MP3's unstoppable march into electronic equipment

The MP3 player is cutting a swathe into all kinds of products, including VCDs, radios, watches, cell phones, car audio systems and DVDs. The reason why the MP3 is so popular is that it can hold up to 100 songs on one disc (whereas normal discs only contain up to 15 songs). Plus, if you download MP3 song files from the Internet, you can make your own MP3 compilation by using a CD-R/RW drive. CD-R drives themselves are thin on the ground when compared to CD-ROM drives.

The MP3 "disc" the size of a matchbox, a form of memory card that is played in an MP3 player.

The first player that appeared on the scene was the Rio 300, released by Diamond Media. It has a flash-memory the size of a playing card, and is topped off with a pair of headphones. Other manufacturers include Samsung, which has launched its own model, the Yepp64.

This player has a 64-megabyte memory and can record for two hours. Through its LCD, around 350 telephones numbers can be stored and viewed. You can even import entries from a phone book on an Internet program -- Microsoft's Internet Explorer for example -- and then download them to the player, in the same way you would download an MP3 music file.

Unitech Electronics have launched an MP3 player, called Rome, and it sells for US$280. An FM radio tuner or a voice recorder -- just like the Nomad and the Nomad III with flash memory and a built-in FM tuner -- accompanies the MP3.

Even wearing a watch you can listen to MP3s. That is what Casio is offering with its MP3 watch QW-2002.

If this is not enough then you can listen to MP3 formatted music on your cell phone, like the Ericsson T28 for example. The music automatically shuts off if someone rings.

MP3s can be used while playing PlayStation. Tops Mate International Corporation have released a kind of card that is installed in PlayStation and means it can play music. The sound quality is of Hi-Fi standard.

DVDs have also succumbed to the MP3. Apex Digital from California has released a DVD plus MP3 model, the AD-600A. This machine, which is free from an area code, can play MP3 files recorded from a CD-R or the CD-RW mentioned above (the file name must have ".MP3" on the end of it). This is the first DVD player in America that can play CD-R MP3 discs. We say in America, and not the world, because Taiwanese producer Raite has launched its own DVD/MP3 player, the RDP-741.

This is an interesting little product because it can play CD- Rs with MP3 files recorded on them. And its retail price in the country makes it is also interesting -- a reasonable $169.