The Asono Elio - Yet another MP3 player for looking at digital photos

Ok, in about six weeks you're going to be officially sick of hearing about MP3 players with color screens for looking at digital photos (assuming you aren't already), but in the meantime, check out the Elio, Asono's new 20GB digital audio player with a built-in FM tuner, line-in recording, a 2.2-inch color LCD screen, an SD card slot, and USB On-The-Go for transferring your JPEGs directly over from a digital camera (as demonstrated by the picture above). The memory card slot is a nice touch, but we have a feeling that hardly anyone will take notice in the wake of the new iPod Photo.

[Thanks, Soe]

[Wasim @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

test

[broman78 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

not as cool as me with bluetooth.

[Pedro @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

for the apple is if they come out with more iApps for the PC, such as an iPhoto, or if they will include sync capability in more 3rd party apps.

[Fix @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

wow i love ipods, but this thing is much much better than the useless photo-ipod!

[DirtHerder @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

definitely steps it up a notch.

[manish @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

cool

[Ogravity @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Not very reassuring if you follow the company Web site links to (maybe) buy the unit and there's no way to do so from the U.S. I agree this player has some serious assets (direct camera/photo importing, FM tuner, line-in rec, etc), but I wish it wasn't from an obscure scandinavian company that can't english/spellcheck their web site. The new Ipod photo edition isn't quite there yet, but I don't know who else is.

[Eric Cotton @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

The only hard drive MP3 player I've yet to see with a design comparable to the iPod's. I wonder what the UI is like...

[Manav Gupta @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

testing

[russdogg @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

is it gonna keep going like this? iPod will slowly lose market ownership if others keep gettin more features...

[mac @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

that thing looks really ugly

[victor @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

It seems like the new fad...i wonder how long this will last

[Mikkel @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

...Because if it's more than an ipod, then it won't be a serious contender :o(

[Raymond Yap @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

hmmm...I wonder if it'll ever make it to Australia...

[Robert Sinke @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

This unit was actually released some 2.5 month ago in its country of origin, Taiwan. It's a rebranded Tatung Elio, already showcased at this MArch' CeBIT (Hannover, Germany). More pics: http://www.dapreview.net/comment.php?comment.news.398 .

[D @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

But need better colors.

[Nick @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

The fact that the iPod Photo won't have a memory card slot is a massive disappointment, so the fact that other companies are including them is A Good Thing. Who wants to lug around Belkin's $100 battery-munching adapter when you're backpacking and want to store more photos than a measley flash card will allow?

[Samantha @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

This is nothing compared to the MP3 player that takes pictures AND shows photos, check it out on www.m-robe.com, it looks WAY sleeker than anything else out there...

[Jesper Hyllemose @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

A serious disappointment! I bourght this thing primarily to empty my digital camera, when in the field, and despite card-slot ( SD, that wont work with my flashcard ) and the serious 20GB it wont work, because it cant read my raw-files!! A second reason for choosing this unit was the radio, that is close to useless, most likely because of it�s lack of antenna. The MP3 bit works ok IF YOU ARE PLUGGED IN TO A PERMANENT POWER SUPPLY. Away from home it wont play for more than max 3 hours. Whats the use of 20 GB music, when it only lasts for 3 hours away from home???????

[Feisal Hirani @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

I bought this thing and it wont work.. doesn't boot up anymore, just get a blank screen... what a waste.. tech support won't even get back to me... now' it's a very pricey 20GB portable drive (at least that still works) anybody else out there have one?