iriver, Speedo suit up for new Aquabeat underwater MP3 player

Another Spring, another opportunity for iriver Japan and Speedo to sell a few MP3 players designed for underwater use. Yes friends, the Aquabeat you've grown to know, love and disassociate with overly tight swim trunks has a successor, the Speedo LZR Racer. Design wise, you won't notice a lot of differentiation from the first, but this waterproof-to-three-meters device has twice the internal memory (2GB) and a built-in rechargeable battery good for around eight hours of continuous playback. It's said to be shipping now in Japan for ¥12,800 ($128), though we hear it won't be coming to America without first nailing down a Michael Phelps endorsement. Not that said task will be too tough or anything.

[Via Impress]

Gallery: iriver, Speedo suit up for new Aquabeat underwater MP3 player

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[jonbruck @ Apr 14th 2009 8:43AM]

This is just what I need to take my mind off the fact that I'm swimming.

[fluxusfuxus @ Apr 14th 2009 8:52AM]

sardonic kick in the nuts before 9am? -awesome!

[Xenoterranos @ Apr 14th 2009 9:02AM]

I want to shake the hand of the person who thought this was a good design. YOU sir are a role model for disgruntled, passive aggressive employees everywhere.

[Ryan Trevisol @ Apr 14th 2009 9:13AM]

That looks REAL aerodynamic.

[Ryan Trevisol @ Apr 14th 2009 9:13AM]

My bad, HYDROdynamic.

[zioncat @ Apr 14th 2009 9:19AM]

The last thing I want to do underwater is listen to music.

[timothy_beeler @ Apr 14th 2009 12:10PM]

When you are doing a lot of laps and such devices like this can and do help the time go by better and just like doing cardio an upbeat song will help you go faster for longer. So while you may not want to use it there are many who will.

[darkstar @ Apr 14th 2009 9:29AM]

still pricey.
i got my gears from h2oaudio.com 3 years ago. work like a charm!

[Andre @ Apr 14th 2009 9:46AM]

Ugliest thing ive ever seen. Looks like something cyclops would wear.

[egress63 @ Apr 14th 2009 9:50AM]

ewwww....

end of statement.

[lanejasper69 @ Apr 14th 2009 10:20AM]

Yeah, THIS makes sense.....{gets tangled in cords and drowns}

[teej @ Apr 14th 2009 2:28PM]

lol seriously... they could have at least thrown a right-angle headphone connector on that thing w/ a shorter cable.

[Billy Bear @ Apr 14th 2009 10:33AM]

Do we really need to be stimulated all the time? For most people swimming is a nice break from IM, email, music, video, meetings, etc.

[grabbydad @ Apr 14th 2009 11:00AM]

I totally agree. Plus, I have tried several swim radios, and they have all sucked. It just doesn't feel right on the head, and the freestyle motion of extending ones arm hits the ear pieces, knocking them loose after several laps.
They need to make a 1 piece earbud like an in-ear hearing-aid for this to work.

[darkstar @ Apr 14th 2009 11:49AM]

this is built for swimmers in mind. for me, swimming is extremely boring 1 hour each day.
i would imagine this is why joggers run with music on. and yes, there are better products than this

[m @ Apr 14th 2009 1:30PM]

i agree. if you're on a swim team, you don't just jump in the pool for 20 mins during lunch, a couple of days a week. you swim dozens and dozens of laps, day after day. it can be excruciatingly boring. if you add up all the club teams, high schools, and colleges, that's a lot of mp3 players.

[FTY @ Apr 14th 2009 3:37PM]

Sweat is another enemy of players. Some sweat so much, that the players just drawn in it thus rendering it "kaput". This, albeit not the only solution, is perfect for those people. And trust me, I know a guy who went through 10 players from Apple, Sony, Creative, etc. in one year before he picked up a water proof one, which can finally cope with his sweating problem.

