toggle

AAPL Stock: 560.85 ( -4.47 )

Olympus targets iPod photo, mini with new players

updated 09:40 am EST, Fri December 3, 2004

Olympus music players


Olympus this week in Tokyo announced its entry into the portable hard disk music player market with looks very much like the iPod, but has a different, although equally appealing design. The MR-100, which targets users of the iPod mini, provides a USB 2.0 hi-speed port and features 5GB storage capacity for around 1,200 songs and plays both WMA and MP3 file formats." The new players, with an iPod-esque look and white bud earphones, will be available in the US by January and in Europe next spring, according to the report.


by MacNN Staff

print
email
(17)

TAGS :

 iPod

Related Articles

Recent Articles

toggle

Comments

  1. VadersCape

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 2004

    0
    12/03, 10:02am | report spam | Reply |

    What a peel ... :-)

    "The MR-100 looks very much like the iPod, but has a different, although equally appealing design."

    Maybe to Morticia Addams.

  1. John F.

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Sep 2004

    0
    12/03, 10:19am | report spam | Reply |

    Not bad.

    Personally, I think Olympus understands design. I always loved their cameras for being different. These players are not bad from a design point of view. They have an appealing aesthetic. Olympus has good designers and the m:robe 100 has more style than Creative's, Rio, and all the other offerings. I'm not going to bash Olympus because it's not an iPod. I am going to say: Not bad. Olympus isn't a wannabe or "me too" company. When they do something, they do it from the heart. So, yeah, it's no iPod, but not bad either.

  1. ericwass

    Mac Enthusiast

    Joined: Mar 2000

    0
    12/03, 10:41am | report spam | Reply |

    m:robe?

    I'm not one of those "everything Apple does is great and everyone sucks" people who swarm around these boards, but I gotta wonder about who named these things. M:robe? Huh? Is that like bath:robe? The word "robe" doesn't conjure up pictures, music or technology. What were they getting at over there at marketing?

  1. ericwass

    Mac Enthusiast

    Joined: Mar 2000

    0
    12/03, 10:42am | report spam | Reply |

    correction

    "everything Apple does is great and everyone ELSE sucks"

  1. Faizon318

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 2004

    0
    12/03, 10:45am | report spam | Reply |

    I like

    The mini one SUCKS ! who wants red lights anymore .. dont they know blue is cool and red is old . Also the video one ROCKS .. I like it and will be selling my IPOD Photo on ebay right now !

  1. lemuel777

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 2004

    0
    12/03, 11:08am | report spam | Reply |

    On the right track

    Olympus is on the right track with a larger TOUCH screen. I have always thought from the beginning of the iPOD that it should be like a full size touch screen handheld with a hard drive. The problem with all these music player "competitors" is this... they don't play non DRM AAC files. Common guys get a clue. I refuse to buy ANY portable music device (other than a Palm phone) that doesn't play AAC files. Why is it taking so long for AAC to be adopted along side sucky WMA????? Is it in the Microsoft agreement?

  1. jbianchini

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2004

    0
    12/03, 11:19am | report spam | Reply |

    ACC

    I bet Apple wants an arm and a leg for ACC licenses.....just a guess though.

  1. mbryda

    Senior User

    Joined: Mar 2002

    0
    12/03, 11:49am | report spam | Reply |

    AAC

    Apple doesn't license AAC - Dolby does.

    Anyway, if Samsung can release a phone that plays AAC's (see www.phonescoop.com), a MP3 Player can too.

    I like red lights. Blue is way too hard on the eyes and over played like there's no tomorrow. I'm sick of seeing blue this, blue lights that. Get over it, blue is insanely hard on the eyes (ever try to read one of those phones with the deep blue keypad?) and just played out.

    They do look good, but I wonder how well it will sell - at $250 and $500, that's a tough sell.

  1. bobolicious

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2002

    0
    12/03, 12:14pm | report spam | Reply |

    The 500 rocks...

    ...now just add a lossless codec & radio & I'm in...

  1. Go Bells

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jun 2004

    0
    12/03, 12:41pm | report spam | Reply |

    Naming is horrible

    I agree with Eric- These iPod wannabees (wannebee in the sense of selling as many MP3 players as Apple is, at least) need to market much better and that starts with the name of the product itself.. Sony, a HUGE player in this game has a completely forgettable name for theirs too. One of the reasons the Walkman was so dominant was the name. At the time, you could get a Panasonic or competing product that was better and cheaper, but everyone wanted the Walkman-

Show More Comments

Login Here

Not a member of the MacNN forums? Register now for free.

 
close
Photo
toggle

Network Headlines

toggle

Most Popular

MacNN Sponsor

Recent Reviews

iHome iW2 AirPlay speaker

iHome generally isn't known as a luxury brand when it comes to audio, but it is prolific -- the company's docks and speakers are every ...

Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover

One of the iPad's main weaknesses has always been productivity. It's not a question of apps; while it has taken a little time for a na ...

Logitech UE Air Speaker

If maybe a little more slowly than Apple would like, AirPlay is becoming a staple of the wireless speaker market for iOS devices. The ...

toggle

Most Commented

 

Popular News