Intel Launching Digital Music Player

It's not just Intel Inside anymore.

Pressured by shrinking demand for the personal computers that use its core Pentium chips, Intel (INTC) is putting its mark on the latest hot consumer products, Internet devices.

On Tuesday, the company said next month it'll launch a portable digital music player that supports both MP3 and Windows media audio music formats. It'll be called the Intel Pocket Concert Audio Player.

Unlike personal computers, which use Intel's DRAM memory chips, these players use flash memory, which use less power than regular memory and thus make batteries last longer. Intel has been building up its flash business.

Meanwhile, revenue in Intel's core business has been suffering. The company issued an earnings warning for the quarter ended Dec. 31, saying that demand for PCs had slowed. That has hurt the company's stock, which lost about half its value in the latest quarter. Tuesday morning, Intel shares were trading up 56 cents, or 1.9%, at $30.63.

The music unit can play up to four hours of music and 20 hours of spoken words. It'll be programmable, allowing users to adapt it as formats change and it includes an FM radio. The device will cost just about $300 and the accessory kit, which includes a stereo dock, a car adapter and other frills goes for another $60.

Intel will show the audio player at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas starting this weekend.

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