Three audio suppliers — Coby, Sharp and Think Outside — are all showing boombox-style digital portables during International CES. Here are the details:
Coby: The MPC341MP3 boombox features 256MB built-in flash memory, memory-card slot for additional memory, FM stereo radio and alarm clock. It’s due in the spring at an expected retail of $79.
The CSMP47 is a portable amplified speaker pair for MP3 players, due in the spring at an expected retail of $49.
Sharp: The company’s first flash-memory boomboxes include the $189-suggested iCarry 512MB QT-MPA5 and $239 1GB QT-MPA10, each featuring digital AM/FM tuner, embedded memory, sleep timer and USB 2.0 to transfer songs from a PC. They decode MP3 and protected-WMA files downloaded from authorized Web sites, but not authorized WMA subscription downloads.
They will be available in multiple colors, all running on six AA batteries or household current. They have 4 watts of output. The MPA5 is due in May, the A10 in June.
Think Outside: The Santa Clara, Calif., company got its start offering the Stowaway line of portable mice and keyboards for handheld devices. Now it’s launching the Stowaway Boomtube H2O1, a boombox dock that amplifies music from an MP3 portable or music phone via those devices’ headphone output. The aluminum-tube device packs 40 watts, features two detachable speakers, incorporates subwoofer and uses an internal rechargeable lithium battery that lasts five hours. Two 2-inch aluminum speakers work in conjunction with two bass drivers. With battery and carrying case, the system weighs just over three pounds. Included is a 3.5 mm to 2.5 mm adaptor that allows the product to work with music phones.
The product shipped in December at a suggested $199.