Audio News

The Korean MP3 player manufacturer iRiver is renowned for their extremely stylish and exotic gadgets. With everything from their Mickey Mouse shaped media player, to their curved and bent T10 players, iRiver’s devices are sure to stand out and attract attention. Yet the company does more than impress with mere novelties, as they are also responsible for producing some very advanced media players, including the multi-faceted X20. Their newest release in Korea is an example of the fusion between style, originality and performance. Their Volcano T7, which was showcased at the 2008 CES, resembles a USB stick, yet does much more than any ordinary USB stick.

Firstly, the Volcano T7 comes with a 1 inch 64 x 128 pixel display, and this clearly sets it apart from any regular USB stick. As is nowadays the standard for MP3 players, the T7 includes an integrated FM radio, radio recorder, and voice recorder, which is handy for recording important lectures or meetings. Of course the device does retain one major similarity with USB sticks, in that it is seamlessly connected to the computer via the USB 2.0 port. It’s minute size does not mean the player has an equally minute storage capacity, as it comes in both sizable 4 GB and 2 GB varieties. The music device supports all standard audio formats, including MP3, WMA, OGG, and ASF. The 2 GB variant is going for around £30 in Korea and the 4 GB is going for around £40. Unfortunately, there is no information yet on when these devices might reach us over here.