Details are still a little murky on this one, but some information on the upcoming range 404, 504, and 604 PMP devices are bubbling on up on t’internet.
The Archos 404 (already being dubbed the ‘Page Not Found’ player by some wags) looks set to a high-spec’d affair, sporting a 30 GB hard drive, a 3.5″ LCD display (320 x 240 px, 16 million colours) and MTP/UMS capabilities.
The thing looks like it will be able to play just about any multimedia file you throw at it too, with built in support for MP3, WMA, WAV, JPEG, BMP, PNG, MPEG4 ASP (Level 5), XviD, DivX 4, DivX 5 and WMV9 (up to a max resolution of 704x 480 @ 30fps, 720 X 576 @ 25fps).
Inside the highly pocketable player (100 X 77 X 15 mm, weight 190g) there’s also a PDF viewer on board, a handy PDF viewer and a built in speaker.
Audio playback battery life is claimed at 15 hours, dropping to 4 hours with video.
Archos 504/604
We’ve no details on the Archos 504 yet, but we can tell you that the Archos 604 offers the same feature set as above, but adds a man-sized 4.3″ display (480 x 272 px, 16 million colours) screen in a slightly bigger case (130 x 78 x 16mm, 260g.)
Accessories ahoy
Archos are rumoured to be producing an optional DVR station for all the new units, capable of recording video from external sources using MPEG4-SP (DivX 5.0) with ADPCM up to maximum 640 X 480 @ 30fps)
As with previous Archos models, there also looks to be a range of add-ons being made available later, including a line-in recorder, USB host module, and camera.
The players are expected to ship in October, although Archos have made no official announcement yet.
A French company with the tongue twisting nomenclature of Neonumeric has released details of their NTG-1 portable media player. 
The 107 x 62 x 21mm player can also play back MP3, WMA and WAV audio files, and there’s also a built-in FM tuner, 512MB of internal memory and a SD/MMC card slot for shunting in your own memory. 
Pricing is still to be confirmed, although we’re looking at something between $250 to $300, and we’ve no idea of availibility yet. 
We’re big fans of Pure Digital and their seemingly endless mission to push the features and functions of DAB radios. Their latest move is to launch a new portable DAB radio. 
Recognising that what they’re selling is audio quality, Pure have done a deal with Sennheiser to have Sennheiser’s MX300 headphones included in the package. 
Smaller than a pack of cards and packed with enough whizz-bang functionality to keep a hyperactive cokehead entertained for hours, MobiBox’s new MP410 multimedia recorder and player packs a big punch for the price. 
The MP410 also features a pair of folding out speakers for added ‘Tony Blair’ appeal, and comes with a pull-out stand for desk viewing. 
Interface 2 in 1 MiniUSB (USB 2.0/power in)
Although in-ear bud headphones are all well and good for strutting down the street with your iPod/PDA/smartphone in your pocket, when it comes to DJing or listening at home, you might need something a little more substantial. 
Designed for DJs
The sound
So after our own (paid for) headphones conked out after just four months and with no chance of a replacement after voiding our guarantee with the attempted emergency repair, we’ve had to rapidly downsize our enthusiasm. 
More often than not, the in-ear headphones that come bundled with MP3 players are weedy affairs, producing a feeble floppy fart of a low end when you’re looking for a thunderous bass. 
The human ear can only hear frequencies around 20 to 20,000 Hz, and that’s only when you’re young and healthy. 
This improved the sound no end, and the ‘phones are great for using on planes and trains when you want to hear as little exterior noise as possible and don’t fancy forking out for expensive noise cancelling units. 
Lined up on the new product runway and awaiting clearance for take off is the slick looking Oracom UB890 portable media player. 
There’s also built in equaliser and 3D sound and onscreen visual effects to keep the easily-bored entertained. 
Rounding off the gadget-fest, there’s also an alarm clock, sleep timer, built-in speakers (500mW + 500mW) and an iPod-esque ‘Touch Sensor Key Pad’ for shimmying through the menus. 
It might look like a weird mutation between Dr Who’s K9 and and the wobbly robot from Lost In Space, but we like the fact that PURE Digital’s new Bug TOO DAB radio is brave enough to stand out from the current crowd of wood’n’plastic identikit DAB radios. 
This usefully displays artists names, song titles, news, sports results and other information, with the EPG feature offering programme information and schedules. 
There’s also alarm, sleep and timer record functions – including an MP3 alarm – so the Bug TOO could be a handy bedside radio. We’re not quite sure why anyone would want 20 configurable alarms though, but if that’s what you’re after, the Bug’s got ’em. 
New from Onkyo is the CR-D1, a natty mini Hi-Fi CD/FM receiver with options to control docked iPods (volume/stop/start etc) and wirelessly stream music from PCs. 
When it comes to expansion options, this fella’s well stacked, offering 1 x optical, 3 x RCA, and stereo mini-jack inputs and 1 x optical, 2 x RCA, subwoofer, and headphone outputs. 
Specifications
LG Electronics has rolled up its beefy sleeves, raised its fists and shouted, “Come oooonnn!!!! Let’s be ‘aving you!” to the electronics world, declaring its intent to more than double its share of the world’s top products by 2010. 
With a direct hit on the spittoon, he continued, “By substantially increasing the number of flagship goods through our technological prowess, we aim to evolve into a bona fide powerhouse.’ 
Pointing aggressively, Myung-wo says he wants the global market for plasma display panel (PDP) modules, PDP TVs, liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs, side-by-side refrigerators, built-in air conditioners and drum washers to be pwned by LG. 
Similarly, when it comes to domestic air conditioners, LG rules the roost, and the company is now wrestling for the crown of King of Flat-Panel Displays, knocking out 730,000 plasma units last year to nudge past market leaders Samsung SDI.