Iriver announces its Smart HD portable media player, capable of HD resolution video file playback, Wi-Fi, FM radio, music playback.Iriver fessed up to plans for its latest portable media player, the Smart HD. The touch-screen player is due out in Korea at the end of January, and includes a 3.5-inch screen, along with Wi-Fi, a calculator, a voice recorder, a Web browser, FM radio, music playback, and a slew of supported video formats (MKV, Mpeg4, XVID, WMV, and H.264).

The Smart HD will actively transcode most HD videos down to the screen 480x320-pixel resolution. There is no word onwhether the Smart HD will include TV output capabilities to make HD video resolutions.Connectivity is the name of the game with this PMP because the device packs a WiFi 802.11g integrated wireless card for use with the player Internet browser.

The big surprise is the announcement of iRiver Open API UCI (User Created Interface) which is iRiver end-user SDK for widget development. The new SDK will allow users to share/distribute applications through an Internet portal.