Today Jens of Sweden unveiled their new MP-500, a small slick player with a 1.6″ screen and video playback. They are available today for $190 (1GB) and $240 (2GB). Full specifications inside.

Full press release from Jens of Sweden

Now JoS launches the most function-packed media player so far, the Jens of Sweden MP-500. It is smaller and shorter than a credit card and thinner than a box of matches. Yet under the scratch-resistant black shell lies video, mp3, USB-memory, dictaphone and – for the first time –stereo speakers as well as a razor-sharp colour display. The MP-500 is available in the 1 GB (about 300 songs or six feature films) or 2 GB memory sizes at $190 and $243 ex VAT. There is also a 2 GB Excentrique-edition with a 24 carat gold back side for only $274 ex VAT. The player comes with a 30 day satisfaction-guaranteed or money-back guarantee for all credit and cash card customers.

”Our aim has always been to make the very best and most attractive media players. Today, no product can beat the MP-500 combination of size and functions. Relaxing with an episode of The Simpsons in the bus or the metro works wonderfully well. The display is sharp and the player is both smaller and more resistant to scratches or blows than hard disk-based players. Then there is no match for the exclusive look of the Excentrique either,” says Jens Nylander, Managing Director of the vendor JoS.

Jens of Sweden MP-500 plays the video format mpeg4 and is delivered with software that converts and optimises films from all common film formats to mpeg4. The compression allows the 1 GB-model to carry 11 typical 25-minute episodes of a TV-series.

“Downloading news as audio files is around now, downloading news broadcasts and programmes, vidcasts, is definitely a coming technology, but the content vendors have to be more active,” said Jens Nylander.

Freeware makes it easy to download time-coded texts to the songs from the web, and suddenly you have the world’s smallest karaoke machine. The Jens of Sweden MP-500 also has a watch, an alarm and an FM radio with 24 automatically set stations. Thus, the user can record radio programmes at preset times. The player can also display pictures and text documents that have been saved in it. Not only can the MP-500 download musik directly from a stereo, it also has a USB-host, enabling it to transfer files with another USB-unit.

Apart from interviewers and bird watchers, there are many musicians today who need to be able to make high-quality recordings of music. Here, JoS offers two exclusive Sony-microphones: ECM-719 ($96 ex VAT) which can be attached to a jacket or rest on a table, or the ECM-F8 ($21 ex VAT), which is a flat model for table-top use.

Specifications, MP-500: Dimensions: 81 x 40 x 13 mm, weight 51 g. Screen: 1,6 inch, 260K colours, 128 x 128 resolution. Videoformats: MP4 as well as with the attached converter: WMV, AVI, ASF, DAT, MPG and MPEG (the converter software only works with PC). Text and picture formats: TXT, JPG. Sound formats: MP3 (8-320Kbps,VBR), WMA(32-192Kbps), OGG(Q1-Q10). Windows WMA DRM 9.0 with netsync-support is included. 10 + 10 mW earphone effect and built in stereo speakers 110 mW + 110 mW. SRS, TRUBASS, WOW as well as five preset and five individually set equalizer settings to optimise the sound. Line-in function for recording of songs directly from the stereo, in MP3-format. Built-in Li-Polymer-battery with about 15 h of playing time (audio/8 h video) which is charged through the computer, as well as an internal USB 2.0 hi-speed port, compatible with USB 1.1 and a USB 1.1-host so that the MP-500 can connect directly to a digital camera or another MP3-player. System requirements for the computer: Windows 98-SE/ME/2000/XP/2003, Mac 10.2, Linux 2.4.0 or later versions, as well as a USB-port. The MP-500 is delivered with a USB-cable. Optional accessories available on www.jensofsweden.com include a wide range of earphones as well as two MP-500 kits, one with a 220 Volt travel charger, black Sony NX-1 plug earphones and a polishing cloth for $51 ex VAT, the other with a 220 Volt travel charger, Koss Porta Pro earphones and a polishing cloth for $42 ex VAT.

Jens of Sweden MP-500 [jensofsweden.com]

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