New MSI Wind Ships with TV-Tuner

MSI’s new Wind U123 distinguishes itself with not none, but one, stand-out feature: a TV tuner. In addition to the usual array of holes around the rim of the machine (USB, mic in and line out, RJ45 jack, D-sub video-out and a multi-card reader) there is a TV antenna connector. It might not sound like much, but it’s pretty smart on a few levels. First, even if you have no internet you have access to free TV pretty much anywhere in the world. And if you hook the Wind up to a bigger screen at home, you now have one extra extra quill in your home entertainment quiver (sorry, again).

The U123 also has the new 1.66GHz N280 Atom processor, which performs only a little faster than its ubiquitous predecessor but uses a lot less power. And as for power, the U123 doesn’t even bother with those lowlife 3-cell batteries. Instead you get a choice of a sic-cell or the huge nine-cell, which is enough to watch a whole day of Pop-Idol re-runs. $380, available now.

BenQ’s $499 Joybee GP1 pocket projector up for pre-order

BenQ’s Joybee GP1 pocket projector is just about ready to ship here in the States. Starting now, interested consumers can plop down $499 in order to secure a place in line, ensuring that you’ll be one of the first on the block to take possession of the planet’s first LED-based PJ with a USB reader.

Features:

• DLP projection system
• Resolution 858 x 600
• 100 ANSI lumens
• 2,000:1 contrast ratio
• built-in 2-watt speaker and
• VGA / component / composite inputs

iriver’s T-DMB-packin’ B30 portable media player

Check it, North Americans — yet another PMP that’ll never arrive here in this form. The T-DMB-equipped B30 just popped up over on iriver’s Korean website, complete with an FM tuner, 2.8-inch QVGA display, a microSD expansion slot, 4/8/16GB of inbuilt memory, white / black / silver color options, USB 2.0 connectivity, a user-selectable equalizer and a list of supported file formats too lengthy to cover in this space. Furthermore, we’re told that the battery is good for 40 hours on audio and 5.5 hours with video, and while a ship date has yet to be revealed, we’re expecting ‘em to go for around $155, $183 and TBD from least capacious to most.

Mivvy’s New Dual SIM Phones

Dual SIM cell phones aren’t exactly the rage unless you’re an extremely busy person who prefers to tote two numbers on a single handset, but Czech-based Mivvy is up to the task with three new dual SIM handsets -the Dual TV touch, Dual Nio and Dual Slide. All of them will support tri-band GSM/GPRS connectivity (900/1800/1900 MHz) while using a secondary SIM card on the 900/1800 MHz GSM frequencies. Features of individual handsets are available in the extended post. The Mivvy Dual TV Touch, Mivvy Dual Slide and Mivvy Dual Nio will retail for €160, €150 and €120, respectively.

BeBook And BeBook 2 Details

BeBook is yet another e-book reader that ough to cater to the entry level market with a price point of €199, while those who want something beefier might consider the BeBook 2 which will see Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity built-in. Unfortunately, it seems to be priced in the same neighborhood as the Kindle 2, which places it between €350 ($476) and €400 ($544), so make sure you have enough dough before taking the plunge into a wireless book environment.

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