CES 2009

Jasmine and Donald talk about their favorite portable audio discoveries from the 2009 Macworld Expo and the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). This episode is recorded live from the CNET stage at CES 2009.

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(Credit: Iriver)

Iriver's latest iPod Nano competitor comes in the form of the E50, a smaller and much sleeker relative of the E100. It may not be the most exciting thing to come out of CES this year, but it is a feature-packed MP3 player that will fit comfortably in your pocket--and that has to count for something. Plus, the design is a huge improvement over its bigger sibling, and that was one of our chief complaints about the E100. Rather than have a plastic body, the E50 is wrapped in a slick, brushed-metal exterior. The controls are integrated into the faceplate, which adds to the sleek look and feel.

As expected with Iriver players, the E50 is not wanting for features. A 1.8-inch color LCD displays a variety of options, including folder-based browsing. There's support for MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, and ASF audio; AVI and WMV video; and JPEG, BMP, PNG, and GIF images. You also get an FM tuner with autoscan, presets, and recording as well as a built-in mic for voice recording. The player offers nine EQ settings, including SRS WOW and a five-band customizable EQ. In addition, the unit includes A/B looping, lyrics display, shuffle and repeat modes, and bookmarking. All this and an impressive 52-hour battery life in a package that's about the size of your average pack of gum.

Photos: Iriver E50 at CES 2009

With all the iPod imitators and wannabes out there, it's always a breath of fresh air when a company makes something that is actually different enough to garner a double take. In this case, the company is Iriver, and the product is the new P7 PVP. The interface on this device is so unique that I actually couldn't figure out how to use it at first--a rare occurrence for someone who's been in the game for more than five years. That's not to say the P7 is overly complex; in fact, it's quite intuitive once you get the hang of it. The big eye-catcher is the main menu, which rather than using text or icons, lays out your options magazine-style, with a snapshot of the last item played leading into the various media submenus. Words really don't do it justice, but a glance at the closeup below should give you an idea.

(Credit: iriver)

As you might expect with a UI like the one above, the P7 is controlled almost exclusively via its full-color, 4.3-inch touch screen (480 x 272 resolution). Iriver does offer a few tactile controls around the edges: a power button, a hold switch, and--yay--dedicated volume keys. The player is as feature-packed as we've come to expect from the company. There's music, video, and photo (including slide show) playback; a text viewer; voice recording; and an integrated FM tuner. You also get a wide array of sound enhancement features, including SRS WOW HD, and there's a built-in microSD card slot for adding more memory, which may come in handy considering the P7 maxes out at 16GB (4GB and 8GB versions will also be available).

Although Iriver hasn't confirmed format support for the P7, we expect it to be comparable to what you find in the Spinn, which is MP3, WMA, OGG, ASF, FLAC, and APE for audio; MPEG 4 SP, WMV SP, and XVID SP for video; and JPEG, BMP, PNG, and GIF for photo. The rated battery life of 50 hours for music is plenty impressive, especially given the large, brilliant display. The P7 is expected to be available in the U.S. by the end of Q2 and pricing has yet to be determined.

Iriver P7 photos

Iriver didn't say when its Wave Home will be available or how much it will cost.

(Credit: Iriver)

There's been a little bit of buzz at CES here about the Iriver Wave Home, which marries a networked mulitmedia device with a communications hub to form a kitchen/home office-friendly gadget.

A 7-inch 800x480 touch screen is built into the unit along with a detachable wireless handset and speakerphone for VoIP calls (you can make calls from the phone or an onscreen virtual keypad and the device supports video calls as well). You can access the Web, photos, music, and videos, and there's an FM radio that Iriver says can be "enjoyed through Wave Home's built-in, high-quality stereo speakers."

"High quality" might be stretching it a bit, but you get the picture: the thing is basically a digital photo frame on steroids, complete with a 1.3-megapixel CMOS camera. Additional features include an Ethernet jack, SD card slot, USB connectivity, and support for digipen input.

Iriver is also touting the device's intelligent Widget, which "provides instant weather, stock and traffic updates, as well as Web and multimedia services that users can enjoy without a computer since the device is connected to broadband internet." Wave Home also supports Flash-based games and you can send and receive SMS and MMS texts.

What's missing? An iPod dock. My God, what were these people thinking?

I'm kidding. Well, sort of. Anyway, there's no definitive word on pricing or availability, but Iriver is allegedly trying to keep the cost below $400.

America's annual Consumer Electronics Show typically isn't a launching pad for new MP3 players. With the iPod's continued domination over the world of portable audio, most MP3 player manufacturers save their big announcements until later in the year--after Macworld shakes out and before a new crop of iPods arrive in September. That said, CES is a great place to spot new iPod accessories, such as speaker docks, video goggles, headphones, and boom boxes. One thing I can say for certain: CES 2009 will be littered with products proclaiming their iPhone 3G compatibility.

Companies such as Iriver are the major exception when it comes to CES MP3 player announcements. In 2008, Iriver launched 11 portable media players at CES and went away with one of our Best of CES awards. We expect Iriver will come back to CES with another treasure trove of portable audio goodies to show off. In fact, CNET Asia has already caught wind of some possible contenders.

Iriver made a big splash at CES 2008.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

I also wouldn't rule out seeing some new MP3 players from Samsung. Rumors are already circulating that we may see an update to Samsung's popular touch-screen MP3 player, the YP-P2.

Sony is another big player at CES with a track record of making fantastic MP3 players. Some speculate that we'll see a new touch-screen Walkman unveiled at CES 2009, although it seems like an uncharacteristic move coming from Sony.

Speaking generally for MP3 players, we're likely to see even more emphasis placed on price and value, as manufacturers race to compete against SanDisk and Coby in the budget MP3 player space. On the other extreme, manufacturers ambitious enough to try and beat Apple at their own game will continue to incorporate touch screens, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other advanced technologies, in an effort to create cutting-edge appeal.