Mintpass Cube MP3 player features plenty of style, few capabilities
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted December 5th 2009 6:11AM
posted December 5th 2009 6:11AM
The folks at Mintpass, known for its adorable Mintpad touchscreen PMP, are back on the scene with a little something called The Cube. A schticky audio player that goes out of its way to recall the analog gear of lore, this 2-inch cube sports push button controls, analog displays for volume, battery charge, and frequency, 3.5mm audio out, and Bluetooth. We've got no idea what the storage capacity, price, or street date might be, but we do have some pretty pictures for you. Check 'em out after the break.
Is it just me, or do these look awesome?
@(Unverified)
Not just you. I agree
+1!
@(Unverified)
The iPod has nothing to fear from this square lump. I wouldn't dream of slipping this in my front pocket. It looks like a monstrosity and those controls are far from ergonomic. A jumbo version might be alright, but unless this thing had something you could use to hang it around your neck it seems rather useless. A few grains of sand could render it useless with all those openings.
@(Unverified) they look awesome :)
@(Unverified) your not alone here they are awesome :)
@(Unverified) yes and bluetoof@!
@(Unverified)
Want!...I love the button layout
@Average White Boy why cant you just appreciate its coolness instead of being a debbie downer?
@Eastman
you + are = YOU'RE
Good to see analog dials making a comback on cameras and music players. Analog just works better for some things.
They must know i have a weakness for anything with dials.
That reaaaly doesnt look portable xD. But still could be reallly awesome aswell!
xD? Nobody uses xD anymore; it's all SD and CF for bigger cameras.
@SilentWolf Yeah - on the website they basically say it's just going to be thrown in a bag so why not make it bigger?
@Information Central
Is that a joke?
That looks really cool!
Anyone have info on how the audio quality on the mintpad's are?
Hope it comes to market soon :)
It's too big to carry around though...
How big is this thing? Fist size??
@ai4281
Yeah, and the audio jack is about as big as a finger ;)
@ai4281 "2-inch cube"
that means 2 inches by 2 inches by 2 inches. ;>
not fist size... unless you are two years old
@ai4281 "2-inch cube"
That means 2 inches by 2 inches by 2 inches. ;>
Not fist sized unless you are two years old.
@tmarks11 I am two years old.
@ai4281 then it is the size of your fist.
Seems to me that the sides would poke you as you ran with it? they still look cool though ^.^
It is pretty, but that is not convincing enough for me to buy it.
Oh, come on, no volume knob?
I am loving the aesthetics of this thing.
Praise the physical button and analog gauges.
Just noticed they use a 4 terminal TRS jack in the photo above - possibly for headphone remote control?
@(Unverified) I think it is more likely that they have just used iPhone headphones to take the photograph.
Looks awesome. A jumbo version would be pretty good as well
@richb93 It IS the jumbo version.
@richb93
Thats what she said...
you set yourself up for that one
@krunal126
Yes I did, however I though people stopped saying that around mid-1999.
Walmart has had these small cube type mp3 players for years.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=3756867
These ones have lights and crap, and it uses the headphone port to also connect to the computer.
When I remember seeing them a few years back, they also came in many many many colors.
@APV And they're 1/4 of the size.
@APV
I actually still have one of these. Great and handy little players. really got a lot of looks.
Mobiblu Cube - a collectors item in blue. Those were awesome, very very cool. Thew newer gray and white ones, still cool, but not as awesome.
Mobiblu's are miniscule, barely 1x1x1. The OLED screen is incredibly sharp.
Sweet. A volume knob and an alarm function would be great. And some way to manage podcasts (probably through software on the PC...?). I could totally see me having such a device to listen to podcasts and to wake me up. If it's loud enough.
Things would make an awesome MP3-enabled clock radio with those looks - just add the clock and controls and retain the same design paradigm. I bet it would be a great seller; there's even room on the top to an iPod dock.
Cool - but shouldn't it be "recall the analog gear of yore..?"
This is definitely cool, but looks like this isn't a real device at this point. This whole section of the Mintpass webpage is devoted to introducing concept products, or at least that's what I can gather from actually reading through the page: http://www.mintpass.com/select/select_about.asp
this would be awesome as an alarm clock!!!
Very, very, VERY F'N COOL DESIGN.
We need more products like this.
And if you guys read in the article, it's 2" -- so the pictures make it look bigger than it actually is -- obviously. Anyways, what engadget fails to mention is that this is not a real device (as above poster stated)...it is a concept...http://www.mintpass.com/select/select.asp -- check their other concept devices...I am digging the calculators...very cool.
hmmm...if it's a 2" cube, those buttons will be too small to use. it'll have to ship with a pokey-stick-like thing. fine, a stylus. there, i said it!
Black with blue backlight..... awesome......
Wow. This looks incredibly awesome.
This would be incredible as part of a minimalist hi-fi system.
Of course you wouldn't go running with this thing, although, why it has a battery in that case is a slight mystery.
why does it show a 4 terminal audio jack? :O
If the production shots come together anything like these concepts, I may be losing myself some money...