BANGALORE: If you have a few thousand rupees of spare cash prepare to shed them now: in exchange for a sleek and portable media player that you can strap on to the driver's seat of your car, for the benefit of family members seated at the back, hold in your hands while you travel by air, bus or train, or just rest on your stomach so you can watch a movie in bed. Entertainment on-the-go seems set to be the hottest new consumer technology trend in 2006.

So, many of the thousands of Indians who holidayed abroad in Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong or Dubai during the Christmas holiday season, which just ended, returned with portable DVD players or Sony Playstation Portable (PSP)-type media-cum-games consoles. Customs inspectors at major Indian airport gateways have become expert in recognising these devices on the X-ray scanners and let them pass with a friendly wave — as long as you bring in just one piece for personal use.

In most of these foreign centres a portable DVD player with a built-in screen is available for prices as low as $100. These devices, mostly made in the Pacific Rim countries of Asia, feature a DVD-VCD player with the ability to also play music CDs in various formats including the popular MP3. They come with a mains power cord as well as heavy duty rechargeable lithium batteries that can play a couple of full-length films between charges. The most popular screen size is 7 inches (18 cm) and this is adequate for good viewing with the player placed on the lap. In recent weeks models with larger — 10 inch — screens have also popped up in places East.

The DVD portable players can also be purchased in major Indian metros, where brands such as Philips and LG are easily available. However, they tend to cost around Rs. 20,000 while `made in China' models are increasingly seen priced at around Rs. 12,000 to Rs. 15,000 in Customs-notified outlets.

The DVD player explosion in India is being driven by the increasing availability of Indian language feature films in DVD format: Hindi films are becoming available as DVDs just two or three months after release in theatres at prices starting from Rs. 300.

Games consoles, pricier

A parallel, though less frenetic trend, is the burgeoning market for portable games consoles, where Sony's Playstation Portable (PSP) and Nintendo's GameBoy are the main contenders. These tend to cost over Rs. 20,000, but a number of clones are competing aggressively with cheaper models. These machines are typically angled at youthful buyers who like to play computer-style graphics-intensive games while on the move. But, popular films for the young like the Harry Potter series are becoming increasingly available for such machines. Unfortunately, the lack of an agreed standard for media and games players means each make — PSP or Gameboy — needs its proprietary software on a custom mini disk.

`Made in India'

Interestingly, while portable media players may not yet be a big thing in India almost every globally sold brand could legitimately sport a `made in India' tag. The coming Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2006) which starts in Las Vegas, US, on January 5, will feature dozens of such entertainment players powered by technology created by Indian companies such as Ittiam Systems or Mistral Software, both based in Bangalore.

Ittiam's digital media technology will be featured in products from Leadtek Research, Maxian and Ya Hsin. Mistral will also be present at the Las Vegas event, where products featuring its `Sunada' (or `good sound') technology for digital games, multimedia and navigation will be launched.

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