Kwik Kool Kantaris

It’s been a while since we featured a media player but it’s been worth the wait. Hot out of the box is Kataris a free Open Source player based on a past favourite, VLC, but all you really need to know is that it can play just about any type of multimedia file, Here’s the highlights: AAC, AC3, AVI, FLAC, MID, MIDI, MP2, MP3, MPEG, MGEG-AVC, WMV, MOV, MKV, OGG, QuickTime, Matroska, DIVX, XVID, H264, MP3, WAV WMA and many, many more. There’s also integration with Apple Movie Trailers and Last FM, plus some really freaky visualisations.

Introducing Zune 2.5

Microsoft continues to hammer away at its Zune digital media player and the services built around the device, but the evolution is largely a case of going where Apple has already taken the iPod and iTunes. On May 5, 2008, Microsoft introduced the latest update to Zune, not only adding new features and enhancements to the device itself but also evolving the Zune software, Zune Social and the Zune Marketplace. The focus of the update is to build on top of what the company started with “Zune Social” in November 2007, namely to extend the social networking community created around the device.

“Zune owners are pretty passionate, and they had a lot of great ideas for making the community more valuable to music fans. And I definitely fall into that category myself - the main reason we’re all here is we love the music,” stated Brian Seitz, a Group Marketing Manager for Zune. Zune Social offers users the possibility to interact in terms of music discovery, comments, playlist browsing, with the update bringing to the table additional capabilities including the ability to send messages to friends, explore their music collections and even drag-and-drop Zune Cards. Read More »

JWD 6500 PMP to Use Microsoft PlayFX

A new brand in the electronics industry, JWD has announced its intention of launching a new portable media player, which is going to be called PMP 6500. At a first glimpse, the good news is it doesn’t take on some other hot items on the market. It reveals a 2.8-inch TFT LCD 262K colors screen display. The player’s design line is not bad either, since milky white casing has always been fashionable.

Nevertheless, the coolest feature on the player’s specs list is its Microsoft Play FX capability. This means it allows users to take advantage of the latest technology in the gaming area, such as 3D sound effects, automatic volume adjustment and pure bass enhancement for the sound capabilities. A while ago, we have introduced you to Pasen ShakeIT, the first PMP ever to use the PlayFX tech. Read More »