Thomson touts A1 media player as "world's smallest"

Tired of bulky media players? Hate having to lug around your iPod Nano? Well, welcome to the Thomson A1, a tiny PMP that the company claims is the "world's smallest," (which of course we recommend you take with multiple grains of salt). Truth be told, it is rather petite, clocking in at just 3-inches and weighing only 87 grams. Somehow, they managed to slap on a 16:9 display and cram 4GB or 8GB capacity into the little guy, and of course it plays all your favorites, like MP3, WMA, WAV, and AVI, plus it rocks an FM tuner. The only real question is this; what are those colored "nubs" in the photo, and what exactly are they doing? The A1 will hit China first, going for around $106 for the 4GB and $120 for the 8GB, but no word on when or if we'll see this Stateside.

[Via Tech Digest]

[sketchmilitia @ Aug 6th 2007 1:59PM]

I would have to guess a screw driver set.

[shakman @ Aug 6th 2007 2:02PM]

Yes, I dare say sketchmilitia is correct. It looks like a set of jeweller's (read: small) screwdrivers to demonstrate the small size of the device. However I don't think it's the best marketing strategy to imply that there's a chance you'll need to get hands on with a jeweller's screwdriver if you buy one of these PMPs...

[Tony C @ Aug 6th 2007 3:00PM]

Good call sketchmilitia -- looks like it!

http://www.cybermarket.co.uk/ishop/923/shopscr1680.html

My guess is to show comparative size, but then why not just use a coin like other people do?

[Philipp @ Aug 6th 2007 6:31PM]

LOL. They are the colored screwdrivers that you get at the Dollar Store.

[Jeremy K. @ Aug 6th 2007 1:59PM]

That looks really cool!

[Rob @ Aug 6th 2007 2:00PM]

The nubs look like the little bezel type things at the end of precision screwdrivers .... Don't see why they'd use those to show it off though ...

[snowglyder @ Aug 6th 2007 4:11PM]

Is there any way to order this and get it shipped here?

[chadow @ Aug 6th 2007 2:04PM]

It looks nice. The translated page is pretty entertaining to read.

[alexmueller @ Aug 6th 2007 2:22PM]

So how do I buy it online?

[Ray-- @ Aug 6th 2007 2:24PM]

ok someone in china need to send one to me asap... FM tuner! yay

[andy @ Aug 6th 2007 2:26PM]

Yet... for some reason, I don't think this will be replacing my Sansa e280 any time soon.
Now Engadget, I know that more people have the iPod Nano than any other small PMP of that size - but the A1 is more similar to the e200 series or the Zen V+ (boasting video support and a FM tuner). Also, the e200 and Creative Zen V+ would be rather closer in price to the A1 than the Nano.
Come on, Engadget - get your backsides in gear and name the closest rivals to this device!
(To all you smart alecs, I know it's trying to bite into the huge market dominance of the iPod Nano, but if people wanted an FM tuner and/or video playback they'd most likely buy an e200 series or Zen V+ - therefore, the A1 is trying to take business from these two superb PMPs)

All the best,
Andy

[RYANGUBE @ Aug 6th 2007 2:28PM]

those are the "super in-ear" headphones that come w/ it.

[Low @ Aug 6th 2007 2:48PM]

I would.

[strider_mt2k @ Aug 6th 2007 2:54PM]

Oh it's a Thomson!

Make that "World's smallest CRAPPY media player".

[koopa @ Aug 7th 2007 3:06PM]

Ok, so all we have to do now is buy a set of those screwdrivers so we can compare size.

[Spanky @ Aug 6th 2007 3:31PM]

at only $14 difference between the 4gb and 8gb models, why even do 4gb?

[m@ @ Aug 6th 2007 3:37PM]

World's smallest media player? Have these people never purchased a "Shuffle?" That's the size of a cheez-it.

[Argot @ Aug 6th 2007 3:45PM]

Yeah, and it's great for watching AVI's

[Jeremy K. @ Aug 6th 2007 5:34PM]

You are hilarious... Bother reading the article? The quote is "World's Smallest PMP with a 3" Screen"

[CowboyGA @ Aug 6th 2007 3:42PM]

That many gigs for that cheap price? Slap on some decent English firmware and send it my way.

[AlexP @ Aug 6th 2007 3:57PM]

So I heard you liked crap, Low.

Anything they've made for the last 5-7 years is know to be shit.

Our first DVD player broke down, it was an RCA.
I got two Lyras, one was a media player, the other one was a regular 128MB MP3 player - they both sucked - I got rid of the media player because it had an abysmal battery life (yay! 7" (I think) screen + 20GB LAPTOP DRIVE + 1 CELL NiMH battery) and the MP3 Player only plays in Mono now. I must admit I enjoyed being able to record stuff directly from my TV with the media player, though.

Now I own a Nano and a Zen Micro - Zen is becoming relatively unstable and... Meh, I don't know, the Nano seems to be better overall even though it's only a 2GB player (I got it for free with my car).

[M. Mayer @ Aug 6th 2007 11:13PM]

Gee - I Thought those colored tips reminded me of fondue forks.