[absurdio @ Apr 14th 2009 10:57AM]

Actually, I may be the only one swayed by it, but a Phelps endorsement would go pretty far with me.

Seriously, the number of times I've been stoned, swimming, and wishing I had a soundtrack is really pretty huge. :)

On the other hand, this is clumsy, impractical, and laughably hideous. *sigh*

[MarnBeast @ Apr 14th 2009 11:03AM]

Where was this last week? I've got to swim a mile for pe tomorrow an being the slow swimmer that I am, this would make the task so much more bearable.

[Emu* @ Apr 14th 2009 11:30AM]

The AB v1 earphones were a good fit, but the interchangable rubber bits apparently came off in some peoples ears.

The v2 buds don't seal properly, giving you weak bass and and earful of water.

Hope these are better.

[Andy @ Apr 14th 2009 11:35AM]

The product might work well, but seriously, did any one look @ their product shot on this guy before sending them to PR?

[Al @ Apr 14th 2009 11:39AM]

Does it have a lap counter?

[Wwhat @ Apr 14th 2009 11:58AM]

Erm, well maybe people can put one of those museum guide tapes on it and use it in venice while paddling?
Normally you would not want it swimming and when using a motorboat or waterski or what have you; the noise would drown music out, so there's a limited number of places where it's placid yet you need waterproof.
Got another one: Perhaps you can climb rainy mountains in tibet while listening to dalai lama speeches (assuming you can smuggle it past the chinese)

[ryan4thewin @ Apr 14th 2009 11:58AM]

lolz lets not promote this in hawaii.. we might have more dead idiots from unanticipated shark attacks

[mcbr @ Apr 14th 2009 12:29PM]

oh you can hear the sharks underwater in hawaii? good to know.

[Denver_80203 @ Apr 14th 2009 12:30PM]

It's bill gates's slashdot head shot!

It also appears to double as a towel.

[SOOPERGOOMAN @ Apr 14th 2009 1:25PM]

Look it's Square Back Head!

[marsromangod @ Apr 14th 2009 1:45PM]

waterproof bluetooth headset and your phone outside the pool thats what i do ... and there are no stupid wires and shit on your head. and to all those who think this is pointless try swimming longer than 20min.

[superhobo @ Apr 14th 2009 2:42PM]

Really, no one dies without music.

[htd @ Apr 14th 2009 3:21PM]

http://www.ihavetohavethat.com//index.php

speedo already has one with $74.99

[WaterHand @ Apr 14th 2009 4:39PM]

Why is the player wet but he's bone dry?

[Richard @ Apr 14th 2009 5:00PM]

When I saw the picture I thought it was some black opps communications gadget :-/

[Orlando @ Apr 14th 2009 5:21PM]

Yes please let's listen to elevator music while swimming see if we get too relaxed and fall asleep while making laps in the pool. Stupid idea no other way to explain it.

[dub dollar @ Apr 15th 2009 12:14AM]

doesnt seem safe. could be a high risk choking hazard to me.

[Thijs @ Apr 15th 2009 12:49AM]

My biggest problem with the Aquabeat (yes I have one) is that it doesn't select the previous song and you can't scroll through a song. Not that I spend my time in the water by pressing the buttons all the time, but it would just be nice and I don't think it's really that much to ask.

It is actually really nice if you swim a lot (swimming tends to get really boring quite fast). It's quite big because they made it so it will float. Also it swims a lot nicer if you put it on the back of your head instead of on the side ;)

[Mike Litoris @ Apr 15th 2009 2:02PM]

Sometimes you just need to put the tech down and relax. I'm having a hard time believing they make a product like this. Even harder to think that someone would actually buy it. My idea for bottled water in a can was better than this abortion.

[noname @ Apr 15th 2009 2:37PM]

i like it but i would like to use it for diving, but this is only to 3 meter deep max. It would be nice to swim 20 meters underwater looking at fishes and listen to some relaxing music (it would save some oxygen as well). There is no sound underwater, so this would be an absolute relax