Philips LUXE player connects to your music and calls

Now there's no excuse to miss a call. Dutch giant Philips today unveiled a nifty compromise that lets you tune in to your music and pick up calls wirelessly at the same time. Of course, one can already do that on one's mobile phone. So what's the beef here?

Well, for one, the GoGear LUXE is priced to please. At S$139 (US$93.02) for a flash-based 2GB player, this packs Bluetooth 2.1 and dual mikes, so you can pair this wirelessly with your Bluetooth-enabled mobile and answer calls on your player. The music will stop for that. A one-line LCD also lets you view the caller's number at a glimpse. The LUXE additionally packs an FM tuner, Philips' proprietary FullSound for CD-quality enhancement of digitally compressed tracks, and a decent 10 hours of playback time with 100 hours on standby.

Speaking of beef, topless beefcake butlers were the hors d'oeuvres at today's press event as they served up champagne and finger food to the primarily female audience. Philips' feting of this demographic was clearly to make a point that the LUXE is targeted at female executives in their early 20s to mid-30s, with a jewel-like façade of silver or red that can be worn like a broach. While the company's keeping mum on a man's version, we're betting our last dollar that the guys won't be left out and will soon get their own LUXE with a mirror finish instead, since we spotted what looked like a prototype on a Philips personnel before he discreetly removed it.

Singapore will be the first country in Asia Pacific to get the LUXE next month, followed by Thailand, Malaysia, India, China and Southeast Asia. We were told that larger-capacity players will be made available from next year.

P/S: http://asia.cnet.com/crave/2008/10/14/philips-luxe-player-connects-to-your-music-and-calls/