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visorcentral.com >> Stories >> Hardware
New MP3 player from Good Technology


Wed Sep 6, 2000 - 12:00 PM EDT - By James Hromadka

Good Technology, formerly Springthings, announced today the SoundsGood audioplayer Springboard module for the Handspring Visor. Basically it's a 64MB MP3 Player for $269 that can work outside the Visor with the $39.99 EnergyClip attachment. We will be reviewing the SoundsGood audioplayer within the next few days. Discuss your thoughts on the announcement here.

The press release has all kinds of good information, so I'm going to post it in its entirety:

PASADENA, Calif., Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Handspring Visor users look no further, Good Technology makes it easy to make digital music part of your day. Good Technology debuted its first product, the SoundsGood audioplayer, today at DEMOmobile 2000. The SoundsGood audioplayer provides excellent sound quality, and fits within the Springboard expansion slot to enable Handspring Visor owners to listen to their MP3 digital music on the go.

Designed for busy consumers who want to make digital music part of their lives, the Good Technology SoundsGood audioplayer is a new entertainment option. ``If you are a road warrior, a daily commuter, or just a music lover with a Handspring Visor,'' explained Dave Whorton, CEO of Good Technology, ``SoundsGood is the easiest and simplest way to have your high quality, digital music with you.''

``When we developed the Springboard platform and devised the program to encourage developers to begin building hardware modules for the Handspring Visor, Good Technology was the type of company we hoped would be created,'' said Ed Colligan, co-founder and senior vice president of sales and marketing for Handspring. ``Their first product, the SoundsGood audioplayer, is proof that a company focused on developing expansion modules for a platform can deliver an incredibly innovative first product.''

Launching at the exclusive DEMOmobile 2000 conference, the premier mobile technology event of the year, Good Technology unveiled its first products and services. ``Good Technology has a top-ranked management team and the power of two of the best venture firms supporting it. Our bet is that this start-up will focus the spotlight on an emerging new category,'' added Jim Forbes, producer of DEMOmobile.

The SoundsGood audioplayer is unique because it can function as a digital music player separate from the Visor handheld computer. With the EnergyClip(TM) accessory from Good Technology, the SoundsGood audioplayer becomes one of the smallest MP3 players on the market and can play music for over 10 hours with just a single AA battery. ``The MP3 player market has been rapidly moving toward smaller and sleeker designs,'' said Bryan Ma, Consumer Devices analyst at IDC. ``IDC believes that as the category matures, we will see many more efforts to streamline integration into existing consumer electronic devices.''

SoundsGood Features
More than an hour of state-of-the-art digital music -- 64 MB of built-in memory
Plug-and-play installation -- Snap it in and SoundsGood is ready to play music with straightforward user interface and one-button touch operation
Simple drag and drop file transfer of songs from your PC's hard drive with the Good Desktop software (included) -- more than 20 songs can be downloaded in less than 4 1/2 minutes through the Visor's USB cradle
Sleek, compact design-- SoundsGood disappears into Visor's Springboard(TM) expansion slot
Low battery consumption -- SoundsGood operates from the two AAA batteries used by the Visor and is capable of up to 10 hours of play (less when other Visor functions are used)
Future proof -- Future upgrades and updates can be downloaded from good.com
Also sold separately is the EnergyClip -- Allows the SoundsGood audioplayer to function separate from the Visor (Available November 2000)

MusicMatch Jukebox Bundled Partnership

SoundsGood today announced a bundled partnership with MusicMatch Jukebox (Musicmatch.com) to have artist-authorized MP3 files available for download. MusicMatch Jukebox will be integrated into the Good Desktop software and is included in the purchase of each SoundsGood audioplayer. Upon completion of the Good Desktop installation, users will have seven artist-approved songs to download to their SoundsGood audioplayer. MusicMatch is one of the leading developers of advanced digital music software that lets users take complete control of how they find, record, organize and play their music.

EnergyClip(TM) (Available November 2000)

EnergyClip is the essential SoundsGood audioplayer accessory for active music lovers. A music-loaded SoundsGood audioplayer can easily be removed from the Visor, installed in the EnergyClip and instantly becomes a stand-alone MP3 player. The EnergyClip allows users to take their favorite digital music to places where you wouldn't want to take your Visor like the gym or the beach. A single AA battery powers over 10 hours of on-the-go listening.

Pricing and Availability

Shipping to begin in early October 2000 at the Good Technology web site, http://www.good.com. SoundsGood will retail for $269 per unit, and will include:

SoundsGood audioplayer (Springboard module)
SoundsGood carrying case
Earbud headphones
Good Desktop software CD-ROM
Available beginning in November 2000, the Good Technology EnergyClip will be offered for $39.99.

About Good Technology, Inc. Based in Redwood City, Calif., Good Technology makes easy-to-use handheld technology solutions that improve and enrich a consumer's mobile life. Good Technology is led by CEO Dave Whorton, and backed by two leading venture capital firms, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Benchmark Capital. For more information please visit http://www.good.com or call (866) 7 BE GOOD.