Philips HDD100 Recording Audio Jukebox

[Ioman]

Philips is to introduce the HDD100 Recording Audio Jukebox that transports MP3 or any other file via an USB PC connection. This new portable hard disc device enables consumers to have thousands of songs available on demand to suit any mood, situation or activity.

The HDD100 offers a 15GB storage capacity, storing around 3000 songs, equivalent to more than a week of music. The HDD100’s hard disk can be used to store much more than audio. The PC-based software supplied with the HDD100 allows users to download standard graphic equalizer settings such as Rock, Pop, Jazz and Classic to the HDD100, or create new equalizer names and settings to suit their own listening preferences.

The large display gives clear, high-contrast light even in bright outdoor conditions, and also has a white LED backlight for use in dark areas like clubs. The LED display has a clear hardened glass lens that makes it scratch resistant, and the full magnesium body makes Recording Audio Jukebox HDD 100, with it’s 167g, the lightest and the smallest of its type.

Always the right music
The HDD100 Recording Audio Jukebox can store a complete library of songs, enabling the consumer to access them easily wherever and whenever required. Over 3000 MP3 or 6000 WMA files can be stored simultaneously on the device so there is no need to constantly remove tracks to make space for new ones.

The HDD100 compliments its storage possibilities with high-speed data transfer. By incorporating the super fast USB2.0 music and other files can be downloaded quickly from the PC. Users can record using analogue or digital connections, and even use the built-in microphone for recording speech.

Simple navigation
The Recording Audio Jukebox makes it easy to select a particular song with the Philips SuperscrollTM navigation interface. The buttons used to scroll through tracks have two-step functionality. Pressing either the 'up' or 'down' button for longer activates a scroll accelerator (patent pending) that allows faster navigation through the list of stored songs.

Tracks can also be categorized by genre, for instance 'rock', 'hip-hop', 'classical' or 'dance', which makes it much easier to find a certain type of song to suit the occasion. The user can customize these categories, which can be linked to present and future recordings in a particular genre. They are also linked to equalizer settings, so the most appropriate tone is automatically selected for each different genre.

Philips Recording Audio Jukebox offers a considerable amount of music power between recharges. Up to 10 hours of playback is possible from a single rechargeable Li-Ion battery and offers 15 GB of storage capacity. In addition to being used as portable jukeboxes, they can also function as miniature removable PC hard discs, allowing easy transfer of large amounts of data between computers.

I've dealt with Philips and Sony. In the case of Sony there was a brilliant engineer/leader (Akio Morita) who took risks and went with his gut. Things like the Walkman and CD player only came about due to his personal vision and force of will.

Both companies are large organizations run by very corporate types. Philips has very little in the way of real advanced development (like many companies they don't trust their own r&d and need to see things validated externally before trying something new).

It isn't surprising that these guys are in a following mode. None of them have a commanding figure like Steve Jobs.

[IronSerif]

This device is one of the "iPod Killers" I was considering purchasing. It really impressed me.

If I knew an available date of purchse I might have picked it over the iPod. But this looks like a very promising device. The 15GB is very generous, but I wonder if they will over different variations in HDD sizes?

[Cloud]

I really dig the look of this player. A couple questions though:

-Does it even/will have FireWire support?

-What will the price point be?

-Is it firmware upgradeable?

-Will it use 3rd party software? I.E. Music Match

[Porsche911]

Originally posted by Unregistered
I've dealt with Philips and Sony. In the case of Sony there was a brilliant engineer/leader (Akio Morita) who took risks and went with his gut. Things like the Walkman and CD player only came about due to his personal vision and force of will.

Both companies are large organizations run by very corporate types. Philips has very little in the way of real advanced development (like many companies they don't trust their own r&d and need to see things validated externally before trying something new).

It isn't surprising that these guys are in a following mode. None of them have a commanding figure like Steve Jobs.

Does it matter as long as the product is good? Some companies spend millions on R&D and still develop a bad product. If Philips can take the best from Sony and Apple and incorporate it into their new HDD100 then cheers to them. Dell basically did the same thing with their Axim PDA. They waited until the market was familiar with the PDA, then developed one based on other companies designs.

Sony's mp3 players are known for using encription technology, making their transfer speed slower than other mp3 players that does not encript their files.

[Cloud]

Originally posted by Unregistered
Sony's mp3 players are known for using encription technology, making their transfer speed slower than other mp3 players that does not encript their files.

ummm and what encryption would that be? I don't recall seeing a Sony MP3 player jukebox like this on the market.

Originally posted by Cloud
I really dig the look of this player. A couple questions though:

-Does it even/will have FireWire support?

-What will the price point be?

-Is it firmware upgradeable?

-Will it use 3rd party software? I.E. Music Match

From my own research into this product:
- No, it does not have Firewire support
- The ipod 15 GB model goes for $400, I'm assuming this will too
- Not sure, but I don't think the firmware is upgradeable
- It will come with Music Match (I prefer Windows Media Player though)

Originally posted by Cloud



ummm and what encryption would that be? I don't recall seeing a Sony MP3 player jukebox like this on the market.

How about my Music Clip? Not only did it have this system where you could only check out a song 3 times to a player without checking it back in, but it also required you to convert your MP3s into their special format which resulted in having two copies of each song on your computer (original MP3 + new Sony file).

Sure, it wasn't a harddrive based solution, but you are dreaming if you think that Sony will realease it's stranglehold on digital rights management now.

Oh yeah, and they don't tell you that they do this ANYWHERE on the packaging, plus you NEED their NONDOWNLOADABLE software (plus CD key) to use their product. It's just insane.

I'd get a Nomad Jukebox Zen if I didn't already have a 10 GB iPod. It's about the same size as the old I pod, but it has a 20 GB HD, and only costs $250!

Oh yeah, and you can edit your playlists on the device itself. I can't count the number of times that I've wanted to remove/add a song from/to a playlist while away from a firewire port (work computers don't have them).

Now if only they would add the scroll wheel from the iPod... What does mac have a patent on that or something?