World's Smallest MP3 Player

Chris_Yates writes "mobiBlu is claiming to produce the world's smallest mp3 player, the DAH-1500 cube. The player is 24x24x24 millimeters (about the size of the tip of your finger or various small items), weighs 18 grams, uses OLED technology, and comes in a variety of colors. The 1GB version is currently selling for $130 at Wal-Mart. Buy one today, so you can lose it within a week!" Update: 07/25 22:56 GMT by T : An anonymous reader points out this review of the device.

Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.

[Laebshade]

Is it really that small?

Re:Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.

[Eric Giguere]

It is small, but I wouldn't describe as being "fingertip" in size. Sure, it balances on your finger, but I've yet to see a fingertip of those proportions, The Thing's notwithstanding!

Eric
See your HTTP headers, live! [ericgiguere.com]

Re:Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.

[Anonymous Coward]

Indeed. 24x24x24mm is roughly an inch cubed. Small, yes, but hardly fingertip size.

Re:Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.

[Formz]

People seem to be focused on size, but SHAPE is just as, or even more important. What you you rather carry in your pocket, a SQUARE, or a FLAT RECTANGLE (IE: shuffle, sony thing, etc.)

Imagine a corner of that stupid thing digging into your leg. No thanks.

Re:Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.

[saider]

I'd rather stuff a LONG CYLINDRICAL player in my pants.

Re:Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.

[Hogwash McFly]

Is that a long, cylindrical, portable mp3 player in your pocket, or are you just trying to convolute my clichéd sexual innuendos?

Re:Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.

[Washizu]

What you you rather carry in your pocket, a SQUARE, or a FLAT RECTANGLE (IE: shuffle, sony thing, etc.)

You'd be able to fit an infinite number of two dimensional squares and rectangles in your pocket, so it's hardly an issue.

Re:Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.

[Hogwash McFly]

a SQUARE, or a FLAT RECTANGLE

I like to carry a LINE or two around with me.

Re:Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.

[adamjaskie]

Bah. My company is manufacturing POINT-shaped mp3 players with INFINITE storage capacity. NEVER RUN OUT OF ROOM AGAIN!

Unfortunately, we seem to have a problem with them being a little bit too... dense. It has caused several mishaps with things such as nearby stars and passing photons, so we like to keep our factories in remote places in the universe while we perfect the process.

iPod Shuffle is 25% bigger, better shape

[billstewart]

Apple annoyingly uses Antique measurement units, as opposed to metric, but the size is 3.3 x 0.98 x 0.33 = 1.067 cubic inches = 17484 mm3. (Not sure whether that's with the USB-jack cover on or not.) The cube is 13824 mm3. So the Shuffle is a bit larger, but yes, I'd rather carry a flat object than a clunky-shaped object.

But you don't put this thing in your pants pocket you'd need a really long headset cord and it'd get caught on things. Either you put it in your shirt pocket (where flat is also better

Re:Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.

[rhesuspieces00]

Yet another manufacturer fails to make the distinction between "we can" and "we should."

weird...

[grub]

I found this wee thumbnail sized MP3 player... plugged in my own earphones... hit play and heard weird static with the sound of flies buzzing played. Then my cell rang and a weird, detached voice said "Seven days..." and hung up. Any ideas?

Re:weird...

[sdpuppy]

7 days?

Did they mean "7 business days"?

What if there is a holiday?

Is the recording copy-protected?

If not, I'd suggest you make a backup copy, then give it as a present to that boss you don't like...

Re:weird...

[Profane MuthaFucka]

You're safe. The monster would crawl out of the TV, you'd go into your questions about counting weekends, and what about Monday, which was Washington's birthday - does that count? It's not a real holiday after all... and on and on. The monster would just say fuck it and go back into the TV to get away.

That movie scared the shit out of me, by the way.

Re:weird...

[VikingBerserker]

That's odd. About a week ago I lost my thumbnail sized MP3 player, and I~d&()@#[NO CARRIER]

Don't swallow it...

