Jointly developed by local gadget makers Station Z and EraTech, Emp-Z measures 42 millimeters in diameter and 10 millimeters in thickness, The Korea Herald reported.
The companies claim the new device, which weighs 15 grams and comes with 128MB of non-expandable memory, is the smallest and lightest MP3 player in the world.
Excluding the built-in rechargeable batteries, the Emp-Z is half the weight of the lightest models available in the market today, the companies said.
To miniaturize the device, Station Z and EraTech did away with functions such as voice recording and combined the earphone and USB (universal serial bus) slots into one, the report said. Using a USB adapter, users can now transfer songs from their computers to the Emp-Z through a standard headphone jack.
The two firms said the new portable music player will cost around $120 and mass production is scheduled for later this month.
CNETAsia staff reported from Singapore.
