The Voiis Mini pocket messenger phone is a Bluetooth device that is capable of playing your entire music collection within 100 meters of a computer. The handset can correspond with a number of media management software and wirelessly receive streaming music from a base station, then a standard set of headphones are used to listen to the music.

Voice calls are possible with the built-in microphone, and a 1.2-inch LCD supporting 65,000 colors can be used for instant messaging via Skype, MSN Messenger, and AOL. The portable device charges through a USB connection and has a battery life of 6 hours when in use and 72 hours in standby. The Voiis Mini is already available in Japan for 15,800 yen ($130).

[Product page via Impress]

The time has arrived for those of you who heard the news of the TurboLinux Wizpy player last November, but were disappointed to learn that only a Japanese version would be released. The Wizpy will go on sale worldwide this June. As well as giving you the ability to carry a complete Linux operating system in your pocket, the Wizpy doubles as a DAP that supports the ordinary range of formats.

The player provides the option of loading Linux on any PC once it is connected to a USB port; preferences can be saved within the Wizpy so that the same setup can be loaded on additional PCs. English versions are set to be released in the U.K., U.S., Canada, Australia, India, and Singapore and non-English versions are also on the way. The player will only come with 4GB of flash memory and sell for $278.

[Product Page via IDG News Service] thanks Charles

You may ask how Cowon has possibly fit more features into their N2 PMP navigation system. Here's how: the L2 has been improved by doubling the internal memory to 2GB and replacing the 500MHz processor with two 266MHz processors that will be supported by 64MB of SDRAM instead of 128MB DDR2 SDRAM.

The L2 manages to retain the N2’s 7” WQVGA LCD (480 x 234) screen, GPS SiRF III chip, DMB tuner (service unavailable for most countries), Windows CE 5.0 operating system, two 2W speakers, line-out, and FM transmitter. However, it will only have one SD card slot instead of two, loses support for OGG and WMV, and the screen will be about 7% less bright.

[Product Page via GenerationMP3]

If you're looking for something a little less puzzling than the Rubik's Cube MP3 player, how about a nostalgic yet modern Swatch watch PMP? The imaginary brainchild of designer Pierre Merlet, the Swatch Infinity is a bracelet-style digital watch that features a removable face, MP3 player, video and photo viewer, and some sort of recording function. Some say it's for capturing video, but a voice recorder seems more likely to us, especially since we don't see a built-in camera anywhere.

Guess we'll never find out for sure either, as the Infinity looks to have a pretty firm grip on that "concept" tag. Too bad, too, because it's a lot nicer than some of the other media-enabled watches that actually made it off the drawing board.

More pictures after the jump.

[Yanko Design via Tech Digest]

Sony Ericsson today announced its upcoming W200 Walkman phone, which has a reported music playback battery life of 18 hours. The included 128MB Memory Stick Micro card and 27MB of internal memory can hold only about four full albums of MP3 or AAC tracks, but pop a 2GB stick into the built-in slot and you've got yourself a "music phone that compliments your existing MP3 player." The W200 has a dedicated Walkman key for quick and easy access to your music via Walkman Music Player 1.0.

Available in Rhythm Black or Pulse White in Q2 2007, the W200 features a 65K-color screen (128 x 160), FM tuner with 20 customizable presets, speakerphone that allows you to use the radio as an alarm, HTML web browser, and VGA camera with 4x digital zoom.

Pricing hasn't been announced yet, but get this: you can even use the W200 to call people! It's like an actual cell phone or something.

[Press Release]

CES 2007 hasn't even officially begun yet and already we're being bombarded by a slew of new gadgets. In addition to unveiling the YP-K3, Samsung announced today its new 7.2-megapixel i70 digital camera that doubles as a portable media player.

Sure you can use the 3-inch LCD to review the photos you just snapped using the 3x optical zoom lens, but wouldn't you rather watch videos or read text files on it instead? Information on supported file and memory card types, as well as everyone's favorite pricing and availability, are currently unknown but we do know that the i70 can play MP3s and record MPEG-4 videos at 15 fps up to resolution of 720 x 480. Not bad at all.

[LetsGoDigital via Engadget]

And we mean that literally.

Debuting this week at the ITU Telecom World 2006 event in Hong Kong, the Samsung SGH-F300 is a double-sided GSM triband cell phone and YP-Z5 look-alike multimedia player that supports MP3, AAC, and WMA tracks. The 2.1-inch TFT display (256K colors, 176 x 220) is good for watching MPEG-4 videos stored on the device's 100MB of internal memory or on microSD cards up to 2GB. There's also an FM radio, Bluetooth (A2DP), and touch-sensitive navigation pad.

Flip the F300 onto its face, tap the phone/multimedia switch key, and you've got yourself a full-featured candybar cell phone complete with 2-megapixel camera and GPRS/EDGE connectivity. Check out the diagram below for more details on phone layout and other features.

The Samsung SGH-F300 should be available (in Korea only?) beginning in the first quarter of 2007.

[SlashPhone]

First it was the DAP. Then it was the cell phone. Now MP3s are venturing into the home market with the new DoorLinX DX100 doorbell by IP-based entertainment company NetStreams. The newfangled device features an intergrated microphone for voice recordings, 4-watt speaker, and brushed-finish doorbell unit (faceplate and button) and can be loaded up with any MP3 file up to 500KB in size.

The selected MP3 will play when visitors check to see if you're home, and if you've enabled the Do-Not-Disturb mode to mute the doorbell in certain (or all) areas of your house, the Avon Lady will be none the wiser.

