MobiBLU on the rampage.

Need a gym partner? Or maybe you’re just looking for a compact MP3 player. If so, then mobiBLU may just be the answer to your micro-prayers. At under an inch cubed and weighing just an ounce this has to be one of the smallest players in the game. And, to top it off, the device contains a fully featured display.

What’s the appeal?

Does you current MP3 player have more than one cable? How many? One USB connection, a headphone jack and perhaps a power socket? The mobiBLU has one. Did I hear an audible gasp from the audience? Yes, I did say one socket (ok, enough pantomime games, let’s get back on track!). This little bundle of audio joy has a single connector that allows you to:

• connect USB2.

• plug in a set of headphones.

• charge the battery.

• connect an external output cable i.e. speakers.

I’m starting to drool, tell me more.

The mobiBLU is PC and Mac compatible (it also worked with my Linux laptop out of the box but I can’t find any official acknowledgement on this point). The player supports MP3, WMA and DRM formats. In addition, there are 5 preset EQ modes: Classic, Jazz, Normal, Pop and Rock. Hmm, I wonder what the ‘The Final Countdown’ sounds like in Jazz mode? Going on a long run? Think you might get bored listening to the 2 Gb of tracks? Not a problem. Just switch over to the FM receiver and you can chuckle away at the comedy talents of Sandy Toksvig, etc, etc, etc…The built-in microphone allows you to record comments on the go i.e ‘This hill is huge’, ‘I’m knackered’ or even ‘I’m going to use some lame excuse for giving up running after this monster session’!

Let’s get physical.

The mobiBLU is available in red, silver, black, blue, orange and pink with a bright and easy to read OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode). A ‘nice’ additional touch are the necklace headphones, apparently. Plug them in, then dangle £70s worth of MP3 player around your neck! Yeah, right. Why not just say “Please mug me.” instead?

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