Philips Launches New Range of GoGear™ Jukeboxes Combining Style with Functionality
ATLANTA, Sept. 1, 2005 – Philips Electronics is launching a new range of GoGear hard disk drive jukeboxes, the HDD1630 and HDD6330, that free consumers to listen to their music as well as carry and share their favorite pictures while on the go. These new jukeboxes combine stylish design with an innovative interface, as well as providing compatibility with a number of the leading online music download services.
The Philips GoGear jukeboxes bring a new level of ease-of-use and practical day-to-day enjoyment of listening to MP3 and WMA music, as well as the ability to store and view photographs. The HDD1630 features 6 GB(1) of storage for up to 3,000 songs, 1,600 pictures; while the HDD6330 features an impressive storage capacity of 30 GB to hold up to 15,000 songs or 8,400 pictures(2). Both players feature backlit sensory touchpads and Philips’ acclaimed SuperScroll™ system for speedy and precise navigation through a music collection. Listeners can just tap or drag their finger along the touch-sensitive strip to maneuver through their library of music and photos. Furthermore intuitive graphic icons, as well as album art, help illustrate menus and music tracks, while music collections are helpfully arranged into easy-to-understand categories such as Artist, Album, Genre and Playlists.
The navigation system also helps the user locate and view photos stored on the GoGear jukeboxes, enabling JPEG pictures to be shown on the large, clear and colorful backlit LCD screen. Pictures can be navigated in full screen mode or as an array of thumbnails, and can be viewed one at a time, or automatically in a slideshow accompanied by music.
“Philips GoGear HDD1630 and HDD6330 are designed around the needs of the consumer on the go,” said Des Power, senior vice president of marketing and sales, Philips Consumer Electronics, North America. “These players feature a sleek, compact design, enabling busy consumers to carry their tunes with them wherever they go and control their music with the slightest touch. Available in time for the holiday gift giving season, the GoGear Jukeboxes are an ideal gift packed with added features such as picture viewing to enhance the entertainment experience.”
In addition to stored music and playlists, users can listen to their favorite radio stations for the latest top hits and entertainment news with the integrated FM tuner(3). Busy users will welcome the GoGear players’ voice recorder function so they record impromptu karaoke sessions with friends or remind themselves of important social dates. Battery life on the HDD6330 is up to 15 hours of continual music playback(4), while the HDD1630 model will run for up to 18 hours before recharging. These latest GoGear jukeboxes also have a speed charge capability where one hour of charging delivers 70 percent capacity.
PlaysForSure™ compatibility
To ensure maximum compatibility with the growing number of legitimate music download services, the new Philips GoGear HDD jukebox range will also support the PlaysForSure initiative from Microsoft. PlaysForSure ensures interoperability of devices and services so that consumers can simply know their device and service will work together.
The PlaysForSure logo enables consumers to match the logos of both their playback device and preferred service. Consumers wishing to buy a Philips GoGear HDD jukebox will be easily able to check whether their preferred content supplier supports the PlaysForSure initiative, ensuring peace-of-mind that they will be able to fully enjoy downloaded content on their Philips player.
A further advantage of PlaysForSure is its highlight of the portable subscription phenomenon enabled through Windows Media DRM10 (formerly known as Janus). Both Philips GoGear HDD devices will be compatible with portable subscription offerings, allowing consumers full access to more than one million track catalogues from supporting online services. With this out-of-the-box support, consumers will have the ability to fill their Philips GoGear HDD jukebox for less than the price of a CD a month.
Ease of use
The new Philips GoGear hard disk jukeboxes are designed to make it as easy as possible to load up the players with content quickly and without difficulty. Each GoGear player is supplied with a USB cable for high-speed data transfer via USB 2.0. In addition, Philips has created a comprehensive range of optional accessories for consumers to extend and enhance their portable hard disk drive enjoyment.
The GoGear HDD6330 and HDD1630 will be available in October 2005 and will have a suggested retail price of $299 and $199 respectively.
About Royal Philips Electronics
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is one of the world’s biggest electronics companies and Europe’s largest, with sales of $ 37.66 Billion (EUR 30.3 billion) in 2004. With activities in the three interlocking domains of healthcare, lifestyle and technology and 159,700 employees in more than 60 countries, it has market leadership positions in medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, color television sets, electric shavers, lighting and silicon system solutions. News from Philips is located at philips.com/newscenter.
PlaysForSure™ is a trademark of the Microsoft Corporation
SuperScroll™ is a trademark of Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
(1) 1 GB = 1 billion bytes
(2) Actual storage capacity will be less. Capacity is based on four minutes per song (128 kbps encoding for MP3 files and 64kbps encoding for WMA tracks) and pictures taken at 5 megapixel resolution.
(3) Use of FM transmitting devices may be subject to local broadcasting/telecommunications regulation
(4) Battery life varies with usage
