Creative Technology Ltd. has announced shipment of the Nomad Jukebox 20GB. The personal digital music player carries an estimated street price of US$399.99 and sports 14GB more storage capacity than its predecessor.
Unlike the Nomad II and other similar devices that depend on solid-state memory storage to hold MP3 files, the Nomad Jukebox actually sports a hard disk drive. The device weighs about 14 ounces and features a line-in connection to record analog input from external sources, as well as dual line-out connections (supporting four point speaker connectivity). It’s also equipped with a USB interface, and yes, it’s fully iTunes compatible.
Creative said that 20GB of storage means that the Nomad Jukebox 20GB can store about 333 hours worth of CD-quality music, or over 8500 hours of spoken word. The device features EAX processing capabilities, which enable users to add spatialization and equalization effects to their music when listening through headphones. The Nomad Jukebox 20GB supports MP3, WMA and WAV files, and features “future-proof” firmware that can be upgraded to support future formats as they are established.
Look for the Nomad Jukebox 20GB to be available immediately through retail and mail order sites in North America. The device ships with a pair of stereo backphones, a universal AC power supply, USB connector cable, carrying pouch and two 4-packs of AA NiMH rechargeable batteries. Creative’s Nomad Web site had not yet been updated with information about the new Nomad Jukebox 20GB as MacCentral went to press with this article.