e.Digital Corp. — a company that designs, licenses, brands, manufactures, and sells digital audio products and technologies — has released a line of Odyssey digital audio players that are Mac compatible. The players come with embedded flash memory (64MB), a SmartMedia card expansion slot that provides up to 128MB of additional storage, and e.Digital Odyssey Manager software. The software is compatible with Mac OS 8.6 or higher, but isn’t yet Carbonized for Mac OS X.
The Odyssey players are pocket-sized and run up to 30 hours from a standard AA Alkaline battery. All models come with stereo earphones.
The US$129 Odyssey 100 offers MP3 file playback. The $179 Odyssey 200 features MP3 playback and an FM tuner, 20 customizable FM station presets with digital tuning, and voice recording using the built-in omnidirectional microphone. You can create and store over eight hours of voice recordings using the Odyssey 200’s standard 128MB built-in flash memory. A wired remote control and carrying case with belt clip are standard with the Odyssey 200.
The Odyssey 300’s direct MP3 encoding lets you rip files from your CD collection without using your Mac. It also has a digital voice recorder, FM tuner, FM recorder, and up to 12-hour battery life. With a standard 128MB of flash built-in, the Odyssey 300 holds voice, music, and FM recordings totaling up to 8.5 hours. You can double this amount with the SmartMedia expansion slot. The $299 Odyssey also includes a carrying case with belt clip, and a wired remote control.