Olympus DM-1 Digital Voice Recorder/MP3 Player

We've now seen MP3 players in cell phones , and even digital cameras (note that these are just examples, folks). It makes sense that the MP3 march should also bear forth into the realm of its bretheren in other types of digital audio recording. Olympus thinks its new DM-1 will move more business users into MP3 addiction. The gadget is a combination digital voice recorder/MP3 player that the company says is "geared for consumers and corporate road warriors, as well as students, journalists, doctors, and lawyers." The DM-1 supports removable SmartMedia cards for up to 22 hours of voice recording time or over an hour of MP3 or WMA music recording time on a 64MB SmartMedia card. It comes with a 64MB card, but is compatible with cards up to 128MB. The recorder's MP3 player has a built-in WOW sound system from SRS Labs and a five-setting equalizer. Downloading speech files to a PC can be accomplished via the included USB cable or via SmartMedia download devices. Transcribing the audio into text, however, is still up to you (the most important skill for computer productivity is typing, you know). DM-1 supports both MP3 and WMA music files and will be available this month for around $300.