The Super Shuffle returns as the Super Tangent/Super Shiner?

We're not sure what the hell's going on now, but our old pals at LuxPro have pasted up a product page for a new, slightly less iPod shuffle-esque version of their notorious Super Shuffle MP3 player which is either called the Super Shiner or the Super Tangent. It still comes in either 512MB or 1GB flavors and has a built-in FM tuner, a digital voice recorder function, and a shuffle mode, but they've changed the controls a bit to make the player less of lawsuit-magnet. Oh, and the player also now comes in both black and red, in additon to the original white. This is all assuming that this player actually exists, of course.

[Thanks, Jimmy]

[TheZodiac @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

I jsut bought one of these... similar dimensions, and of course OLED.

I am going to review it against the suffles of the world.

http://tinyurl.com/46w67

[Thanol @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Maybe it'd be less ripp-offy if they added a nice little screen. Then I'd be a super shuffle.

[TheZodiac @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

I jsut bought one of these... similar dimensions, and of course OLED.

I am going to review it against the suffles of the world.

http://tinyurl.com/46w67

[Joe Mama @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Apple needs to learn from this company and make a decent iPod. I want my FM radio in my iPod now! Oh wait, Apple doesn't listen to their customers.

[Ben Atwood @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

With a name like "Super Shiner" I'd expect it to be black and blue...

[PeejHey @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

What??! Joe Mama thinks Apple needs to learn from a company that blatantly rips it off then says it never produced the product then re-introduces it. I don't trust or believe this company at all. And if you need FM on your iPod just buy an FM radio and listen to all the talking djs, commericals and Britney Spears you want.

iPods negate radio. All your tunes are on it. It's a music player. If you need radio buy a radio, it's cheaper.

[Anthony @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Exactly how does the FM radio tuner work without a screen? That is a difficult thing to navigate without some kind of readout. and to #1 you can't buy these yet it's all a marketing stunt and you are just SPAMMING the comments!

To apple: Imitation is the highest form of flattery. or something like that.

[Joshua Ochs @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

This is still a lawsuit waiting to happen, and no, it has nothing to do with patents or innovation. This product is clearly trying to profit from its similarity to the iPod Shuffle and ride someone else's marketing and buzz, which is a big no-no. If this does exist, it will be like those initial iMac competitors years ago...

[n8 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Anthony - if you followed #1's link you'd see he was referring to something of equivalent size and functionality, not specifically to this unit.

[Dralt @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Again, a small Chinese company proves to be twice as fast as Apple.
Ah, ah, ah.
iPods may be cool, yet competing products keep being released at an incredible pace. I guess that market is big enough for iPods and many other players.
Apple must rejoice since they invite their customers to "think different".

[Akshat @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Dyu think u got it wrong Engadget, maybe Luxpro was just tryin to cover their ass when u spoke to them and they DID actually plan to sell this, and theyve made some cosmetic changes to try n ward off any lawsuits ...

[Rus @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

"Pods may be cool, yet competing products keep being released at an incredible pace. I guess that market is big enough for iPods and many other players."

But iPods are GROWING in market share. It's the staus symbol and coolness factor now - if you don't have an iPod - you don't have an Mp3 player in most people's heads.

[alex @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

sounds to me like it's hard to get a straight story out of luxpro...

[Peter Rojas @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

For the record, we didn't speak directly with LuxPro, we were just reporting on somebody else's conversation with them. We're not 100% convinced that this new player is real, either. We haven't seen any genuine photos of it.

[mike s. @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

I don't see how this story contradicts anything from before. The Super Shuffle could easily have been a publicity stunt to draw attention to the company AND they could have decided to introduce a slightly tweaked version. It's hard to tell from these pics, but this new Super Whatever does have different controls from the original Super Shuffle.

[boss sauce @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

CLEARLY these are Photoshopped images of an iPod Shuffle. This "product" does not exist. Other than getting traffic on their site, I don't understand why they'd pull this stunt a second time.

[Yasmine @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Call it the SUPER SINNER.

Im waiting for Apple to sue up these morons.

[Doubtful @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Growing market share and brand devaluation (by selling at Wal-Mart, etc.) is cheapening the 'staus symbol and coolness factor' mentioned by #10.

[Psych @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

jeez! why are you people so quick to judge it a fake, imitation, hoax etc?
the other "news report" posted here was based on a 2nd hand conversation.
personally, i trust dapreview's comments on the matter a whole lot more. they were actually there, and talked to the people directly.
the product did exist, and it has most definately been tweaked to limit a potential lawsuit. i do expect it to be released in the forseeable future. availability is another matter though...

[JeffDM @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

I don't understand the hangup on FM tuning, IMO FM is junk, if I liked FM, I wouldn't need an MP3 player nearly so much.

I do understand the hangup on no screen.

As for Luxpro, whatever they are doing, I'm not there. They could be Photochops, but it could be a real photo of a fake stand-in, meaning a block of plastic with no electronics inside. Anyway, apeing someone else's design for a copycat product in my mind is a no-no. If they can't make their own original design then I have questions about the rest of the product.

[kloon @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

oohhh it is real
and good

check my webspace for pixs

http://users.pandora.be/filip.massie1/ipod%20kloon/

battery life + 10 houres

[hayden @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

what a peice of crap. if you want a damn mp3 player that looks like an apple ipod just GET a ipod, jeez. ooooo its got a radio, so what, radio is dead. im sick of these cheap companies who make nearly the same product as a better company such as apple, and i am also sick of the cheap bastards who buy them because its two dollars cheaper.