Say it ain't so! America's most loyal advocate for Microsoft's Zune is apparently throwing in the towel. Of course, we should warn you that this could very well be a simple ploy for attention, but if the man keeps his word, he will soon be covering his Zune tattoos with... something else. Curiously, he didn't say whether or not he would be playing the traitor card and picking up some sort of iPod, but considering that more people have seen this guy's body art in the wild than actual Zunes, the general public should know soon enough. You fought a good fight, Zune Guy, but consider yourself expelled from The Social.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Generally speaking, Oppo has stuck to its bread-and-butter: decently stylish PMPs and a well-received family of upscaling DVD players, respectively. Now, however, we're seeing a trio of concepts which allude to a future unit (or three) boasting gaming functionality. Unfortunately, details beyond that are few and far between, and we're not even certain of their place of origin. In other words, don't bet on seeing these hit shelves in the foreseeable future, but keep your fingers crossed that they do anyway.

[Thanks, Raz]

It's not that Electro Box's miShake PMP looks especially like anything else we've seen, but it sure takes an awful lot of cues from, shall we say, more popular brands. We won't even bother explaining the miShake name, but what is important to note is the 2.4-inch touchscreen, "explosive external loudspeaker," 4GB of internal memory, miniSD expansion slot and support for a multitude of audio / video file formats. Oh, and don't even bother fiddling through that questionable user interface to change tracks -- just give it a good jerk (you know, like Sony's Shake control) to hear the next jam begin abruptly. So much merriment for just £119.95 ($240).

[Via Pocket-lint]

Apparently Creative is cooking up more than just the ZEN X-Fi as of late, according to a discovery made by anythingbutipod forum members. The crew stumbled onto the ZEN Krystal, a small MP3 player that features 4GB of storage, a blue OLED display, an FM tuner, and support for MP3 and WMA files. What really makes the device pique our curiosity, however, is the included built-in pedometer, which can track distance and speed à la Nike+, as well as the handful of games that come on-board the little guy. Right now the player is only up on Creative's Hong Kong site, and we've got no word on price or release date.

[Via anythingbutipod]

If you've been resisting the urge to believe that Samsung's U4 was more than just a figment of someone's untamed imagination, we've got just one question for you: why? The inevitable has finally happened, with the pocket-friendly DAP getting official half a world away. The unit will boast an OLED display, touch-sensitive buttons and 2GB or 4GB of internal storage. Reportedly, these critters will be available on August 7th in the Asia-Pacific region for S$89 ($66) / S$129 ($96) depending on capacity, though we aren't sure yet what they'll sell for when they (hopefully) make the trip Stateside.

No, it's not all Playstation news for Sony today -- the company also announced the new NWZ-B130F Walkman, a slender little stick of a player available in several colors. The latest entry in the B series of Walkmans sports a 3-line LCD, MP3 and PlaysForSure WMA support, 90 minutes of playback on a 3-minute charge, an FM tuner, and voice recorder in both 1GB and 2GB capacities. We're hearing pricing will come at least $20 below that of the iPod Shuffle, but it's a little moot -- it's scheduled for an Asia-only arrival in August at the moment.

[Via SonyInsider]

Finally we can toss out that old, boring Gemei X760 we've been fooling around with, and step up to some legitimate action. That's right, the X760+ is on the scene, and that + isn't just for show. The new iteration of the Chinese-made PMP / game playing device boasts 4GB of onboard storage, a 3-inch, WQVGA screen, a 400MHz CPU, FM tuner, and a TV output. The handheld is capable of playing MP3, WMA, APE, RM, MPEG, FLV, AVI, and VOB files (amongst others), but the main selling point here seems to be its built-in ability to emulate the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, as well as play "3D games." The price? 599 yuan (or about $87). Availability? Call an importer.

[Thanks, Raz]

Teclast's M26 seemed vaguely more interesting than the dozens of other garbage, status-quo portable media devices that get pumped out of Chinese factories on a weekly basis -- and now we need not spend any more time wondering just where they got their design, um, inspiration. At least Meizu's M8 sexed it up a little -- this take is just a bit depressing.

[Via thegadgetsite]

If you found yourself infatuated with Samsung's YP-U3, you're sure to love the U4... we think. There's a complete dearth of information regarding the device itself, but given that it already has a placeholder and image on the outfit's Korean Yepp site, we'd say there's a pretty good chance it'll be getting real soon enough. Hold tight, miniature DAP lovers, Sammy won't keep you in the dark much longer.

[Via AnythingButiPod]

These days, the cool kids are looking to do more than just play back the freshest jams on their portable media player. We're talking video, PVR, WiFi, the works. Have a listen at Marco's question, and if you think you could do one better, send in your inquiry to ask at engadget dawt com:

"I'm looking for a new PMP, but I want a unit that can do it all. A large screen, big hard drive, support for lots of codecs, PVR functionality, TV output, etc. I'd also like Bluetooth and / or WiFi if possible. I don't mind units that are somewhat bulky, but I want one with a great user interface and decent battery life. Any help here?"

Yeah, he totally just called the Archos / Cowon fanboys from the woodwork, but seriously, what would you recommend to this fellow? Is your current PMP a dream come true? Would you advise against getting whatever you've got? Spill your soul in comments below.

You've seen it toyed with, you've seen it unboxed and you've read the review. Now, the moment of truth has arrived. iriver's Lplayer is officially on sale here in the USA, with the 4GB models going for $109.99 and the 8GB editions demanding $159.99. You'll also have to choose between white, pink and black, but don't sweat the details, okay?

[Thanks, Jenn]

iriver's Lplayer, which we just got done handling ourselves, made it over to the review crew at PC Magazine. As expected, both design and interface were smiled upon, and critics also felt the price was fair. Upon using the admittedly wee device, they seemed to have problems getting the click buttons to respond like they wanted, but aside from that, hardly anything negative was said. The broad codec support was praised, the built-in equalizer worked as advertised and the FM tuner / voice recorder were welcome extras. All in all, it was seen as a worthy rival to the iPod nano, and if you're the type that prefers something different in the pocket, this puppy just might be the ticket.

These days, it's pretty wild and crazy if a PMP manufacturer manages to do anything different than what's already out there, so we've got a soft spot for Shenzhen's EM-2811, being sold as the "Latte ICE." Sure, nothing spectacular, and the 1GB-4GB capacity is seriously amature hour, but we like the look of the device, and the interface is pretty strong for a no-name DAP. There's a miniSD slot to overcome that capacity handicap, a 2.8-inch QVGA screen, FM radio, voice support, AVI / MPEG video playback, and a built-in speaker. Tetris is included, but with the button layout we're hoping they can finagle a couple emulators on there. Battery life of 4 hours video and 8 hours audio is painful, but overall the Latte ICE isn't at all bad for a $70 starting price. Video is after the break.

[Via PMP Today]

Just look at that little morsel of digital audio playing goodness. How could you not want something like that in your front pocket? Samsung's 1GB S2 DAP has indeed arrived right on schedule, and it's available now for those completely okay with releasing $39.99. It's the green glow that does it, isn't it?

[Thanks, Oscar]