iRiver makes E100's US launch official

iRiver has lived up to its word today by launching the US edition of the E100, its new mid-range player that sits between the basic T60 and the more video-focused Clix Gen 2. The device ships with a relatively large 2.4-inch screen but moves the company's D-Click controls from the edges of the LCD to a pad at the bottom; the effect suits the E100 more to the vertical hold preferred for music but still presents a similar near-seamless look. This newest model adds a microSD slot to expand free space by as much as another 2GB, and boasts its own stereo speakers for listening without headphones.

The feature set otherwise centers around iRiver's typically broad format support, including sometimes overlooked audio formats such as FLAC or OGG as well as XviD for video. More conventional support comes for MP3/WMA sound as well as MPEG and Windows Media movies. FM radio, FM recording, and line-in capture are also standard on the player, which runs for up to 17 hours of music on a charge or five hours of video.

While a 2GB version of the E100 is available in some countries that already have the player, the US launch sees just 4GB and 8GB models shipping now for $110 and $160 respectively in black, blue, pink, and white colors.