For emotionally insecure types needing the reassuring sparkle of ostentatious bling around their neck, the new gold-plated deluxe MP3 player from Jens of Sweden should be a Godsend.
No doubt playaz will make a screeching BMW-line for the 2 GB Excentrique edition of the Jens MP-500 player, which comes with a shiny 24 carat gold back, but we’re more interested in the regular version of their flash-based player.
We’re big fans of Jens, and have been since they started selling classy, small mp3 players, like their attention grabbing MP130, mirrored player, years back. This little baby doesn’t disappoint. Served up in 1GB and 2GB flavours, the MP-500 comes in a smart, glossy black finish and sports a bright 1.6 inches TFT LCD capable of displaying 260K colours at a resolution of 128 x 128.
The pocket unruffling device (81 x 40 x 13 mm) packs a lot of functionality into its small shell, packing in video, mp3, USB-memory, dictaphone and teensy-weensy stereo speakers.
There’s also a watch, alarm and FM radio with 24 automatically set stations letting users record radio programmes at preset times.
The player can also display pictures and text documents transferred over its USB port.
Jens bundles in software to convert and optimise files from all common video formats to mpeg4, and claims that 11 typical 25-minute episodes of a TV-series can be compressed on to the 1 GB-model.
Whether you’d want to watch a TV program on such a tiny screen is another matter, of course.
Jens Managing Director, Jens Nylander is, not surprisingly, positively over-flowing with praise for the product:
“Our aim has always been to make the very best and most attractive media players. Today, no product can beat the MP-500 combination of size and functions. Relaxing with an episode of The Simpsons in the bus or the metro works wonderfully well.”
Perhaps mindful of the torrent of complaints that met Apple’s super scratchy Nano player, Nylander added, “The display is sharp and the player is both smaller and more resistant to scratches or blows than hard disk-based players.”
The MP-500 is available in the 1 GB (about 300 songs or six feature films) or 2 GB memory sizes for around $190 and $243 (ex VAT).
The 2 GB Excentrique-edition 24 carat gold version will retail for around $275 ex VAT.
Specifications:
Player
Memory 1GB, 2GB
Size 81 x 40 x 13 mm
Weight 51 grams
Speakers Built in stereo speakers
Microphone Built in microphone
Display
Size 1.6 inches
Type Color TFT LCD
Colors 260K Colors
Resolution 128 x 128
Audio
Sound Enhancement SRS/TRUBASS/WOW
Equalizer Normal, Classic, Jazz, Pop, Rock and 5 User EQs
ID3 Tags V1, V2
Headphone Output 10 mW + 10 mW
Speaker Output 110 mW + 110 mW
Frequency Range 20 Hz – 20 KHz
SN Ratio 90 dB (FM Radio: 50dB)
Music
File Support MP3, WMA and OGG
Bit Rate, MP3 8 Kbps – 320 Kbps (Supports VBR)
Bit Rate, WMA 32 Kbps – 192 Kbps
Bit Rate, OGG 44 Kbps – 500 Kbps (Q1 – Q10)
Video
* When converted with the provided transcoder
File Support MP4 (WMV, AVI, ASF, MPG, MPEG) *
Resolution 128 x 112
ImagesJPG
TextTXT
FM Radio
Presets 24 Auto Presets
Frequency 76 MHz – 108.0 MHz
Antenna Earphone Antenna
Battery
Type Rechargeable Li-Polymer (built-in)
Life Audio: 15.5 hours, Video: 8 hours
Charging Time 2-3 hours (30 min with charger)
Working Temperature -5C – 40C
Interface(s)
Headphones 3.5 mm Stereo Jack
Line In 3.5 mm Stereo Jack
USB
USB 2.0 HiSpeed Type B Mini Jack
USB Host USB 1.1
Requirements
O/S Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP/2003, Mac 10.2, Linux 2.4.0 or later.
MobiBlu’s soon-to-be-released DAH-1900 MP3 Player (256mb/512mb/1gb) claims to have the longest battery life of any MP3 player in the entire known universe.
The display can be used to stream song lyrics for pub-like solo singalongs, courtesy of an editable Auto Lyric system.
For nippy transfer of files from a PC, the DAH-1900 offers a High-Speed USB 2.0 interface at up to 40 Mbps transmission speed.
Available colours
Not content with having a café on every street corner in the known universe, Starbucks has announced that it’s considering expanding its entertainment business to offer a MP3 download service at their stores.
