When the company first unveiled its tiny micro-optical disks two years ago, it said music albums and the devices to play them on would be available in the beginning of 2001, which seemed wildly optimistic--even for a technology company.
TURNS OUT DataPlay is far from dead, though. This week we finally got our first glimpse of a real, working device--the iDP-100 portable digital audio player--that uses the DataPlay's format. The device is made by iRiver, the same company that came up with the thinnest MP3 CD player in the world and a current Editors' Choice in the category. The iDP-100 looks more like a Flash-based MP3 player in terms of size and shape, but the DataPlay format should give it a big advantage over those existing products.
First, DataPlay discs hold lots of data and are affordable. Blank discs will be available in single- (250MB) and double-sided (500MB) formats costing anywhere from $5 to $12. That's enough room for up to 11 hours of music, depending on your encoding.
Second, they are extremely compact--about the size of a quarter--and can store virtually any type of data, which makes them suitable not only for MP3 players, but for digital cameras, PDAs, cell phones, and eventually even car audio.
Finally, the content can be secured, which makes it appealing to entertainment companies. In fact, DataPlay recently announced a deal with Zomba to sell DataPlay albums from artists on its Jive Records label--including Britney Spears and 'NSync--a sure sign that DataPlay is about to go mainstream (and a surer sign that neither of us will be rushing out to buy any).
DATAPLAY IS SORT OF a mini CD-R/W drive. You can write music, digital images, video, or data files to the discs in multiple sessions, so a portable MP3 player could double as a compact external drive. But once you've saved a file to a DataPlay disc, you can't remove it or reformat the disc.
Aside from its DataPlay support, the iDP-100 is a typical MP3 player. It supports multiple digital audio formats, including MP3 and WMA, and has an LCD display, a USB interface, and a rechargeable lithium-ion battery good for about a dozen hours, according to iRiver. It also has the same four-line remote/LCD display found on the iMP-350 SlimX CD MP3 player, along with a basic PIM and upgradable firmware.
Though it won't be available until June, the iDP-100 that our reviews team saw was a functioning model. At first glance, we're pretty jazzed about the player, though we do have a hard time getting past the hefty $370 price tag--almost as much as the 5GB Apple iPod. That seems excessive when you consider that you're paying for virtually no built-in storage (just 8MB SDRAM onboard), but iRiver says prices should drop quickly.
ONE OTHER COMPANY, Evolution Technologies, is preparing to release devices that support DataPlay discs. Evolution and MTV are planning to ship a portable digital audio player, the EV-500 MDP, next month, which would make it the first DataPlay-enabled player to hit store shelves.
How quickly these devices will catch on will likely hinge on the availability of both blank discs and ones with pre-recorded content. But based on the limited amount we've seen so far, the long wait could actually be worth it.
Will you play with DataPlay? Why or why not? TalkBack to us!
