Written on September 29, 2008 – 1:40 pm | by Maria Mihale |


There must be some Korean origins somewhere along our pedigree in order to catch the appeal of such a wacky device, a Disney-branded Mplayer from iRiver. When seeing these mouse ears, all I can ask myself is who in earth would dare to spend its money on Mickey Mouse’s organs of hearing. But it seems like plenty of people are buying the Mplayers, as the company has released during the last year several new colors and “outfits” (if we take a look to the healthy crust of Swarovski and silk designed for a limited edition) for the players in addition to the existing available.



Therefore, if you’ve been delighted by the sheer cuteness of iRiver’s little Mplayer in its multi-colored, gold or pink-bow variations, then these brand new devices might surprise you, even if at first glance they look pretty much the same as the original Mplayer. Though, there is something that makes the difference, and it’s not just a different color variation which is offered to the masses. I’m talking about an exquisite function of the Mplayer, equipped with 10 LEDs eyes that work as a form of user interface. The eyes are supposed to change “expressions” according to what the player is performing at the moment.



The Mplayer Eyes features 2GB of storage and comes in package with earphones, a Quick Start Guide and Warranty Card, the installation CD and an USB cable. As far as the charging is concerned, the device can be connected to the PC via the provided USB cable in order to avoid the malfunction. The battery will be 80-percent charged in about 1.5 hour (with red led) and fully charged within about 2.5 hours (with green LED).

The new Mplayer Eyes was shown at IFA 2008, but there is no word on pricing or availability of the updated player at the moment although the user manual is available on the iRiver site. However, rumors say that the device will soon be picked up in Korea for $50 in light pink and baby blue.

(Source engadget.com)