Iomega, maker of the revolutionary Zip disks and drive, has thrown their hat into the portable MP3 ring with the new HipZip. The HipZip is a full featured, portable MP3 player based on Iomegais own Clik! disk technology. Clik!, now known as PocketZip, offers users 40MB of storage in remarkably small, compact, and inexpensive disks. A 40MB PocketZip disk retails for roughly US$10, while a 32MB Flash Media card retails for roughly US$80. The HipZip is slightly larger than the its ultra-compact competitor, the Diamond Rio. However, the HipZip offers greater flexibility in that taking large amounts of music on the road becomes easier, and cheaper, due to the PocketZip technology.
More importantly for Mac users, the HipZip features Mac OS 8.5/9.x support right out of the box. According to Iomega:
Introducing the HipZip? Digital Audio Player. This portable device gives you skip-free, CD-quality sound? in a cool, compact design. The HipZip? also doubles as? a PocketZip? storage device, so you can download and? transport spreadsheets, images and more. With the new? HipZip?, Iomega makes it easy to collect and organize? your music.
Itis Durable:
The HipZip? Digital Audio Player offers you solid? protection from accidents or spills. And the full? metal housing on each PocketZip? disk offers an equally? durable media. Click here to see a QuickTime movie and Real Media Link.Itis Affordable:
One 40MB PocketZip? disk (at a cost of $10) carries over 80 minutes of your favorite music that you can play on your HipZip? digital audio player. At that price, anyone can build up an affordable portable music collection.Itis Portable:
Move your music from one PocketZip? disk to another without any reformatting, and then carry it in your HipZip??digital audio player wherever you go. Whether youire in your office or at the football game.Itis Securable:
PocketZip? disks are uniquely serialized, so your player can tell one disk from another. You use your serial number to lock content onto your disk. Also, the Windows Media Player 7 comes with Windows Rights Manager, so your content cannot be opened on an unauthorized disk.Features of the HipZip:
- Anti-skip design
- Built-in lithium ion battery, which produces 12 hours of continuous play off one charge.
- Universal music file format which allows for support of both free and copyright-protected content.
- Supports MP3 and the new Microsoft? Windows Media audio formats. Look forward to compatibility with additional music file formats.
- Simple, intuitive controls.
- Forward or reverse gets you to the track you want.
- High quality equalizer control system that enhances audio quality.
- Drag and drop file transfer.
- Fast USB connectivity.
- Acts as external PocketZip? drive--download or transport any digital information with ease.
- Backlit display of title, artist and album information.
- Displays the disk space thatis available
The new HipZip is available for US$299. You can find more information at the Iomega web site.