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USB Key-Sized MP3 Player With LCD Display

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the pretend-you're-in-japan dept.

nhahmada writes "The Muvo MP3 player/storage device from Creative has been out for awhile, but some have complained of its lack of a display or equalizer. Well, now Innogear has released the 128MB Duex mp302 with a backlit LCD supporting ID3 tags, a "multi-category" equalizer and a timer (Why?). The mp302 also has the ability to record/playback voice via its built-in microphone. It can be used for storing any type of file and plays MP3/WMA/WAV. Both the Muvo and mp302 run on one AAA, giving 12 hours of continuous playback. Running at $179, it's a little more expensive than the $169.99 128MB Muvo, but I am willing to shell out ten bucks for an LCD. Go here for a better look at the display."

29 of 391 comments (clear)

  1. LCD Display by PerlPooch · · Score: 5, Funny

    LCD = Liquid Crystal Display. So that's Liquid Crystal Display Display.
    From the department of redundancy department.

    1. Re:LCD Display by siskbc · · Score: 5, Funny

      Does that make you AR Retentive?

      Who mods this up?

      --

      -Looking for a job as a materials chemist or multivariat

    2. Re:LCD Display by FatAlb3rt · · Score: 4, Funny

      Irregardless, LCD Displays won't help you remember you're PIN Number at the ATM Machine.

    3. Re:LCD Display by El+Kevbo · · Score: 5, Funny

      Somwhere, an English teacher cries out in pain and wonders why...

    4. Re:LCD Display by Delta-9 · · Score: 4, Funny

      From the department of redundancy department.

      I wonder how many other /.ers have that same free t-shirt? I use mine to wax my car.

  2. Could be a great device if.. by dostick · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Now that could be a great device if it could have mobile phone built in. Or at least a connection to phone.

    The most annoying thing about players today is that you can't hear when your mobile rings.

    1. Re:Could be a great device if.. by dildatron · · Score: 5, Insightful

      why not just put your phone on vibrate?

      I personally want my phone to be a phone and my mp3 player to play mp3's. convergence creates bad interfaces or limited funcionality most of the time.

      --


      If you had nuts on your chin, would they be chin nuts?
    2. Re:Could be a great device if.. by Elwood+P+Dowd · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Bluetooth would have provided perfect convergence if it had been designed properly: Your headphones would play the audio feed from your MP3 player, but give your cell phone a higher priority when it rang.

      I get a little teary when I think of the lost potential in Bluetooth. Maybe they'll get things working right in a couple more years.

      --

      There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
    3. Re:Could be a great device if.. by limber · · Score: 4, Funny

      why not just put your phone on vibrate?...i personally want my phone to be a phone...

      i agree 100% that convergence sucks where there's no good reason for it. i can't count the number of times i've accidentally put my vibrator on 'phone', and had to answer a call:

      "Umm, hi, kind of busy right now, talk to you later."

      And when the MP3 player's on too? even Barry White sounds odd...

  3. And... by C_nemo · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's playing Jenifer Lopez? .. wtf. i'm not getting one

  4. to eliminate a hundred comments by dildatron · · Score: 4, Insightful

    olbigatory comment about not decoding ogg files.

    yeesus, is it that hard to decode ogg files? all you have to do is implement it!

    --


    If you had nuts on your chin, would they be chin nuts?
    1. Re:to eliminate a hundred comments by batboy78 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      yeesus, is it that hard to decode ogg files

      Doesn't the OGG codec require a lot more processor power to decode?

    2. Re:to eliminate a hundred comments by bradkittenbrink · · Score: 4, Informative

      I believe the holdup was developing an integer only arithmetic implementation. Embedded devices don't usually have that powerful an fpu. Anybody know how much progress has been made in this area?

    3. Re:to eliminate a hundred comments by Joseph+Vigneau · · Score: 5, Informative

      Yes.
      And I'm not buying a dedicated player until it plays ogg files. I bought a Zaurus 5500 just for this purpose. I'd like to also buy a more purpose-built device for this, though, and I refuse to buy one that does not play Ogg Vorbis I files.

    4. Re:to eliminate a hundred comments by xercist · · Score: 5, Informative

      No, actually it takes a bit -less- processing power to decode vorbis, but a bit more memory. The real problem here is that most of these players use dedicated mp3-decoding chips. That's all they do, and can't be reprogrammed for other things. Some players use ARM based processors, and this is where a firmware upgrade enabling vorbis-decoding is possible. However, the truth is that right now most of these companies are losing money on portable players - they're just so cheap. To make them play oggs requires engineers, and engineers cost money. Most of these companies have already laid off all their engineers because they can't afford to keep paying them after initially creating the hardware/firmware.

      Anyway, you didn't hear it from me, but iRiver is currently working on implementing vorbis support in their portables.

      --

      --
      grep "xercist" /dev/random ...you'll find me in there someday
  5. What I want by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What I want is an FM radio with MP3 recorder and programmable recording.

    So I can record, say, Talk of the Nation on NPR in the morning and listen to it in the afternoon.

    Why doesn't anybody make this yet???

