Crave

According to a recent Philips press release, the Aria and Opus GoGear MP3 players announced for Europe last February are coming to the States, joined by a wallet-friendly newcomer named the GoGear Vibe.

The Philips GoGear Vibe arrives in April for as little as $49.

(Credit: Philips)

The Philips GoGear Vibe is due out in April, priced at $49 for 4GB, and $59 for 8GB. You can pick the player up in either black or white (the white model looks pretty cool, actually), each featuring a 1.5-inch color screen and support for music, photos, video, FM radio, and voice recording.

If you need an MP3 player with a little more meat to it, the Philips GoGear Aria (known as the Ariaz to all you Europeanz), features a 2-inch color screen, and packs 8GB or 16GB of storage for $79 and $99, respectively. The Aria also comes bundled with Philips sound-isolating earphones, instead of typical earbuds.

Finally, for those who either go big, or go home, the Philips GoGear Opus offers a 2.8 inch screen, sound-isolating earphones, 8GB of storage, and sells for just $99. Like the Vibe and Aria, the Opus includes music, photo, video, and radio features, but has the distinction of being the only player in the lineup that includes support for FLAC and unprotected AAC audio formats. Expect to see the Opus on shelves in May of 2009.

For all you Rhapsody fans, it's worth noting that all three of these GoGear players have been engineered to work seamlessly with Rhapsody's subscription music service, and go so far as to include Rhapsody content as a separate main menu selection.

Philips GoGear Vibe, Opus, and Aria

The Philips GoGear Ariaz in all it's dull, inoffensive glory.

(Credit: Philips)

I thought Philips had finally turned a page last December, when its started giving its MP3 players actual names (not just model numbers) and broke away from its tired black MP3 player designs. Unfortunately, mediocrity has reared it's bland, shapeless head again, as Philips announced two new additions to its GoGear MP3 player line-up destined for Europe in April (no word on whether the U.S. will be so blessed).

The GoGear Ariaz (shown here) is the more unique of the two MP3 players and includes touch-sensitive buttons, a rocker switch for scrolling through menus, a 2-inch screen, FM radio, FullSound audio enhancement, and MPEG-4 video support. The Ariaz will be offered in 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB capacities priced at 79 euros, 99 euros, and 129 euros.

Philips is also rolling out the GoGear Opus, which, aside from its 32GB capacity ceiling and smaller screen, just looks like a more fully-baked version of 2008's SA6185. The Opus comes in 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB capacities, priced at 99 euros, 147 euros and 179 euros.

(Via Pocket Lint)

The 1.5-inch color screen on the Spark gives it an edge over the competition.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CBS Interactive)

The GoGear Spark is the first MP3 player we've seen from Philips in years that isn't a study in mediocrity. In fact, the little Oreo cookie-size MP3 player is downright adorable, and a decent bargain at $49 (2GB) or $59 (4GB).

The Spark includes a music player (MP3, WMA), photo viewer, FM radio, and voice recorder. In light of its size and price tag, however, the Spark's most unique feature is its 1.5-inch color screen--an asset dearly lacking from competitors such as the iPod Shuffle or Sansa Clip. The Spark also uses a unique pressure-sensitive screen for navigation, similar to the Iriver Clix.

To find out more, read the full review of the Philips GoGear Spark MP3 player.

Philips GoGear Spark MP3 player photos

The Bluetooth-enabled Luxe is one of three new MP3 players being unleashed by Philips. Click to see a photo gallery of other new Philips MP3 players.

(Credit: Philips)

Interested in buying a Philips SA1948? How about a Philips SA1929? No. What about a Philips Raga? If that last one sounds a little better, it's because some marketing genius at Philips finally figured out that people enjoy products with actual names. Let's pray this is a trend Sony will adopt, too.

The result of Philips' new name game is three new MP3 players: the GoGear Luxe; GoGear Spark; and GoGear Raga. The Spark and Raga are hitting the shelves as we speak, offered in 2GB and 4GB capacities for less than $60. The Luxe won't be out until January, however, and as the name would imply, it carries a premium price of $89 (2GB) or $99 (4GB).

