Kenwood have unveiled a prototype speaker system that doubles as OLED lighting.  The system, co-developed by Kenwood and Professor Junti Kido from Yamagata University in Japan, uses 80-percent less power than traditional lighting, as well as being noisier than your typical desk lamp.

Kenwood also suggest that the technology could be used as emergency lighting, with an evacuation sign that is able to deliver spoken warning messages.  These could either be linked to a public address system for live updates, or fitted with recorded messages for standalone use.

The company has not given any indication of whether it expects to bring the OLED speaker technology to market.  However given the popularity of home cinema, they might have a hit on their hands with combination surround speakers and lights.

Perhaps if I were Korean I’d understand this a little better, but a rabbit with a hugely bloated cranium just isn’t the sort of thing I’d think to base an MP3 player on.  Still, Mashimaro is vaunted as Korea’s answer to Hello Kitty, so I suppose there must be thousands of girls there desperate for this 54 x 38 x 38mm media player.

The Mashimaro PMP weighs a scant 19g and has 2GB of onboard storage.  The tiny ears light up (you mean those on your rabbit don’t?) and are also the 5-way controller.  Around the back there’s a headphone jack and USB connector, and the whole thing is good for 9hrs of playback from the rechargeable battery.

If you’re in Korea, and you fancy a slice of Mashimaro, the PMP will set you back the equivalent of around $45.  It’s available in white, sky blue or soft pink, and plays MP3, WMA, WMV, ASF, OGG, APE, WAV and ACT files.

[via OhGizmo!]

We can’t get enough of the Viliv S5, and we know a lot of you feel the same way, so it seemed sensible to remind SlashGear readers that importer Dynamism’s pre-sales for the 4.8-inch touchscreen MID kick off today at 1pm EST.  If you’re undecided whether $599 is a reasonable amount to spend on an Atom-powered ultraportable with WiFi and Bluetooth, Intel’s own Michael Brito has shot a demo video espousing the S5’s virtues.

Michael calls this an “Un-Geek” presentation of the S5, with the on-screen keyboard and iTunes among the apps demonstrated.  TweetDeck also gets some screen time, and while you could argue that Twitter isn’t completely mainstream yet, the sight of multiple columns running slickly on super-compact form-factor should be enough to tempt most people in.

Dynamism are offering $135-worth of accessories – amounting to a spare battery, a car kit and a leather pouch – to those who pre-order early.  Anybody reading this planning to do just that?  More on the Viliv S5 MID here.

[via UMPC Portal]