New gigabeat Sports Video Playback

They may be making Microsoft's Zune, but Toshiba isn’t planning to dump its gigabeat line anytime soon. 'Mo money!

Digital Trends says that Toshiba has announced the MEV30K V Series, which bares a striking resemblance to one of Microsoft's Portable Media Center gadgets.

That's probably not a coincidence, since the V runs on the PMC software, which should give it audio, video and photo features aplenty. Other highlights include a 3.5-inch TFT LCD, a built-in speaker, and up to eight hours of video playback.

The gigabeat V will be available at retail this October. Amazon and Crutchfield have already started taking pre-orders. -- Rachel Cericola

• $399.99
• Available in October 2006
• 30-GB internal hard disk drive
• 3.5-inch TFT LCD display; 320 x 240 resolution
• Boasts 8 hours of video; 25 hour of audio
• Supports Windows Media Video 9/10
• Supports PlaysForSure