Griffin announced a few new accessories for the Sony PlayStation Portable, helping bring the PSP a little closer to the iPod’s status as a “digital lifestyle hub”. The iTrip PSP ($49.99 direct) is an add-on that plugs into the bottom of the PSP and transmits the audio signal to any FM receiver. An LED on the front of the iTrip lets you see what frequency the transmitter uses, and you can select any available frequency via the buttons on the iTrip’s front. Another FM-based product, the iFM ($49.99), adds a remote control and FM tuner to the popular Sony portable. And finally, the SmartShare ($14.99) headphone splitter with separate volume controls has been slightly rebranded for the PSP (okay, it looks exactly the same… this one’s a head-scratcher).

 

So does this mean the PSP is stepping on the iPod’s little toes? As the PSP’s feature set is broadened by the addition of more accessories, it is becoming a more attractive platform, especially given its capacity for high-quality video and audio in addition to its core gaming features. Ultimately, though, I think the overall size of the product will be as crucial a differentiator as the feature set. But then again, who knows. Sony may one day decide to really gun for Apple and make a “PSP Mini” on this principle: If people are willing to watch an hour-long TV show on a 2.5-inch screen (like that of the iPod) and play games on their cell phones, it stands to reason that they’ll be willing to play certain types of games on a PSP with a smaller screen as well. And call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure something with the combined capabilities of an iPod and a PSP in an iPod-size form factor would make every kid and gadget-nut drool.

 

[Thanks to Mike Kobrin for writing this up!]

 

I've been through a couple of CompUSA's so-called Midnight Madness sales, but they've tended to be more slightly unsettled than true dementia. However, tonight from 6PM to midnight, there will be some very good bargains to be found. Quantities are often limited on these deals and some may only be available in-store, so you'll need to move quickly. Just make sure to be back home in front of your TV by 9:30PM Eastern to see the upstart Quakers from Penn knock off the Texas whatever-their-team-name-is's.

• Seagate 200GB Hard Drive for $29.99 after $100 in rebates
• Samsung ML-2010 laser printer for $39.99 after $30 rebate. This baby prints at 20 pages per minute in letter quality. Let's see your $40 inkjet do that. Or even your $249 inkjet. Read David Stone's review on pcmag.com.
• 250GB external USB 2.0 drive for only $69.99 after $100 in rebates. If you're not backing up yet, this looks like a good way to get started. (If you're feeling a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of backing up for the first time, read Backup or Else!)
• D-Link DI-524 802.11g wireless router for only $9.99 after $50 in rebates. We've said it over and over again. An inexpensive router is a great way to protect yourself against malware, even if you're the only one on your broadband connection. Read our review.
• A $29.99 (after $30 rebate) internal dual-layer DVD writer, or get a LightScribe-capable writer for $20 more. And externals are also available at good prices.
• 1 GB of SD or CompactFlash memory for your camera for $29.99 after $20 rebate.

Hold on to your hats, folks, this might be the real deal. That's right, the era of carting around floppy disks may finally be at an end. 

"Wait, Gearlog, you can't possibly be serious!"

Well, we'll let you figure that out on your own.  But apparently Memorex is serious.  Its just-announced FlashDisc boasts a staggering 16MB of portable storage on a USB flash disk that looks like a donut. 

Memorex says that the FlashDisc fills a niche between the traditional 1.44MB floppy disk and the portable USB flash drive, and is "affordable enough to share." Well, maybe. You don't really need half a gig of storage to carry around a PowerPoint or a few Word docs for school, and if little Tommy loses one of these it's not the end of the world.

Memorex may be right in assuming that most people view jump drives as too expensive and personal to give away; I know I wouldn't hand mine over to someone without keeping an eye on them until they gave it back. 

But $19.99 for a 3-pack (48MB total) is just not a good deal. $20 these days can get you a decent 512MB jump disk, or two 265MB ones.  At the very least, it should get you a smaller form factor than these beasts, which at 2.3" diameter by just over 1/4" thick are larger than many multi-gigabyte jump drives on the market these days.

In short, I can't recommend these for many people over the age of 12, or (obviously) anyone with serious data-storage needs.  It goes without saying that there's no disk encryption, sync software, or U3 support.

But if you have (a small number of) files to share with family or friends and can't send them via e-mail, a few of these wouldn't break the bank.

Get 'em at Best Buy, $19.99 for a 3-pack.

It's St. Patty's Day, so why not savor your drunken, Irish moments tonight with Edge Tech's Digital Picture Frame? Not only can you display your photos in a rotation, but you can also add MP3s for background music. (I recommend Billy Joel's "Piano Man" and Elton John's "Saturday Night's Alright.")

The Digital Photo Frame supports up to 8 Digital Media Formats, comes with your choice of a
5.6"- or 7"-LCD screen, a credit card size remote, and a power supply.
 
How do you actually get photos on to the frame? Simply remove the flash memory card from your digital camera and place it into the back of the Picture Frame. Of course, when you want to take more pictures, you'll have to remove the memory card from the Frame, or buy a new one, which is kind of a nuisance.  

Buy Edge Tech's Digital Picture Frame for $149.95 after a $40 mail-in rebate. And have a fun and safe St. Patrick's Day!