The ubiquitous iPod is not the only digital music player and iriver may just have one that is a better option for your needs. The company has made available the second-generation iriver clix portable multimedia player. The redesigned device offers a choice of either 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB flash memory, support for a wide variety of music and video file formats, digital FM tuner, photo viewing, video capabilities of up to 30 frames per second (fps) utilizing AMOLED color display technology and improved FlashLite game support.

iriver says that with the second-generation clix, they're delivering a versatile player that can be used with most PlaysForSure services to provide downloading of videos and music from content providers including Napster, EMusic and URGE.

The redesigned iriver clix display is thinner and larger than its predecessor with a convex shape. The iriver clix is customizable to facilitate horizontal or vertical display on a 2.2" QVGA AMOLED (Active Matrix Organically Light Emitting Diode) screen, a new type of display that offers a wider viewing angle than the previous LCD, with significantly reduced power drain on the battery.

The second-generation clix was designed to be highly compatible with both Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) and Universal Mass Storage (UMS) operating modes. The MTP mode is for use with Windows XP (with Service Pack 1 or higher) and newer operating systems such as Windows Vista. The player can also be converted to UMS mode for compatibility with Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, and Windows 2000. The gadget works with both subscription and pay-per-song music services.

Among the other features of the new clix is improved FlashLite game support, with a variety of flash games preloaded on the player. In addition, the latest version of the clix device features even greater capabilities of FlashLite, such as FlashLite wallpaper and themes, enabling a new level of user personalization.

iriver is also collaborating with RealNetworks on a special version of the new clix player optimized to work with the Rhapsody digital music service. This device will include a number of unique features made possible by Real's Rhapsody DNA technologies, including the ability to listen to Rhapsody Channels, personalized, auto-updating Internet radio stations, directly on the clix. The Rhapsody-optimized version of the new clix will be available by mid-summer 2007.

The second generation iriver clix 2 is priced at 2GB: $149.99, 4GB: $199.99 and 8GB: $249.99, and is available now.