The Shiro SQ-S MP3 player is one the finalists for the HKEIA Award for Outstanding Innovation & Technology Products. It features a 1.8″ 65K color LCD display that will display all the usual stuff like track lists, Images, Video, eBooks and supports MP3/ WMA/ WAV/ FLAC/ APE/ OGG music formats. You’ll even get an integrated FM tuner and voice recorder, which will let you record the song you hear right from the station.

The player also sports 16GB of built-in memory, and will play music for up to 35 hours or 7 hours of video. The interesting thing here is the Solar cell in the back of the player. It allows for more charging, around 4 hours, giving you nearly unlimited music time. As long as you have sun anyway. The player will be available in three flavors. Silver/ Red/ Blue, and also four different patterns in its circular keypad. No word on price or availability.

How many times have you been in the bottom of the pool and wished you had some Led Zeppelin, or maybe some aquatic themed music to accompany you? The Freestyle Soundwave waterproof MP3 player makes it happen, whether you want Neil Diamond, Tenacious D or the soundtrack to The Little Mermaid. It’s good in up to 10 feet of water.

The shock resistant Soundwave will store up to 2GB, which should be enough for your non Olympic sized pool. Features include MP3, WMA and DRM protected file support, integrated FM tuner and a blue OLED display. It even floats, in case you lose hold of it. The included earbuds are also waterproof. It will retail for $90 in blue and $10 more for the camouflaged variety.

The Twinned MP3 player requires two devices to join up in order to function as one unit. When you break them apart wish-bone style, they can still function as standalone MP3 players, but the playlist in each will be identical to each other…forever. The creator, Liberty Fearns, explains: “The unit must first be snapped in half in order to become functional, creating a formal ritual shared between two people. Music is uploaded to a shared online play list, which will only download new music when both MP3 players are in their docks, so that audio content always remains the same. Users build a soundtrack to their relationship, like a growing mixtape.”

So, is there a future in co-dependent MP3 players for couples like Muffy and Buffy with the matching sweaters tied around their waist? Who knows. Might be good for love-struck teens. I find the whole thing creepy and really don’t want to speak of it again.

When I buy speakers or other gadgets for my computer, I like them to look like speakers. Some people out there obviously feel differently and like to buy stuff that doesn’t look like it is supposed to look. I guess the fad all started with the nanny cams years ago that looked like stuffed animals.

If you need a set of speakers for your notebook, desktop or MP3 player that look like cuddly stuffed bears, you are in luck. This set of speakers has one brown bear and a white bear that each houses a speaker with 2W of power each.

We recently told you about the SAFA Bandi. Here’s the SAFA Xing MP3 player that looks like pastel colored candy. Oversized PEZ to be precise. The other thing you’ll notice right off are five large tactile buttons on the surface. Inside you can store 1GB worth of songs. The built-in battery will last you 5 hours before you need a recharge.

It measures just 50mm × 22mm × 13mm and weighs only 12.2 grams, so it’s small enough to be stashed away anywhere. But I have to ask. Why no separate PEZ dispenser with a variety of heads? I’m thinking I want to insert the PEZ module into the dispenser and have a head mimic the singing of my music. Come on, that would be gold. No word on pricing yet. Back to the PEZ thing. Somebody make that happen.

If you’re in the market for a helmet that will protect your head while pumping out the tunes, the R.E.D. Protection Trace Audio Helmet features DJ-quality low profile-speakers. It can connect to your iPod or other Mp3 player.

The helmet itself features an injected ABS shell, removable Goggle Clip, removable Goggle Gasket, and front vent plugs. And it’s not stylish at all for $90, though it does come in black or white. Hopefully having speakers in your helmet won’t distract you enough to land you in the hospital, but if does at least you’ll have tunes while waiting on the ambulance.

Sony’s got some new marine CD receivers (slow news day…) which it says are its first to connect directly to digital music players via a USB connection. The marine head units (models CDX-H910UI and CDX-M60UI) are priced at around $350 and $200 respectively.

These new marine receivers include include a 4.9-foot cable with a USB cable, which allows it to connect to iPod and other USB media players. Both sport sound enhancement technology and play MP3, non-DRM WMA and non-DRM AAC music files.

Verizon Wireless today unveiled a new slim slider phone designed for them by Samsung. It is called the Samsung Sway and you’ll find it pricing around $70 after rebate and contract.

The Samsung Sway offers your typical array of media and lifestyle features to make it more than just a mobile. It includes being a MP3 player which can be loaded with music via a USB cable, a 2.0-megapixel digital camera with video recording and digital zoom and Bluetooth support.

SAFA has a new range of colorful and cartoony MP3 players in the Korean market that are obviously aimed at women. Young women wanting to match their pajamas apparently. They kinda look like candy and go by the name of Bandi.

It features a 1.5″ OLED display.(It doesn’t do video)It also sports touch scrolling, a unique GUI, and built-in flash memory. You can get it in 2GB and 4GB sizes, which will retail for $55 and $75 and in pink, yellow and blue flavors. It’s a Korea only product.

With everything kids have going on today, it’s often easier to get them a cell phone so you can keep in touch at all times. Even young kids age five and up use cell phones today. They are a great way for parents to know where the kids are, even if they are just down the street.

The catch is that kids don’t understand that using a cell phone too much or downloading things from the Internet can run up a bill significantly. You also have to worry that they could be subject to inappropriate calls from unknown users. Firefly has had a phone specifically made for kids on the market since 2006.

When it comes to our mobile devices we all want more, more features, more performance, more speed, and especially more storage. Music phones today can hold thousands of songs, but mobile users are always on the lookout for more storage space.

SanDisk announced the largest capacity microSD and M2 format memory card you can get. Both formants are now available in 16GB capacities. The cards require mobile phones and MP3 players that support microSDHC or M2 formats.

River has updated their already bizarre Mickey Mouse MP3 players with something new. This version has hypnotizing eyes and may need a good exorcism. Glowing LED demon eyes no doubt make it easier to take over the world. It also has 2GB of storage for your soul, even MP3 or WMA files. If your kid’s head turns all the way around and he/she can’t stop watching Disney movies, don’t complain to us.

The iSound, designed by Seohyun Baek, is a set of headphones that lets you to listen to your mp3 player while still hearing the background noise around you. That’s a pretty handy thing, especially when that background noise is oncoming traffic. Old headphones=death, these=you live to get hit on another day. They use a semi-circular design that doesn’t cover your whole ear, that way some background noise is still heard. The unit is wireless with a bluetooth module that connects to the headphone jack in your mp3 player. Excellent concept that will surely find a market.

The I-MU Vibro Speaker claims to turn just about any hard, flat surface into external speakers for your iPod or compatible mp3 player. It does this with ‘patented super-energy crystals’. Wow. That’s a new one. The device will presumably give you a very loud desk. No comment on the shape and how this device could potentially be misused in other situations. If you’re a big believer in ‘patented super-energy crystals’, why not give it a go for £29.99.

We love our devices, but at the same time, they all look the same. That’s why Zune Originals has announced a new series of artist editions for the MP3 player. Put a tattoo on your Zune. Some of the new artists include Aya Kato and Matt W. Moore. They join longstanding Zune affiliates Sam Flores and Kenzo Minami in providing “tattoos” for your Zune. Just pick out a new Zune from the online store and then choose your favorite design for engraving.