Player Blog Category Archives: Other
October 28, 2004
Gateway Photo Jukebox Announced
Gateway has thrown its hat into the audio player/photo viewer ring with its new Gateway MP3 Photo Jukebox. Unlike the new 20GB Apple Photo iPod, the Gateway device is cut from the iPod Mini mold, however.
Priced like an iPod Mini at $249, the Photo Jukebox also has a 4GB capacity. However it includes a 1.6" color LCD for viewing photos, while remaing nearly the size of an 3.6"x2.0"x0.5" iPod Mini at 3.8"x2.3"x0.7" and 3.4oz.
Notably, unlike the iPod Photo, the Photo Jukebox does support moving photos directly from a digital camera onto the harddrive. This is a very nice touch since so few devices have this capability. However, as digital camera images continue to grow rapidly, that 4GB may get eaten up pretty quickly.
Battery life is reported to be a paltry 8 hours. Gateway says that Photo Jukebox will be avilable in mid November.
More bits at PC World and CNet.
dear sir/madame
i am a second year design student at york st john college and have taken the managing directors role for a group presentation on a product or service whereby we also have to produce a business plan. as a group we have chosen to design and produce a plan on developing a new mp3 player. i was wondering if you could plase send me any information you know on the cost of manufacture of mp3 players, the cost and list of the components used in mp3 players, and an idea of the size and capabilities of each. also, if you could inform me of the cost a company pays out for advertising. if you cannot give this information for any reason but know of anyone who can i would be greatful to know. thankyou for your time, adam smith.
Posted by: adam smith at November 28, 2004 07:53 AMI don't hany many details on the cost of manufacture of MP3 players, but as a guide there are virtually no current 20GB models for under $200. So I'd guess that a device comparable with the 4G 20GB iPod would cost at least $200 (assuming you could take advantage of economies of scale).
As far as componentry, here's where I think the costs lie:
- harddrive (toshiba CF drives, etc.)
- chipset (from sigmatel, playerportal, etc.)
- battery
- manufacturing (all the "glue" parts, such as LCDs, circuit boards and the case plus the cost to assemble and box it)
- one-time design costs
- one-time plus ongoing software/firmware development
- product support
- possibly codec or other software licensing issues (MP3 patents, etc.)