[Pxtl]

You'll get it stuck in your iSophagus [sluggy.com].

obligatory sluggy reference...

[paco3791]

Can you say iSophagus?

One small problem

[ClaraBow]

The device uses USB 1.1 which is painfully slow to manage songs IMHO.

Re:One small problem

[Norgus]

With a 1GB capacity its slow, but not as horrible as using USB 1.1 on a decently sized serious mp3 player.

Re:One small problem

[Anonymous Coward]

USB 1.1 is the same as USB 2.0. You're thinking of USB 1.0, which IS painfully slow.

Educate yourself. [wikipedia.org]

Re:One small problem

[Anonymous Coward]

USB 1.1 is the same as USB 2.0. You're thinking of USB 1.0, which IS painfully slow.

USB 1.1 == 12 Mbps
USB 2.0 == 480 Mbps

So, same thing, in that they are both spelled the same until you get to the number part.

Re:One small problem

[ReverendLoki]

Actually, no. [wikipedia.org]

The 2.0 standard includes the addition of High-Speed transfer, which is what the GP post was referring to.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Actually

[i_should_be_working]

The one sold at walmart is usb 2.0 [walmart.com]

USB 2.0

[thrill12]

Highspeed (400+Mbit) or Fullspeed (11Mbit). I gather the last, which is practically completely compatible to USB 1.1 - same slow speed.

Re:Actually

[zx75]

USB 2.0 Hi-Speed or Full-Speed? Here is why we love naming ambiguities, because people who don't understand them don't think anything about not putting them in.

Re:Actually

[Vizthex]

Actually apple has a one up on this. The Fleapod. =P http://gprime.net/video.php/ipodflea [gprime.net]

Re:One small problem

[rm999]

According to http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product _id=3756867 [walmart.com]
it uses USB 2.0

Perhaps there are different models, but I would imagine most people would buy this one from walmart (when it's back in stock).

Or perhaps Walmart is confused and doesn't know the difference between USB 1 and 2?

Imagine a beowulf...

[Shads]

... cluster of these things, as a NAS *RAR* lol. I dont know why you'd want a mp3 player that small, interface would be a bitch compared to the slightly larger say, ipod mini.

Re:Imagine a beowulf...

[hal9000(jr)]

I dont know why you'd want a mp3 player that small, interface would be a bitch compared to the slightly larger say, ipod mini. You are obviously not a grrrl. Glue a chain and post on it and you got a music earring. In fact, I think it was at WalMart that I saw something just like it.

is it also

[arootbeer]

powering their web server?

And I thought it was a joke

[Hi_2k]

There was a whole story [sluggy.com] and shirt [sluggy.com] about swallowing an MP3 player, and now you can!

24mm square = 1" square.

[baryon351]

> The player is 24x24x24 milimeters (about the size of the tip of
> your finger

Anyone with one inch square fingertips is scary. Seriously. I doubt seeing a 1" cube I could relate it to *ANY* body part.

Re:24mm square = 1" square.

[Thenomain]

> Anyone with one inch square fingertips is scary.

My thumb is very nearly one inch at its widest, thus solidifying the concept of a "rule of thumb". While my fingertip (thumbtip, whatevah) isn't one inch square, it's still one inch.

Yes, this is really true.

As for the rest, I am about as frightening as anyone who likes to listens to Enya. Which ... I admit might be frightening for entirely other reasons.

Re:24mm square = 1" square.

[nEoN nOoDlE]

I doubt seeing a 1" cube I could relate it to *ANY* body part.

Some guys get all the luck.

WROONNGGG

[sp0rk173]

24x24x24 mm = 0.945" cubed.

Re:24mm square = 1" square.

[justforaday]

Wow, I'm sure the GP poster thanks you immensely for pointing out that huge oversight on his part...

Re:24mm square = 1" square.

[Jason1729]

A human eyeball is *much* larger than a cubic inch.

