CES 2009: Haier Ibiza Touch “Sneak Peak”

Sahas Katta — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 05:42:35 +0000

During the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, NV, the PR folks at Haier had some upcoming goodies to show off. The one that I personally got excited about was the Rhapsody Ibiza Touch, which was unfortunately not completely finished, but the prototype was functioning quite well. So the big question might be “What sets this apart from the rest of those digital audio players?”. And Haier had an answer. This player is considered a social music player since it features WiFi. Owners will be able to download, purchase, or sync music wirelessly for one. But what caught me off guard was the built in browser and RSS reader. Users can browse to a webpage and instantly download a file, which can be played back if the player happens to support the codec. And the RSS syndication will allow downloading podcasts on the go without the need of a computer as a middleman. According to Haier both video and audio podcasts can be synced on demand or can be programed to check for new content and download automatically. It also has access to thousands of internet radio channels.

In terms of codecs, the Ibiza supports playback of DivX, H.264, and MP4 for video. For audio, it works with AAC, MP3, and WMA. It can also display JPEG and PNG images.

The Ibiza Touch has a 2.8-inch WQVGA display with vibration feedback, is available in 8GB to 32GB NAND Flash capacities, Bluetooth with stereo headphone support, a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, a mini-USB 2.0 port, and much more. The battery life can withstand playback of up to 15 hours of audio, 6 hours of video, or 10 hours of streaming content over WiFi.

We don’t have too much more details, however we will try to get a hold of a unit for review in the near future. I personally am quite excited about downloading podcast wirelessly without the need of a computer and DivX support. Check back for more details!

Links: Haier Ibiza

Creative Launches The ZEN X-FI

Sahas Katta — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:29:17 +0000

After a couple of weeks of leaks and rumors, Creative offically announced the ZEN X-Fi and the ZEN X-Fi With Wireless LAN. And as implied by the title of the second product, owners of the X-Fi w/ WiFi will have the ability to Stream and Download music, photos, and videos from their home networked computers. The Zen X-Fi looks quite similar to the ZEN, which we reviewed last year, but it now has tons of new features and hopfully has resolved all the shortcomings of it’s predecessor.

“We’re very excited to achieve this breakthrough of adding our X-Fi audio technology to a ZEN player, setting the highest standard in audio quality for portable music players,” said Craig McHugh, president and COO of Creative

In addition to the new WiFi hardware component, the Zen X-Fi now has built-in speakers, a SD card reader, built-in FM radio, and a microphone for voice recordings. With a 2.5-inch TFT display with the ability to playback WMV, AVI, MJPEG, MPEG4-SP, DivX 4 and 5 and XviD, the player should satisfy the needs of most customers. As for audio, the unit supports playback of unprotected MP3, WMA and AAC audio formats. Creative also bundles in a set of high quality EP-830 in-ear earphones, which are much better than the standard sets of headphones that usually come with most digital media players.

The ZEN X-FI with Wireless LAN 32GB and 16GB models are now available for $279.99 and $199.99, respectively. They are now available for purchase through online retailers including Amazon.com, Buy.com, Creative.com, Fry’s.com and Newegg.com. The standard ZEN X-FI 8GB (without WiFi) will become available later this month for $149.99.

Links: Creative.com ZEN X-FI
Buy Now: Zen X-Fi 32GB $280 | Zen X-Fi 16GB $200
Related: Creative ZEN Review

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CES 2009: Haier Ibiza Touch “Sneak Peak”

Creative Launches The ZEN X-FI