It’s black, fits in your shirt pocket, offers 10-20GB storage and allows sharing of digital files via USB, Bluetooth or WiFi. It’s called DAVE, which stands for Digital Audio Video Experience.

Mobile telephony is undergoing a multimedia revolution, and the DAVE mobile content platform will provide even more fuel for the growth of new music and video services over mobile networks,” said Patrick King, senior vice president and general manager of Seagate’s consumer electronics business unit. “Products using DAVE technology will enable digital content, whether for business or entertainment use, to be stored, moved, and connected in ways never before possible. Mobile carriers can use this technology for creating value from their investments in high-bandwidth networks, and mobile handset manufacturers have another tool for turning the multimedia phone into the center of the mobile consumer’s digital life.

Battery life is up to 14 days on standby and 10 hours of continuous use. The little device comes in at 3.5 x 4.7 x .47 inches (61 x 89 x 12 mm) and weighs only 2.5 ounces (70 grams). Sorry, because it is so topsecret, there aren’t any pictures of it available yet. However, you could sit through Robert Scoble’s podcast (below) to have a glimpse of it.

Here are some ways of how DAVE could prove useful:

* Makes upgrading mobile phones easy - storing content on a DAVE-based device makes upgrading a mobile phone fast and easy. Simply pair the device to the new handset, and start enjoying digital content on the new phone in just minutes.

* Turns the mobile phone into a DVR/MP3 powerhouse - consumers can now download video from mobile phone networks; grab music from online, mobile, or PC libraries; load audiobooks or GPS data; and use all of that data as needed when on-the-go. The 10GB version will make 2,500 songs or 21 hours of video available to mobile consumers all the time, anywhere.

* Increases use of mobile entertainment networks and data services - with massive storage capacity, mobile network operators can now offer consumers the opportunity to download and enjoy large media and data files. With video files downloaded to products based on the DAVE platform instead of streamed through the mobile network, video can now be delivered without latency or coverage issues. DAVE-based products will also enable new business models for high-bandwidth networks, such as try-and-buy content, that offer real value for consumers.

* Enables mobile lifeblogging and other social networking applications - the ability to record massive video and photo files on the mobile phone, edit and annotate content, then upload to social networking sites such as YouTube or MySpace is now mobile and spontaneous. Consumers can also use the DAVE technology features to share the content with other mobile phones, PCs, wireless-enabled cameras, or even other DAVE mobile storage devices.

Seagate plans to launch DAVE devices through Telco and Cell Phone providers starting the second quarter of this year. Oh, did we tell you that DAVE technology will be Open Source ? Yes, I believe that has made all of the developers out there smile.

Via [Scobleizer] Press Release [Seagate]

Starbucks will expect to sell digital songs and videos within a year. With his recent speech at New York’s Levin Institute, CEO Howard Schultz expects customers to be able to “walk into a Starbucks and digitally be able to fill up your MP3 player with music”. Their October 2006 agreement with Apple have increased speculation that the download platform for their instore downloads will probably be Apple iTunes.

Via [The Seattle Times]

If you have ever wanted to share your videos, music and other files with your friends or business colleagues, then the Bluonyx is for you.

Just connect to a TV, Cell Phone or Computer and you can view its contents. The Bluonyx is small in size, around the size of a regular cell phone making it completely portable. It also comes in some very hip colors, which range from Pink, White and Green. There is a Bluonyx out there for everyone, and every type of application including business as a small presentation device.

Like the iPod, it has its own rechargeable battery. Storage options are available from 1 GB- 40 GB and it comes with wireless capability (as a standard), quite a high spec for a little machine that is just slightly larger than a credit card.

Almost any media file can be hosted, along with accessing the internet from any file sharing source such as myspace. The price tag is expected to be around the $100 to $200 depending on memory size and other options.

Will this product catch on? Time will tell.

Product Page [Bluonyx]

For the Transformers fans out there, BigBadToyStore is now accepting preorders for the new Transformers MP3 and iPod docking stations. Prices start at $79.99 to $144.99 for an Optimus Prime Convoy iPod docking station (with speakers). All the iPod products are fully licensed by Apple and spot the white iPod color scheme.

Preorder Page [Bigbadtoystore.com]

Apple continues to break records for revenue and profit thanks to a surge in sales of Macs and the illustrious iPod. Apple announced first quarter earnings for fiscal year 2007, ending December 30, 2006. They managed to push through over 21 million iPods during the quarter (that works out to about 162 iPods per minute!) and 1.6 million Macs. These numbers represent a 50% and a 28% increase respectively for those products versus Q1 2006. I personally helped to contribute to that number by buying 2 iPods (one video, one shuffle) as gifts for the holidays. All those Macs and iPods add up to a 78% revenue increase versus Q1 2006.

The bottom line is that Apple, the company that was pretty much written off the map 10 years ago, posted a profit (yeah, that’s actual money in the bank) of $1 billion. To me, that’s simply amazing. I know that other companies post bigger profits than that, but think about the size of the market that Apple caters to. As far as computers are concerned, Macs are barely on the map at like less than 5% of the total market. And I know the iPod has a huge market share in the mp3 market, but it’s still amazing what this company has been able to pull off in a fairly short time span.

And let me insert my disclaimer here, I am a Mac user. Yes, I am probably the biggest Apple fanboy out there (I ordered my Apple TV as soon as it was available online at the Apple Store) but you have to respect a company that has made all the right moves to become a dominant force in the computer/technology industry. And now that the company has dropped the “computer” from it’s name, I can only think they will be venturing forth into other areas.

But will Apple be able to maintain the dominance as a consumer electronics company? Could they be the new Sony? Time will only tell, but we could get a hint of that dominance in June with the (proposed) release of the iPhone (or whatever they may have to call it). I’m looking forward to seeing what Apple will do. However, my credit card is not so hopeful…

Read [Apple] via [DailyTech]