Compaq unveils digital audio products

Compaq Computer unveiled on Tuesday three new digital-audio players, including the second generation of its mobile iPaq Personal Audio Player, the PA-2. The new 3-ounce PA-2 has 64MB of memory; the storage capacity can be doubled with an MMC card to play up to four hours of music. The device will sell for $249, including a $50 rebate, and is expected to come out in late July.

The iPaq Music Center, which will cost $799, can store more than 5,000 MP3 songs on its hard drive. The device hooks up to home stereo systems to digitally record CDs. When it is connected to a phone line, information about the album and artist can be downloaded. An Internet connection allows people to listen to and purchase music from the Web. The device is expected to be available July 15. The iPaq Personal CD Player PCD-1 plays recordable, rewritable and traditional CDs and includes an FM tuner. The $199 mobile device is expected to come out in early August.