CeBIT 2002: Multi-functional digital music players to hit UK

UK consumers can look forward to seeing several new digital music players hitting the shops in the coming months. Hong Kong-based A-Max is planning to release two new models into the British market in April or May this year. The DAV 326 will play MP3 and WMA (Windows Media Audio) files from a CD and should store 480 seconds of music in its anti-shock buffer. The DAV 398 is thinner, includes an FM tuner and promises longer battery life -- 20 hours compared to the 12 hours of the DAV 326. A-Max didn't have models of the DAV 326 or the DAV 398 on show at CeBIT, but it was displaying two other models that might also be on sale to UK shoppers this year, including a model that also plays DVDs. The MCD 382 is a stylish 8cm mini-CD player that can read MP3 and WMA files, and which has already proved popular outside the UK. However Grant Jeffery, sales director for MP3 Plus -- which distributes A-Max's products in the UK -- believes the British market isn't ready for it quite yet. "People haven't really embraced the 8cm format. They're still very keen on 12cm," Jeffrey told ZDNet UK. "In a few months, the market could be better." A-Maz's DAV 510, a portable DVD, MP2 and CD player, is likely to arrive in the UK a bit sooner. According to Jeffrey, the DAV 510 could be on sale in Britain by this summer.

---