From the depths of cyberspace comes word of an interesting looking HDD media player designed, from what we can tell, to be a desktop device. It is from a Chinese distributor called SourcingMap and pricing is set at around $85.

Sony’s dropping some new, smooth looking Walkmans our way this week led by the NWZ-A820 which features audio and video playback with a 2.4-inch QVGA display at 30 fps, includes EX earbuds and 36 hours of battery life for audio playback, 10 for video. It comes in capacities of 4GB, 8GB and 16GB, is compatible with Windows Media and supports MP3, AAC, WMA, L-PCM formats for audio and h.264/MPEG4 for video. Sony has also added Bluetooth into the mix along with their noise canceling technology.

Sony’s NWZ-A720 series has looks a specs very much like the A820 series but it loses the wireless Bluetooth. Sony also has a NWZ-A820K model that will not only come with the earbuds but also includes a set of wireless Bluetooth headphones to take advantage of the no-wires connectivity.

Sony Ericsson dropped a new Walkman mobile phone/media player to the market today with the W980, featuring 8GB of internal memory, included headphones and something the company is calling “Walkman On Top”.

The new Walkman On Top is a lot like it sounds. SE put the controls and the display of current playing tracks on the front of the device allowing complete navigation and viewing without having to open up the handset, hence the name “on top”. The new Walkman also comes with built-in stereo speakers and FM transmitter letting users share their tunes directly or through an FM radio on a home or car stereo. Sony Ericsson also wanted to make sure that listening to music alone was clear with quality sound and threw in Stereo Portable Handsfree HPM-77 headset. The headset allows listening to music and the ability to take calls hands free.

One iRiver itemed we regrettably missed covering from CES earlier this month is the hot looking Unit2. We weren’t sure about when it might be released but word from TWICE is the Unit2 will have a “late-year delivery,” with pricing between $800 and $1,000.

The iRiver Unit2 pulls together a bunch of features into one device, according to a recent iRiver press release. These functions include “Audio, Video, DVD player, DiVX player, CD player, FM Tuner, VoIP phone, VoIP Video Phone, SMS/MMS, Web Browsing, Web Mail.” It sports a seven-inch touch screen interface and has built-in stereo speakers to act as a desktop audio system.

One common compliant of flash-based portable media players is they don’t have enough storage for all of your media files. Creative is today challenging that issue by globally releasing a new 32GB version of its Zen player. It will price for around $330.

This 32GB Zen from Creative will reportedly be the world’s first flash memory based PMP of this size. Creative says it will be capable of holding up to 8,000 songs, 110 hours of video or thousands of photos. It offers up a 2.5-inch color screen for viewing and will let you get up to 30 hours of music or 5 hours of video playback before needing a recharge.

This PMP player from Kinwei appears to have a very nice, clean design but how it’s used we’re just not sure. It sports a 2.4-inch TFT display and allows you to view E-books, JPG, GIF and BMP images, MP1, MP2, MP3 and WMA music files and the ever-obscure TV/AWV video formats. It also has a built-in FM tuner, seven preset EQ modes, a rechargeable battery and a capacity of 2GB. The product details list a touch pad for interaction but aside from that the player appears to have no buttons, dials, switches, cool blue lights and not even any branding. We still think it looks pretty cool, however. No price was readily available and it comes in the shown color of black or white.

Today Microsoft has officially launched the next-generation Zune media player which consists of three new models launching in November, two of which house flash memory. The release also brings updates to the Zune Marketplace and an associated online social networking site centered around the player and sharing music.

The rumors leaked yesterday turned out to be pretty accurate for the most part. Microsoft is releasing two flash memory-based players in 4GB and 8GB capacities that look similar to the new Nano’s and will retail for $149 and $199 respectively, which is also similar to Apple’s Nano pricing. There is also an smaller, thinner 80GB Zune with a hard drive that will retail for $249 which comes only in black and has a 3.2-inch display. The flash-based models come in black, red, green and pink, no more brown.

According to ZuneScene they have an inside source at Microsoft who has confirmed that there is a new Zune coming our way with a code name of “Draco”. The new Zune will not be marketed under this name which in our opinion helps keep this rumor flexible, but they do have some specs.

According to the leak, the Draco Zune will come with flash memory of 4GB or 8GB, will have video playback and Wi-Fi connectivity and is expected to be available for the coming holiday season.

via Gadgetell

On June 10th Microsoft will be releasing a watermelon red version of its Zune media player. The new red color will be sold exclusively through Target and Amazon, and it looks to possibly be a limited edition version like the pink Zune with it’s 100,000 unit cap.

This watermelon Red Zune version joins the original colors of brown, black and white along with the pink version and the upcoming Halo 3 Zune expected in September.

Aside from the new red color, the functionality of the Zune will be just like the others with a 30GB capacity, 3-inch screen, FM tuner and the wireless Zune to Zune sharing. If you’ve been holding out for a color that’s a break from the norm, here’s your chance.

Engadget

Coming out later this month in the land of the rising sun are Sony’s new E Series Walkman DAPs and if you don’t pay attention, you might mistake one for a USB drive.

These trim beauties will come in three memory sizes (1 GB, 2 GB and 4 GB) and in five metallic colors (black, gold, pink, blue and purple.) Weighing in at just 29 grams they can play MP3, AAC, WMA and ATRAC files using Sony’s Clear Audio technology and, of course, dock right into any USB port.

Microsoft recently announced the most information yet on its upcoming Zune digital music player and service. The latest information focused on the Zune’s capabilities that let users share music with friends. The Zune can store and display video and pictures, comes with a 3-inch liquid-crystal display screen, a 30-GB hard drive, FM tuner, and will be available in three different colors: black, white, and brown.

Microsoft also plans to debut the Zune Marketplace into the Zune ecosystem. The Zune Marketplace is an online music store where customers can import existing music, pictures and videos in many popular formats and purchase millions of songs. The service will offer the standard features such as genre browsing, top songs, albums, artists, new releases, and featured items. Microsoft will also offer Zune Pass, which is an online subscription that allows users to download …

Microsoft has released new information on its Zune wireless MP3 player on Thursday. The release included more details which describe how the business model will work. Microsoft has previously confirmed that the player will be manufactured by Toshiba and will contain a 30GB hard drive with wireless capabilities, a 3-inch screen, and a FM tuner.

The release did not divulge the Zune’s price only saying that it will ship during the holiday season 2006.

Microsoft has positioned Zune as a direct competitor to the iPod. Apple’s recent launch of upgraded iPods and the new iTV product make this an interesting battle.

Zune Release [ABC News]