Compaq estimates the jukebox can hold about 400 CDs or 5,000 songs saved in MP3 format on a 20GB hard drive. The company came out with an iPaq portable digital-music player earlier this year. Besides storing the songs, the jukebox automatically generates a database of information on the CDs including the artist, the album cover and the genre. Many portable and home digital-music players require a PC to download, transfer or store songs. Compaq chose to create a standalone device using an interactive menu displayed on a television.
Songs can go straight from the CD player to the unit's hard drive.
Consumers use the menu to organize their songs in a variety of ways, including an unlimited number of playlists or genres. The first-generation product, which Compaq will start selling in the first half of the year, will pack a standard CD player. Because of copyright concerns, Compaq chose not to offer a CD-rewritable drive at this time, Masterson said. Still, the player can read CD-RW discs. When connected to the Net, the iPaq device can play Internet radio stations also using the TV menu screen.