Sound Off

Now for part two of our CES report. Even with the abundance of HDTV sets and other video technologies, audio still had a great presence at the show. It looks like video hasn't killed the radio star just yet. Once again, MP3 was big -almost every single manufacturer had prototypes of new players. Back in the day, the only people who really listened to MP3 files were those who had created the files themselves. Now, MP3 is one of the most often searched words on the internet.

MP3 players are differentiated by their storage capacities and format compatibility. Most of the early generation players could not play MP3's encoded at bit rates higher than 192Kb/s nor variable bit rate files. Other audio compression formats are now being supported, such as WMA or ATRAC. Some portables are also adding radios to their devices. Even with all this technological evolution, MP3s on these portable devices won't sound as good as your desktop system due to the superiority of your sound card and amp. This is rapidly improving, however.

Intel

Making its debut at CES is Intel's new Digital Audio Player. The best thing about this player is its standard 128MB of flash memory storage. This is not expandable, but 128MB will give your two hours of stereo 128Kb/s MP3 playback, virtually CD quality music. Intel's unit runs on two AAA batteries, and connects through a USB port. Accessories include a docking station that has RCA outputs and a car adapter. The unit is made of plastic, and has a Sony-esque jog dial to scroll between songs. A trendy street-style pair of headphones is also included, although these headphones will probably need to be replaced by the serious listener.

Docked Intel Digital Audio Player

It comes with a nifty case too

Intel's Headphones

Creative Labs

Creative was not shy in proclaiming that its Nomad series of MP3 players is the most popular MP3 player in the USA. In addition to their 6GB Nomad Jukebox, Creative showed off some Nomad Jukebox prototypes that were more portable than the current version. Functionally, these new Nomads should be similar to the current models. They also demonstrated some Nomad devices with replaceable faceplates, like with Nokia phones or the Palm M100.

Prototype #1

Prototype #2

Prototype #3