Sweex guns after iPod nano with budget player

European electronics maker Sweex on Tuesday aimed high, introducing its Blaze series of media players. One of an increasingly large number of players that straddles the gap between music-only flash and larger video devices, the Blaze is thin at 0.47 inches but claims a larger screen than usual at 1.8 inches for handling AVI video clips. Audio quality is also an unusual focus with each player replacing the normally poor pack-in earbuds of other players with Sennheiser MX300 buds. Music in MP3/WAV/WMA formats and BMP/JPEG photos are also playable. Voice recording is also integrated with each device, Sweex says.

No prices have been released during the announcement, though the Blaze is clearly targeted at basic users with as little as 1GB of flash and topping out at 2GB or 4GB depending on the model. The entire line should be ready for Europe soon and may find its way to other areas through resellers. [via Pocket-lint]