iRiver E10 said to sport TV remote control

Fast forward between channels?

By Tony Smith, 13th April 2006

iRiver will ship its latest hard drive-based MP3 players, dubbed the E10, into the South Korean market later this month, pitching the machine's 6GB capacity, 1.5in colour screen and 32-hour playback period against Apple's iPod Nano. It's claimed the device also operates as a TV remote control.

The company hasn't officially launched the E10 yet, but fansite MisticRiver [sic] has got hold of the basics. The player is controlled with a four-button layout that'll be familiar to anyone who's used the U10. The device has an FM radio, a photo slideshow facility, the ability to play videos and a Macromedia Flash engine for games.

iriver e10 mp3 player

The most curious feature is the alleged TV remote control facility, which implies the E10 not only has infra-red and either the software or links to iRiver's website to allow you to tell it which of the zillion TVs that have shipped around the world that you own.

But why stop at the TV? What about DVD players, hi-fi separates, CD units, PVRs, set-top boxes et al? We're sceptical - even supporting a sufficiently broad range of TVs is hard enough, but all these other boxes too? That's one reason why Logitech charges so much for its Harmony all-on-one remotes.

Of course, the claim could be nothing more than a garbled reference to a TV-out port - we shall have to see when iRiver launches the thing. The E10 is said to be set to cost KRW234,000 ($247/£141/€203) when it ships on 28 April. ®

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