The original X-Mini came out a few years back as one of the best sounding portable speakers available on the market, and they even won a red dot award to prove it. Crave reports that XMI‘s updated X-Mini 1.1 combines the portability of the original, with a feature previously found only in the X-Mini II product. → Read More
Do you own an iPad, iPhone, iPod, Sony Xperia, a Nintendo DS, or other mobile devices? Do you need a power source when you use these gadgets on the go? If yes, then the mobile chargers Sanyo announced today might do the trick for you.
There will be two versions: one, the so-called “eneloop stick booster” (pictured above) comes with adapters (licensed by Nintendo) to power your DS and the other… → Read More
After launching the S100 Panorama in South Korea back in June, iriver today announced [JP] it will bring their media player to Japan (the company is yet to list the device on its global website). Technically, the player isn’t anything special, but it looks quite cute and comes in a total of three colors (white, black and pink). → Read More
Just when you think you’ve seen it all in the world of gadgets, Japan churns out yet another unique device. This time it’s the Marugoto Tamachan [JP], a watermelon cooler and heater. That’s right, the machine doesn’t just cool watermelons, but for some reason it can also heat them up. And it’s portable, too. → Read More
We have numerous super-light laptops, a plethora of netbooks, and the iPad to choose from. But some companies still produce portable DVD players. One example is Sony, which yesterday in Japan announced [JP] just that, the DVP-FX950. The player has two selling points: a 9-inch LCD screen that features an LED backlight and a battery life of 7.5 hours (up 25% from the previous model). → Read More
You can’t use this device as a tumbler and I’m not even sure it makes sense functionality-wise, but Sony Japan announced [JP] the SOUND MUG yesterday, a speaker that’s shaped like a tumbler. To be more exact, the portable device is being marketed by Sony as a dock speaker specifically designed for their Walkmans. → Read More
Big news from the Japanese video game world today: Nintendo announced [JP, PDF] they will launch a successor to the DS/DSi for the next fiscal year (which begins next month in Japan and ends in March 2011). And what sounds particularly cool so far about the Nintendo 3DS is that the new portable device won’t require any special glasses for users to see the 3D images, according to Nintendo. → Read More
Last month, we reported that according to some rumors in the industry, Sony is seriously considering relaunching their portable gaming device, the PSP Go, with a price cut and marketing campaign. And today, Tokyo-based research firm Media Create released [JP] the latest hardware sales numbers for Japan, one of the biggest video game markets in the world.
And these numbers indicate that… → Read More
Thanko, the Tokyo-based maker of all things USB, sometimes produces gadgets that aren’t silly. Today, the company announced the Micro Sport MP3 Player [JP] that’s supposed to be especially suitable for people who want to listen to music while doing sports. The only drawback is that the thing doesn’t look to be designed for this purpose at all (but maybe that’s just me). Integrating one earbud into… → Read More
Toshiba in Japan announced the Portaro SD-P12DT [JP] today, a new portable DVD player. The main selling point of the device is the 12-inch LCD screen that features an LED backlight and 1,366×768 resolution. Sized at 342×73×326mm (weight: 2.8kg), the Portaro is available in black or white. → Read More
So, you want to play some Super Nintendo games. You’ve got some ROMs, but you don’t want to play it on one of the many devices already out there. No, you want to drop some serious cash on a homemade version of a portable player. Well, this guy has got your back. Or at least your wallet. → Read More
Japan-based gadget maker Strapya is offering the so-called Music Card MP3 Player (the link leads to their English store), an MP3 player that houses a speaker and an earphone plug but is still just 5mm (0.20″) thin. Sized at 5.4×8.6cm, the player weighs 20g.
