May 09 2008
Underwater mp3 Player Seeks to End Limitations.
The world of mp3 players have really changed the way we do things in life. With devices so small they can fit in your shirt pocket or on your wrist, nearly everybody you see walking in the street, working out at the gym, or even sitting in a coffee shop is living life to their own soundtrack. The fact that you can make it your own with playlists that include songs that you enjoy eliminates those walkman days where you had to fast forward past the crappy songs to get to the good ones. Up until now, there were really only a couple of situations where you couldn’t use your mp3 player, such as in the shower, the pool, or driving (although you can use it at the wheel, since my car is not mp3-compatible I have tried this and it doesn’t work out so great). However, there are some mp3 players that are coming out with the hope that it will end most, if not all of these limitations, and it sounds like a pretty darn good product too!
The player is called the Swimp3 Bone Conduction mp3 Player, and it can be used underwater. Now, here is the first question I had…How can you use earbuds underwater? I have a hard enought ime keeping them in my ear on land! Lucky for me, they include an detailed page to answer all of my concerns regarding how it works. Apparently all you do is tuck the player under your goggle strap, resting against your cheek bone. The direct transfer of vibrations made through the music against your cheek bone travels all the way up to your inner ear, producing what they claim to be an exceptional and clear sound. This technology facinates me, because who ever thought cheek bones would lead to music? I have taken baseballs, rocks, and even a fist once to my cheekbone, and none of those produced any musical notes, only severe pain!!
Now for the specs. It only comes with a 256MB capacity, giving you about four hours of music, or roughly sixty songs. This is what I see as the only down side of this Swimp3, especially at the target price of roughly 180 big ones. However, along with this unbelievable (and costly, I am sure) technology, you get a pair of swim goggles, ear plugs to keep your vacant ears from letting water inside, a USB cable to hook it up to your computer, a carrying case to lug it all around in, and the MusicMatch software to manage your playlists. It is full functioning, very similar to the Apple iPod shuffle. You can skip tracks, shuffle them up or play them in order, change the volume, and pause your song if your cheek needs a break. And what’s even nicer is that it is iTunes compatible, so you can also make use of all those songs you bought but could only listen to them on an Apple device. For best results, they say to stay about ten feet under or less, because the water pressure can interfere with the vibrations any deeper than that. Unless you are deep see diving, I think you’ll be fine.
Just think, now you can chill in your backyard pool and still listen to your music. For those intesnse swimmers who go a few hours of laps at a time, at least now you have an alternative to listening to your breathing. And for the all around workout enthusiasts, you can keep your workout rocking as you leave the spin room with your iPod and hit the pool with your Swimp3. It could even be great for snorkling over a coral reef, if that is something that strikes your fancy. Just be careful and dry it off when hooking it up to your computer to load up your songs; remember, computers are not water resistant. Unfortunately, the technology still won’t do me any good in the shower. I guess I am stuck singing off key to the notes in my head, getting the dog howling and the misses plugging her ears.
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