iRiver announces N11, prices U10 player

by Martyn Williams, IDG News Service, Playlist Magazine

Reigncom Ltd., the company behind the IRiver brand of MP3 music players, announced on Tuesday a new version of its necklace-type N10 player and launch details for its recently announced U10 player.

From the outside the N11 looks similar to its predecessor, but there are some small improvements inside including an FM radio and longer battery life. The N10 offered 11 hours of playback but this has been extended to 13 hours on the N11 after a 1-hour charge.

It can play MP3, Windows Media Audio, Ogg and ASF files and also record MP3 files. It has a 4-line OLED (organic light emitting diode) display that shows track data and other information.

IRiver plans to offer the players in South Korea from early September and then later in Japan and Europe. The N11 won’t be available in the U.S. In South Korea it will cost 198,000 won (US$192.53) for a 256MB version, 249,000 won for a 512MB version and 297,000 won for a 1GB version.

Also Tuesday the company announced a launch date and pricing details for its U10 player. The U10 was first unveiled at the SEK show in Seoul in June and features a 2.2-inch QVGA (320 pixel by 240 pixel) landscape-oriented screen that takes up the majority of the front of the player. It has a pressure sensitive front panel that allows for navigation and control by pressing certain areas of the front panel rather than buttons.

It supports the same audio formats as the N11, has an FM radio and can also play MPEG4 video. It measures 69 millimeters by 47 mm by 16 mm. At launch IRiver promised two versions, one with 512MBs of memory and one with 1GB of memory, and the company has now added a third model with 256MBs of memory.

The U10 will go on sale on Sept. 2 through a cable TV shopping network in South Korea before becoming more widely available. IRiver plans to sell the player in Europe and the U.S. In South Korea a 512MB model will cost 286,000 won and a 1GB model will cost 339,000 won.

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