Don't deny it -- the render / picture / whatever the heck that was of Onda's WiFi-equipped VX777 looked pretty mighty rough. Thankfully for all those potentially interested in this portable media player, the real deal actually looks a good bit nicer than we were led to believe. Not that it's touting a revolutionary design or anything, but like gramps always said, don't fix it if the cool kids aren't fed up yet.

As the barrage of new Toshiba gear continues to flow from Paris, along comes a device that we aren't used to seeing from the laptop and monitor-tilted company. The seven-inch Tekbright 7 digital photo frame sports a stylish silver bezel, a clear beveled surround, rear-mounted kickstand, 800 x 400 resolution, and a 400:1 contrast ratio. Additionally, you can load up your images via CF, SD, MMC, MS, MSPro, xD, and USB, and there's even a paltry 16MB built-in for storing the crème de la crème. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to sport any WiFi abilities or even a wireless remote, but the reasonable €139 ($186) pricetag seems to justify the omissions somewhat. More snaps after the break.

Toshiba sure is stealing the rays in the City of Light, as the outfit is showcasing yet another up and coming laptop in the Tecra X9. Not quite as flashy as the X200 nor R500 situated nearby, this 14-incher is destined for the hands of workaholics who aren't looking for high-end graphics performance and ultra-mobility. The black / silver color scheme seems attractive enough, and the built-in fingerprint reader ought to keep your manager's nerves at ease. Judging by the looks of it, you'll also get a number of USB 2.0 ports, 4-pin FireWire, a flash card reader, VGA output, and a DVD burner to boot, but the internals remain a mystery for now. You know the drill, more pictorial delight awaits you after the jump.

Just after seeing Toshiba's mysterious X200 roaming free in France, it looks like that isn't the only machine from the firm running wild in the land of fragrances and fashion. The ultrathin Portégé R500 was also spotted in Paris recently, and while we wish that NTT's 3D glove contraption was already a reality so we could feel this thing for ourselves, we'll just have to judge from afar for now. Sure looks as thin as advertised to us, but be sure and click through to see (more) for yourself.

Update:More shots from Engadget China.

Unfortunately, we don't have any surefire news that Ugobe's long-awaited Pleo is actually any closer to shipping, but considering that a design has apparently been decided upon for the packaging, we'll take that as a hint. Ugobe's founder Caleb Chung was quoted as saying that the "photos on the box are nearly life size and are designed to convey the wonderful range of expression and organic movement of which Pleo is capable," and continued on in order to mention that the final version of the dino would sport a battery that's both rechargeable and replaceable. Lastly, he threw in yet another phrase of confidence that the device was "getting really close" to actually launching, but considering the false alarms we've seen in the past, we're not banking on anything until this bad boy invades a few homes.

AMD announced in its third quarter SEC filing that it has ceased the manufacture of their Personal Internet Communicator (PIC) product for emerging markets due to lack of material revenue. Really now, with all the hype surrounding Negroponte's CM1 2B1 XO Children's Machine and the fact that the XO costs a full Benjamin less at $100 about $140, is anyone surprised? Still, AMD isn't completely out of the game: the XO runs an AMD Geode processor. Just last week, the first 10 prototype units were "hand-built" for the purposes of evaluating the XO's custom components, systems-integration testing, and to ensure that the production process holds up. Another 900 units are then set to rollout from Quanta this week for "destructive testing" and distribution to development partners like Brazil who have already earmarked 50 units. With potential for sales (at razor-thin margins) in the tens of millions, well, you might still get a decent cut of the revenue pie anyway AMD, unless of course countries use that money for clean water and uh, schools.

[Via Slashdot]

Read -- AMD ends PICs
Read -- OLPC production begins