Swedish MP3 player to rival iPod

Technofile: Digital music device combines functionality with stylish design

Sweden is perhaps better known for its ice hotels, cool nightlife and lively music scene than its prowess in gadget-making. Yes, it gave birth to Ericsson and Volvo, but it's not generally known for being playful with technology.

But I guess still waters run deep, as evidenced by my flight over to Stockholm this week.

My "Scandinavian Odyssey" began with a dry sandwich aboard a flight into the super-futuristic Arlanda Airport.

Sitting next to me was a Swedish married couple. Throughout the flight, they said almost nothing, even to each other. And were their clothes some kind of retro, ironic statement or just plain out of date?

However, they showed their lighter side shortly after ordering several whiskies and a half bottle of wine each to quaff on the trip.

The staid, "quiet Swede" image endures, but these days, Swedes are too busy creating design classics fused with Asian innovation to worry, such as the combined efforts from Sony Ericsson over the successful Walkman mobile phone.

Now Swedes, who once shunned Ericsson for making worthy but dull mobiles in favour of Finland's Nokia, have switched back to the home team.

And the same is true of their digital media players.

While the iPod languished on the drawing board a few years ago, a plucky Swede named Jens Nylander started building and selling his own brand of MP3 player.

So proud was he of the product that he called it the "Jens of Sweden" player. Jens quickly became the biggest brand in the market, a standing which has only now been challenged by the iPod.

Now Jens has come out with a new device, which anyone in Europe can buy.

The Jens of Sweden MP-500 is a function-packed digital media player. Smaller and shorter than a credit card and, incredibly enough, thinner than a box of matches, the MP-500 has a barrel-load of functions.

These include video, MP3 playback, USB connectivity, a dictaphone and even stereo speakers.

"Our aim has always been to make the very best and most attractive media players," says Nylander.

It comes in 1GB and 2GB versions. Sporting a 1.6-inch screen, it weighs 51g and works with a Mac or PC.

The 1GB size equates to about 300 songs or six feature films.

The reason for the relatively small memory size compared to some players is that these are flash-memory players and therefore have no moving parts.

The MP-500 plays the video format MPEG4 and actually comes with software to convert and optimise films from all common film formats to MPEG4.

This means that a 1GB model could carry 11 typical 25-minute episodes of a TV series.

"Downloading news and programmes as audio files is definitely a coming technology, but the content vendors have to be more active," says Nylander in typically robust fashion.

The MP-500 also has a watch, an alarm and an FM radio with 24 automatically set stations.

A timer function also means that the owner can preset it to record radio shows. And the MP-500 will also download music directly from a stereo, and not just PCs.

The 1GB costs €195, while the 2GB model costs €249.

For the more conspicuous consumer, there is a 2GB "Excentrique" edition, with a 24-carat gold back side for €282.

So forget going Dutch for now - try Swedish for a change.