UK Manufactured MP4 Players

Barclays One Small Step Competition

2010-05-17T18:29:00.001+01:00

MCH Media is pleased to announce their entry into the Barclays One Small Step Competition.

Our aim is to win one of the £50,000 prizes, and with this develop a brand new product, the Oi Media Portal. As always this will be designed and manufactured in the UK, all we need to do for now is gather public interest in our idea, then from the 7th June get plenty of votes so that we win.

So to help us we would ask that you click on the below image and follow the link to our page, this will give you an overview of our idea, show you a short video and then in the top right you can "Back this idea". On and after the 7th June we would ask you come back and vote in full, also encourage friends and family to do the same.

Vote for MCH Media Limited in the Barclays Business Take One Small Step Competition

Tutorials

2010-01-11T18:35:00.000Z

In response to a dramatic rise in support requests we have started to add video tutorials to our FAQ's and Support page.

We aim to build up a catalogue of support files to cater for all levels of user, these will cover basic Windows operations, moving data to your MP4 Player via cut and paste, through to more complex operations such as video manipulation using various software packages so that you Media Box MP4 player can show custom film shows.

If you have a need or suggestion of a tutorial we should add please feel free to let us know and we will do our best to include it.

What's coming in 2010 from MCH Media?

2010-01-06T10:52:00.001Z

Well its been just over a year now since we launched our first range of MP4 players, the Media Box. On the whole the reception from our customers has been great, once customers have held and used the player for a few minutes most have fallen in love with it. We have had some really good feedback on likes and dislikes, which have been catalogued and will be used on both redesigns of the current MP4 player range and of course new products.

Looking forwards we are now working on 3 new products, we aim to launch 2 of the 3 before the end of Q2 this year. As we are sure you appreciate we can't go into to much detail on these products just yet, but we can tell you they will take the market by storm. The first to launch will be a hand held Media Player, 4.3" screen, WiFi, dual navigation control and multiple format support (not only for music and video but also documents of various types).

The second product range is a really big leap for us as we are looking at the larger screen market, 10" - 20". This range will be primarily designed for household usage, and will incorporate many features including HD, audio streaming, video streaming, email, web access, TV, and we are aiming for a model to include Pico Projection.

We see the market moving away from pure MP4 Players now, customers are asking for more support options for various formats, and trust us when we tell you we will be giving you this soon.

What to look for when buying MP4 Players

2010-01-05T14:45:00.002Z

MP4 Players come in all different shapes and sizes, each manufacture offers their own "bells and whistles" functions, but once you cut through the fluff there are some basic elements you should consider:

1) Media Player Shape and Size
Your first consideration should be "What do I want my MP4 Player for". Why is this important, simply because this will dictate most / all of the other choices you need to make. The smaller the player then the smaller the screen and battery, not very good if you want to watch full length movies, but OK for just listening to music.

2) Media Player Screen Size and Type
If you intend to use you MP4 player for listening to music, and occasionally watching short video clips you can chose MP4 players with a smaller screen, 1.5" or 1.8" screen. As this priority changes so should the screen size, i.e. the more video you intend to watch with respect to the amount of audio you wish to listen to the bigger the screen your MP4 player should be 2.0" upwards.
Summary -
More Music - Small Screen
More Video - Large Screen
Not Sure - Mid Large Large Screen

3) Media Player Storage Capacity
Storage capacity for MP4 Players comes in two main types – hard disk and solid state.
As a rule of thumb larger-capacity MP4 players use a hard disk for storage, not unlike your PC. This type of storage tends to make these MP4 Players bulkier than solid-state players, but the up side is you can fit more media on to them. Hard-disk capacities vary and you will pay more for higher-capacity models. You can also use many hard disc players to transfer large files between computers.
Solid state MP4 players get their name because they have no moving parts, this storage is based on flash silicon IC's. This technology means MP4 players can be incredibly small and light, and a benefit of this is they are often more robust compared to hard disk MP4 Players. As with the hard disk you can also use this type of MP4 Player to transfer files between computers
Another consideration is expansion slots on MP4 Players. Some MP4 player models come with SD card slots which allow you to plug in more solid state memory in card format and therefore expand your on board memory. These are particular useful for holding films on.
Summary -
If you want to load your player up with your complete DVD collection and all of your music files you will need to look at a hard disk MP4 Player. If you want to rotate your music and video collection, or hold a smaller amount on you player at any one time a solid state MP4 Player will suit you.

4) Media Player Battery Life
Each brand and type of MP4 player will have its own battery life. There are various considerations as to how long your battery will last between charges, the main one being how much video you are watching. The more screen time you have the less play time you will have. Most MP4 players will offer at least 4-6 hours of play as standard, this can be extended by turning the screen off.
Charging takes on average 3-4 hours , but some of the players with larger memory can take up to 5-6 hours. With most models, you can recharge the batteries without removing them. This can be achieved on some models using your computers USB port rather than carrying around a clunky power supply and cables

5) Connections
Most, if not all MP4 players connect to your PC via USB or in some cases Fire Wire. If you choose an MP4 player with Fire Wire you should make sure your PC has a Fire Wire port on it. If not you will need to buy an expansion card. You should also make sure any MP4 Players you are looking at support USB 2.0, this will speed up you data transfer times.

