New Players Go Beyond Tunes

IRiver's W10 adds Wi-Fi positioning; Clix2 hits 8GB capacity for video and music.

Eric Butterfield, PC World

LAS VEGAS -- A sleeker, higher-capacity version of the iRiver Clix is making its debut here at the Consumer Electronics Show amid the myriad of digital music devices.

Here's the skinny on iRiver's Clix2: It's thinner than the original Clix, and will be available in an 8GB version (the original Clix maxed out at 4GB). It will play both MPEG-4 video (at 30 frames per second) and WMV9 video, according to iRiver. Also, it will support the Audible file format.

The Clix2 retains the black front/white back look of the first iteration, but the thinner case and tapering edges of the front panel feel nicer in the hand. The player supports PlaysForSure. The RealNetworks Rhapsody service will be preloaded.

No price was announced. The Clix2 is scheduled to become available in the second quarter of this year.

GPS Device Debuts

Also on the horizon: The iRiver W10, a multimedia player with Wi-Fi positioning, is expected to ship in the third or fourth quarter.

The W10 has a wide-screen 3-inch TFT LCD with touchscreen controls, runs Windows CE, and will use hot spots to provide positioning data similar to what GPS devices offer. (Skyhook Wireless provides the Wi-Fi positioning system that the W10 uses, and Navteq provides other wireless services to the device.) This device will come in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB configurations, and will have a miniSD card slot. Also, the W10 will be capable of handling Voice-over-IP (VoIP) calls. No price has been set.

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