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Toshiba's gigabeat portable players arrive at retailers today, touting deals with Napster, eMusic, Rhapsody, and Vongo.

Toshiba has finally rolled out 30 GB and 60 GB versions of its gigabeat portable music players (PMPs) to retailers, at $299.99 for the 30 GB version and $100 more for the 60 GB edition. The gigabeat is based on Windows Mobile and is a PlaysForSure-compatible, hard drive-driven portable music and video player supporting Windows Media 9 audio and video content, WAV and MP3 audio, JPEG images, and Windows Media Video using headphones, a built-in 2.4-inch QVGA (320 by 240) screen, and offering USB 2.0 connectivity. Available in black and white (just like another popular portable media player) the Toshiba gigabeat also offers promotional deals with four digital content providers—Napster, Vongo, eMusic, and RealNetworks—in an effort to impress consumers that the gigabeat (unlike another popular portable media player) isn't tied to one particular content service. Perhaps even more enticing, the gigabeat can download recorded tv and audio content from users' Windows Media Center Edition PCs, or from TiVo Series 2 DVRs using the new TiVoToGo feature. (Oh, and the devices sport an FM tuner, in case all you want to do is replace a transister radio.)

"The new gigabeat line of Portable Media Players offer consumers accessto hundreds of content delivery services," said Yoshi Uchiyama, Group Vice President of Toshiba's Digital Audio Video division. "Consumers are nolonger tethered to one service with limited choices. We've partnered withthe industry leaders and pioneers to ensure that consumers have immediateaccess and can choose the delivery service that is best suited to theirneeds."

In bundling and joint marketing moves, gigabeat users can purchase video content from Vongo, an offshoot of Starz Media Group which offers downloadable versions of over 1,600 movies and other video titles, as well as a live StarZ TV channel and pay-per-view features. Vongo subscribers can use the service with their gigabeat at no additional charge. Music services Napster, eMusic, and Rhapsody are also offering trial subscriptions to gigabeat users; of course, these all come with additional monthly fees after the gigabeat purchase price.