A 4.3", 16:9 widescreen, 30 GB HDD and broad non-Windows Media format support: Jørgen Sundgot drools over LG's new PM70 Portable Media Center at CeBIT.
Update: According to a Microsoft spokesperson, all Portable Media Center devices are required to support Windows Media Video, suggesting an oversight on the part of LG in failing to mention support for the format.
Here's an oddity: a Windows Mobile based Portable Media Center device that doesn't list any Windows Media Video on its list of supported video codecs. Whether this is the result of lax copywriting on LG's part or not I honestly cannot say, since for some reason LG did not have the product manager for this particular device on hand here at CeBIT; what I know, I've derived quite simply from the display case for this device.
Still, the list of features found in the PM70 is enough to make anyone interested in portable media viewers take a second look. For instance, the 4.3" screen in and itself is already bested by devices such as the MobiNote DVX-POD 7010 with its super-size 7" display - but it's exceptionally bright and clear, and it's among the very first such devices I've seen with a 16:9 format screen. At 470 x 272 pixels, it's quite roomy, and it's got 262K colours to boot.
 | | LG PM70 |
To be available with either 20 or 30 GB of hard drive space, the PM70 will support a smorgasboard of video codecs, including MPEG2; MPEG4; DivX 3.x, 4.x and 5.x; and XviD. In the audio department, Windows Media Audio is present, as is MP3, Ogg Vorbis, ASF and AC3 - very comprehensive. Last, but not least, we also find BMP and JPEG photo viewing.
Moving on, we find that the PM70 has some very unusual features indeed for a device based on Microsoft's Portable Media Center platform; in fact, I wonder if it might not be running on a next-generation version of the platform, since 16:9 support appears to be absent in the current version given the lack of such devices.
 | | LG PM70 |
First off, we have not only an FM tuner but also FM recording, joined by voice recording. Then there's video out, but surprisingly we also find video in - however there is the slight possibility that LG is referring to the capabilities of a PMC device to synchronize video recorded by a Windows XP Media Center PC from any number of sources. Still, the PM70 will also feature the ability to synchronize PIM information with Microsoft Outlook, which is most certainly a feature not present in any current PMC devices.
Topping off such a comprehensive feature set is USB 2.0 connectivity with support for USB Host 1.1, and a claimed battery life of 16 hours of audio playback or 4 hours of video playback. Thus far, there's no word on pricing, but according to an LG representative the device is likely to be commercially available some time in the fourth quarter.
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