Re:24mm square = 1" square.

[Hogwash McFly]

Known as an iEye or, colloquially, 'Aye aye' by music pirates.

Fascinating

[stanmann]

Having a device that small is nice, but my MP3 player is already mostly size limited by UI concerns why would I want anything smaller than a Credit card.

now we need a d20

[suso]

Call me a geek but one of the first things I thought of when I saw this was being able to roll a 20 sided wireless die w/ speaker and have it say 'HIT!'. It could be hooked up to my character sheet and the DM computer. Throw in that overhead LCD map projector and we're good to go.

Re:now we need a d20

[PHP Addict]

Geek ;)

Re:now we need a d20

[akozakie]

Hmmm... Nice idea. A d20-shaped mp3+ogg (of course!) player with good weight distribution... And preferably wireless headphones... Press a button, then throw - fun way to pick a random song. ;-) Only works for 128MB versions though - larger would store too many songs.

it's cute

[nocomment]

but blocky. I wonder if to cut down on height they widened it's base. It seems like in your pocket you'd always sort of feel the pressure of it. It looks nice but I'd still rather have a shuffle [apple.com].

Hmmm...

[xor.pt]

With a player that small, maybe they could just make one the shape of a hear piece and we could just change the musics with a bluetooth remote.

Re:Hmmm...

[Pxtl]

I'd like that - just do 2 pieces of equipment - a headphone MP3 player, and a bluetooth wristwatch for control..

Why the hell is this a troll?

[SatanicPuppy]

It seems perfectly reasonable to me...The main problem these days is fitting a functionally sized UI onto the smallest possible player, but if you made a UI-less player, built into some headphones, say, with a bluetooth UI hooked into a watch or something, that would kick ass.

Mods on crack I tell ya.

Re:Hmmm...

[Hogwash McFly]

Hear piece? Musics?

Why do I hear Mr Burns when I read your post, and why is it hilarious?

Impractical

[Alex P Keaton in da]

I think that this may so small as to be impractical... I had a cell phone that was too small in that the buttons were impossible for me to press with my (sausage like) fingers without messing up. I had to get a bigger one.
I don't mind something that is small enough to be hidden by a sock, but not a match book...
It does seem like this could create some interesting possibilities for integrated earphones. Perhaps an ear phone that hooks over your ear>
Anyhow, Like my wife says, anyone who says that size doesn't matter has a small , er, MP3 player

Old news

[John Harrison]

This was mentioned last week in a /. journal:

http://slashdot.org/~gmhowell/journal/112533 [slashdot.org]

It looks pretty awesome.

[Stick_Fig]

I was just looking at this thing last night. If I wasn't getting hardcore poontang from my iPod, I would be interested in this.

And hey, since Wal-mart is selling this, I think it might just give the iPod a run for its money.

For the lazy people...

[damionfury]

...here's a link [walmart.com] to Wal-Mart's website. They appear to be nearly sold out of the 1 gig ones, though.

Re:For the lazy people...

[NineNine]

Do you have a link for those of us with a conscience who don't shop at Wal-Mart?

Re:For the lazy people...

[Profane MuthaFucka]

Don't buy these things from WalMart. http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient-ff &ie=UTF-8&q=walmart%20sucks [google.com]

There are other places to buy from. Pick one that treats its employees better.

Mirrordot

[guardiangod]

Mirror [mirrordot.org]

/. in 6 minutes...it must be a new record or something

fingertips

[justforaday]

The player is 24x24x24 milimeters (about the size of the tip of your finger...

Sounds like it should be really easy to push the buttons to control the thing...

Tip of one's finger??

[sczimme]

The player is 24x24x24 milimeters (about the size of the tip of your finger or various small items)

I don't know about the rest of the non-gigantism population, but the tips of my fingers are rather smaller than one cubic inch.

