Monday, November 15, 2004
MP3s Go Thump With Oakley Shades
Posted by Suhit Gupta in "NEWS" @ 03:00 PM
"A pair of Oakley sunglasses perched atop the floppy sun hat is as much an indispensable fashion accessory for the sun-bronzed international cricketer as a smear of zinc oxide across the lips. So I was intrigued when a cricket supplies newsletter brought word of the Oakley Thump, a pair of shades with a built-in MP3 player. It has no cords or wires. The music player is built into the temples of the glasses, as are the "sonic expansion speakers"--those would be the earpieces--which are on adjustable booms that slide in and out, and can swing away from your ears if you need to hear what is going on around you."
Apparently these fit great and have been custom engineered to produce skip-free high-fidelity sound. At less than 2 ounces, the glasses certainly are lightweight. The Oakley Thump plays only files with MP3, WAV and WMA formats, not the AAC or OGG formats which may be a drawback for many. The other drawback is the price: $395 for the 128-MB version, $495 for the 256-MB version. From a personal point of view, the looks of the glasses don't do it for me either, perhaps Ray Ban should try to get into this market. :)
Apparently these fit great and have been custom engineered to produce skip-free high-fidelity sound. At less than 2 ounces, the glasses certainly are lightweight. The Oakley Thump plays only files with MP3, WAV and WMA formats, not the AAC or OGG formats which may be a drawback for many. The other drawback is the price: $395 for the 128-MB version, $495 for the 256-MB version. From a personal point of view, the looks of the glasses don't do it for me either, perhaps Ray Ban should try to get into this market. :)
