Korean device manufacturer IUbi has used Linux as the embedded OS in a portable media player (PMP) with an optional broadcast TV receiver. The IUbi PMP2010 has a 4.3-inch screen, a 40GB or 100GB hard drive, and will be priced around 400,000 Korean won (about $400).

Click here for larger view of the PMP2010

IUbi (“Internet Ubiquitous”) previously offered a PMP2020 design with a 20GB hard drive that it licensed and manufactured for Pontis, a German company that marketed the design as the MX2020.

The PMP2010 design features an optional external broadcast television receiver (pictured at right). The PMP can also attach to normal televisions, using a special cable, in order to record.

Supported media formats include MPEG4, DivX, XviD, WMA, MP3, OGG, and JPG, according to IUbi. Reviewers have praised the earlier PMP2020's extensive support for obscure variations of supported file formats.

The IUbi PMP2010 can capture and record live television
Claimed battery life is three hours of video playback, or five hours of audio. The device can recharge via a USB cable connection to a PC.

What's under the hood?

An available binary system download for the PMP2010 design suggests that the device's embedded software platform is based on a 2.4.19-uc1 uClinux kernel. The download includes a number of loadable Linux kernel modules for 32-bit ARM, further suggesting that the PMP2010 design may include an ARM-based applications processor.

The download also suggests that the device uses display and DSP/VIF interrupt drivers from Ingenient, an embedded technology company that specializes in reference designs, codecs, and product designs for a variety of device types. Ingenient actually offers PMP product designs based on TI's DM270 and DM320 dual-core (ARM/DSP) SoC (system-on-chip). However, those designs are distributed with a 2.6.5 Linux kernel.

Ingenient's MP4900-BRD-DM320-20 PMP reference design
According to MobileKorea.tv, the PMP2010 equipped with a 100GB hard drive will sell for 400,000 Korean won, or about $400.

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