Philips to showcase GoGear Connect Android MP4 player at IFA

Philips has confirmed rumors of the first Android MP4 Player – the Philips GoGear Connect – and promises to unveil it officially at Berlin’s IFA 2010 consumer electronics show.

The Philips GoGear Connect, powered by Google’s Android (OS 2.1) is also the first-ever Wi-Fi enabled MP4 player.

As with all other Android devices, Philips GoGear Connect users will have complete access to more than 100,000 apps available on the Android Market. The MP4 player also comes preloaded with other Google Mobile applications.

The 3.2-inch LCD touchscreen on the Philips GoGear Connect measures a decent 113 × 12.6 × 59mm and offers a 480 x 320 pixel resolution. The player is light at 128 grams.

Full access to Android market

16 GB version priced $ 315

Photo: Philips GoGear Connect Android MP4 player

The Philips GoGear Connect is equipped with a patented FullSound technology, which offers rich audio quality, and Surround for Movies, which enables surround sound for watching movies on the device. The MP4 player comes packaged with sound isolation earphones, which cancel ambient noise.

The built-in camera on the Philips GoGear Connect can captures photos and record videos.

The Philips GoGear Connect supports the following file formats:

Audio: .mp3, .wma, .m4a (AAC), .ogg, and .flac
Video: .wmv, .mp4 (MPEG4 and H264 up to 720p), and .avi (MPEG4 up to 720p)
Images:  JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP and TIFF

The Philips GoGear Connect can link to a PC either through Bluetooth or a USB cable. A Philips Songbird program enables convenient syncing as well as audio streaming. The player supports a microSD card (expandable to 16GB).

The MP4 player is also GPS-enabled and provides access to maps and location-based services. However, there are conflicting reports about whether the Philips GoGear Connect is loaded with Skyhook or a GPS radio.

The best part about the Philips GoGear Connect’s features is that they can all be accessed at the same time as the player offers multi-tasking.

The Philips GoGear Connect will be out in Western European, US and Chinese markets in late October 2010. The 16 GB model of the player will be priced €249 (approx. $315).

The Philips GoGear Connect is expected to give competition to Apple’s iPod, which so far has gone unrivalled.