Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

And in other news, it’s a chilly 32 degrees in Hell today, and we just saw a winged pig buzz by our window.

[Thanks, Mikami]

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Portable Audio

Usually when you see a ridiculously overpriced item on Amazon it’s the result of a glitch in their system, but if you happen to come across an MP3 player with a $20,000 pricetag, you’ll know that you’ve landed on the pre-order page for TrekStor’s i.beat organix Gold edition. That’s right folks, the same gold-plated (18 karat), diamond-encrusted (62 one-karat bits of ice) 1GB DAP once commissioned by a Russian-Canadian billionaire (and cheekily tagged with the term “waste of money”) can now be yours for the price of a pimped-out Honda Civic or down payment on your first home — although interested parties better hurry, as this is a limited edition item, and will be sold on a first come, first served basis. The perfect companion gadget for your Goldvish cellphone, the organix Gold edition features all the amenities you’d expect from a multi-thousand dollar player, including ample codec support (MP3, WMA, WAV, ASF, and OGG), an “extremely sharp” two-color OLED display, and an FM tuner with 16 presets and built-in station search. While we’re mighty tempted to take out a loan and pick one of these up ourselves, an Amazon “reviewer” perhaps put it best when he/she dryly noted that “I’ve heard that TrekStor will soon be introducing a 4GB model for under $30,000. I’m going to wait.” Smart move, intrepid Amazonian, although if you wait too long, you may not qualify for the FREE Super Saver Shipping available on this 1GB version. Decisions, decisions.

[Via I4U News]

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Filed under: Portable Video

No surprises here, but Amazon has taken their fancy new Unbox video downloads store live, and it’s looking… download-ey. Bad news first: prices are kind of xtreem, with our personal fav Rumor Has It going for $19.62, and the 1999 cult hit Office Space topping the download charts at $13.45. Luckily, the price fluctuations have an up-side, since you can catch boy wonder Elijah Wood in Everything Is Illuminated for a mere $8.99. TV prices, however, sit solidly at the $2 price predicted. As for download format, the full-length and preview videos are standard .wmv fare, but can only be played by the Unbox player. A third file is downloaded in a “.amzn” format for playback on mobile devices, but Amazon claims it’s just a straight PlaysForSure DRM-scheme. They’ve tested the files out on the Zen Vision, Zen Vision: M, Gigabeat S, Archos AV 500/700 and the iRiver PMC, but we’re guessing most devices shouldn’t have much of a problem. As for the full quality flicks, we can’t get an exact number, but we’re just going to assume “DVD quality” means 720 x 480, and we did note that sound is 5.1 surround. With rights management, rentals allow you a 30 day window to start watching the movie, but once you’ve begun you have 24 hours to enjoy before the file gets deleted. Purchased movies can reside on up to two computers, with each computer being allowed to sync with one portable device, and it does seem that re-downloading will be allowed in case your HDD crashes. DVD burning is allowed for backup, but you can’t burn playable DVDs, and the only way to get video to your TV is through a video out plug from your PC or media player. Now if you’ll excuse us, we’ve just dropped a Jackson to see what crazy antics Jennifer Aniston has gotten herself into this time.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: Portable Video

The word is out on Amazon’s movie download service. After plenty of rumorings, it doesn’t look like Amazon will be able to keep mum on the subject for long, since they’re expected to launch “Unbox” today. The word on prices isn’t exactly wonderful: rentals should go for about 4 bucks, while permanent downloads are hovering at $15. TV shows are matching the $2 iTunes pricepoint, and should be available the day after they air. As for studios, Amazon is purported to have Warner Bros., Fox, Paramount, MGM, Lionsgate, Sony and Universal all signed up, but Disney is said to be holding out for iTunes at this point. Picture quality is supposed to be DVD-ish, and videos will be playable in Amazon’s Windows-only Unbox player (pictured), or on your TV or portable device. So far the amazon.com/unbox URL is redirecting to a plain-vanilla DVD page, but if all this word on the street proves true we should be seeing it up in the next few hours.

[Thanks, Decemberice]

Read – Unbox rumor roundup
Read – Unbox screenshots
Read – Amazon.com/unbox (not yet live)

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Folks, whip out your credit cards, because if you haven’t already downloaded the Vista beta or a leaked copy from the internets, it looks like we may actually have a product for you to buy. Amazon shows that Windows Albatross um, Vista will be released on January 30, 2007, and they’ve been taking preorders for the last two weeks. Depending on which package or upgrade you decide to get, Vista will cost you at least a cool $159 and up to $399 for the full “Ultimate DVD-ROM.” Keep in mind that these preorder prices may be subject to change and may not reflect the actual final retail price, and may require the full written consent of Major League Baseball.

[Via I4U]

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Filed under: Home Entertainment

Advertising Age is reporting that Amazon is close to launching an ad-free video download service, side-stepping Apple and Microsoft on the music front in hopes of snagging a chunk of the video market while the going’s still good. It seems they weren’t always so focused on video though, initially planning on a music service before deciding it wasn’t worth the effort to take on Apple’s mighty iTunes empire — Microsoft apparently disagrees. Exact details on Amazon’s proposed video service — currently dubbed Amazon Digital Video (or Amazon DV) — are understandably a bit sketchy, but it appears that it’ll let users either download individual movies / TV shows for a yet-to-be-determined price or subscribe to a Netflix-type rental model. More details should be emerging soon enough — if Ad Age is right, the service is gonna launch in mid-August.

[Thanks, Chris]

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Filed under: Misc

Cellphone retailer Inphonic, which runs RadioShack’s and Wirefly’s online phone e-shops and has recently penned an agreement with Amazon to do the same, has been sued by Washington D.C.’s Attorney General for offering rebates requiring “onerous procedures” to fulfill. As we all know, rebates are often a boon for retailers and manufacturers because many buyers forget or don’t care to fill out and mail the required forms, but it seems Inphonic has taken their rebate scam game to the next level, racking up over 2,000 complaints in the past three years. Besides unhelpful customer service representatives or automated messages (we usually have a rough time telling the difference), Inphonic is accused of making the terms of some of their rebates impossible to meet, like requiring 120 days of continuous phone activation on a rebate that expires in less than 120 days. “Any time you’re dealing with millions of customers, as we are, there are going to be occasional concerns,” says Inphonic’s senior VP; we’re assuming that by “occasional” he means “virtually anyone who attempts to claim a rebate from us.”

[Via MobileTracker]

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

With the Tuesday official launch of HD DVD drawing near, a couple of retailers are starting to predict delays for getting the actual products into the hands of customers. Turns out some major online sellers haven't gotten their initial shipments yet, with Best Buy predicting April 17th to April 24th player availability, and Amazon mentioning that "Million Dollar Baby" won't be ready for April 18th. There aren't any official delays mentioned by Toshiba and friends, who seem well practiced in the art by now, so this could all be some miscommunication, but things don't look especially good for the earliest adopters out there. Luckily, all of this hullabaloo hasn't stopped a random Best Buy in Surf City, CA from accidentally selling a couple of players early, one of which was purchased Friday and is pictured above.

Read: HD DVD delays; via Slashdot
Read: HD DVD player released early; via HD Beat