Indianapolis — Thomson has begun shipping the RCA LYRA X3030 30GB portable media player (PMP), a $399-suggested device that plays audio and video transferred from a variety of sources, including authorized movie-download sites.
With the included home theater docking base, consumers can record audio/video directly from the analog outputs of TVs, camcorders, and CD players. Video and audio recording can also be time-shifted when the included docking base is used in conjunction with the included IR blaster.
The device features secure Windows Media (WM10) software for playing back protected video downloads from the Web in Windows Media Video (WMV) format. Two sources of protected content are ZVUE.com and Amazon’s newly launched Unbox service, which offers TV and movie downloads for sale or rental. Unbox, however, restricts rental downloads to PC playback, Thomson said.
The Lyra is also compatible with pay-per-song download sites, subscription-download music sites, and audio book files from Audible.com. Content is included in the price: three free downloads from ZVUE.com, free seven-day trial to Yahoo! Music Unlimited, and 100 free music downloads from emusic.com.
The LYRA X3030 weighs less than 8 ounces with 3.6-inch 320×240 color screen and removable lithium ion battery that provides up to four hours of video playback. It also offers ability to create image slide shows with zoom and photo rotation and music accompaniment. A built-in microphone lets the user record voice notes describing individual photo slides.
Up to 15,000 JPEG photos are easily transferred from an SD memory card or compatible camera without a computer.
