You may have heard of these before, but I haven't. So here goes.
Also, no official press release from iRiver yet - look at Inspired by for images.
Maybe I should purchase www.techkorea.com (edit: oh crap already taken). I learned a lot about iRiver from this article, so if you're interested, read up.

iRiver, the portable audio player maker, held a press conference in Korea's Seoul, where they introduced the following products: the "PMP-100" portable video player, the "N10" pendant-type flash memory player with an EL display, and the "iFP-900" with an enhanced USB host function and photo viewer.

Also at the announcement event, Joon Yang, the CEO of iRiver's parent company, Reigncom, said that "a product using a 4GB 1" Microdrive will be released before the end of the year." He also answered questions from press members.

-N10, with flash memory as an advantage

The PMP-100 is a multimedia player with an internal HD built o­n a Linux base, and it supports the playback of MP3 and WMA audio formats, as well as JPEG still images, and AVI format (MPEG-4 standard and DivX) movies.

It features a USB host function, so that when connected with other devices supporting USB Mass Storage, it can read data from them without the use of a PC (also called USB "On-The-Go"). It also features functions such as direct MP3 encoding using the internal microphone or FM tuner, much like other iRiver products.

Connecting via USB 2.0, the HD capacity is 20GB or 40GB. A 3.5" TFT LCD is o­n the unit, and using the internal lithium ion battery, it can play for about 5 hours. The weight of the 20GB model is 280g, and the 40GB model 299g. Though they have not announced the price, the 40GB model is supposed to be less than 60,000 yen.

The PMP-100, much like the PMC-100 with Portable Media Center o­n a Windows CE base, was originally planned to be released in April or May - but it was delayed. Shipments will begin in Korea next month, and it appears that a Japanese version will be released about 1 month later. Regarding the reason for the delayed release, Nobuhisa Endou, president of the Japanese iRiver, said "shipments were later than planned, and this caused users to be annoyed. To keep with this new release date, shipments from Korea will stockpile for a month."

On the other hand, of the two flash media audio players announced, the attention was focused o­n the N10. The N10 integrates neckstrap, earphones, and player body into o­ne. It is designed so that the neckstrap features an earphone holding part, so that when not in use, the cord won't get tangled. In addition to the 16-grade organic EL display, the body and the earphones are designed to match. The main body o­nly weighs 22g. Of course, Japanese can also be displayed, and it features a voice recorder function.

The internal lithium polymer battery can power the unit for about 11 hours. Recharing, done by USB, is accomplished by removing the main body from a section of the strap (the jack is a mini B type). Supported formats are MP3 and WMA, and the internal memories planned for release in Korea are 128MB, 256MB, and 512MB. Though the battery is embedded, an exchange service will be offered. The price is yet to be decided, but it "will be under 2,000 yen." However, connection with a PC is done by USB 1.1.

Since the earphones have an integrated design, a point of concern was the audi quality of the set - but when listening to an experimental unit, the earphones included with this product had an exceptionally good audio quality. As the earphones are open-air inner-ear type, there are limits to their bass ranges, but middle and high sounds were accurately represented. Also, for users who prefer to use their own earphones, a neckstrap without internal earphones will be included.

The small sized N10 with cable management qualities is quite different from other offerings by iRiver, but the design of this player highlights the good aspects of flash memory. The price of the units could also become slightly cheaper than first announced - the 256MB model may be available for around 22,000 yen, the 512MB model for under 30,000 yen. Shipments begin this week in Korea, and in the first part of September in Japan.

-iRiver aims for $1 billion enterprise in 2006, plans to offer contents

Mr. Yang, CEO of Reigncom, exclaimed that "we will reinforce our contents offerings with the iRiver players as a foundation. We are planning for $1 billion in worldwide sales in 2006. Saying so comes naturally.

In Korea, the company has a 57% market share of portable audio players, and they rank below the iPod in unit shipments in America. When walking down the streets of Korea's electronics districts, o­ne can see all sorts of Made in China players copying the design of the iFP-100 and using the same type of operation buttons and screens as iRivers.

Portable audio players supporting MP3 have been rising in popularity in Korea and various countries throughout Asia; MP3 players expanded in China before MD players did. Even in America, where the "iPod effect" has slowed the market expansion of iRiver, they are slowly being accepted. While it can be said that MP3 players cannot get as many worldwide units shipped as CD players and MD players, the fact that MP3 will become more popular is evident.

So why has iRiver had so much competitive power? It is not because they have an independently developed semiconductor, or that the PC cooperation software has a sense that even an author can appreciate. While it can be said that the realtime recording and multi-codec support has been a selling point, the reason for a 57% market share, in ultra-competitive Korea of all places, should be somewhere.

One reason for the company's success is because iRiver's parent company, Reigncom, is a distributor of Samsung flash memory. As an agent, they deal with a large amount of flash memory; they can supply it to iRiver at a lower cost than other companies. Currently, the o­nly company with a 1GB flash memory audio player available is iRiver.

But when you think of it this way, wouldn't Samsung's Yep series, seeing as how they're in the same group, also get a lower cost supply? It looks like this is heading in the right direction for the audio player industry. According to Yang, the current flash memory agent will seperate from Reigncom, and the latter will become a player and contents provider.

"Various devices have become more personal over the last few years. Cellular phones have done so, as have personal audio players. We will personalize video players. Portable media players will expand in the market," said Yang.

In Korea, the company already has a campaign where Coca Cola drinkers can earn points to download songs via an o­nline distribution service. Microsoft DRM is planned to be used. The service is being considered for use outside of Korea, to start next year. However, according to Endou, "Since contents owners in Japan are conservative when it comes to o­nline distribution services, I cannot make a firm promise that the service will start. If we can't make it have a low cost and be convenient for users, we won't start it."

-4GB player, new software

Mr. Yang also referred to a 4GB player with a 1" HD, along the lines of an iPod mini or Muvo2, to be released during the Christmas season in Korea. Regarding the release date, more than development proceedings and technical elements, the HD supply is key.

The product will feature MP3 recording, an o­n-The-Go function, color LCD panel, and other characteristics of the H300 series currently using a 1.8" HD. The o­n-The-Go function is said to be offer better connections than the H300 series, so that o­ne can connect digital cameras currently not supported.

Also in development is new software for the PC side of things, which is said to allow easy downloading of 4GB worth of songs from a large song library. "Since the characteristics are different, they don't really compare," says Endou, "but it will have more features and surpass iTunes."

Finally, there was an announcement of the development of a player that features a 2GB HD from Toshiba - yes, the 0.85" o­ne. Development of the drive itself has been lagging, and Endou has said that "next year, or when...we don't know," though that when the supply schedule is available, the player will follow soon after.

Inspired by:
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2004/0726/iriver.htm

iRiver Homepage:
http://www.iriver.co.jp/