For scale: early in the movie 'Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban', Harry causes his b*tchy aunt to inflate and blow away like a balloon. Her finger was the first part to inflate; when she holds it up, the tip of the finger appears to be about 1" in diameter.

To sum up: normal finger tips are not 1" in diameter.

/ pulled a muscle reaching for that comparison

"loose it in a week"

[museumpeace]

can we mod the posts? this gives me a chuckle before I even get to the comments.

Cool, but...

[blazerw11]

There's always got to be a "Yeah that's neat, but..." post. Here's mine:

Yeah, that's neat, but when's the firmware update coming that supports Ogg. MP3s are so 2002.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Does it get any bigger?

[winkydink]

Oh wait, wrong site. :)

Cube? CUBE?

[Hortensia Patel]

If you're going for small form factor, why on earth would you want a cube? Surely the ideal is more of a thin credit-card shape, so that it'll fit conveniently in pockets. Not to mention offering more surface area for sensibly-sized controls.

I suppose this is marginally more convenient than the "caltrop", "shuriken" and "mousetrap" form factors, but it's a close thing.

Re:Cube? CUBE?

[cdrudge]

Very thin, very wide objects, like a credit card, have a tendency to bend when put in a pocket. This probably isn't the best thing unless it's circuit board is printed on something somewhat flexible. I cube shape I would think would be somewhat more durible although you do have a point about surface area for controls as well as convienence for keeping in your pocket.

Almost the exact same volume as the iPod Shuffle.

[argent]

1"x1"x1" = 1 cubic inch.

0.98" x 3.3" x 0.33" = 1.06 cubic inch.

And the shuffle is easier to fit in your pocket.

Re:Almost the exact same volume as the iPod Shuffl

[VidEdit]

Yup, the shuffle is easier to pocket, but a display screen, nested folders, WMA playback and an FM tuner kick in features Apple is to elitist to include. (PS, I'm writing this missive on my Powerbook...but I do think Apple is elitist.)

Re:Almost the exact same volume as the iPod Shuffl

[Decimal Dave]

So the headline reads that this is the worlds smallest mp3 player... yet if I take the usb cap off my ipod shuffle, it's volume is measurably less than that of the DAH-1500. Does that mean I've had the world's smallest mp3 player since february, and nobody's come out with anything smaller?

Re:Almost the exact same volume as the iPod Shuffl

[argent]

Yup, the shuffle is easier to pocket, but a display screen, nested folders, WMA playback and an FM tuner kick in features Apple is to elitist to include.

Oh, I do think it's a nice little unit, though I'd rather have it do MP4 than WMA since WMA is kind of tied in to Windows. The functionality and price are all good, but I'd rather they have made it a less clumsy shape even if it was in a slightly larger box.

Incidentally, the thing that I miss the most about my shuffle is the clock. Since it doesn't have

Re:Almost the exact same volume as the iPod Shuffl

[HeelToe]

Pointer to those useful sounding scripts?

Thanks.

Re:Almost the exact same volume as the iPod Shuffl

[argent]

Not scripts, just smart folders. Unfortunately I can't just dump the XML because the important stuff is binary gibberish.

Basically, what I did was set up a series of smart folders:

2star - Rating is 2 stars and last played is not in the last 2 months
0star - Rating is 0 stars and last played is not in the last 6 weeks
3star - Rating is 3 stars and last played is not in the last 3 weeks
4star - Rating is 4 stars and last played is not in the last 4 days
5star - rating is 5 stars and last played is not in the last 25 hours
Weighted - playlist is 0star or 2star or 3star or 4star or 5star
Ambient - Genre is not Hip-Hop and playlist is not Unambient and genre is not Opera and playlist is not Flakey and kind does not contain quicktime

This works a lot better than just "play higher rated songs more often", because I know how often "more often" is. And I can tune things around, cut 5star down to 3 days or raise 3 stars up to 1 week when I'm feeling like more variety... that's how I ended up giving 0 star a frequency that's between 2 and 3 stars.

