Now Available: theKube2 is the ‘world’s smallest touch MP3 player’

Here’s something for people who like it tiny and unique. What you’re looking at is an MP3 player called theKube2, a tiny ice cube-sized player that’s touted to be “the world’s smallest touch MP3 player”. The tech behind it is pretty simple: it’s an MP3 player that packs in a tiny 6-hour rechargeable battery. To keep it small (and, affordable), the player doesn’t come with built-in storage, opting to fit it with a microSD card slot for adding up to 32GB of songs.

The design is what makes it stand apart though. Built with an aluminum frame, the player doesn’t come with physical buttons to keep the sides clean. In lieu of buttons for track control and volume, the player sports a touch surface opposite the card/headphone port side. Unfortunately, the “clean” design might take a bit of time to get the hang of. According to the product page’s how-to section, you need to first learn how to hold it right.

Once you know what side is up, you need to memorize a number of unmarked gestures and tap areas. The top and bottom edges of the touch surface is for volume control, while tapping the left and right edges turns it on and off. Swiping horizontally will let you skip tracks. Swiping  diagonally from top right corner enables the shuffle mode, while a horizontal swipe from the top left pauses the track. Lastly, holding a finger on the pad for 2 seconds locks the touchpad, while holding on the “on” area unlocks the touchpad.

The player charges via a bundled headset jack-to-USB cable, and ships with a printed sticker for adding a bit of color to the silver box. Additional stickers can be bought separately. We’re not sure if they’re selling a sticker that details the controls.

The theKube2 (by the way, placing a “the” at the beginning of a product’s name = awkward for writers) is currently available from Amazon for $45.