Sun Connection's Music+ SD-based MP3 player

Japanese manufacturer Sun Connection has emerged from years of painstaking research and design, today announcing its Music+ MP3 player. Unlike some other totally different digital audio players, the Music+ relies on SD/MMC cards for storage (topping out at 2GB) and also seemingly only plays back music according to the file name order. The unit itself measures about an inch and a half square and weighs less than an ounce, with its battery promising some eight hours of continuous playback. Sun Connection's also managed to keep the price low enough, just 2,980 Yen ($25 US) -- of course that also means you'll have to supply your own SD card.

[Via AV Watch]

[callused @ Jul 26th 2006 6:05PM]

Those controls seem familiar...

[Steve Jobs @ Jul 26th 2006 6:08PM]

Yeah, most companies can't create there own design. So they copy. While it isn't an exact replica of the iPod design, it resembles it heavily in style.

[cycomachead @ Jul 26th 2006 6:22PM]

wow, though it doesn't have a shuffle feature, that is a good price!
About $55 w/ a 1gb card
could be an 'ipod Shuffle killer'

[JMatt @ Jul 26th 2006 6:40PM]

Would be better if you didn't have to hold it at an angle to use the controlls correctly, make using it while still in your pocket much easier.

[Jon Himself @ Jul 26th 2006 6:47PM]

That's a mock-up right? It doesn't actually look like that does it? http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/lm_ma070ga_rr2.jpg < that's the FM remote dealie for the iPod... it's basically the exact same thing. I don't want to be one of those guys that says everyone rips of Apple but c'mon?

[Brendan @ Jul 26th 2006 7:20PM]

As Apple approaches they quickly shuffle to the left.

[cycomachead @ Jul 26th 2006 7:30PM]

yeah I know, it looks so much like the shuffle and the FM remote

"As Apple approaches they quickly shuffle to the left."

lol!

[diulei @ Jul 26th 2006 7:42PM]

Wow. It looks like someone 'shopped an iPod shuffle pic. And I'm no fanboy.

[zip22 @ Jul 26th 2006 7:46PM]

cycomachead,
half the battery life
no built in usb plug
no warranty
questionable sound quality

just sayin...

[Jeffrey M Foster @ Jul 26th 2006 8:24PM]

hahahah that's cute. er, no wait, i mean lame.

[Nathan M @ Jul 26th 2006 8:27PM]

OHNOES IT HAS A CIRCLE ADN AR WHIT3! IT MUST B A IPOD RIPOF111!

Seriously, that's what people sound like some times. Get over it. Now if it worked the exact same as a shuffle and was called the Sun Shuffle THEN I'd say ripoff.

[delerious @ Jul 26th 2006 8:57PM]

I saw something just like this, used, on ebay.

[Jedediah Johnson @ Jul 26th 2006 9:03PM]

Defending a company for making a obvious copy-cat is lamer then the people pointing it out. If you got a problem with people saying "Hey...that looks like a iPod" Cause it does, then you get over. This must have taken them 2 hours to design. Quickest rippoff over. No matter your denial.

[tekdroid @ Jul 26th 2006 9:38PM]

removable media: something I'd like to see a lot more of (in fact, I'd like it standard). Batteries, too.

[Chris @ Jul 26th 2006 10:32PM]

"wow, though it doesn't have a shuffle feature, that is a good price!
About $55 w/ a 1gb card
could be an 'ipod Shuffle killer'"

theres no such thing as an ipod shuffle killer. the shuffle is already dead

[RedBull Runner @ Jul 26th 2006 11:59PM]

It does amazingly look like an apple ripoff, PLUS... the Mu in Music also looks like the macupdate.com logo...

Just saying...

[duke hafa @ Jul 27th 2006 12:43AM]

seem to me like a good idea, while most of the slim sized flash mp3 players on the market now are ugly, and arent really cost efficient, sure they copied apple, just without random picks, heck they'll deal with it. still I'll invest my money on things that can reuse my existing cards, over and over and over.

where should i sign up for this gadget ?

[CE?? @ Jul 27th 2006 2:44AM]

This is a very useful instruement, having so much function.

[l337cyclist @ Jul 27th 2006 3:19AM]

Well white is a popular color. The dial is functional. The size is perfect for what I'm looking for (so tiny that i barely notice it in my pocket) and it has removable SD card so that my mp3 storage is effectually limitless? All for $25? I'll buy that.

[Kev50027 @ Jul 27th 2006 4:55AM]

Good idea, and they're heading in the right direction. I have several large capacity SD cards sitting around, and something like this would be perfect for me, even though I already have a 512MB shuffle (which I got for free from Amazon with purchase of Sure E4C headphones before christmas)

[chenry @ Jul 27th 2006 8:31AM]

"Similar to an iPod shuffle? What's that. I have not heard of an 'iPod'. I suspect you are fabricating this story GOOD DAY SIR."

[aide @ Jul 27th 2006 9:00AM]

i like it

there should be more mmc/sd daps

[Hunt @ Jul 27th 2006 9:30AM]

Hey yall,

I'll be in Akihabara, Japan in a few days. I'll keep my eyes peeled for it.. and maybe even put up an UNBOXING!!!!

Woo hoo?

[ryan @ Jul 27th 2006 12:34PM]

they'd have been better to leave the shuffle's design as is... how the hell is a user supposed to know what's up and what's down if it's a perfect square? that's a pretty stupid mistake.

[Jerry Kindall @ Jul 27th 2006 1:24PM]

Why drop $25 on this when you can drop half that price on what looks to be a functionally identical unit?

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=Q-CUBEII&cpc=SCH

Or add another $3.50 and get a backlit display and a shuffle feature (albeit in a case that doesn't look quite as stylish)?

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=M301&cpc=SCH

With 1GB flash cards going for $10-$20 these days, that last one strikes me as a particularly good value. As an added bonus it plays louder than the white one, making it better for car line-in use.

[geehal @ Jul 27th 2006 3:02PM]

Or for about $30 you can get the same thing with a screen from lexar.

http://www.lexar.com/mp3/LDP200.html

[Gio @ Jul 27th 2006 5:53PM]

Its the "1/4 ipod Shuffle", what a buch of copy cats. Is that product design legal? Amazing how the Japs copy everything.

[Jamison Banks @ Jul 28th 2006 11:57AM]

$25? I'd buy that if I could get one in the states, got a bunch of spare SD cards laying around. Anyone know if these guys ship to the US? Or if someone has them in the US?