From the Poor Product Naming Department: 'i.Beat blaxx'

German company TrekStor had a bit of an "oops" moment last week when they released the next generation of their i.Beat MP3 player, a sleek, slim, black model that was titled, well, i.Beat blaxx.

The best part is, initial comments on the announcement page mostly focus on how it looks like an iPod Nano, rather than the fact that it has a ridiculously, hilariously racist name.

Surely not as flashy as the gilded i.Beat organix seen at last year's CeBIT, TrekStor's i.Beat blaxx still looks mighty fine in its own right. Debuting at IFA, this diminutive player weighs in at just 26-grams and features a 1.3-inch 160 x 128 resolution display, MP3 / WMA / OGG / WAV / SMV file support, a built-in FM tuner, line-in port, a rechargeable Li-ion, and USB connectivity. The units arrive in both 2GB and 4GB flavors and come bundled with a set of Sennheiser headphones, and while the least capacious iteration will ring up at €119.99 ($162), you can double the storage space for just €30 ($41) more.

When writing this up, they forgot something: it's called i.Beat Blaxx!! And some people might just think"gee, that sounds kind of awkward and possibly racist...." even if they know damned well that was not remotely the intent.

Since the unveiling of the new player, I guess someone at TrekStor got the memo that the new name was a bit "off," and they have since simply changed it to TrekStor blaxx, dropping the "i.Beat" part.

The company sent the following press release out after realizing people [like me] are kind of jerks and laugh at things like a product named "i.Beat blaxx."

Dear Gizmodo,

TrekStor is shocked by the way our new MP3 player's name "TrekStor i.Beat blaxx" is perceived. Of course the word "Beat" is not meant as a verb, but refers to the beats of the music you are listening to. More than 4 years ago, TrekStor introduced the i.Beat MP3 player series that today consists of more than 25 different players - all named individually. "blaxx" was chosen, because the player is designed with an elegant black piano finish. As a reaction to the bad connotation of the name, TrekStor decided to rename the product "TrekStor blaxx" - effective immediately. We sincerely apologize to everybody whom we offended by the initial name of this product and want to emphasize that TrekStor condemns violence and any form of racism.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Best regards,
Gil Szmigiel Vice President / CTO

I'm actually bummed about the name change, if only because if the player had kept its original name and on the off chance a race war started and someone beat up a black guy using it as a weapon, or if someone was trying to buy one in a store where the clerk was hard of hearing [ever been to a Radio Shak? This is entirely possible] and had to keep saying, progressively louder, the name of the player they wanted. " I'd like an i.Beat blaxx, please."

"Wha? Sonny?"

"i.Beat blaxx!

"Speak up, young man..."

"i.Beat BLAXX! i.Beat BLAXX"

You know eventually, that would end hilariously [for us] and poorly [for the guy trying to buy the player.]