April 18 - 1:30pm EDT   A Hong Kong company called Sunlink, using technology from iView, claims to have produced the first portable commercial product in the world with a built-in pico-projector. The Sunview PMPP is a portable media player that normally relies on a 3.5-inch touchscreen, but can also display images on a wall using the integrated pico technology. Companies such as MicroVision have been working to produce such projectors, but have not so far got them into any commercial devices. [full story]

April 16 - 3:30pm EDT   The British government should tax the sale of media players, a body of the UK music industry is advocating. The Music Business Group is said to have rejected a recent government proposal, which would see people legally able to transfer music from CDs to media players for free; while the practice is widespread and taken for granted by the public and companies like Apple, in the UK it is technically a violation of copyright. The MBG is said to have taken the same position as America's RIAA however, and called for a levy on sale of devices such as iPods. [full story]

April 8 - 1:20pm EDT   Slacker, the creator of its namesake Portable Radio Player, has announced a deal for the support of all four major record labels: Warner, Universal, EMI and Sony BMG. The Portable is an unusual "radio" device in that it does not stream live music, but rather syncs with the Slacker service via USB or Wi-Fi, and copies up to 40 "stations" for listening offline as well as on. As music plays listeners can rate their tracks, and ban ones they do not want to hear again. [full story]

March 24 - 12:10pm EDT   Korean company MIU has unveiled an unusual new product, the HDPC. Its name standing for "Hybrid Dual Portable Computer," the HDPC functions primarily as a handheld UMPC, running Windows XP. Its four-inch screen displays images at 800x480, and users have access to a QWERTY keyboard as well as a pointer controller, and wireless Internet. By closing the lid however users switch into dedicated phone or media player modes, with extra touches such as a camera, an electronic dictionary and voice recording. [full story]

March 21 - 4:20pm EDT   A new media player by Asia's Teclast is directly targeting the iPhone and the iPod touch. Like the Apple devices, the M26 is almost entirely touchscreen controlled, but Teclast is specifically marketing the player as using the same type of capacitive technology as the iPhone, permitting light finger gestures. The M26 differs mainly by way of having a 2.6-inch, 400x200 screen, and playing AVI, RealVideo and even Flash video files. Neither the iPhone nor the Touch support Flash. [full story]

March 13 - 12:30pm EDT   Microsoft is planning to launch a mobile Zune portal sometime in 2009, according to the French newspaper Les Echos. The site would extend the reach of the company's iTunes rival, the Zune Marketplace, and allow users to download games and music directly to various platforms, including computers, Windows Mobile devices and for the first time, Zune players themselves. While Zunes have always come equipped with a Wi-Fi module, they have never had Internet access, a prominent feature on Apple's competing iPod touch. [full story]

March 7 - 4:15pm EST   Media player specialist MPIO has announced the V10, a forthcoming mid-range unit. A key attribute is its three-inch, 480x272 widescreen display, which enhances watching video in formats such as AVI, WMV, MP4, DivX and XviD. Supported audio formats are also wide, including AAC, OGG, WAV, WMA and MP3. Memory consists of 8GB of internal flash, which can be expanded through SD cards. No prices or release dates have been published. [via Generation MP3] [full story]

February 20 - 4:40pm EST   Games will finally be added to the Zune in the near future, Microsoft has announced. Although games are not typically the focus of most media players, the Zune is conspicuous for lacking any sort of interactive entertainment, whereas a continuous flow of new titles is available for Apple's iPod. Development for the Zune must be accomplished using XNA Studio, which was originally conceived for the Xbox 360; significantly, Microsoft indicates that first-generation Zunes will not be supported. [full story]

February 19 - 3:50pm EST   Representatives at Sony Europe have announced a new series of Walkman media players, the NWZ-A820s (not pictured). Each is equipped with a 2.4-inch QVGA screen, capable of displaying video at up to 30fps; for more comfortable viewing, orientation on images can be switched between left, right or vertical. Supported video types include MPEG-4 and H.264/AVC, although photos are limited to the JPEG format. [full story]

February 8 - 2:45pm EST   Archos has dramatically increased the capacity of its 405 media player, an announcement reveals. Although last year's model had just 2GB of hard drive space, the player now holds 15 times that capacity at 30GB. This should theoretically be enough to hold 40 movies, 300,000 photos, or 15,000 songs. The player is equipped with a 3.5-inch screen, and is able not only to output to TV, but act as a miniature DVR unit through a DVR Station Gen 5. The new 405 should be on sale in the UK by the end of February, for £200 ($388); no North American plans have been mentioned, but the majority of Archos' products are sold on the continent. [via Pocket-lint] [full story]

February 7 - 12:30pm EST   Toshiba has announced updates to two of its Gigabeat media players, in the T and V series. The T802 is an upgrade to the T401, and beyond doubling memory from 4 to 8GB, also introduces 802.11b/g wireless, which like Apple's iPod touch can be used to download content. People can not only browse the YouTube-like GyaO service however, but download movies and podcasts, something even the Touch is not currently capable of. The player should be available in Japan on February 15th, at an average cost of 29,800 yen ($279). [full story]

January 8 - 12:00pm EST   iRiver has announced a full three new media players, each with a substantially different design. One of the most notable of these is the LPlayer, a compact model most likely intended to compete with the iPod nano or the Zune 4/8. The front surface is dominated entirely by a two-inch screen, suggesting touch control; regardless, it does feature FM radio, and comes in 2, 4 and 8GB sizes sharing four different colors (white, brown, purple and cyan). No prices or release dates have been disclosed. [full story]

December 21 - 1:25pm EST   Mpio's latest media player is the MG300, due to launch first in Japan. Distinguishing the device is the presence of not one but two control pads, which more neatly divide play, forward/reverse and track skipping options; the second pad also has a Record button, tied to the 300's built-in microphone. The player is equipped with a 2.4-inch LCD, and comes bundled with AVI conversion software that supports DivX, XviD, WMV and MPEG-1/2/4 video. Supported audio types include APE, FLAC, MP3 and WMA. [full story]

November 29 - 3:55pm EST   Microsoft has announced that the Zune 80, the company's latest full-size media player, is finally eligible for the Zune Originals program. Buyers of a Zune 80 can now have their player emblazoned for free with one of 27 different pieces of art, created by 18 different artists; alternately, up to five lines of text can be laser-engraved. Microsoft will later let shoppers choose from an additional 20 tattoo-style graphics, which can be combined with up to three lines of text. [full story]