Creative:
Creative brought new additions to their popular Zen Micro line to CES 2005. Two different announcements were made. The first focused on the unveiling of three regular Zen Micro units with different memory sizes. The current 5 GB model will be joined in short order by a 1 GB ($199.99 – first quarter 2005) flash memory based model and two other micro hard drive units in the 4 GB ($229.99 – this month) and 6 GB ($299.99 – this month) ranges. These models, like the 5 GB, will come in a rainbow of colors and support MP3 and WMA audio files, record FM and voice and offer a vertical touch pad control.
Creative’s other major Zen Micro announcement was the Zen Micro Photo. This player/photo viewer combo unit will come in two storage sizes – 5 GB ($299 – second quarter 2005) and 6 GB ($349 – second quarter 2005) and offer up a 1.5” color LCD on which users can view JPEG images. Users will, according to a press release, be able to listen to MP3 and WMA music files while at the same time watching slideshows of their favorite photos. The Zen Micro Photo, like the non digital photo display models, will come in ten different colors when launched.
Audiovox:
Audiovox had a few MP3 player announcements flowing from their booth during the show. They seemed particularly interested in creating “convergence products” like the $249 DC600, a 7-in-1 camcorder, still camera, voice recorder, MP3 player, PC camera, SD/MMC card read and video camera. It also sports a swivel 2.5” color LCD.
Audiovox also made mention of their new $249 MP1055HD MP3 player with a 5 GB hard drive. This player, which will play MP3, WMA and WAV music files, also offers standard features like built in FM radio and a voice recorder. It will also offer up an onboard song search feature and has an estimated 15 hours of playback on its rechargeable battery.
Sandisk:
Sandisk, one of the original companies behind removable flash memory cards, expanded their MP3 player lineup with the unveiling of their Sansa e100 lineup of flash memory based units. Two different players, the e130 512 MB ($149) and e140 1 GB ($199), will both be available in March.
The e100 players will play up to 15 hours on a single AAA battery, support USB 2.0 high speed file transfer, offer a SD card slot to expand the amount of songs the player can play and be compatible with MP3 and WMA music files.
JVC:
Consumer electronics manufacturer JVC’s contribution to the growing MP3 player world takes an interesting twist on design. The XA-A50CL, which JVC said at CES will be available in March for $164.95, is an ear clip headphone with a built in music player.
The XA-A50CL, with its 128 MB of embedded flash memory, will be capable of housing up to 30 MP3 or 60 WMA music files, according to JVC. To provide for easy navigation and song selection, the player will support voice commands for all functions and in three different languages. This ear clip unit will also come with four virtual surround sound modes and four preset equalizer settings.
Tao (Giant International):
Another company offering a different approach to MP3 players this year was relatively unknown Giant International. Through their Tao brand was announced the WiFimp3 which will, like the name implies, be capable of using a wireless network connection.
In the case of the Tao WiFimp3 ($349.99), the player will allow users to update the 20 GB hard drive through a wireless connection. The player can be set to automatically download MP3 files or audio books from a computer or online service wirelessly. It has a built in Wi Fi hotspot finder, FM transmitter, dual headphone jacks, seven band equalizer and an “Internet radio recorder”.