Unambient is just a regular playlist where I put stuff that I don't want to listen to while I'm working. Flakey is another set of chained playlists. I don't play quicktime in ambient because the volume equalizing algorithm iTunes uses doesn't work for quicktime.

Re:Almost the exact same volume as the iPod Shuffl

[rsborg]

Yup, the shuffle is easier to pocket, but a display screen, nested folders, WMA playback and an FM tuner kick in features Apple is to elitist to include.

Fuck that. I don't want a shit-ass FM receiver, nor do I give any number of shits for WMA. Anyone who doesn't realize that mp3 is THE standard for portable music is on crack. I'm don't hear much whining that other players don't put AAC playback on *their* players.

Re:Almost the exact same volume as the iPod Shuffl

[NetDanzr]

Fuck that. I don't want a shit-ass FM receiver, nor do I give any number of shits for WMA. Anyone who doesn't realize that mp3 is THE standard for portable music is on crack.

The players supports .mp3 and .wma; not only .wma. I personally don't care about .wma too much, but I'm always happy when I'm given more choices.

Re:Almost the exact same volume as the iPod Shuffl

[huge colin]

Ogg Vorbis is technically superior to MP3, so if I have a choice (and I often do), I'll take a Vorbis. I therefore am not interested in any player that doesn't play it.

Re:Almost the exact same volume as the iPod Shuffl

[orasio]

24 mm / 25.4 mm/inch = 0.945 inches

0.945" ^3 = 0.844 cubic inches, or something near that.

1.06 is bigger than 0.844

And it's a cube.
It's cool.
Just because Apple doesn't sell it, it doens't mean it can't seem cool to some people.

Of course, the shuffle is still easier to fit in your pocket, still.

And maybe it's not for your pocket, it's something to hang with your keys. Or hanging from your neck.
Or sitting on your desk.

Compared to a shuffle?

[Decimal Dave]

This thing is almost exactly the same volume as the ipod shuffle (though a cube is arguably an inferior form factor), and requires a cable to connect it to a computer instead of having a built-in USB plug.

That means it's not as useful as a self-contained portable storage device.

iFlea

[Umbral Blot]

The article seems to be down, but is it smaller than this?
http://gprime.net/video.php/ipodflea [gprime.net]

Re:iFlea

[imsabbel]

Yeah right.
That was also the first thing i thought about after reading the deadline :)

And if the RIAA comes after you...

[FunWithHeadlines]

...swallow the evidence.

Of course the new Digital Millenium Toilet Act will let the RIAA hang around your house for a day or so until the evidence reappears.

Yeah, but...

[Linus Torvaalds]

Realistically, how big is the market for this? How many people want to play the world's smallest MP3? Does it play normal size MP3s?

Washable?

[intmainvoid]

It'd better be washable, since something that small is going to be getting lost in my pockets for sure.

Review

[XCorvis]

Ooh, look! An actual review. [anythingbutipod.com]

I rate it 4 stars.

[argent]

Looks nicer in this review than in TFA. I really like the fact that you just copy files to it to play... the Magic Star "Grey Whale" player (which I still think is the spiritual ancestor of the Shuffle) worked the same way, and it was very convenient.

The Magic Star player is in some ways a better design: it doesn't need a USB sync cable because it had a USB jack like the shuffle's. I don't see why they couldn't build the USB jack into the headphone dongle, though.

Having a display in a box that small and c

Available in the US... (update to own article)

[argent]

If you look at the story archive... you can get it at Walmart.

July 21, 2005

MobiBLU DAH-1500 with DRM at Walmart

We just did a review on this last week and the verdict was that it is a very nice player. It was disappointing to our US readers that it wasn't available in the states, until now.

Walmart is now selling the MobiBLU DAH-1500 in six different colors and two different sizes: 512MB and 1GB. It is also price right inline with the iPod Shuffle, $99.72 and $129.72 respectively. New to this version i

mobiBlu? Or JNC?