For a closer look at all these new Philips MP3 players and a run down of their specs, check out our Philips GoGear slide show.

The Sony Walkman NWZ-A828K includes Bluetooth headphones and high-quality earbuds.

(Credit: Sony)

Don't you wish companies would just include great headphones with their MP3 players, instead of those cheap tin cans they call earbuds? In a bid to prove their sonic superiority over the iPod, many competitors are finally bundling their MP3 players with headphones that can do justice to your music.

To imagine a world without crappy white earbuds, we've got a round-up of our favorite five MP3 players that offer high-quality headphones right out of the box.

Philips latest MP3 player combines Rhapsody DNA and wireless audio.

(Credit: CNET Networks/Corinne Schulze)

It's not often we get excited about a Philips MP3 player, but the Bluetooth-wielding, Rhapsody-integrated GoGear SA5245BT is a notable exception.

The GoGear SA5245BT sports a video-worthy 2.8-inch screen, along with a photo viewer, FM radio, voice recorder, and music player, for about $130 (4GB) and $170 (8GB). This GoGear MP3 player also comes embedded with Rhapsody subscription music DNA and an A2DP Bluetooth audio feature that works with both music and video playback.

If you're in the market for a wireless MP3 player with an accommodating screen, then be sure to check out our full review of the Philips GoGear SA5245BT and take a peek at our Crave photo gallery.

(Credit: Crave UK)

Philips has had a line of consistently easy-to-use MP3 players to appeal to the screw-the-iPod-I'm-
not-a-sodding-conformist crowd for some time, but to our knowledge it hasn't released anything to compete with the gym-friendly iPod Shuffle. Until now.

The GoGear SA2820 is a 2GB mini-MP3 player with a miniature dot-matrix LCD screen, a reflective plastic finish, and square form factor that goes for 30 pounds (about $59). Inside is support only for MP3, WMA, and WAV files--no AAC or protected WMA, we're afraid. But it'll keep pumping tunes for about 20 hours and in our initial listening tests it sounds pretty decent, with good clarity and reasonable power. Click here for more.

(Source: Crave UK)

Philips GoGear 1GB MP3 player

(Credit: CNET Networks)

You don't want to spend an arm and a leg on an Apple product. Your pockets are getting cramped with any number of gadgets, and space is at a premium. Yet you still need music for your commute, workout, walk around the block, or airplane trip. What to do? Woot.com has your answer. They're offering this player at less than half the price of other retailers.

The Philips GoGear SA1110 holds 1GB of music files and is only as big as a cigarette lighter. It's perfect for those of you who can't get enough lime green in your lives. It's lightweight, easy to stash, minimalist, and less than half the price of its rival player, the iPod Shuffle.

Please note: Woot.com deals are one-day deals that expire the next day. So sorry to say, but if you visit the site any day but the day it's posted, you'll see an offer on some other discounted item. But maybe you'll like that one just as well, and maybe you'll enjoy their editors' stylishly wacky prose.

What: Philips GoGear 1GB MP3 player
How much: $24.99
Shipping: $5
Where: Woot.com
When: Until September 11, 2007
Click here for product overview.

Philips' GoGear

iPods are nice, but if you can afford your own tux and you travel in your own chauffeur-driven Bentley, then you need an MP3 player as sleek-looking as this one, showing at CES 2007.

The three models in the Philips GoGear series are thin, but otherwise standard-featured Flash players. Dressed up in high-gloss black polycarbonate with silver, cigarette case-like contours, they could make Britney Spears look like royalty. Almost.

Each PlaysForSure-compatible GoGear model--the 1GB SA5115 ($99.99), the 2GB SA5125 ($109.99), and the 4GB SA5145 ($139.99)--has a 1.8-inch color LCD screen; red-backlit, touch-sensitive controls; Philips' SuperScroll navigation; and an FM radio, and is due to be available this spring. Each provides 18 hours of music playback or 2 hours of video viewing on a single charge of its rechargeable battery. As many PlaysForSure players do, the GoGears handle MP3 and WMV files, but not AAC. Hoi polloi iTunes users will have to stick with their plebian iPods.