Creative keeps slashing Zen prices -- just a couple weeks after cutting the 32GB model to $299, it's back with price cuts to the midrange. The 4GB Zen is now just $99, while the 8GB model falls to $149 -- the same price as the 4GB iPod nano, for those of you keeping score at home. Not bad, not bad at all -- but we'll wait to see what comes of this Zen Share rumor first.

Take note, Zune dudes and dudettes: the Zune Originals engraving -- which has heretofore been relegated to the 4GB and 8GB flash versions of Microsoft's new player -- is now available on the big daddy, the 80GB. That's right -- now text, wild graphics, and combinations of the two can be emblazoned upon your media player, serving as a testament to your original and inimitable personality till the end of time. Did we mention it's free? Motor over there and check it out, right this second.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

So it looks like Creative will be continuing to attack Apple on the features front, with Crave UK reporting that the Singaporean manufacturer is poised to release an updated version of its diminutive, Shuffle-esque Zen Stone Plus -- packing in a hefty 4GB of flash memory, no less. Besides the capacity bump, the unannounced upgrade is also said to boost battery life to a more respectable 12 hours and add support for unprotected AAC files, clearly a move designed to sway fans of the iTunes Plus DRM-free music selection. Being a rumor and all, we don't even have a clue as to when you can expect to see the latest Stone on store shelves, so keep your eyes peeled.

Update: Now Crave is reporting that an 8GB Stone Plus is also forthcoming. Stay tuned throughout the day as this supposed capacity continues to increase.

[Thanks, Daniel M.]

Sony just announced the sticky-sweet Cyber-shot DSC-T2 compact camera. Available in you choice of blue, green, pink, white or black candy coatings, the T2 comes loaded with specs: 8 megapixel, 1/2.5-inch CCD; 4GB of on-board flash storage with Memory Stick Pro Duo expansion; 2.7-inch, 230k pixel touchscreen LCD; ISO 3200 max sensitivity; Sony's "smile shutter" and face detection tech; and 3x Carl Zeiss zoom with optical image stabilization. Ready for plenty of egg noggin' granny shots this December for about $350.

Well, would you look at this. Thanks to the oh-so-disclosing FCC website, we're now seeing drawings of what looks to be 4GB and 8GB versions of Microsoft's forthcoming flash-based Zunes. Sure enough, the pictures match the leaked photos from yesterday to a T, so it shouldn't be long before these things get officially official. Additionally, the documentation includes what appears to be a matching Zune FM transmitter module and dock, which is pictured after the jump for your enjoyment. Hold tight kids, the new Zunes are nearly here.

UPDATE: Looks like these bad boys should also have built-in WiFi (likely 802.11b/g enabled) courtesy of a Marvel 88W8686 chipset.

[Via Technabob, thanks Daniel G.]
Read - Flash-based Zunes in FCC
Read - Zune FM Transmitter in FCC

It's true, Apple has no more use for the puny capacity of its 4GB iPhone, and is selling off the remaining stock at $299. Get 'em while the getting's good! Oh, and yeah, that means the Apple Store is finally back up, after an extended hiatus, so feel free to plunder your checking account with all of Apple's new wares.

Oh, Toshiba. Usually we wouldn't react too kindly to jumping in the game nearly half a year late, but considering just how rare these 4GB microSDHC cards still seem to be, we'll give you a pass on this one. Sure enough, Tosh is finally ready to unleash its wee 4GB microSDHC card on the world, and besides guaranteeing sustained write rates of up to 4Mbps, it also promises write speeds of nearly 6Mbps. No word on pricing details as of now, but considering that these should be hitting (a few) shelves come next month, you won't be waiting too much longer in tense anticipation.

[Via Tech-On]

If Philips' portable audio division has one thing going for it, it's definitely consistency. While other manufacturers are tacking value-added features onto their products like WiFi, higher storage capacities, and more codec support, Philips just keeps on releasing the same damn model in slightly different form factors. Cases in point are the company's new SA9300 (pictured right) and SA5100 (pictured left) DAPs, which offer the same small color screens, FM tuners, limited file support, and maxed-out 4GB capacities that we've already seen a hundred times before on devices like the SA9200 and SA6045. GenerationMP3 spotted these units on Philips' German site, meaning we're not sure when/if the cookie cutter players will be hitting the States; pricing, however, seems to be in the €99 to €199 ($133 to $268) range, depending on model number and storage.

Apple, Creative, Microsoft, SanDisk, and Sony would like to officially welcome Memorex into the 21st Century, as the jack-of-all trades manufacturer has finally discovered that monochrome displays are totally played, introducing its first digital audio player to feature a color screen. The MMP8640, as it's known, joins the 2GB MMP8575, 1GB MMP8565, and 512MB MMP3774, but trumps all of these models with its 4GB capacity and 1.8-inch QCIF+ screen capable of displaying JPEGs and playing back MPEG-4 content in either landscape or portrait mode. Also on board are LED lighting to give the device six different themes, one-touch recording for dictation or capturing content from the FM tuner, and 100 pre-loaded songs that you'll have to delete. The claimed 20-hours of battery life for tunes sounds pretty decent, but you'd better plug in for watching movies, because that number plunges to a mere two hours when playing video content. Although Memorex states that these are stocked at Target, we couldn't find it on the retail monster's site, and no other pricing or release information has been given.

