Philips is launching a new range of GoGear hard disk drive jukeboxes, the HDD1630 and HDD6330.
The Philips GoGear jukeboxes allows
listening to MP3 and WMA music, and also offers the ability to store and view photographs. The HDD1630 features 6 GB of storage for up to 3,000 songs, 1,600 pictures; while the HDD6330 features a storage capacity of 30 GB to hold up to 15,000 songs or 8,400 pictures. Both players
feature backlit sensory touchpads and Philips' SuperScroll system for speedy navigation through a music collection. Listeners can just tap or drag their finger along the
touch-sensitive strip to maneuver through their library of music and photos.
The navigation system also helps the user locate and view photos stored on the GoGear jukeboxes,
enabling JPEG pictures to be shown on the large backlit LCD screen. Pictures
can be navigated in full screen mode or as an array of thumbnails, and can be viewed one at a time,
or automatically in a slideshow accompanied by music.
In addition to stored music and playlists, users can listen to their favorite radio stations for
the latest top hits and entertainment news with the integrated FM tuner. Busy users will welcome
the GoGear players' voice recorder function so they record karaoke sessions with friends. Battery life on the HDD6330 is up to 15 hours of continual music playback, while the HDD1630 model will run for up to 18 hours before recharging. These latest GoGear jukeboxes also have a speed charge capability where one hour of charging delivers 70 percent capacity.
The Philips GoGear HDD jukebox range will also support the PlaysForSure initiative from Microsoft.
PlaysForSure ensures interoperability of devices and services so that consumers can simply know
their device and service will work together.
The PlaysForSure logo enables consumers to match the logos of both their playback device and
preferred service. Consumers wishing to buy a Philips GoGear HDD jukebox will be easily able to
check whether their preferred content supplier supports the PlaysForSure initiative.
A further advantage of PlaysForSure is its highlight of the portable subscription enabled through Windows Media DRM10 (formerly known as Janus). Both Philips GoGear HDD devices
will be compatible with portable subscription offerings, allowing consumers full access to more
than one million track catalogues from supporting online services.
Each GoGear player is supplied with a USB cable for high-speed data transfer via USB 2.0.
The GoGear HDD6330 and HDD1630 will be available in October 2005 and will have a suggested retail
price of $299 and $199 respectively.