[Psionicist]

The mp3-player is also known as JNC SSF-8100: http://www.jnc-digital.com.au/products_details.php ?id=66# [jnc-digital.com.au]

So, as the mobiblu site's down, who _actually_ created this?

the first rule of the iPod micro is

[Knights who say 'INT]

Do not eat this micro iPod.

Do not eat this microsized music player.

Do not eat it.

You have been warned!

Fat Finger Problem...

[HermanAB]

If the average geek really has fingers 1 inch square, then that would explain a lot of typo's on Sloshdat...

Obl Futurama Quote

[indig0]

Leela: What's the matter Amy? Did you swallow your MP3 player again?

For people with pointy fingers only

[jurt1235]

Or with an extention set so you can use the controls.

BTW: I think I will paint one dot on side on, 6 on the opposite, 2 on another, 5 on that opposite, and 3 and 4 dots on the two remaining sites. Then I can use it for monopoly.

hearing aid form factor

[peter303]

They should fit the whole contraption in a hearing aid size form factor. Then have a wireless control either on a ring or wristwatch form factor.

iPod flea

[BlueEar]

They've got nothing on iPod Flea [nytimes.com]!

Don't Give One of These To Andrea Corr!

[Master of Transhuman]

She loses everything - cell phone, tin whistles, sisters...even herself.

Caroline Corr: "She's dizzy. She gets lost and stuff...You know, in airports, you're looking for Andrea. And she's lost her passport...she's lost her boarding pass."

Cube form factor?

[shawnce]

I have to say that is a dumb form factor.

Who wants a 1" cube bulging in their pocket? I would hate to sit down with that thing in my pocket.

Or under their shirt at the end of a lanyard? It wouldn't hang well, stick out noticeably and don't get it between you and a surface.

Also good luck trying to hold that thing in a way the allows you to use the controls.

iPod flea is smaller

[skoda]

The iPod [wmnytimesc...ia20050629] flea is even smaller.

Also here [macminute.com]

The Cons?

[horza]

Two of the four 'Cons' in the review are:
It's Tiny
No DRM Support

Surely in the wrong column?

Phillip.

Re:OLED display

[JWW]

You have to hover over the cryptic arrows in the middle of the page. Apparently they are for the view from the diretion the arrow is pointing. A copule of those pics show the display.

Re:Well...

[Iriel]

That's an idea, or they could just invent a new compression format that could match the diminutive size one of these darling little devices. That would save me space in my pocket and my hard disk!

Re:M.Bison vs Motaro

[PHP Addict]

So that's how it happened... I've spent many nights lying awake wondering what would happen if these two ever met.

Re:17 Hours

[bfizzle]

Bah I hate this 17 hours non-sense. If they would put a decent amplifier in the thing it would last only a couple hours with the room they have for a battery.

How about getting over your Walmart phobia?

[randyest]

Which other national chain has these in stock? Or shall we compile a list of "mom & pop" retailers and link to that list by region, then completely ignore that the world's largest retailer is selling this new startup product? That seems like part of the news to me.

After all, it is the world's largest retailer, and when they carry a new tech product it tends to (1) sell well and (2) be reasonably priced.

Wally world isn't my favorite store for anything, but you anti-Walmart zealots make me want to

Re:iPod Shuffle smaller?

[randyest]

This little cube is more than 20% smaller than an iPod shuffle by volume. (24 mm per side / 25.4 mm/inch)^3=0.84 cubic inches, which is .84/1.06=0.79 times the volume of an ipod shuffle (1.06 cu. in.)

It also has FM radio, which no ipod does.

It's also considerably cheaper than an iPod.

Sorry mods -- this post may appear to disparage the ipod and/or other apple products, but, um, well, ipods rulezorz!!!!111!one

Re:iPod Shuffle smaller?

[jimbolaya]

It's also considerably cheaper than an iPod.

Actually, a 1GB iPod shuffle is $129.