November 2, 2004 A waterproof SwiMP3 player that uses bond conduction technology has been released for swimmers, triathletes, surfers and anyone who wants to listen to music whilst in the water.
The SwiMP3 player comes from Finis, Inc., founded in 1993 by Olympic Gold Medalist Pablo Morales and John Mix. Unlike other waterproof players that rely on traditional air conduction technologies, often producing a muffled sound, the SwiMP3 player uses bone conduction (the direct transfer of sound vibrations from the cheek bone to the inner ear) to provide the swimmer with exceptional sound clarity. Bone conduction hearing is a safe, well-established hearing mechanism in humans that the SwiMP3 player leverages to enhance aquatic activity.
The SwiMP3 player is fully waterproof and can be used with all competitive swim strokes.
It holds approximately 30 songs for four hours of continuous music.
"This is a revolutionary step forward for aquatic athletes," said John Mix, President of Finis, Inc. "Swimming while listening to their favorite music is a dream many swimmers have long shared. While others have tried to producewaterproof players, results have been less than satisfactory. As the technical leader in the aquatics industry, Finis is proud to be the first to master the technology and bring high-fidelity sound to aquatic sports."
The SwiMP3 player (pronounced "Swim-P-3") allows athletes to hear the same high quality music while they're in the water that they're accustomed to hearing while running, biking or at the gym.
The SwiMP3 player comes with a pair of Lane 4 goggles, ear plugs, carrying case, a USB cable and MusicMatch CD.
Finis has a licensing agreement with MusicMatch to provide the MusicMatch Jukebox and download capabilities to the SwiMP3 player.
The SwiMP3 is now available for purchase from www.swiminfo.com and additional Finis authorized dealers with an MSRP of $249.99. For a list of dealers, please visit www.finisinc.com.
The product runs on Windows and Macintosh platforms. Full system requirements are listed below.
SwiMP3 System Requirements
- Windows 98SE, 2000, ME, XP, Mac OS 9, OS X
- Intel Pentium II 233 Mhz or equivalent
- 128 Mb RAM, 35 Mb available hard drive space
- USB port, CD-ROM drive
- Internet connection recommended
