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Toshiba updates the Gigabeat V-Series
comment: 13 | Monday, May 28 (2007) 01:50PM | Posted by Michael
Although Microsoft recently stated their plans to discontinue future use of their PMC software, Toshiba apparently got that memo a little late. They've just announced an updated version to their ever-so-unpopular V-series. The new version is improved in nearly every category, including a larger screen, new colors, more features, and higher capacities. It even boasts better sound quality due to the included H2C technology found inside; which supposedly attempts to fill in the missing frequencies found in lossy files (similar to Creative's X-Fi technology, I imagine).

  • 40 and 80GB Capacities
  • 4" QVGA Widescreen display (480 x 272)
  • Audio: MP3, WMA, WMA Lossless, and WAV
  • Video: WMV
  • Digital Television Tuner
  • Preloaded with Games
  • Battery Life: 28 hours for audio, 8 hours for video
  • Dimensions: 124.5 x 75.5 x 18mm (40GB model)
  • Colors: Black, White, and Bordeaux


In addition to the sound enhancing technology, there's also a "Brightness sensor" that will change the brightness of the screen in accordance with its' surroundings. The player is scheduled to arrive on June 1st and will only be sold in Japan for now.

Press Release + More info (via, ABi)

Comments

DaHarder

Comments: 523
May 28 (2007) 01:58PM  

'Bordeaux'?

You can't hate em' for trying! LOL!




DaHarder

Comments: 523
May 28 (2007) 01:59PM  

The specs seem pretty impressive as well, but then so did the specs for the S-Series before it came out... Hmmm?




Jeremy K.

Comments: 9
May 28 (2007) 02:17PM  

Ug... the specs are actually terrible. Sure, battery life seems good, but the only video format it accepts is WMV. For that reason alone this will be a flop.




DaHarder

Comments: 523
May 28 (2007) 02:21PM  

Well you have to remember that it is still a MS PMC...

And I, personally, have no issue with WMV on small devices like this, as I have no intention of 'video-outing' it to a larger screen.

My experience with WMV has been very pleasant, and on my Zen Vision W, it gives me a pretty decent quality to file size ratio.

Your Result May Vary




Jeremy K.

Comments: 9
May 28 (2007) 02:33PM  

It's not that there's anything wrong with WMV it's that it ONLY supports WMV. It's all about codec support nowadays.




HipHopScribe

Comments: 126
May 28 (2007) 03:00PM  

I agree with Jeremy, for a video oriented device in 2007, being WMV only pretty much makes it crap in my opinion.
[ edited May 28 (2007) 03:02PM ]




pata2001

Comments: 141
May 28 (2007) 03:05PM  

You know, I don't understand why a 2 year old device like the Cowon A2 has much better support for video (xvid/divx, even WMV) than anything newer. As for battery life, the A2 clocks in 8 hours for video, and this is a device released 2 years ago.




DaHarder

Comments: 523
May 28 (2007) 03:29PM  

and I quote,

"Although Microsoft recently stated their plans to discontinue future use of their PMC software, Toshiba apparently got that memo a little late"

This PMP was probably already in the pipeline before the MS announcement was made...






Michael
Location: New York City
Comments: 2802
May 28 (2007) 03:52PM  

Yeah I'm sure it was. That sentence wasn't supposed to be taken all that seriously since no one knows if they knew or not. It's purpose was to remind everyone on the discontinuation of PMC and bridge the gap to this new player.

Even if they knew PMC was pulled during development, I think they still have the right to put it on a new player since it was licensed to them in previous Gigabeats. I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft told Toshiba they'd be discontinuing PMC a few months after the release of the Gigabeat S-series.


[ edited May 28 (2007) 03:59PM ]




rockinamigo14

Comments: 188
May 28 (2007) 04:29PM  

If it accepted more video codecs, I'd be on this like a lid on a pickle jar.




dap_pad

Comments: 519
May 28 (2007) 04:43PM  

The sensor thing is cool... the battery life... semi-impressive. Other than that, nothing special LOL




pata2001

Comments: 141
May 29 (2007) 01:23AM  

Well, thinking about it, maybe this is a preview for the next Zune? Maybe MS will just copy the device again, and replace the OS with the Zune OS.




Michael
Location: New York City
Comments: 2802
May 29 (2007) 01:45AM  

Nope, the new Zune will not be built by Toshiba from what I've heard. It's being built from scratch by Microsoft.




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