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iRiver shows off VoIP phone media player

It's an MP3 player. It's an FM radio. It's an e-book reader. It's a VoIP phone. It's a navigation gagdet. It's iRiver's W10, the South Korean company's latest attempt to out-perform the iPod - and now the iPhone too, it hopes.

iRiver W10 media player
iRiver's W10: one way up it's a VoIP handset

The compact player has Wi-Fi on board, which is uses not only for internet connectivity, but also to locate a given player to give it a GPS-like mapping facility that can display nearby points of interest based on where it thinks your hotspot is.

The internet link also provides a way for the W10 to tune into the thousands of internet radio stations out there, though there's a traditional FM receiver built in too.

The W10's 3in, 272 x 480 touchscreen display flips into a numeric keypad to dial phone numbers.

The W10 has come a long way since it first appeared in March 2006 as a UMPC-like clamshell gadget. Then is sported a 5in display, ran Windows XP and contained a 60GB hard drive for storage. Now, it comes with either 4GB or 8GB of Flash, though it also takes Mini SD cards for more.

iRiver W10 media player
iRiver's W10: turn it round and it's an internet radio

iRiver showed the W10 off last week at the South Korean Electronics Show. Alas there's still not word yet on pricing or availability, it seems.

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