During the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, gadget maker iRiver showed off the Smart HD "K1" portable media player device aimed at competing with the Apple iPod Touch.
The device has a 3.5-inch screen supporting 480 x 320 resolution, Wi-Fi, DMB-TV tuner, e-book reader, voice recorder, Open API widget feature, and a built-in Internet browser. The device can play MP3s and WMA files, along with MPEG4, MKV, WMV, XVID, and H.264 video files.
Most notably, the iRiver Open API UCI (User Created Interface) bundled into the PMP will give users the ability to share and acquire new Smart HD apps using the built-in Wi-Fi.
iRiver didn't disclose internal memory storage capacity, but it's likely it will have an SD slot for additional memory. The company hasn't released other details, but plans to release a new statement sometime in the coming weeks.
The device is launching in South Korea by the end of the month, but it's unknown when it will be released in North America.
I have a smartphone and an MP3 player -- not both -- but many consumers are interested in products like the iPod Touch and iRiver Smart HD. Wi-Fi and a wide variety of video support make the Smart HD appealing, but pricing remains a major concern, as the company needs to find a price point near the iPod Touch: the 8GB Touch is $199, 32GB is $299, and the 65GB model is $399.
If this thing comes close to its advertised specs and usability, I think I want one one. Maybe, after someone else pays for it or I hit the lottery.
