We’re getting very excited by what we’ve seen of mobiBLU’s new ultra, ultra-slim US2 media player.
Sporting an unusual – and rather fiddly, to our eyes – necklace design (where the headphones are routed through the neck cord), the US2 packs a ton of functionality into its lard-free form factor.
Clad in a silver/grey metallic finish, the 7mm thick phone features a RAZR-style flat function pad controlling volume up/down, track skip and play/pause, with a 1.5-inch OLED colour display above.
Naturally, MP3 file support comes as standard, although we’ve no idea what other music formats are playable on the machine yet.
Similarly, we’ve no details about the specifics of the advertised “Audio, Video, Photo support,” but we can guess that it plays back MPEG4 files and can display JPEGs.
We couldn’t see a camera on the thing though, but we can tell you that it comes with built-in FM Tuner and recording, supported by SRS WOW Audio Processing onboard, activated by a small switch near the top of the device.
The mobiBLU US2 is set to be released in 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB flash memory flavours with a scheduled August 2006 release for Korea.
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. 
Microsoft has slipped out a pair of branded Webcams designed to offer tight integration with their hideously popular Messenger service. 
Both cams also come with built in mics, a wide angle lens to let social butterflies fit their vast armies of chums in frame and built-in cheesy video effects like falling snowflakes or twinkling stars. 
Here’s Microsoft’s Consumer Productivity Experiences Executive Vice President (who dreams up these job titles?) Tom Gibbons to explain how LifeCams are part of a new initiative by his company to tie in hardware products to Windows Live services. 
Japanese manufacturers Suekage are hoping that their new SOIOS 55-Cam 360’s unique ability to provide panoramic viewing angles and then relay them to 3G phones may make them a hit in the home security market. 
Well, that’s what their blurb said, and we’re not in the mood to get out a protractor and argue the toss, but that basic principle is: big curvy mirror = 360 coverage. 
The advantage of this system is that the webcam’s 360 degree all-seeing eye does away with the need for expensive motorised systems 
After consulting the well thumbed iPod design book, Chinese electronics manufacturers Meizu have rolled out their new Meizu Mini, a truly Lilliputian Personal Media Player. 
Other onboard gizmos include Synchronized Lyric Display, E-book, alarm clock, calculator, calendar and some (unspecified) games. 
So far we’ve only seen Chinese language screen shots but the interface seems crisp and slick enough to us. 
The player comes with a white or black finish and a metal back just like the – yep, you’ve guessed it – iPod. 
It may not have the swish designer lines of the iPod and the name may roll off the tongue as smoothly as a mouth full of dry nuts, but LG Electronics new MFJM53 MP3 player looks more than a bit useful. 
Although we like the look of this fella – the feature set particularly impresses – the lack of a scroll/clickwheel is going to seriously hamper its ability to challenge the dominance of the uber-iPod. 
The dome-headed boffins at Nokia have triumphantly put their multiple pens back in their white coat pockets as the new Nokia N73 and N93 phones roll out on the product slipway. 
Being Brits, we refuse to describe mobiles as having a ‘candybar’ form factor, so how about we call the N73, ‘Amazin’ Raisin Bar’ shaped? 
Rounding off the man-sized feature set is Bluetooth 2.0, a music player supporting MP3, AAC, AAC+ and WMA, video player with streaming support, FM radio with visual radio and a set of built-in pixie-sized 3D stereo speakers. 
Modestly billed by Nokia as the “ultimate mobile device for spontaneous video recording,” the N93 features a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, “DVD-like” video capture at 30 frames per second, and 3x optical zoom with video stabilisation. 
Sanyo have just launched what it’s claiming is the world’s smallest, thinnest and lightest solid state digital camcorder, the Xacti C6. 
Saving space by recording straight to a SD card instead of using conventional tape, recordable DVD or hard disk, the Sanyo can grab an hour of VGA resolution (640?480 pixels) video at 30 frames-per-second on a 1 GB card using the “TV-HQ” mode (MPEG-4 bit rate: 2 Mbps). 
There’s also a 5x optical zoom, 12x digital zoom and a Digital Image Stabiliser for correcting any wobbles, with the CCD sensor using 9-pixel mixing technology to record brighter and clearer video in low-light situations. 
JVC has unveiled the flagship model to its extensive range of Everio hard drive camcorders, the GZ-MG77. 
In the highest resolution mode, Ultra Fine, users can record 7 hours and 10 minutes of video at 9 Mbps. 
Video can be recorded in both standard and widescreen aspect formats, with an option to record stills.
When we saw MSI’s feature packed StarCam 370i knocking out for a mere £15 online ($26, €22), we thought it would make an ideal replacement for our elderly (and somewhat battle-weary) Sony cam, currently gazing out over the delights of Brixton.
A rudimentary software control panel lets users fiddle about with image/video parameters (gamma, brightness, contrast etc), and budding Jean-Luc Godard’s can select the black and white option for arty scenes.
The cam also features a built in microphone which was, as you might expect, fairly basic and lo-fi, but good enough for Internet calls.
We can, however, recommend it for anyone looking for a basic, cheap as chips Webcam for video chats with friends and relatives.