Iriver's U10 Reflects Today's Digital Convergence ReignCom, a global leader in the MP3 player market, has recently unveiled 'iriver U10', a multifunctional media device the company has ambitiously developed to cope with today's trend of digital convergence. Iriver's U10 is clearly distinguishable from MP3 players currently on the market. What comes first to mind is its attractively compact shape. In addition to this, there are two other merits that deserve to be mentioned. First, this MP3 player can perform various functions. Second, it is easier to operate than any other MP3 players with simple functions. Due to such paradoxical features of U10 players, company officials say, its appearance on the market can be regarded as a major breakthrough in the history of not only MP3 players but also digital devices as a whole. They say this is because this model has resolved the prolonged dilemma that operating procedure becomes more complex as more functions are added. The company said that the catchphrase that best manifests the traits of U10 is "It's Thumbthing," symbolizing the product's merit that it can be controlled with a thumb alone. They said that the basic concept of U10 itself is wholly different from MP3 players currently on the market. Selected as the company's most ambitious model of the year, the innovative user interface of U10 player sets it off from and surpasses the concept of other MP3 players on the market. The company has adopted the 'iriver DClick system', the so-called direct click system that is different from a typical touch screen mode. It has boldly taken out jog switches, or buttons, from the front face of the device. Instead, a color TFT-LCD screen acts like a control key. When a user presses any one of the four corners of the screen, it acts like a button as the screen itself can be pressed down. By adopting this mode, the company said, it eliminated any concerns on malfunctioning and enlivened the feel of pressing. In addition to the functions of a MP3 player and a radio, U10 can also replay games and videos, thus further strengthening entertainment functions. U10 is the world's only MP3 model that can replay macro media flash files in addition to typical videos. According to ReignCom, the most noticeable advantage of U10 is that it has placed an emphasis mostly on the userfriendliness of the device that is easy to use in spite of its various functions. Iriver Wins Quality & Design Awards Home and Abroad The excellence of a product's quality as well as design can only be verified through its acceptance in the market. In this respect, ReignCom's iriver models seem to have not that many rivals either at home or abroad. To begin with, the U10 model has not only received an A/S quality accreditation by Korea's Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, but also topped the popular products lists in consumer surveys conducted by various associations and news media. Moreover, ReignCom's reputation has also spread to overseas markets. 'About.com', a U.S. shopping Web site, has recommended ReignCom's iFP- 790 as a quality product, while CNET, a U.S. technology product reviewer, has selected iMP-550 (Slim-X) as one of top 100 IT products in 2004. In addition, ReignCom's iFP-1000 and N10 models received CES Innovations 2005 Awards during the Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas earlier this year. Recently, iriver's iFP-1000 series MP3 player received a silver Industrial Design Excellence Award for 2005 from the Industrial Designers Society of America, along with coverage in Business Week for its design excellence. In Europe, iriver's N10 model recently received the famous German "red dot Design Award" while its products have also been recommended as quality products in countries like Switzerland, Denmark and Portugal. Developing High-Powered Portable 3D Game Players In the meantime, ReignCom said that it plans to make public by the year's end the user interface and the design of a portable 3D game player it plans to release on the market in August next year. The company said that it has been developing the portable 3D game player as it is not only aware of today's rapidly growing market for game players but also recognizes the high potential for further growth in the world market. To be jointly developed with ETRI and Nexus Chips, a graphics chip developer, the company said that the 3D game player will be equipped with audio and video processing powers that are supported by graphics application chips that can process up to 40 million polygons per second. In addition, the company said that the portable 3D game players can double consumer satisfaction as these devices allow several users to enjoy games simultaneously at different locations. Meanwhile, ReignCom anticipates that online game developers will join the portable game market one after another as online games can be mounted on ReignCom's high caliber game players that can accommodate PC-level graphics. Iriver's N11 with Channel Memory Functions Another piece of work ReignCom has produced to be highly popular is the iriver N11 model. According to ReignCom, three major improvements have been made in terms of design and performance even though its shape resembles the N10 model. The company said that the N11 model has made improvements in terms of practicality and appearance by making the model's necklace thinner than that of N10. It also stresses the luxuriousness of a jewel with a Swarovski crystal embedded on the front of the facing, thus making it a great gift for women. In addition, the model improves on the iriver N10 with an FM tuner and a lithium polymer battery that allows a user to enjoy 13 hours of continuous music by charging it for about one and half hours. The unit also supports various sound codecs including MP3, WMA, ASF and OGG files in addition to the 3D SRS WOW audio enhancements. By using iriver plus2 program that supports a channel memory function, a user can also easily control and transmit files and not miss a favorite radio show since radio can be directly recorded using a built-in microphone, along with a built-in recording timer. Autonomous Management with a Global Perspective Since the early days of the company's history, ReignCom has strived to seek business opportunities overseas by organizing a global operating system that can expedite overseas sales and maintain price advantage. To this end, ReignCom has set up an autonomous management policy in the belief that local issues and problems can best be dealt with by the local people themselves as they best understand their cultures and languages. This is why, company officials say, almost all the CEOs and employees at ReignCom's overseas branches comprise local people, a feature that sets ReignCom apart from other Korean companies in the business. In accordance with this approach, ReignCom today operates a manufacturing base at its AV Concepts plant in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China, while the task of developing new designs is assigned to Innodesign Inc. of the United States. New Manufacturing Lines in Dongguan, China In the meantime, the company has recently completed new manufacturing lines in Songshan Lake High-tech Park in Dongguan, China. Built on a 43,000 square meters of land, the new plant can accommodate as many as 2,000 employees and produce over 500,000 units per month. Along with the completion of the new plant, the company is highly hopeful that this will allow the manufacturing process to be uninterrupted and its global operating system further strengthened. Company officials point out that the new plant can allow the company to increase its sales in Japan by 3.3 times to one million units of MP3 players this year. "This year, the sales of portable music players in Japan are expected to rise to 3 million units from last year's 2 million, while the sales of MD players is forecast to fall from last year's 2.9 million. Accordingly, it is anticipated that iriver can display a strong showing this year," said a company official.