Gizmodo Australia » iriver

It’s Not A New Kindle, It’s The iriver Story

Mark Wilson — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:50:00 +0000

iriver’s been working on an e-reader, and until now, we had no idea what it looked like, let alone what was waiting under the hood.

It’s called the iriver Story, and obviously the design is quite a bit similar to the Kindle—it’s not only white, but it features a full QWERTY keyboard under the screen. That ziplock-style case, however, is 100 per cent iriver design.

You won’t find wireless downloading like Amazon and Sony offer in their devices, but the Story does support SDHC cards and a slew of useful formats without conversion: PDF, E-Pub, txt, e-comics and Microsoft Office (PowerPoint, Word and Excel docs).

The Story will be available in Korea only starting this month for about $US300 while iriver negotiates a deal with US and European publishers. I can’t imagine anyone being too interested at the current pricing, but if iriver could undercut the competition by a decent margin, the Story would be a promising alternative to some random generic. [MobileRead via SlashGear via Fast Company]

IRiver E200 Confirmed In Capacities Up To 16GB

Mark Wilson — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:00:00 +0000

All of the news pretty much leaked anyway, but in case you needed iRiver to announce their E200 to believe it actually exists, they’ve taken that leap…with no mention of price or release date.

Featuring a 2.8-inch screen, the iRiver E200 will come in 4GB, 8GB and 16GB capacities (plus whatever you add through MicroDS) while supporting FM radio, FLAC, RMVB and Xvid. Otherwise, there’s not much else to know that we didn’t already know. [iRiver via PMP Today]

iRiver Working On An Android-Powered iPod Killer?

Nick Broughall — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:00:04 +0000

Android is currently battling it out with the iPhone’s OS X for the mantle of best smartphone OS*, but it looks like it’s about to spread its wings a bit further and take on the iPod, according to Chris Nicholls over at Current.com.au. Apparently local iRiver distributor CR Kennedy let slip that the Korean company is working on an Android-powered PMP to take on the iPod Touch.

The device, which will be dubbed the K2, will feature a “3.5-inch touchscreen, Wi-Fi, built-in browser, accelerometer, Bluetooth and a digital TV tuner.”

As Chris points out, that digital TV tuner probably won’t make it to Australia, but the fact that the device is powered by Android gives it a huge amount of potential, considering the Google OS is one of the few other places you can introduce apps to portable devices.

Also worth noting is that iRiver are reportedly working on both an ebook reader and a portable internet tablet. Whether either of them are built or released in Australia is another matter all together though…

[Current]

* Palm hasn’t released a WebOS phone in Australia yet, so it doesn’t count. Also, that’s a pic of the P7 above, not the rumoured device.

First Aluminum iRiver E200 Pics

Stephen Climpson — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:00:00 +0000

iRiver has some of the most stylish tech gear this side of Apple, but the upcoming E200 player looks boringly similar to its E100 predecessor, despite a new thinner, all-metal design, and a larger screen.

According to iRiver Fans (where we also found these apparent press images), the E200 has been slimmed down to 9.9mm, versus the E100’s 11.3mm.

The current model’s 2.4-inch (262-color) display has also been bumped up to 2.8-inches on the E200. According to Engadget, it may also be a brighter OLED screen.

There’s not too much else to report-the touch-sensitive controls and interface are said to be the same, so I’m left feeling kinda myeh, unfortunately. [iRiver Fans via DAP Review via PMP Today via Engadget]

iRiver T6 Lands In Australia - 4GB For $99

Nick Broughall — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 00:54:46 +0000

The iRiver T6, a 4GB MP3 player that weighs just 53 grams, looks just like an old Samsung MP3 player I have hidden away somewhere in my house for emergency music consumption. And it’s just gone on sale in Australia.It’s actually a complete bargain at $99, considering you get a supposed 28 hours battery life, a 1.8-inch colour display and voice recording functions. Of course, you’re going to be stuck using either Windows Media Player, some proprietary software, or just drag and drop to organise your music, which may or may not influence you to just spend a bit extra and get an iPod nano. If not, you can grab the T6 at JB Hifi stores around the country.

[iRiver]

iriver P7 Touchscreen PMP Available for Pre-Order

Dan Nosowitz — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 19:15:00 +0000

iriver’s P7, the 4.3″ touchscreen PMP with a mysterious “magazine-style layout” for a GUI, is now available for pre-order for the reasonable price of $US169/199 for the 8GB/16GB options. [J and R via DAPReview]

iRiver Libre Is Like a Kindle Light

Mark Wilson — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:40:00 +0000

Japan is not new to ebooks—Sony has touted the technology overseas for some time—but with the Kindle 2, everyone is jumping on the eBoook/E Ink bandwagon, including iRiver.

The iRiver Libre doesn’t feature EVDO or a QWERTY, but it is a white-framed eBook that reads PDFs, plays music and features SD-expandable storage. It’s also controlled by a single joystick.

And as long as that joystick works well enough, we’re interested to see how much the Libre costs whenever iRiver decides to release it. I mean, Amazon isn’t the only company in the world, people. [engadget via DVICE]

Forget iClones, Everybody’s Copying the Iriver Spinn These Days

Gizmodo US Edition — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 01:00:00 +0000

Looks like the iriver Spinn is the hippest template for shameless plagiarism these days. Not one but two devices, a camera and a PMP, have popped up with obvious “inspiration” from iriver’s ’70s-influenced baby.

The camera, a no-name little 5MP bugger from China, is more forgivable, since its spinning mechanism does serve a different purpose: turn the lens around and you can take self-portraits.

But the PMP, a much less-crappy design by Myracer called the lisse t10, takes the awkward pointed chin of the T-Mobile G1 and pairs it with the sleek contours and, of course, the spinner, of the Spinn. For shame, nameless Chinese manufacturing drones. For shame. [Engadget and DAPReview]

Iriver P7 Gets Official, Packs Innovative… Packaging

Gizmodo US Edition — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 20:30:00 +0000

We caught a peek of iriver’s P7 PMP at CES, but now the 4.3″ screened player is up on the official site with some pretty pictures and a full list of specs.

The key points: it’ll be available in 4/8/16/32 GB flavours, pack 35 hours audio and 7 hours video battery life, and a 4.3″ 480×272 resolution screen. That screen’s a bit disappointing, we’d have liked to see a sharper one. It also looks a little pudgier than we’d want from a flash-based PMP, though the screen size makes it un-pocketable anyway. The P7 will support an impressive array of codecs, including the less common OGG, FLAC, and even XviD. Oddly enough, the packaging gets special mention: apparently it can double as “a business card holder, a pen holder, or a picture frame.” Still no word on price or Stateside release date, though it should be out in South Korea shortly.

[DAPReview]

iRiver Spinn PMP Gets Memo App, Bigger Album Art and More in 2.0 Firmware Update

John Mahoney — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:00:00 +0000

iRiver’s Spinn is certainly beautiful on the outside, but inside its software left a little lacking. A version 2.0 software update is available now which addresses a few of our gripes.

For one, album art now looks like it finally shows up in sizes larger than a postage stamp (half a stamp, actually). Also added is a memo/drawing app for stylus doodling, enhanced video controls, auto-rotating images and the ability to schedule recordings of FM Radio here in the states and DMB radio/TV in Korea.

The update is only on the Korean site at the moment; you can download it here. [iRiver.co.kr via DAP Review]