(Source: MP3 Newswire)

As the latest addition to Acer’s media player stable, the MP-340 comes in with a 1.8″ TFT display (smaller than its bigger sibling’s 3.5″ screen), with the capability to tackle MP3/WMA audio formats, plus the JPEG image format and H.264 video. According to early news releases, it doesn’t support the staple AVI format nor DRM-type codecs.

Storage-wise, it comes with a 20GB hard drive, plus an SD-card slot. Dimensions-wise, we’ll be looking at 3.7″ x 2.5″ x 0.8″. And if Acer’s claims are to be believed, the MP-340 lasts 10 hours on a single charge (with the display off).

P.S.: It’ll come with Sudoku in-built too, and is apparently being sold in Germany already (for US$280 to $318).

[News via MP3 Newswire]

(Source: Tom’s Hardware Guide)

Months back, rumors were abound that Acer’s first foray into the portable media player (PMP) market, the Acer MP-500, would be out by around March or April. It is now June.

So, it is a couple of months late, or is that an understatement? For one, the PMP has only recently been seen on Acer’s German website, with no details whatsoever on a UK launch. Secondly, the MP-500 sports some dated specs - 20GB hard drive, 4-hour battery life and 3.5″ (320×240 native resolution) LCD screen - at least if compared with gadgets from Archos and the like.

Well, at least you can actually get your hands on one now - if you live in Europe that is. It seems that you can pick up the MP-500 for €350, but whether you’d want to is another issue altogether.

[News via Stuff Magazine]

(Source: Tom’s Hardware Guide)

It’s been going around that Europeans will have the Acer MP-500, a touchscreen portable media player, in around a month. We are probably talking about a PMP with a 3.5-inch touchscreen display, a relatively small 20-40GB hard drive, video out and 4-8 hours of battery life. It’ll support most audio and video formats too.

The unique part of the MP-500 is the provided stylus as an alternative for your fingers. This could be good or bad depending on whether Acer ensures that the virtual buttons are large enough for your hands. If they are, then the stylus will be a plus - rather than just a solution for small buttons.

[News via Engadget]

The guys over at infoSync have placed the Acer MG-3001P Media Gateway on their Top 10 Greatest Gadgets of 2005, joining other top gadgets like the Xbox 360 and the Nokia N70.

Of the MG-3001P Media Gateway, infoSync says, “Something of a dark horse, Acer’s MG-3001P came out of left field to snag first place in our media extender category. This stylish box will easily fit into any home theater setup and streams audio and video formats galore effortlessly over Wi-Fi 802.11g or 100 Mbps Ethernet using the UPnP protocol for standards compliance. Want more? It also views your pictures and can hook up USB Mass Storage portable drives for direct playback or copying to your network. ”

Read more at infoSync.

infoSync World reviews the Acer Media Gateway MG-3001P. They conclude that “With the exception of lacking content services, Acer’s Media Gateway MG-3001P comes very close to being the perfect media extender. Excellent support for audio, video and picture formats combines with high-resolution input and an intuitive user interface to make for a highly enjoyable experience. We’re disappointed by its lack of Secure WMA support and DVI/HDMI connections as well as its inability to skip and reverse video, but neither represent considerable showstoppers - and a nice price tag further contributes to the MG-3001P coming highly recommended..”