In the age when computers are typewriters, fax machines, communication devices and entertainment centres all rolled into one and telephones play back music and video you fully expect to hear that MP3 players are also telephones.

Sure enough the Rimax Mystic is an entertainment device that when plugged into your computer to recharge acts as a telephone providing Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP for short).

Fully capable of playing not just MP3 files but also the new MP4 format, once connected to the PC via USB, it functions as VoIP phone; away from your computer it plays you music and video on its tiny 1.5-inch screen.

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Although it doesn’t feature dedicated music software, tracks can be sorted into folders to make them easier to find later. Other features include an FM radio with 20 presets, and recording either directly from the radio, or through the built-in microphone.

Each player comes with a choice of coloured covers. The 512MB model is bundled with white and orange covers, while the 1GB and 2GB versions also come with green casings. Rimax try to add as much versatility as possible in their MP3 players without significantly increasing the price.

The Rimax Mystic 512MB, for example, costs £56, while the 1GB costs £70 and the 2GB, £90. Now, if only they’d have added Wi-Fi they would have turned a perfectly tuned and styled music player into a mini computer.

Stay tuned because Rimax have started believing into convergence with a vengeance and they promise to give us more products that challenge the envelope of their functionality as we go deeper into the 21st century.

With Microsoft’s Zune about to add even more functionality with new models the race for the top slot once occupied by the majestic iPod is well and truly on.