01/12/2009, 9:10am, EST
Monday, January 12thHaier takes shot at iPod touch
Haier in a low-key introduction has revealed its second and third major players in the ibiza line. The ibiza Theatre is the company's first real touchscreen player and serves as a lower-cost alternative to players from Apple and Samsung; while it has a 2.4-inch, 320x240 screen and doesn't appear to include Wi-Fi, the device includes Bluetooth for wireless headphones, an FM radio tuner and a microSD slot to add more space. It also supports Real's Rhapsody to Go for loading the device with music from the unlimited subscription service.
Format support is relatively limited and will include just Audible, MP3 and WMA audio as well as AVI and MPEG-4 videos, though Haier promises a 30-hour battery. The company plans to ship the Theatre during the spring and will sell the 8GB version for half the price of its closest rivals, at $110, while the 16GB version will sell for $130.
A second lesser model known as the ibiza Trainer is built for exercise and includes several extras that track this information, including a calorie counter, a heart monitor, a pedometer and a stopwatch function. The 2GB device supports the same audio-only formats (including FM) and will last for up to 10 hours on a charge when it releases later this year for $60. [via DAPreview]
ibiza Trainer
Filed under: gadgets, audio
Other story tags: Rhapsody, RealNetworks, Haier
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Half the price??
Honestly, this is much closer in function to an iPod nano than an iPod touch. Sure, it's got a touch screen, but other than that offers no real features the Nano doesn't have. Not even close to an iPod touch.
So, it's physically bigger and uglier than a nano, but sells for $40 less. Yippee.
Compared to Touch?
How can this be compared to the Touch? Where's the Wi-Fi? Where's the ability to choose from 1000's of apps to install on it? Where's the e-mail, IM, and web browsing? 95% of my time on my iPod Touch is not for music or video.