    Tivo for NPR. It would be great for saving stuff to listen to while driving, for those times when I want to actually use the time to learn something.

    1. Re:What I want by Sc00ter · · Score: 5, Informative
      I do this with an FM card in my linux box. I record Car Talk, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, and a few other shows. Here's the script I use for Car Talk:

      ---

      #! /bin/bash

      #Kill off anybody using /dev/dsp
      /sbin/fuser -k /dev/dsp

      #change to the right freq
      /usr/local/bin/fmio -d v4l -f 89.1 -v 7

      #set correct mixer settings
      /usr/local/bin/smixer -s /root/mixersettings/recordshow.mix

      DATE=`date +%Y-%m-%d`
      /usr/local/bin/mpegrec -b 32 -l 3600 -x "-b 32 --resample 32 -m m" -o /home/travis/radioshows/Car_Talk/Car_Talk_-_$DATE. mp3
      /usr/local/bin/smixer -s /root/mixersettings/default.mix
      chown -R travis.travis /home/travis/radioshows

      ---

      Hope that helps some, works great. You can use a bitrate of 16, but my portable MP3 player won't play it if it's that low for some stupid reason.

      --
      Free Mac Mini
    2. Re:What I want by mithras+the+prophet · · Score: 5, Informative

      I do this with a combination of streamripper and a crontab. (This only works if you have an always-on connection like a cable modem, of course)

      There are a number of NPR stations that broadcast in streaming mp3:

      I just set a crontab to run streamripper and record from one of those stations, at the time and for the duration of the program I want. Then tell iTunes to dump the file to the iPod, and poof - several hours of interesting listening, ready and waiting!

      All of the stations have program schedules available, or you can just guess for the live programs.

      When I have some time, I'll be gussying this up in a Cocoa interface for any fellow Mac OS X users.

      --
      four nine eighteen twenty-7 thirty-nine forty-7 fiftyeight sixty-nine seventy-9 eighty-8 one-hundred-and-nine one-twenty
  6. Abuse by edwilli · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wonder how much damage that LCD can take before it's trashed. Something that small would go everywhere with me. Anyone have any experence with anything like that?

  7. Timer is for Exercisers by __aaahtg7394 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    a timer (Why?).

    Because when you're working out, you often want to know how long you've been going. "OK, good, i did my 5 minutes of hard running, time for a smoke!", etc. Joggers, treadmill junkies, and other people-who-move are a target audience for these things (remember anti-skip CD players? "Perfect for Runners!")

    It'd surprise me if this didn't come with an armband of some sort, either out of the box or as an option.

    1. Re:Timer is for Exercisers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Surpising that the author couldn't understand the reason for a timer. I would hazard the guess that he is a typical Linux Hippie, 50-60 lbs over weight. His primary exercise would be whining about Microsoft. Last time he raised his hands above his head would have been to search for some stray Cheese Doodles on the top shelf.

  8. Re:What I want... by saskboy · · Score: 5, Funny

    A discman that plays MP3 CDs, has a SW/FM/AM, LCD TV, decodes OGG, downloads with Wireless Ethernet or IEEE1394, and runs off a Hydrogen Fuel Cell. Until this device is available, I refuse to support the crappy home electronics industry.

    --
    Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
  9. Never... by Eric_Cartman_South_P · · Score: 4, Funny
    Looks like a tampon applicator.

    1. Re:Never... by _ph1ux_ · · Score: 4, Funny

      thats what i thought too - and with jennifer lopez' name on it.

  10. Real Star Trek Stuff by serutan · · Score: 4, Funny

    Holy crap, dude! This is amazing. The Muvo looks like that thing Spock used to have sticking out of his ear when he was at his science station on the bridge. Was he really working, or just listening to his Jimmy Eat World tracks?

  11. Nice display, but how does it sound? by bartman1847 · · Score: 4, Informative
    The muvo might not have a display, but it has a great signal to noise ratio of >90dB. Which is far better then any on board soundcard, and bargin bin sound cards... I think that's even better then the older sound blaster cards...

    If you want to test your sound card you can get this program to see how your sound card stacks up to the muvo. muvo specs here You'll need to run a cable from your speaker out to your stereo input on your soundcard...

    But if your headphones suck, it really won't matter will it :D

  12. Recharge? by photon317 · · Score: 5, Insightful


    Nice device, but would it have been all that hard for them to replace the AAA battery with a rechargeable one and let it recharge from the +5V on the USB connector?

    --
    11*43+456^2
  13. Kyocera 7135 by Andy+Dodd · · Score: 4, Informative

    MP3 player + PalmOS PDA + phone.

    Coming soon - Rumor has it that "soon" could be Nov. 15. A few people have gotten their hands on beta units and it's schweet.

    http://www.kyocera.com/

    If you're worried about the phone/PDA integration - I have the 7135's predecessor, the 6035. It rocks. The integration is wonderfully done.

    --
    retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
  14. Hooray! by hbmartin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Now I can have an expensive player that has too-small-to-push-with-out-searching-for-them buttons and memory to hold all of 3 medium quality CDs worth of music. Jeez, get an iPod.

    --
    Karma: Bizzare (mostly affected by varying internal caffeine levels.)