Much Anticipated iRiver SPINN Portable Media Player Gains Touchscreen [Loses SD Card Expandability?]

We’ve covered iRiver’s up and coming SPINN PMP twice here on TFTS primarily as we’re transfixed by its aesthetic appearance (and we are by no means alone in this respect) but now, as if the SPINN were not already desirable enough, its emerged – just as the device is set to become available for pre-ordering – that the SPINN will come not with the D-Click means of navigation as initially touted but with full touchscreen controls complete with haptic feedback otherwise known as the ‘Motion Touch System’.

Interestingly, whilst the inclusion of touchscreen capabilities will no doubt be universally applauded another notable difference from the previously touted specifications is slight reduction in purported battery life which is down from 27 hours to 24 hours but, personally, the loss of 3 hours of playback endurance weighted against the new haptic feedback touchscreen is something we can very much live with.

Further specifications now officially confirmed is the SPINN’s 480 x 272 resolution 3.3” AMOLED display, integrated T-DMB and Bluetooth connectivity but (and there’s always a but, isn’t there?) the apparent non-existence of any form of memory slot (we expected SD memory card expandability) is of some concern as the official specifications make no mention of any card slot thus indicating that you’ll very much have to make do with the inbuilt capacities without the ability to ‘bolt-on’ extra storage. This will, undoubtedly, be seen as a curious omission by those who envisage either the 4GB or 8GB of internal capacities available as being a little too restrictive.

Still, not withstanding the above, the SPINN remains a highly desirable piece of kit and, thanks to having just been made available for pre-order in Korea, we can, at last, get an idea of the SPINN’s pricing structure – which equates to around $300 for the 8GB version and $260 for the 4GB model.

Official iRiver SPINN Specifications