Thomson promises ultra-minimal A1 video player

RCA's former parent company Thomson has unveiled the A1. One of the most compact players yet, according to the company, the A1 is just slightly larger than its 3-inch widescreen LCD and pushes all the controls to the edges. The relatively spacious screen adds to the effect of watching AVI clips at up to a film-grade 24 frames per second and provides extra room for navigating MP3, WAV, or WMA songs. Thomson finds additional room for an FM tuner and recorder.

Launching first in China, the A1 should be available very soon with 4GB ($106) or 8GB ($120) of flash memory. Thomson has made no mention of whether the device will sell in its home country of France or other areas, such as Europe or North America. [via Sosol]