iriver

iriver just announced that it will be bringing the portable media player, P35, to the U.S. this Fall. The P35 will feature a 4.3-inch WQVGA touchscreen with iriver's Spinn Controls. As far as space goes, there will be an 8GB and a 16GB version with support for microSD and SDHC cards (up to 16GB).

The iriver P35 will support MPEG4, Xvid, WMV7/8 and WMV9 videos at a resolution of 720 x 480. Also, the P35 will support MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, APE and FLAC audio files. It is also rumored that the 16GB version will feature a full-fledged web browser.

The price has yet to be confirmed; however, when this launched in Korea, its starting price was the equivalent of $286. For the full spec sheet, click here.

The best part of this device is the graphical user interface (GUI). Like the table of contents of a magazine, the P7 delivers key information from the home screen. The P7 supports many types of video formats (codecs), which means there is no need to convert your video before loading to your personal media player (PMP). The touchscreen P7 not only supports many codecs, but has other multimedia features like an FM radio, photo viewer, text viewer, and voice recording.

The battery in this little gem of a PMP can play continuously for 35 hours. There is a built-in micro SD card slot to expand your memory. Or, if NetFlix, or other services ever start renting movies on micro SD, you have a place to insert them.

The P7 cradle has a built-in speaker, so you can hear your media playback while you possibly share the screen with a friend. The all aluminum casing of the P7 has a great look and feel. The 8GB version has an MSRP of $179, and the 16GB version has an MSRP of $209.

What I like about iriver is the support of DESIGN in the products, packaging and corporate identity. Their Web site www.iriver.com is even cool. The package that the P7 comes in can be reused for your own container needs. iriver suggests that you can use the container/P7 package as a business card holder, a pen holder, a picture frame, or even a flower vase.

iriver SPINN is one device that can play video, MP3 music, FM radio, flash games, view pictures, record voice and FM radio, view texts, and uses bluetooth! Yep, one device that does it all. The compact design conveys a sense of quality that will have you amazed at the price, $189 (4GB) MSRP, and $229 (8GB) MSRP. The 3.3” QVGA AMOLED screen is very crisp in the detail as most OLED screens are. There is even a reactive vibration feature that brings the flash games to life. As expected, this device has a touch screen for easy navigation. There is also a lock button that can shut off the navigation so you don’t accidentally stop your movie on the airplane while squirming in that small seat.

Keep in mind there are many other products from iriver this year, and the Lplayer has a 2.0” screen for $69.99 (4GB) MSRP, and $99.99 (8GB) MSRP with many of the same feature as the SPINN. The E100 Multimedia Player from iriver is also an option in this class for $69.99 (4GB) MSRP. Go spend some time on their new Web site to learn about the many more products they have available, they are all impressive, www.iriver.com.

Please note that pricing reflects iriver’s special Holiday pricing valid November 1st – December 31st, 2008.