6) Data Formats Supported
You should make sure the MP4 Players you are looking at support the most common media formats, (MPEG) MP1, MP2, MP3, MP4, WMA. WMV. This will be done directly on the player through embedded drivers or via conversion software which will take these formats and change them in the best format for your MP4 Player.

7) Audio Output
There are two types of audio output on MP4 players, these are headphones and/or external speaker. Most mp4 players with an external speaker will also come with a jack socket for you headphones. This is a good feature as if a group of people want to listen to the MP4 player whilst watching video you don't need to share earphones.

8) Bells and Whistles
Once you have you checked the above list covering the above points you can look at the extras. These will range from games, FM radio, voice and/or radio recording, phone book, camera for both video and stills, calendar, Electronic album and picture browser, Graphics Equaliser, multi language, and the list goes on.

Like an MP3 player, you will need a computer to use an MP4 player, and ideally access to the internet.

Follow this link for more helpful information and products based on MP4 Players.

The MP4 Player Design Review & Planning Process

2009-01-22T16:28:00.011Z

Without goals you can't score. You should remember that having goals is a good thing, having goals that can't be achieved is a bad thing, your doomed to fail before you start.

Having discovered the market was stagnant, and gotten over the shock of how poor things had become we perked up. The sudden realisation that you've got a blank canvas is really quite refreshing.

The second half of March and most of April were sent brainstorming, trying to put together a blue print design incorporating all of the functions, features, gizmo's and widgets we could think of that would be desirable in an MP4 player. These covered the norm, music, video, camera etc. and the darn right mad. Whoever thought of putting TV and radio in these devices needs shooting. Its bad enough getting a stable signal at home let alone whilst your on the move. Never the less all went into the melting pot.

At the end of April the day of reckoning came. It was time to pick the baseline functions and features for the first generation of the media box. This was tougher than expected. After all our aim was to wow the public with an all singing and all dancing piece of MP4 player wizardry. We discarded the ideas that were doomed to fail, out went the microwave and dishwasher function, we decided the power requirements for these could be restrictive, after all there is only so much room for batteries. The MP4 player blue print was created, agreed and signed off. We had our goal, and yes it could be achieved.

Number 1 on the list was functionality. Its great having a 32GB MP4 player, fully loaded with a good selection of music and video, off you go on you travels to find out your battery is dead within 4 hours. You should have brought a 4GB MP4 player and saved yourself some money. Therefore top of the list was power budget. We had to make sure that the battery could sustain whatever we put in the box for at least 10 hours, no 12 hours, no 14 hours. We settled on 18 hours continuous video play. Why, because we could and nobody else was getting near this.
Number 2 on the list was usability. An MP4 player should be easy to use, its as simple as that. You shouldn't need a stylus if you go for a touch screen MP4 player, these only get lost or used to clear away excess ear wax. The screen should be big enough so that you don't end up with a permanent squint after watching 10 minutes of video. The navigation should be straight forward, easy to understand and even easier to use.
Number 3 was design, the sex appeal. Now number 1 and number 2 above help with this. Your case can only be as small as the sum of the contents. This is why as MP4 players get smaller so does the battery life. Yes battery technology has come on leaps and bounds in the last 3-5 years but not to the point where you can power a car from a watch battery. We went for a simple soap box design, nice to touch, pleasing to the eye and easy to plant in your pocket. No cheap shiny plastic trim that falls off after a week, no silly bits and bobs stuck on with double sided sticky tape. Just plain, clean lines, honest design.

Now that the 3 fundamentals were in place it was time to look at the hardware to make it all happen.

Tune is soon for the next instalment of an MP4 Player range launched.

(Quick note for Steveoath. If your Mac will detect a standard USB device then your cool with a media box)

New MP4 Player Range Launched

2009-01-15T12:33:00.000Z

Early 2008 it became apparent that the MP4 player market had become awash with cheap copy MP4 players. Many imported from China and all doing pretty much the same, few stood out from the crowd and offered a new direction, either in functionality, technology or design. The market has, and will be for some time (due to marketing budget) been led by Apple. Quality products, offering innovation but at a high cost. It was at this stage MCH Electronics made the decision to design and manufacture a product that offered an alternative to the norm.

At this stage I must point out that this move is not for the faint hearted. What started as a projected 3 month project stretched into 8 grueling months of late nights, 7 day weeks, design, redesign, budget then re-budget.

Our initial design concept was to produce a product that offered all of the good things that were then available in the MP4 player market and then sprinkle some magic dust onto this blue print to create a new breed of hardware. Our biggest obstacle was what was actually available, after much research we found that a large percentage of the MP4 players being imported were in fact the same board in a different case, yes some had SD card slots, some with FM radios, but on the whole same board with different bits added to fit the case. The software was the same, static icon based and hard to navigate. This left us feeling cold. As it was we managed to pick 2 or 3 good things that the mass-produced MP4 player market could offer, from there we were on on our own.

Over the coming weeks we will continue with this story up to the point of media box range launch, November 2008. After this we hope to keep you informed of both our developments and changes in the MP4 player market.