iRiver: Clix 2, S7 & S10, T50/60, W10, Unit2

Articles: Event Coverage: CES 2007

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Bradford Day
Brian

Jan. 10, 2007

Specifications

iRiver

Rich and I met with iRiver to check out their newest releases for 2007. iRiver didn't have a show floor booth this year. What they did have was a very nice suite at the fabulous Wynn hotel. Never ones to miss the chance to hang out in a suite we could never afford; we begged and pleaded with iRiver to let us in. Well, we didn't have to beg, but they did let us in. I'm a big fan of iRiver MP3 players and quite enjoyed my review of the Clix last year. The iRiver folks sat us down and introduced their upcoming line of personal media players.

Clix 2

In 2007 iRiver will be introducing the second generation of the Clix, the Clix 2. iRiver has garnered a faithful band of loyal enthusiasts and the original Clix was very well received. I anticipate the Clix 2 will be an even bigger hit...and we got to play with one of the few existing examples (the Clix 2 is so new that even the iRiver reps hadn't seen one in person until CES). The 2nd gen Clix still retains the outstanding tilting screen interface (called the D-Click System) and features a slightly revised version of their menu software. Again, this new Clix is just as easy and intuitive to navigate as the first. But the real evolution comes in the player design. The engineers at iRiver (or more correctly, their parent company Reigncom) have made the Clix 2 thinner, sleeker and easier to hold.

The new design features a slightly longer aspect with a convex curve that feels more natural when held with one hand. To me the tilting screen felt less wobbly than the first Clix but still had a great tactile response and a precise clicking action. The 2.2" screen is bright and crisp and the video chip now supports 30 frames per second. An active matrix OLED screen replaces the first generation's TFT-LCD. I felt as though the Clix 2 screen was less pixilated and had a better viewing angle than the Clix (and the background wallpaper is animated now). An FM tuner, FM recorder, voice recorder and alarm are all still standard features and 25 hours of music play back seals the deal. The Clix 2 will be available in 2 GB, 4 GB and an 8 GB version as well. The larger 8 GB capacity, not available on the first gen Clix, coupled with the new and improved design should easily win the hearts of current iRiver fanatics as well as the yet to be converted. I'm eagerly awaiting my test model. The Clix 2 should hit the market this Spring with a mid $100s to mid-$200s price point, depending on storage options.

S7 and S10

Also joining the North American shores in the near future are the S7 and S10 players. These micro sized players are already a hit in the Asian market and with the introduction of the even smaller iPod Shuffle, the time is ripe for their North American introduction. The S7 is display-less 1 GB MP3 player that uses the D-Click System to click through your music collection or FM radio stations, yes these tiny players also have embedded FM tuners. Interchangeable skins will be available for the S7 so that your wardrobe will never clash with your media player. Included with both players are a set of innovative lanyard earphones that act as, you guessed it, both lanyard and earphones.

Moving up the scale we find the 1 GB/2 GB S10. Unlike the S7 the S10 features a ridiculously small 1.15" full color screen, the D-Click System, FM tuner and recorder, voice recorder and an alarm clock. All of these features are made more impressive considering the S10's diminutive size. The whole player is about 1.2" x 1.6" and only about .4" thick with a weight of 17.5 grams. Yet despite the device's small size, using iRiver's D-Click System is surprisingly easy and the color screen is bright and easy to read (you can see just how small it is when held in between Rich's fingers in the pictures below). Users should expect about 9 hours of playback from the screen-less S7 and a bit less from the S10. The S-models should be out this spring with the two Gig S10 selling in the neighborhood of $169 MSRP.

T50/60

Also up for a re-design is iRiver's T-series player. The new T50/60 models are essentially the same as their T10 model from a features standpoint but the case and navigation button are totally new. A triangular case is a stark design decorated with some lengthwise corrugations and the 1" color screen. A single, tiny joystick-type button replaces the T10's larger circular button. The T50/60 are separated by battery choice. The T50 requires one AA battery while the T60 takes a AAA (and is slightly smaller in size), yet both boast 20 hours of playback. FM radio and voice recording are still stock options and the players are available in 1 GB, 2 GB and 4 GB storage capacities.

In the Pipeline - W10

Still in development is the W10. Much like the Zune and Sandisk's just announced Sansa Connect the W10 will follow the wi-fi trend. The 3" touch screen device will run on Windows CE and includes a GPS-like wi-fi positioning system so that hotspot users can navigate their local area for restaurants, hotels and driving directions. A built-in speaker broadcasts music without the need for a headset. Also in the works are some sort of web navigation browser and VoIP functionality. The working W10 demo we played with did have a working proprietary VoIP feature as well as a streaming music option that pulls music from a PC over a wireless connection. The reps didn't have an idea as to who they might partner with regarding VoIP services. The W10 has all the makings of an iRiver PDA. However, the W10 is still in late stage development and won't be available until late Q3 or Q4 of 2007.

In the Pipeline - Unit2

Another "in the pipeline" development is the Unit2 a PMP, DVD, wi-fi device. The Unit2 is a speaker set that features a detachable 7" TFT LCD display with 30 GB of internal storage. Essentially a portable TV/DVD/media viewer, users can plop a DVD into the base speaker unit or pull a movie off the hard drive and view their movies wirelessly in a wi-fi zone. The Unit2's speaker base contains a woofer and stereo speakers with enough inputs to satisfy almost any incoming source need, including HDMI. DVD or movie media can be broadcast to a large screen TV as well. The system runs on Linux Kernel ver. 2.6 and will have as many features as you can think of including: expandable memory SD slots, photo viewing, FM radio, alarm clock, recording features, GPS, video conferencing, fully integrated remote control and conventional phone functionality. But the Unit2 is still in early development and probably won't hit the market until late '07.

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