Portable CD MP3 Player

Portable media player pioneer Archos is replacing their Gmini XS 100 portable audio player with a new model available in three colors – grey, black, pink - and priced at under $150. The new Archos 104 will debut in May 2006 and offers up 4GB of hard drive based storage, which makes the player capable of holding up to 2000 songs of the MP3 and WMA music file types.

The Archos 104, besides being capable of playing standard MP3 and WMA music files, is also Microsoft Windows Media PlaysForSure certified, meaning it can be used to play copy protected WMA music files downloaded from online music services like MSN Music, Napster and Wal-Mart Music Downloads. This feature is increasingly common on newer MP3 players like this.

Other audio specific features of the Archos 104 will include support for playlists, which allow users to group music in different combinations for easier choices in listening, the ability to shuffle songs and playlists for random music playback and the ability to output audio from the player to a home stereo.

In addition to being able to store and play music files, the Archos 104 can store up to 40,000 JPEG digital photos. These photos can be displayed on the player’s 1.5-inch color OLED screen. Both audio and digital image files can be gotten at through an icon-based, on screen navigation interface.

Other features of the Archos 104 include physical measurements (in inches) of 3.6” x 1.7” x 0.5”, a weight of 2.8 ounces, up to 14 hours of rechargeable battery life, support for USB 2.0 high speed file transfers, auto synchronization with a computer based music library when using Windows Media Player 10 and included accessories such as stereo headphones, neck strap and USB 2.0 cable.

Photos via generationmp3
Read Archos news release here.