Strapya says the headphone jack is just 2.5mm and ships fitting earphones with the player itself, but they’ll also give buyers an adapter so… → Read More
Yokohama-based electronics company Kumazaki-Aim has announced a “portable” LED video projector [JP] (size: 268×295×92mm, weight: 2.5kg) that won’t win any design awards but houses a DVD player. Buyers also get a screen (132×25×980mm) for their money. → Read More
Toshiba Japan announced a new portable DVD player today [JP], the SD-P93DTW, which is equipped with a One-Seg digital TV tuner. The device is Japan-only at this point. But Toshiba sells the SDP93S in the US, which is essentially the same player minus the TV tuner (the tuner is useless outside Japan and Brazil anyway). And Americans have to pay a lot less for their player. → Read More
Greenhouse in Japan will start selling the Kana Micro, nothing-special-but-cute mini DAPs [JP] from the beginning of next month (ask this shop if they offer the players anytime soon for Non-Japanese people). → Read More
This is the portable radio that’s supposed to rescue HD Radio from obscurity. It was showed off at last week’s CES, but since its name isn’t the Palm Pre no one gave a damn. → Read More
Tokyo-based YP Systems [JP] has developed the world’s first CO2 fire extinguisher that triples as a glass breaker and a belt cutter. The device is just 19.5cm long and weighs 370g. Made specifically for use during emergency situations in vehicles, the so-called Shobo Rescue’s fire extinguishing function is kept very simple (pulling a security pin is enough). YP Systems used food… → Read More
First NEC’s supercute (and very pink) Hello Kitty laptop, now this: A portable DVD player shaped like Hello Kitty’s head [JP], this time sold by Sanrio itself (the company behind the brand). The player comes with a 7-Inch LCD screen (resolution: 480×234), a built-in battery with a life span of 2.5 hours (an AC adaptor is included in the package) and an extracute remote control. → Read More
What gamer doesn’t have fond memories of the Sega Dreamcast? Apparently this guy wanted to relive those Jet Set Radio days while on the go – or in his cubical. This mod started as a Lazer Doodle toy and then after a bunch of cutting, epoxing, sanding, and dreaming, the whole thing plays 10-year old games. The whole thing is gigantic when compared to a modern handheld gaming device… → Read More
Now that the digital transition is just months away, and already happened in some parts, analog, handheld TVs are going to stop working. You know, the type of TVs you used to sneak into church overnighters and ‘hunting trips.’ Epoq is here to make sure that you can continue to see the game even if you’re in the middle of the lake ‘fishing’ with these three new… → Read More
The Inquirer is running an opinion piece regarding the benefits of adding GSM network access to laptops. The ubiquity of the GSM standard would make access available most anywhere in the world. Fernando Cassia argues that it’s time to replace the dial up modem with wireless connectivity. The cost would be minimal and laptop theft would decrease. Mobile devices are assigned a unique IMEI code… → Read More
That’s a SNES you’re looking at up there. The portablized version is detailed over at benheck.com forums. Lots of photos from every angle show the creation in all its glory. Nicely done. Power is provided by internal lithium batteries, (two 3.7v 4250 mAh tied in series) which take 2.5 hours to charge. Shoulder buttons got mapped to the back as triggers. AV and headphone jacks are provided. → Read More
It’s a sofa. It’s a box. It’s the SofaBox — a sofa that folds into its own box. Nice idea, especially for frequent travelers who can’t stand to be without a portable sofa for more than a couple of days or impromptu sitting sessions. The product’s website — http://www.sofabox.ch – is in a mystical, magical foreign language but somewhere in there it says that it… → Read More
HD Radio is still around, for some reason, but at least there’s a portable unit on the way. This August, for the low, low price of $150, you could buy the COBY HDR-700, a rather squarish-looking portable HD Radio. The batteries last about five hours, and the whole thing is enclosed in a splash-proof housing. You know, for all those trips to the beach you take. In all fairness, it’s… → Read More
Yesterday Japanese toymaker Takara Tomy announced [JP, PDF] the development of the world’s smallest Karaoke box, dubbed Hi-Kara. It will go on sale in Japan on October 18th and will be available in white or pink. The Hi-Kara is a complete portable Karaoke system that Takara Tomy managed to squeeze into a tiny cube (7 cm, 150 grams). It comes with a 2.4-inch LED, which can display music… → Read More
Tokyo-based Retailcomm unveiled a new portable speaker. The BIT-STB2819 is powered by 3 AA batteries and measures just 160×48×48mm (weight: 180 g). Output power is 2Wx2. The speaker can be wirelessly connected to media players and mobile phones via Bluetooth. It is limited to 500 pieces and exclusively on sale on Amazon Japan for $57. → Read More
Today, Japanese maker Thanko started selling its newest product, a portable media player powered by a small solar panel. The so-called “Solar MP4 Player” is Nippon-only and costs $95. It supports MP3/WMA/WAV audio and AVI/RM/MPG/VOB/DAT/RMVB video files. Additionally, the player can serve as a voice recorder, an FM radio and it also displays JPEGs. Several games are preinstalled as… → Read More
Sure, it’s not the most portable of portables, but if you long for the simpler days of Dreamcast, why not build a version you can take almost anywhere? Also, a note to the guy who sold me the broken Dreamcast at the Detroit Lakes, MN flea market last summer; I want my $20 back. I’m coming after you like a tornado made of arms, teeth, and fingernails. via Nowhere Else 2.0 → Read More
Meet the FC Mobile, a really interesting looking cloned NES console that’s perfectly portable. But unlike most NES clones, this one takes old school NES cartridges, so you can dust off the ones in the back of your closet, blow into the slot, and play Zelda just like you used to. We haven’t tried one out ourselves, but it’s really hard to muck up a decent emulator. My main concern… → Read More
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