 has popped up at Club iRiver, a site which, for all its positives, happens to be in Korean. For those of us that don't speak that tongue, Mistic River has excerpted a few of the highlights from the review, including word that the front area of the H10 is "nearly about the size of a business card." I can get with that, especially with a lovely color screen.

iRiver H10 - First Look [MisticRiver]

iRiver U10 with D-Click System

iRiver is showing off new products, including this U10, with a very interesting "touchscreen" interface. I put the "touchscreen" in "quotes" because the D-Click system is not a traditional one like a PDA, but instead a screen over some buttons, which can be clicked by pressing down. So really, it's less advanced than an actual touchscreen, but I still like the idea, even with the inevitable finger grease.

I'm not looking forward to the capacity, though, as the U10 is listed to be available in sizes only up to 1GB. That's a shame mostly because the U10 will also support MPEG4 and Flate Lite, as well as audio files. It's pretty, though, but that might just be my love of test patterns shining through.

iRiver U10, T20, T30 introduced in iRiver 2005 Lanching Show [MisticRiver via I4U]

iRiver PMP-120 Shipping in July

iRiver iFP180T @ XtremeNews

iRiver IFP-790T - 2 Thumbs down!

I am using the iRiver IFP-790T as a backup recording device when recording the Geek News Central Podcast. Of the 18 shows produced we lost 1 due to a PC crash and I vowed that would never happen again. So as I record the show on the PC the iRiver MP3 player which doubles as a voice recorder is my failsafe mechanism.

Today on the Daily Source Code with Adam Curry he mentioned he owns nearly the same device, and drew some of the same conclusions I did. The thing sucks. It's a great recorder but you have to use iRiver's proprietary interface that has DRM management to get files on and off it. Windows does not recognize it as a external drive and it records in some proprietary format.

I really wonder who these companies have on staff testing their products, don't they have a clue on how the real world works. I guess that is why the Apple iPod is as popular. Someone just needs to figure out how to record at a high bit rate on the iPod. [iRiver]< /p>

iRiver H320 Reviewed

SorobanGeeks got their hands on one of the new iRiver H320s, the 20GB hard disk MP3 player with a color screen, USB Host capability, radio, and microphone. It looks excellent, and besides some complaints about the quality of plastic used for the casing, performs as advertised. The USB Host functionality means the H300 series devices can serve as portable hard drives for digital cameras, and I suspect that feature combined with the color screen will make these players a big hit for photographers. They do say the remote is sort of useless since it doesn't have an LCD, but I tend to disagree. Like the iPod's remote, I find that simple remotes are more than useful enough for their main purpose, which is to skip a track or two and to pause your music without pulling out the new device. On the upside, if you need an LCD remote, the units from the iHP120 (an older iRiver player) will work with the HP300 series just fine.
Read [Akiba.SorobanGeeks]

iRiver U10 Poses with CEO, Model

It's either feast or famine. New shots of the U10 prove that it is much cooler than originally thought. This little bugger plays video and is about as small as a package of playing cards. It is so cool, in fact, that it might just be my lust item for the next week or so until someone comes out with the combo Hello Kitty/beer maker/LCD video player/back massager. That would then become my favorite item in the world.

Images [Aving via i4u]

Related
iRiver U10 with D-Click System

Combo CD-A/V Player Unveiled By TI,
iRiver

iRiver H320 (Almost) Hits The Market

iRiver Adds Ogg To Audio Player Firmware

iRiver ships HD-based 40GB MP3 player

Cry Me An iRiver: Firmware Delays Upset
Fans

There's a rumbling in the iRiver support forums, and depending on who you ask, it's either the overblown groaning of a few dissatisfied customers, or the sound of thousands of unhappy users forsaking iRiver for the likes of Archos, Creative, and (lord help them), Apple. The issue is one of firmware, and a lack of updates for the H Series (specifically the iHP-100) line of hard disk players. In April, iRiver promised firmware fixes for the players, like on-the-fly file deletion and playlists, as well as a fixed shuffle mode and gapless playback. But then in May, the firmware was delayed< /a>, and since the original June release date for a second firmware release has come and gone, some users are getting very upset.

iRiver exec: Apple can keep 'iPod crown'

iRiver introduces new flash-memory music players