[Via Chip Chick]

Ever since MusicGremlin and Microsoft released their respective innovative-but-flawed wireless DAPs, we've been jonesing for someone to get direct-to-device downloading right, and while SanDisk seems to have taken a step in the right direction with its tempting 4GB Connect, early reviews prove that we still have a ways to go before these offerings fully cater to consumer demands. On the plus side, everyone seems to be lovin' the Connect's design, controls, and GUI -- unlike the Sansa e200 series, the scroll wheel and buttons seem to be solidly-built and well-placed -- along with the ability to listen to Internet radio (just Yahoo LAUNCHcast, though) and browse one's entire Flickr collection; also getting pretty high marks were the sound quality, microSD slot, and tinny-but-handy mono speaker. However, not all is well in Sansaland, with the Connect's downloading abilities severely hampered by the limited choices available from Yahoo Music Unlimited to Go (the only service that this will work with sans PC), not to mention the fact that Mac users are once again left out in the cold. SanDisk claims that it may provide firmware updates that allow such things as a critical search function and connections to paid hotspots, but certain downsides -- like the measly 6 hour / 12 hour WiFi on / off battery life and inability to share tracks with friends (only track names, which you could just as easily tell someone) -- will probably only be addressed with new hardware or not at all. Bottom line: if you can deal with a limited selection of tracks, anemic battery life, and no FM radio, the Connect certainly sounds like a winner -- and if you wait a while longer, version two will probably be even better.

Read - New York Times ("Half-baked") [Via Wi-Fi Net News]
Read - CNET (8 out of 10, Excellent)
Read - Laptop (3.5 out of 5 stars)

Volkswagen may have a crush on Apple -- you'll recall the "buy one Fox get one iPod free" iFox promotion -- but it seems that LG is the DAP manufacturer with a little thing for the German automaker, announcing a Beetle-themed PMP at the Seoul Motor Show. Like the efficient little car that inspired it, the unnamed flash player sports front and rear badges, comes in one of three primary colors, and only features enough "trunk space" (2GB or 4GB) for your shorter trips -- road warriors should look for an 8GB luxury vehicle or hard drive-based media SUV. Codec support is lean but adequate, with MP3, WMA, OGG, MPEG-4, and WMV 9 files playable through headphones and/or on the 2.6-inch LCD, resolution unknown. Also a mystery are price, release, and availability, so VW fans will have to continuing getting their fix from the I-Playaz Beetle-shaped DAP speaker or jet-powered bug for the foreseeable future.

[Via Everything USB]

Sure we've seen 4GB and 8GB Class 6 SDHC cards before -- Lexar's got a pair, as does Transcend -- but when it's SanDisk that steps up to the plate with new Ultra II and Extreme III models, well, that's certainly worth a mention. As we're all well aware by now, Class 6 cards have a minimum sustained write speed of 6MBps, though both the 8GB Ultra II and 4GB Extreme III easily surpass that, clocking in at 9MBps and 20MBps, respectively. Available in June -- along with the new 4GB EIII Memory Stick PRO Duo card -- the 4GB EIII will retail for $180, the 8GB UII will fetch $240, and both models will toss in a "free" MicroMate USB 2.0 reader.

Read - Extreme III
Read - Ultra II

4GB in an miniSDHC card? We scoff at the audacious bulk of such a memory device! See, only microSD can cut it anymore around the Engadget HQ, now that Kingmax has squeezed 4GB of flash memory into a microSDHC card -- champions of lesser memory formats will be shot on sight. Plus it's not just the capacity getting boost, performance has hit new highs as well, with 22.5MBps dual channel read speeds (150x) and normal read speeds of 19.1MBps (127x). That means the card can pull off SD 2.0 speeds in your digicam, while still making for a real kicker of a memory expansion for your phone or media player. Don't bother with looking for a price or availability date, we just pre-ordered the entire first run.

[Via TrustedReviews]

Sure, the big boys like SanDisk and Apple are already onto 8GB capacities in their flash players, but that doesn't mean we can't celebrate the small victory of Cowon finally making it over the 2GB hump and busting out 4GB updates for its iAudio F2, iAudio U3 and iAudio T2 players. Not bad at all for the size of some of these things. All three refreshes should be headed our way this November, no word on price just yet.

[Thanks, Old Surinam]

We're still a bit in the dark as to when exactly iriver is going to bust this thing out in retail, or for how much, but they've at least confirmed a 4GB refresh for their imminently lovable iriver Clix player, along with a stylish black version to make hanging out with those smarmy iPod kids a bit less of a struggle.

[Thanks, Owen]