Theyire back!
Taiwanese MP3 maker Luxpro, who proved earlier this month that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, has re-introduced its Apple iPod shuffle look-alike with a new look and a new name.
The Super Tangent still has the same look, feel and size as the shuffle, but has re-designed its control pad with a translucent plastic effect, has two back side sliders instead of one, and three colors -- red, black and white (see photo below).
Luxpro made a buzz at the CeBit trade show in Germany earlier this month when they showed off an MP3 player called the Super Shuffle. Within 48 hours of its announcement, the product disappeared from its booth, leading many to believe the company was either forced to remove the product after pressure from Apple Computer, or was simply trying to create headlines before it introduced the re-engineered version.
The Super Tangent is slightly thicker larger than the iPod shuffle, but features a control interface on the front that mimics Appleis control interface. The handheld unit has an FM tuner and voice recording capabilities, comes in 512 megabyte and 1 gigabyte capacities and features a USB 2.0 interface. The Tangent supports MP3 (8~320Kbps), MP3-VBR, WMA, WMA-DRM (5~192Kbps), WAV (ADPCM) music formats, and works with both Mac OS X and several flavors of Windows. The device also features 12 hours of battery life, the same as the iPod shuffle.
The company has not announced pricing or availability and did not immediately return requests for information.
Since, the first introduction of the product earlier this month, Apple has refused to comment to The Mac Observer about Luxprois shuffle clone and whether it violates its copyright. Apple has a long history of protecting its design work, having successfully sued eMachines, FuturePower, and other PC manufacturers who attempted to imitate the original Bondi Blue iMac.