Since the death of my SO's nomad we've be awaiting the arrival of the new empeg towers influanced mp3 players.....and it's been a long wait.

But now that there almost here I've a few questions.
Is the UI on the Nitrus the same as the Karma?
Is there any idea of when they will be on the shelves? Amazon says September 3rd.
The Eigen, or the armoured Nitrus: what's the thinking there? Or is it just something different. I kinda hoping the this is intended to protect the mp3 player from bumps and more...

Thanks empeg guys & special thanks to whom ever had the idea of the nitrus, it fills a gap (between flash & HDD) in the market that was partially served (not quite enough space/too big of a unit) by CD based mp3 players with something that it tiny and light weight but with space for ~25 audio CDs.

Is the UI on the Nitrus the same as the Karma?

It's got stylistic similarities, but it's not the same exactly I don't think. Also, the screen size is different. You still use the stick/wheel to navigate and such. Many of the same features are present. However, there are many features that are Karma-specific that you won't find on the Nitrus.

many features that are Karma-specific

A few (couple) brief examples, pretty please?

Nitrus and Karma have very little in common. Nitrus is based on the S Series firmware with additional features, where as Karma is an entirely different source base. Nitrus has a relatively small mono screen where as Karma has a large greyscale screen - there is a family resemblance but Karma is more feature packed.

Even so, Nitrus is very feature packed for a player of its size and battery life.

Eigen is a different industrial design for different retail channels. It is functionally identical to Nitrus, so just choose the one you like the look of (for me that would be Nitrus).

Rob