MP3 player does the backstroke

Call us old-fashioned, but we still cringe at the idea of taking anything electric into the water. But then again, we won't swim until an hour after eating either.

So we might be willing to take a chance on the Hydra, a water-resistant MP3 player scheduled to go on sale next month (pictured at top). The USB player, which includes a multicolored LCD display and FM radio tuner, is designed to work with both Windows and Mac operating systems and comes in 1GB and 2GB sizes for $40 and $60. No matter what your opinion on the necessity or wisdom of waterproof music players, the Hydra definitely has at least one advantage: It doesn't look like the RelacON shown at bottom.

(Photos: Ultra Products, Akihabara News)