Businessweek has an interesting article on how Plantronics is aiming iconic products at bluetooth users and women. They want to push design for women's headsets beyond the strategy of painting a device pink. This Plantronics concept headset, for example, is fashioned to look and feel like jewelry. The ear buds can be worn like a pendant when not in use, and the necklace features a mike. Now, only if Plantronics would get Tiffany to design it, we would definitely get one for ourselves.

Motorola is growing the handset family of its hot-selling RAZR. The new models include an even thinner phone monikered KRZR (pronounced 'craze-er'), and a sliding phone called RIZR, both targeted at the emerging markets. Both phones will be available towards the end of the year.

KRZR features a glass surface on top and brushed magnesium on the bottom, and is equipped with up to 1GB of removable memory and a 2-megapixel camera with an 8X zoom lens. The CDMA version of the phone, KRZR K1m, will feature high-speed EV-DO (evolution-data optimised) capability, and will include a dedicated keys on the outside of the phone for controlling an integrated music player.

Motorola's first GSM slider, the RIZR (right image) handset features a 2-megapixel camera, music capability, stereo Bluetooth, 20MB of internal memory, external touch-sensitive music player controls and a micro SD slot that can hold 2GB memory cards.

A follow up to their wildly successful V3x phone, the new MotoRAZR MAXX is one of the smallest 3g phones and features two-way Video Calling, a 2 megapixel camera, 50MB of internal memory, Bluetooth connectivity, music playback functions, and a microSD memory card slot.

After weeks of speculation that Microsoft was planning an iPod-killer, the software giant finally confirmed that company will, later this year, launch Zune, an umbrella brand for "a family of hardware and software products". The first implementation of this will be the portable music player and digital music service that will take iPod-iTunes offering head-on. The hard-drive based wireless player will be shown off at the end of the month with a launch planned before christmas season.

We love this cute little offering from Creative. Slightly shorter but a tad thicker than Nano, the Creative Zen V and the Zen V Plus will hit the market in July and August 2006. Available in 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB capacities, the V's smallish size and 1.5-inch, photo-capable OLED could cut significantly into Apple's slice of the flash-based MP3 player pie.

The Creative Zen V Plus throws in video playback and an FM tuner with rest of the Zen V features to make it a very compelling offering indeed.

Both models come in various color combinations on black and white base. And yes, there's a reason for color - the players are color coded for memory. Orange for 1GB, green for 2GB and blue for 4GB.

If you thought Sandisk only made memory, this will come as a surprise. Sandisk has been trying to capture a bit of the MP3 player market and its lastest launch of the flagship e200 series is making news everywhere. The small and sleek e200 measures 3.5 by 1.7 by 0.5 inches and has a maximum capacity of 6GB ($300). It boasts an excellent 220x176, 1.8-inch color screen, as well as a durable titanium back cover and a user-removable rechargeable battery. The e200 also comes in 4GB and 2GB versions, but its 6GB version is making waves, as it's the highest-capacity flash-based player in the world. Other nice features include a MicroSD expansion slot, slide-show functionality, an FM tuner with FM recording, and compatibility with WMA subscription services.

This Nano-lookalike will set you back by $279.99 if you buy the 6GB flavor.

Hello,

I am back from a long hiatus from blogging. Its been crazy few months and spare time was at a huge premium. Well, now that things are a bit settled on all fronts - you will see more regular updates.

Cheers