1838 Aiwa, a subsidiary of Sony, has announced its new digital audio player, the Giga Pavit. The device is based on Aiwa's proprietary Pavit flash drives. There are two versions, the smaller of which is the HZ-WS2000, which measures 3.58 by 2.2 inches, and is less than half an inch thick.

A press release claimed that this made the Pavit "both the world's thinnest and lightest hard-disk based audio player," a shot perhaps at the new mini iPod. But MacWorld UK took a closer look at the claim:

"Sony's comparison is based on the HZ-WS2000 remote control version of the Giga Pavit in which the main display and controls are separate from the main body of the player, compared to the all-in-one iPod mini.

"A more meaningful comparison might be between the bulkier HZ-DS2000 all-in-one version of the Giga Pavit and the iPod mini. In that case, the Apple device comes out on top, being lighter and occupying almost half the volume of the Aiwa player."

Interestingly, the same story, by the same author, was carried in Digit Magazine. In Digit, however, the article stated that the Giga Pavit and mini iPod have "a similar storage capacity," while the MacWorld UK article states more precisely that the mini iPod has a 4 GB capacity, twice that of the Pavit.

Finally, there seems to be some confusion about the pricing of the device. Digit states that the device will cost 35,000 Yen (about $327 U.S. dollars, with which MacWorld UK agrees). However PC World is reporting in a roundup article that the Pavit will cost $239. The Pavit is expected to be released in April in Japan and international markets.

Bill's been using Macs since the late 80s. When he's not making smartass remarks to amuse Kirk Hiner, he enjoys fighting for the user.

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