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PMP Today: If LG has introduced its new UP3 MP3 player six months ago, it would have beaten the iPod Nano’s market share to a pulp, well at least LG could dream. The UP3 has a small OLED screen, which is enough for browsing through your music files in MP3, WMA, OGG and ASF.

It has a USB port and FM tuner and a pretty sleek, slim and tiny design in a metal casing that may be just the ticket to its success (LG is obviously banking on this sleek design for its PMP/MP lineup). It’s available in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB starting from 51 euros.

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Electronista: Apple’s iPhone has been selected as TIME‘s Invention of the Year, the magazine has announced. Five reasons are cited: on a superficial level, the iPhone is said to be extremely attractive, taking account of design touches that many technology companies do not consider, but which make a device more interesting to paying customers as well as easier to use. Secondly, the phone’s touchscreen interface is said to be the first to genuinely combine a touchscreen with natural motions, such as flicking through album covers or “stretching” photos.TIME further credits the iPhone as a true “handheld, walk-around computer,” making it a platform rather than a limited collection of applications, although having a mobile Google Maps is cited as particular advantage. The magazine also acknowledges that it is not yet a fully-developed platform, this only expected after the release of an SDK in February.

Finally, the iPhone is expected to only become cheaper and more functional in later versions, while it may already be fostering incentives for cellular networks to liberate their restrictions on phone makers, who have previously had to constrain features such as Internet use to fit with existing subscription plans.

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NaviGadget: This maybe the rumored GPhone we’ve been waiting for. And at this point that’s all we have so far. From the picture all we can tell is that it features Wi-Fi, bluetooth, and a QWERTY keyboard. Also there’s a microSD card slot as well as a mini USB port on the sides.There’s also a 2MP camera on the back and probably a little slot where the stylus fits. We don’t see any GPS/satellite icons but maybe an extra LED for satellite fix. To be honest we have no clue whether this is the real GPhone or if it has integrated GPS or not…

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The Register: Gamers seeking what could be the ultimate accessory – at least that’s how it’s branded – can now save themselves hefty transatlantic shipping costs: US company Ultimate Game Chair’s Renegade seat is now available from a UK supplier.

The Renegade is designed to be connected to any of the major gaming platforms, from PCs to consoles, which feed its headrest-mounted stereo speakers and trigger the under-seat, “ground effect” lighting.

The chair also incorporates 12 vibration motors, all synchronised with in-game action, to give players that ‘I’m actually here’ feeling.

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The Hankyoreh: South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday that it has developed a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen using an ordinary glass plate, raising hopes that it could significantly reduce overall production costs of flat panel products.

The Soda-Lime thin film transistor LCD screen boasts an SXGA-level resolution, 1000:1 contrast ratio, and other high-end flat panel features for vivid motion pictures, the company said.

Samsung explained that the new LCD is based on an ordinary glass plate, unlike existing panels. Ordinary glass has not previously been used in producing LCDs since the silicon in it melts at temperatures higher than 300 Celsius degrees causing adverse chemical reactions.

Samsung adopted a new LCD production method under which panels can be made using a temperature lower than 300 Celsius degrees, clearing the technological hurdle for the use of cheaper glass in churning out flat panel products, officials said.

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Electronic House: Audiophiles might want to cover their eyes and ears, but here’s a seemingly straightforward way to convert your vinyl collection to MP3 files or straight onto an iPod.

ION’s iPod USB Turntable has an iPod dock that works with a 5th-gen iPod or 2nd-gen Nano, and also comes equipped with a USB cable so you can plug it directly into your computer.

The recording software comes included and it features an adjustable anti-skating control for increased stereo balance.

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I4U: Toshiba highlights that the Vardia RD-A301 can record HD video to standard DVD discs.

The new DVR, HD DVD Vardia RD-A301, integrates HD Transcoder, which achieves longer recording time for high-definition (HD) video, and also supports “HD Rec”, which allows recording of HD video to standard DVD discs in HD quality.
The RD-A301 also supports dual recording of HD broadcasts, a very popular feature of earlier VARDIA models, and can record two digital HD broadcasts simultaneously.

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The Register: Satnav hardware heavyweight Garmin has gone head to head with rival TomTom in a bidding war for control of Dutch map data provider TeleAtlas.

Reuters reports that Garmin has entered the lists hoping to win the favour of TeleAtlas with an offer of €24.50 per share, topping TomTom by 15 per cent. TomTom offered €21.25/share in July.

Garmin said its offer would be launched on 4 December, just as TomTom’s is set to expire, and specified that the deal was only good in the event of more than two-thirds of TeleAtlas being for sale. The US bidders said financing was lined up.

Garmin’s €24.50 share price values TeleAtlas at €1.8bn in total.

The satnav/mapping market has seen consolidation recently, with Nokia (whose latest smartphones include GPS) buying Navteq – TeleAtlas’ main competitor in the mapping database biz – for $8.1bn. Satnav-enabled devices are sometimes sold without any onboard map information initially, as its cost is typically more signifcant than that of the receiver hardware itself.

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Absolute Gadget: Did you know that LG doesn’t have an external DVD rewriter in the UK market that works at 20x speed. Stop press! It does now.LG has launched its first external 20x Super Multi Drive DVD rewriter, the GSA-E60N/L, into the UK.

The drive is USB powered, equipped with SecurDisc content protection and can also be purchased with Lightscribe disc-creation technology.

SecurDisc features include password protection, digital signature, data reliability, data integrity and copy protection.

“The GSA-E60N/L is ideal for consumers and businesses that require a fast and secure process to regularly back-up important files, such as downloaded music or company documents,” an LG PR person wrote out 20 times for our benefit.

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GPS Magazine: If you still don’t own a GPS unit, then you are truly a step behind. Tribes across the Amazon Basin have begun acquiring these portable navigation units and using them to map out their lands.

These tribes have begun mapping the 20 million acres of land that they traditionally charted by foot and canoe in order to avoid getting overran by developers, ranchers, loggers, miners, oilmen, and biopirates. Much of the help in this effort has come from the Amazon Conservation Team, a Virginia environmental and cultural preservation organization, which provided equipment, cartographic expertise, and financial assistance.

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