The Sharp MP-S200 (512MB) and MP-S300 (1GB) players' electronics are protected against damage with what the Japanese news site Nikkei.net Interactive describes as a "honeycomb protection structure."
The gadget looks like an ordinary music player jammed into a rock-climber's carabiner, which not only adds protection, but gives it a macho look and enables users to hook it into a belt.
Each player feature FM tuners and transmitters (for playing wirelessly over a car stereo), direct encoding, MP3 and WMA DRM support, is powered by a single AAA battery and comes in silver, red, blue and black.
Sharp has not announced pricing.