Hard-Fi, the PC-less MP3 player
Must admit until a couple of minutes ago I thought Hard-Fi was a top notch UK dance act who came within a whisker of half inching the Mercury Music prize from that impossibly nice Yank who quite possibly is the re-incarnation of Nina Simone.
Turns out it is also a MP3 audio device which its maker claims is the first ever product to allow the transfer of music directly from CD to MP3 player without a computer (though there are actually a few other devices that do this, so maybe they should change that to mass market device). Users basically insert an ICD, press a button, and watch as the music is transferred to your MP3 player or phone. The device also keeps a copy pf the album in its memory, and apparently it has space for over 700 albums. It also does the usual stuff like letting the user create playlists and automatically naming the tracks.
Intriguingly the Hard-Fi was invented by Martin Brennan, who games anoraks will know as the man behind the legendary Atari Jaguar games console. He has also worked with Alan Sugar and Clive Sinclair in the past so expect the product to be competitively priced and aimed at the mass (non PC owning) market. No news yet on price or launch, but hopefully it will debut in the UK before Christmas. More here.
