Haier and AOL's PMP makes its debut as the ibiza Rhapsody
By Donald Melanson 
posted November 14th 2007 11:56AM
posted November 14th 2007 11:56AM
We haven't heard much of anything about Haier and AOL's WiFi-enabled PMP since CES way back at the beginning of the year, but it looks like the device has now finally made its way out the door, with it now dubbed the ibiza Rhapsody. From the looks of it, there's three different versions of the player, including a 4GB, an 8GB, and a 30GB model (each also available in a range of colors). Apart from that, however, the players all appear to be identical, with each boasting a 2.5-inch display, an FM radio, built-in WiFi, Bluetooth and, of course, integrated support for Rhapsody-To-Go and AOL's video service. Nice enough specs to be sure, although the player isn't exactly on the cheap side, with Amazon currently listing the 4, 8, and 30GB players for $230, $250, and $330, respectively.
[Via PMP Today]
[Via PMP Today]
Oh no,i was looking for the 6gb for $240.Dang!!!
it's ugliness... it's so mesmerizing!
Seriously. Regardless of specs, with aesthetics like that they aren't going to sell well. Then factor in the fact that it's $80 more than a 4GB iPod Nano which already has a strong market share and plenty of advertising - they don't have a chance.
Seriously. It's like they hired the guy who designed the LEGO block. Nothing wrong with LEGO - The important difference is that one is a toy and the other is competing in a segment where the leader (Apple) is clearly winning on style.
It's like they were saying: "Reasearch! Can we make this thing any uglier/ (blockier ¿?) .- PR guys: YES! It will be so ugly that it will be instantly a cult kitsch product"
I'm sorry to break it to you but this thing is not ugly. If you've ever seen it in PERSON, you'll know that it is not ugly. Also, it runs Linux and has a voice recorder so you could run Skype.
Seriously, as I suggested once ( http://anti-aol.livejournal.com/23788.html ), why not just lug around your hard drive - same difference.
Maybe it's just me, but if that thing doesn't look like someone tore the hard drive out of their computer and gussied it up with an with an LCD screen and push buttons then I don't know what does. It just screams "clunky".
This player has "fallen even further behind the pack than before." And still, "technologically we still feel cheated." "What Haier and AOL still doesn't get is that the more products Apple sells, the greater the number of its customers that will churn or graduate to alternative devices that do things better, cheaper, or differently."
Looks like a really expensive door stop.
ARGH ! THAT UGLY RECTANGLE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE. Looks like a button fell out or the paint peeled off.
Ugly. For a second I thought this was another Keeping It Real Fake article.
These look like complete crap.
People are going to lose their jobs over these ones.
Yikes. It looks like a Nano, but a lot worse. Plus those are some pretty high prices for those capacities. They're definitely playing to a limited audience with these. It would be a lot nicer if they had stuck with the all aluminum look.
That middle button doesn't look so bad on the black version, but why on earth did they keep it black for all the other colors?
AOL is still alive??
AOL owns the site that you're posting these comments on.
@Josh L
and a few of that site's commenters cant sense sarcasm
Yep, like any self-respectable evolving malignant virus, it refuses to die, when it should have a long time ago, for the better of humanity.
So glad the Samsung P2 came out. I got my Bluetooth needs covered.
Are the white buttons intended to remind the user on a daily basis that they should have just bought an iPod?
Yes, along with the unnervingly familiar volume and position bar... hmmm... can anybody explain why I would buy an extremely underfeatured, ugly as heck, small capacity, ridiculously expensive, AOL BRANDED POS, when I could spend a bunch less and get either a hip iPod, or an ultrasleek zune2 ????? What kind of brain damage would be required to create a product so profoundly horrible?
I want a Zune
Wow. And here I thought the Zune was ugly.
tooke the words right out of my mouth full of puke from seeing this atrocity.
Why even bother putting this out? Oh wait, grandparents will buy 'em as xmas presents from AOL thinking that it's one of them new fangled iWatchamacallits. Brilliant!
