By Marc Laurenze C. Celis and Kerwin Patrick M. Mercadal
MP3 players are now becoming indispensable in our fast-paced world. In-stat, the leading provider of market research based on all major cities in the globe, reports that the worldwide market for flash drive-based and hard drive-based players will jump from 140 million to 286 million units by 2010, making it the world’s fastest growing market in the music industry today. With this advance of technology, new MP3 players have bean released to suit different lifestyles and personalities, from athletes to outdoorsy or merely fashionable people, lately even swimmers. That’s music on your palm, and you can bring it anywhere.
Ipod-like
Talk about flair. The 20GB iRiver H10 outdoes most MP3 players with its FM tuner, voice recorder and photo-friendly color screen.
The H10 supports MP3, protected windows media audio (WMA), JPEG, and text files. Also, it is 100 per cent compatible with windows media player (WMP) 10.0 and enables one to create on-the-go playlists.
Compared to the 20 GB Ipod, H10 is slightly thicker, but is lighter by an ounce. Its 1.8-inch color LCD stands out, making it easy for users to browse photos while listening to music.
The iRiver H10 records voice and shows the elapsed time and space left available. With a 128Kbps MP3 bit-rate setting, the highest in the market, FM and voice records are easily captured.
Since the H10 is a message transfer part device, it easily synchronizes with any computer (through WMP 10.0 on Windows XP). One can simultaneously input music and images directly through WMP and H10 updates any new music, once it has acquired music tracks and playlists.
However, the controls are not as superior as the Apple’s Ipod and navigating can be frustrating. Nevertheless, with sophisticated design, excellent sound quality, FM and voice recording and posh photo color screen, the H10 is a good choice for music fanatics.
A music eyewear
After headphones and pendants with built-in audio players, out comes Oakley, the world’s largest eyewear company, with Thump, the world’s first eyewear cum music player. Although designed more for function than fashion, one can’t help but love this eyewear (or ear-wear) with its UV protection and impact resistance features.
The ear buds are highly adjustable and extend to fit just about any set of ears. Although not padded, Thump’s earpieces are more comfortable than the usual earphones as they stay put in the ears as they are built directly into the frame, Likewise, the lenses flip up, which makes Thump suitable for indoor use.
Thump’s frame has a plastic feel, and at 1.8 ounces, it is very light. Color choices vary from matte black to white camo, depending on the memory size: 128MB or the 256MB, both with an optional feature—polarized lenses. It also features easily accessible random-lay mode, otherwise, it plays in an alphabetical order.
However, the biggest setback is the controls, the two buttons on the left arm and three on the right are all annoyingly stiff. It also takes too much effort to change the volume a few notches.
Lacking an LCD, Thump fails to show the pre-programmed equalizer settings. Adding music to the device is exclusively a drag-and-drop affair, with its USB 2.0 interface. Thump supports WAV and DRM-protected WMAs, so one can play songs downloaded from online stores such as Musicmatch or WMP.
Thump also features a non-removable lithium-ion battery that recharges via the USB. The battery lasts for almost six hours between charges.
A major stumbling block: the price. The 128MB model goes for the same price as the 40GB Apple Ipod.
Underwater music player
Now, one can listen to music even underwater, through the self-contained underwater listening apparatus or SCULA. FiniswiMP3 stores 128MB of MP3 music and can be used up to a depth of 10 feet.
The player resides at the back of the head, with goggles in front and the noise inductors lie flat on the cheekbones. It uses two custom sound units placed against each cheekbone that bounces musical vibrations to the ear bones via other bones in the head, such as the occipital bone. However it is not advisable to place the discs directly over the ear as the loud above-water sound can create damage.
Finis includes a pair of earplugs, which are very useful as an extra precaution. It also comes with a USB cable and a Musicmatch 9.0 software disc. No worries about sound quality since the audio values are rich, full, and clean, even underwater.
Again, like the H10 and Thump, the main downfall is the controls, placed at the back of the head. The keys are also stiff and difficult to press. It can be tiresome as the goggles are removed every time one needs to adjust the volume and change the songs. It also lacks an LCD screen considering its simple interface and minimalist features.
Finis is expensive considering it only holds 128 MB of music memory. But if you stay underwater or swim laps every day, the price is worth it.
