Green House rolls out Kana Micro digital audio player
By Donald Melanson 
posted Jan 19th 2009 9:34PM
posted Jan 19th 2009 9:34PM
It looks like anyone that wished their digital audio player looked more like a nondescript USB drive is now in luck, as Green House has just introduced its new Kana Micro player, which is far more likely to get lost than stolen. True to its barebones nature, it seems you'll also have to supply your own microSD card for storage with this one (up to 2GB is support), and you can apparently expect to get a whopping two hours of battery life before it needs to be recharged via the built-in USB connector. No word on a release 'round here just yet, as you might have guessed, but those in Japan can pick one up right now in their choice of seven different colors for a mere ¥1,480, or about $16.
[Via Akihabara News]
[Via Akihabara News]
Wow. This actually might not be a bad idea.
Or a good one, necessarily. Bet the buttons are hellish to use.
It's cute, but I'm not looking to shave tiny fractions of space in my pocket.
I doubt these will sell well.
Most Japanese as well as Americans have either an ipod or a cellular phone with mp3 playback capability. There's no need to carry a "ipod shuffle" type device. The only people who will get one will do so as a present or for sports activities and unfortunately, these don't have a nice pair of headphones to carry it like the new Shuffle does.
But at $16, how can you complain?
Sure you can complain. Charging $16 for a device that no one would want even if it were free is not a virtue.
But for $16 you can have an upgradable MP3 player and flash drive in one.
Makes managing your music easy, buy a bunch, each color is a different playlist
It looks okay for the price
Junk.
Another crapgadget
but can you eat them?
as things get smaller, the buttons get smaller.
as americans get fatter, our fingers get fatter.
oh man, we have a problem.
Take a card (an ID will work, but don't use a credit card or any important card) and use the edges of the card poke the buttons with it.
That's how I press buttons on an MP3 player with gloves
I pull out the stylus of my Palm IIIc and use it to control micro-mp3 players.
I'm really missing the usb pendrive form factor in the latest mp3 players. Just this batt life is worrying me.
make it bigger, like those philips ones with SDHC support, reasonable batt life and I'm sold.
Imagine if you strapped a AAA battery on that thing. It would have like a years worth of battery life.
That is the equivalent of a nuclear reactor attached to a lightbulb o.O
@matt
thanks that made my night, which goes to show what kind of night ive had
It's perfect for that morning jog or gym workout. However, I certainly wouldn't want it as my main mp3 player.
Cool, I like colors!
Sure, it's cheap, but the micro SD card is going to add to the price (probably making it equivalent with your average 2 GB player anyway), and really... Two-hour battery life? Yech. I'll pass.
Is it really asking too much to put a little bit of flash memory in there? Like 512 Megs, or even 256. If they did that, I'd be willing to pay $20-$25 for such a device.
I wonder if the wrist battery pack would extend your play life:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/19/wrist-band-portable-battery-charges-your-phone-electrifies-your/
sorry, test
Is clear (100% transparent) a "color"?
Only if atheism is a religion
No. it's not. However, you DO know that nothing in this world is 100% transparent. not even Beyond Seven's "UltraThin line".
And THAT.........................................is what she said.
FYI, the picture on the source page (read link) shows an earphone plug in the rear. Not sure about controls though. Could be on the bottom of the device or may be on an included earphone cable.
I can see 3 buttons, 2 on one side, and one on the other. I assume the buttons are power and seek, so I'm not sure how to control volume.
@giroro
well the seek button and the track button could be the same thing, hold for seek and press for track
I can see these devices having limited uses for going to the gym and such, but not for a long term use music player.
I want one.
The battery life sucks, but I can't really complain at the price point
lol
I like the colours.
At least the price isnt outrageous........