Starbucks have already stuck their espresso-scented tentacles deep into the music business and established themselves as a major CD outlet, shifting around 3.5 million CDs in their fiscal year ended 30 September.
Last year, HMV Canada refused to stock Alanis Morissette’s records (good move anyway, we say!) in protest at the wallet-stuffing exclusivity agreement she’d signed with Starbucks.
If the Starbucks service takes off, we can expect more pressure on artists and record companies to conform to their wholesome values – and this can only be bad news for music fans.
It might look like a run-of-the-mill Gameboy Advance SP, but the TAVI Portable Media Player packs a much mightier multimedia punch, with the wee fella letting you watch movies, playback music, look at your photos, listen to FM radio, read eBooks and record your own voice.
Audio support is pretty generous too, with the unit offering MP3, WMA, OGG, AC3 and AAC playback.
There’s also a built in FM radio and mic, line-in recording (audio only) and TXT reader support.
SPECIFICATIONS
PHOTOS & eBOOKS
POWER
If you haven’t been to CES, you may have heard of the headache inducing noise, leg-ache inducing size and debt-ache inducing taxis and hotel rooms. We’ll save you all that and run over the highs and lows from this year’s CES 2006 show – shame we can’t help out with the glitzy lights of Las Vegas.
Satellite radios from XM and Sirius while Toshiba’s new HD-DVD playing Qosmio laptop gathered attention. It’s the first laptop to debut with a built-in HD-DVD player. The laptop can also play hi-def discs on your TV. The Qosmio is expected to hit the streets in March 2006 – months before the first Blu-Ray boxes are due out.
It looks great, but you’ll need deep pockets and an understanding partner to justify forking out $399 for a humble remote control. 
Elsewhere, the PC World editors were less than impressed with the ongoing willy-waving battle for the biggest plasma screen, arguing that they’d prefer it if the manufacturer’s considerable energies were directed into producing affordable plasmas for regular folks.
Factory sales of consumer electronics are set to soar to a record high of $135.4 billion (~£77bn ~Ä112) in 2006, according to the Consumer Electronics Association’s annual industry forecast.
Projections for 2006 and year-end figures for 2005 are included in CEA’s bi-annual US Consumer Electronics Sales and Forecasts report, released every year at the International CES and updated mid-year.
In 2005, DTV sales grew 60 percent to $17 billion, with the market fuelled by the growing popularity and competitive price declines of flat panel LCD and plasma displays, which accounted for 40 percent of all DTV sales. 
“MP3 technology helped boost the audio and accessories markets in 2005. With the introduction of video playback capability, MP3 player sales surged 200 percent in 2005 to $3 billion. Trends in 2006 should be no different,” he added.
Motorola says adieu to Apple and bonjour to Linux as it unveiled its shiny new ROKR E2 phone at the Consumer Electronics Show today.
Running on a new Linux-based operating system, the Motorola ROKR E2 also includes a high-res 320×240 screen, a 1.3 megapixel camera with video recording, a built-in FM radio, Opera Web browser Bluetooth (supporting wireless music streaming to stereo Bluetooth headphones), and joy-of-joys – a standard 3.5mm stereo headphone jack and not one of those ruddy annoying mini sockets that are incompatible with normal headphones.
In the absence of iTunes, Motorola intends to push their iRadio Music Service, a subscription music service that uses mobile handsets as the base platform.
Creative Zen Vision:M
The player’s a versatile chap too, with the Vision:M outgunning the iPod by supporting a wider range of formats, like MP3, WMA and PlaysForSure audio formats and MPEG1/2/4, DivX and XviD, Motion JPEG and WMV for video.
Sony NW-A1000
The palm sized player (88 x 55 x 19 mm) comes with a built in 6GB hard drive and supports MP3 files as well as Sony’s ATRAC3 and ATRAC3+ audio formats. Battery life is claimed at 20 hours (although several reviews have found that figure to be wildly optimistic). 
Apple iPod Nano
In-ear headphones (“earbuds”) like those sold with the iPod and other music players can increase the risk of hearing loss, according to a US audiologist (a what?!)
We can certainly verify that some folks seem oblivious to the risk, blasting their music so high that we can hear the annoying “tssk chk tssk chk” leaking from in-ear phones over the thunderous rattle of a tube train.
Garstecki proposes the 60%/60 minute rule as a solution – this involves listening to an MP3 device for no longer than about an hour a day and at levels below 60% of maximum volume.