By Kira Grunenberg

The 2013 Consumer Electronics Show will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center in just under one week, from January 8-11. As one of the most anticipated and innovative events for all things creative, technological, and futuristic, this event is the perfect platform for the US launch of the NewKube –an mp3 player of physically miniscule proportions, measuring out at only one cubic inch. (Think the size of a standard dye.)

A press release from this morning relays the imminent unveiling of this music player, which is being touted as the “world’s smallest.” Yet, considering its lack of physical mass and space, the NewKube manages to pack in a load of features that defy its size.

NewKube is the musical brainchild of Bluetree Electronics, a technology company based in Singapore. The operations for NewKube, that manage its supplies in the US, are run by Ollo Technologies. Additional distributors manage Kube products in the Americas, Asia and Europe as well.

The NewKube is actually a third incarnation of the Kube Player; all of the previous versions also focused heavily on compact size with powerful sound and storage. Despite the widespread purchasing and use of feature packed smart phones, Sem Chong, CEO of Bluetree Electronics, holds the new product in high regard and believes the NewKube will be able to keep up with its competition and find a welcoming consumer demographic, as she explains in the release:

We’re delighted to introduce the NewKube on the stage of the world’s largest consumer electronic event at CES 2013. We believe there is still a huge opportunity for standalone MP3 players because there are so many situations where using the NewKube is preferred to using the music player on a smartphone. We believe the sound from the NewKube is better than any music player on any smartphone.

There are a respectable number of features equipped on the NewKube that were previously unavailable. The kicker to this list is the fact that all the new elements were born out of suggestions by NewKube’s existing customer base.

Lock button – to prevent accidental button pushing

Repeat button – not found in comparable simple MP3 players such as the iPod Shuffle

Jump Folder – allows you to get to the specific song location, also not found in simple MP3 players like the iPod Shuffle.

EQ Pre-sets – lets users select music settings for optimized playback of Pop, Rock, Classical music and other genres.

Chong may be displaying a high level of confidence for this music-only device, but does it really have a chance against the smart phone world and other players the like iPod family?

Regarding content capacity NewKube can hold up to an 32GB external microSD card, containing up to 8,000 songs in MP3 format.

The flexibility to playback files from standard mp3 to Windows-based media gives the NewKube a bit of a tech-friendly edge over Apple. The idea that file capacity is only as limited as the size of any available micro SD card, (the NewKube package includes a tote to hold additional cards for easy switch out and access to more music) makes any perceived shortcomings feel even less like actual limitations. Once CES 2013 is underway, perhaps the stand-alone music player will make a new year’s comeback.

Kira is an old school music nerd with a love for all things creative; always searching for music’s common ground. She graduated with an M.A. in Performing Arts Administration from New York University. Drop her a tweet @shadowmelody1

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