"Ring My Bell" will likely see a spike in its sales when the DoorLinX DX100 appears on NetStreams' website. It was supposed to have been available since mid-October, but there's still no sign of it anywhere.

[HiddenWires via Gizmodo]

It's not often when "This is a first" can be said with a straight face in the DAP world. But the upcoming 4GB Turbolinux Wizpy really is a first. It's certainly not the 1.7-inch OLED display, FM radio, or DivX support that makes the device unique. And we barely blink an eye these days when another new player can play MP3, Ogg, WMA, and AAC formats. Yawn!

The stand-out feature of the Wizpy comes in the form of what's preloaded on 1.5GB of the player's internal flash memory . . . (wait for it) . . . Linux. Turbolinux FUJI, to be exact. And what good is bootable Linux without a sampling of what are arguably the best applications around? Yep, in addition to the plug-and-play OS, the Wizpy also comes preinstalled with Firefox, Thunderbird, and Skype. All this in a 3.3" x 1.7" x 0.5" device that weighs a mere 2.1 ounces.

The Turbolinux Wizpy will sell for about $250 when it hits Japan in February.

[wizpy]

Talk about convergence!

Here we have the upcoming Sharp Papyrus PW-TC900 uberdictionary showing off its QWERTY keyboard and swiveling 480 x 272 display. The clamshell device looks a lot like the company's Zaurus line of Linux-based PDAs, but what makes the Papyrus stand out is its built-in 1Seg TV tuner (notice the antenna). And if there's nothing good on the tube, just pop an SD card into the integrated expansion slot to transform the electronic English-Japanese dictionary into an MP3 player and photo viewer.

The Papyrus PW-TC900 will be available in Japan on December 8th. No word yet on price.

[Press Release via Akihabara News]

This isn't the first time we've seen a DAP with VoIP capabilities, and if the recent release of the Rimax Mystic is any indication of a new trend, it won't be our last either.

The Mystic comes in 512MB, 1GB, and 2GB capacities, and when it's not doubling as a phone while connected to a PC, it supports the standard set of audio files and the nonstandard AMV video file. The folder-based player also has an FM radio, voice/radio recorder, JPG viewer, and tiny 1.5-inch OLED display.

The Mystic is available now with different colored casings for $105 (512MB), $131 (1GB), and $169 (2GB).

[Product Page via Tech Digest]

The Cowon iAudio N2 is a series piece of hardware packed with a ton of features and is far from your typical portable media player. First off the N2 runs Windows CE 5.0 on an AMD Alchemy 500MHz processor with 128MB of ram. The screen is a 7” WQVGA (480x234) LCD touch screen which will come in handy when operating the GPS navigation system. The player also supports DMB which is basically over the air digital television, for all you DMB deprived Americans that don’t know. Not to leave out the shutter bugs, the N2 comes equipped with two SD memory slots and a USB host port for connecting cameras or other USB based media.

And yes, it will play your digital media like MP3, OGG, WMA, WMV, DivX, AVI, XviD, JPEG, MPEG… ect… ect. Just like Cowon’s A2, it supports nearly all of the major media types.

I doubt this will ever make it to the shores of the US due to the incorporation of DMB and the cost of localizing the N2 to a low demand US market.

[Cowon] thanks Noam

Believe it or not, you're looking at a GPRS cell phone.

The toy-like Xun Chi 138, available only in China, is so small (just 2.64 inches) that it doesn't even have a numeric keypad! Not the most obvious or convenient design choice for a phone, sure, but that's apparently what the touch screen (complete with handwriting recognition) is for. Weighing in at about 2 ounces, the Xun Chi may not be user-friendly for making calls but you can still snap some pics with the built-in 1.3-megapixel camera and listen to some tunes via the integrated MP3 player.

Price? No idea. Battery life? No clue. Silly little device? Absolutely.

[Ubergizmo]

Korean company FineWorks announced recently that its svelte and multitalented FineDrive M300 device will be released by the end of this year. At just 1.8 centimeters thick, the 4.6-ounce gadget gives new meaning to that "Thin is in" saying. It features a 3.5" touch screen, DMB (digital multimedia broadcasting) tuner, GPS antenna, and 3GB of internal memory to store pictures, music, and videos. It seems one of the only things the M300 can't do is swim across the ocean to U.S. shores. Well okay, it doesn't do a lot of other things too, but you get the point. Anyway, when it rolls out in Korea, it'll be waving a $210 flag (200,000 won).

[AVING]

It looks like Acer is still trying to create a slight ripple in the DAP/PMP market by switching up its marketing strategies to target the legions of Sudoku fans out there. The addition of a handful of built-in games does make their new 20GB MP-340 player more appealing than the company's previous offerings...assuming you've been blessed with superhuman eyesight, that is. Even though no one could comfortably view anything - much less a grid-based puzzle - on a 1.8" TFT (262K colors, 160 x 128), the player supports ACV videos (and you have tons of those, right?), JPG images, and MP3 and WMA audio files.

If 20GB barely scratches the surface of your media collection, the MP-340's SD/MMC expansion slot can take care of that. And don't hold back when transferring all your music via USB 2.0 either: the device's lithium polymer battery can provide up to 10 hours of audio playback time with the display turned off.

Measuring 3.47" x 2.56" x 0.81", the 5.2-ounce player is available now in Germany for between $280 and $318, depending on where you shop. Whether the player makes it to U.S. shores remains to be seen, but the fact that it's not (yet) listed on their website isn't encouraging.

[IFA Virtual Market Place via MobileWhack]