Am I the only one who sees a device that is a clear rip-off of the iPod in terms of design? I mean, yeah they pulled the clickwheel in favor of arrows, but come on.
Yes, every item that is shaped like a rectangle is a complete rip-off of the iPod!
This is a joke, right? It looks like something somebody drew on a napkin as a general design. Or some third world contries version of the iPod.
This thing is ugly.
Its becoming funny the more I look at it.
I make better designs out of eroded urinal cakes.
Caution: Wall of text two lines ahead...
The black rectangle in the middle looks a bit ridiculous right now. However, maybe it serves a purpose - for instance.. it could be a touch pad, making it one of the only PMPs (that I know of in my sheltered world, anyway) that has mouse support I guess you could say. However functional it might be, though, it should be recolored depending on which color the player is. I also found whatever shots there are of the OS to look pretty and clean. Just my thoughts :P
cool! another squircle...oh wait... it's just a square...
When in doubt, reinvent the wheel. Except make it more square.
When in doubt, make a better wheel.
FCK MICROSOFT
Very bad ipod look alikes
the Zune 30's Prince Charming compared to this
Hideousness aside...the GUI doesn't look too bad from the pic, and if the WiFi features are actually good it could be kinda interesting.
Maybe they will release a really good looking skin...I hope.
No one is going to drop $250 on one of these when it'll look like you got duped into buying a knockoff iPod.
Holy Fugly, Batman!!!
Very promising device. Anything that offers us more ways to conveniently experience the freedom of Rhapsody is a step in the right direction.
WOW.
No way the will compete with apple.
30gb for 330 dollars... AOL
80gb for 250 dollars... Apple
Seriously, this is worse value than the knockoff iPods from china sold at "$0.99" with a shipping cost of 200 dollars.
I don't think anyone ever said that it will compete with the iPod because Apple owns a big chunk of the market. But that doesn't mean it is worse. The AOL Haier player is better function wise. The screen is also very nice as well, unlike the iPod.
I keep seeing around a lot of Steve Job's fanatics. The purpose of a device like this is not to have 30 Gb of music but to have all the rhapsody catalog in your player. I can understand that the design is not wonderful but man .. this device is 100 times better than an ipod. Just admit it .. You want 80 Gb of music: that means more than 20,000 songs. With the Ipod you have to spend almost 20,000 dollars. With this you spend only 15 dollars per month for 4.5 millions songs. At this point who cares about the f... ipod design .. This player has also a browser internet, run Linux ( Open Source ) and it doesn't need a pc in order to get music. Is that clear?? can the ipod classic go on internet? can you check your email with the ipod classic? Can you have Podcast on your ipod classic without a computer? And I can go on for hours .. So please, stop comparing this device with the ipod, is like to compare a banana with an apple. Two fidderent things. Personally i have an ipod nano, a classic, an ipod 4th generation, iphone, sansa connect, sansa rhapsody, sansa clip and now I'm the happy owner of a Black Ibiza Rhapsody. Time to sell all the other crap.
Bye Job's fanatics and get a real life
oh god...
AOL needs to die...its been how many years?
they just get cheesier and cheesier!
The black rectangle in the center looks like some kind of censorship you see on TVs to protect victims or criminals.
The exciting thing about this player is that it can connect via Wifi directly to the Rhapsody service, so if you have a Rhapsody subscription you can download whatever you feel like listening to today without having to tether up. That is a fair bit more exciting than just being able to sync wirelessly. The only other player like it, in this regard, is the Sansa Connect (tethered to Yahoo Store) or Sonos or the Nokia N800 Rhapsody software, the last two not being so portable though.
But even as much as I've been looking for just this sort of thing, I don't think I'm willing pay a dollar over $180 for one.
I have actually had a chance to play with one of the first Ibiza's off the production line and looks aside, these things are pretty cool. Can download entire albumns without the need for a computer (or getting charged $1 per song), automatic software syncs ( I have to spend 15 minutes downloading a new software patch for my Ipod practically every time I sync up), etc. Time will tell but this thing has a chance...even a small percentage of market share makes a lot of money for Haier.