Check this out: iUbi Blue PMP2500B

Apple needs to get on the ball if they expect to compete with something like this. The feature set is amazing, the screen is a wonderful 480x272 (same as the PSP), codec support is awesome, USB-to-go is crazy cool, and it can record video from a number of sources in MPEG4 30fps. I’m thinking that is going to make for one hell of a personal media system. Oh, and it has Bluetooth support for wireless headphones! And a real powerful headphone amplifier to push serious plugs with some real sound. That means whatever Apple comes up with better be damn good. I realize it probably won’t matter, but Apple at least needs to match the screen quality. Marketing will be a win for Apple if they take the low road and only support a few formats and really limit the feature set, with that attitude they might be a contender for Bose runner up with inferior products with a quality name.

But we’re talking about Apple, they’ll surely shock us all with the power of the real video iPod that has yet to come. We expect no less from them. But if they churn out some crap that doesn’t have near the feature set for an expensive price tag, they will lose. And with Microsoft rumored to have their own personal portable player coming soon, it would be a shame to see Apple lose some of that wonderful market share they enjoy.

Sorry, somewhat of a rant, but I really want to be able to watch episodes of 24, Alias, CSI, etc. on a portable player while I’m stuck in downtime or bored at work (not as if that EVER happens). And every announcement of a slick new player from somebody other than Apple makes me show a little less love for the company that could.