Gizmodo: trekstor

TrekStor Renames iBeat Blaxx After a Bit of Self-Flagellation

AddyDugdale — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 09:28:46 EDT

Following yesterday's letter to TrekStor, purveyors of the dubiously-monikered iBeat Blaxx MP3 player, we received an email from Gil Szmigiel, Vice President of TrekStor, effecting an immediate name-change to something a little less offensive. See the email after the jump.

Dear Gizmodo, TrekStor is shocked by the way our new MP3 player's name "TrekStor i.Beat blaxx" is perceived. Of course the word "Beat" is not meant as a verb, but refers to the beats of the music you are listening to. More than 4 years ago, TrekStor introduced the i.Beat MP3 player series that today consists of more than 25 different players - all named individually. "blaxx" was chosen, because the player is designed with an elegant black piano finish. As a reaction to the bad connotation of the name, TrekStor decided to rename the product "TrekStor blaxx" - effective immediately. We sincerely apologize to everybody whom we offended by the initial name of this product and want to emphasize that TrekStor condemns violence and any form of racism.
Mit freundlichen Gr en,
Best regards,

Gil Szmigiel
Vice President / CTO

A Letter To Trekstor RE: Racist iBeat Blaxx MP3 Player

Haroon Malik — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 11:00:00 EDT

Dear Trekstor

Your PR division sucks/may never have learnt how to read aloud. Given both of those possibilities are not mutually exclusive, we have a strong inclination to believe both statements are true. You are doing a great job at proving us right, all thanks to your new iBeat blaxx MP3 player. Do not get us wrong, the little fascist music playing device looks quite the accomplished gadget. We are confident it plays just as well as you promise, but we have a little problem with the name. We are guessing, (not being complete morons), that anything named "iBeat blaxx," is probably not going to go down well with anyone who is not an absolute jerk-off. What do we know? Still, if you see the light and would like to apologise to all those many, many individuals you have offended, please feel free to drop us a line at tips@gizmodo.com. Further, as your publicity department could apparently not organise a piss up in a brewery with due competence, perhaps our trusted readership could assist you in the naming process? If you would like to take us up on our offer, please see below for suggestions.

Kind Regards

Gizmodo
[Product Page via Shiny Shiny]

TrekStor's DivX-playing Hard Drive Prefers Your TV Over Your PC

Louis Ramirez — Thu, 17 May 2007 10:10:13 EDT

It's not the first media hard drive we've seen, but TrekStor's new MovieStation gets kudos for being one of the biggest. The MovieStation stores up to 500GB worth of media and can connect straight to your TV (pumping out video via component or composite connections and audio via optical/analog). On the video front, the drive supports all of the popular formats from MPEG to DivX. It'll even play your HD content. Audio-wise, there's no AAC support, but you do get MP3, WAV, WMA, and OGG. Like other media drives, it also comes with a remote control. Pricing starts at $299 for 250GB and $399 for 500GB. – Louis Ramirez

Product Page

Trekstor i.Beat Sweez Squeezes Music Player Down to 1 Ounce

Jason Chen — Tue, 08 May 2007 21:10:13 EDT

The latest music player from Trekstor, a company who's given us the oddly shaped Vibez, has been named the Sweez. Besides weighing just one ounce, the Sweez has FM playback, 1 or 2GB storage, a neckband, plays back MP3/WMA/WAV/WMA-DRM10 and features USB2.0 support. All in all it's nothing revolutionary since we've seen so many USB stick-shaped MP3 players that our feces is starting to be shaped like them.

But hey, we're sure somebody's interested in the Sweez. Lands soon at $59 and $79. – Jason Chen

Trekstor Vibez Digital Audio Player Looks Odd, Might Actually Be Good

Gizloco — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 14:15:44 EDT

Trekstor, the same company that brought us that Depeche Mode digital audio player, is coming out with yet another odd DAP, the Vibez. Available in an 8GB and 15GB version, the Vibez, aside from looking rather odd, is trying to make a name for itself with its support for FLAC and Ogg Vorbis. Throw in the usual MP3 and WMA support (is DRM even worth mentioning anymore?), and the Vibez is shaping up to be a pretty decent digital audio player.

There's a few other bonuses under the Vibez's hood, including JPEG picture viewing, FM tuner (perhaps...) and a wired controller. Expect the Vibez to makes it European debut this November for around $254 for the 8GB and $292 for the 15GB. U.S. dates and prices are still missing in action. – Nicholas Deleon

http://www.dapreview.net/news.php?item.3565.5 [dapreview.net]