It’s difficult sometimes to keep your brands straight. With MP3 players, it’s simple: There’s the iPod and then there’s everything else. With portable speakers, it’s a bit harder to differentiate, since many of them look the same.

This latest boombox-approximate, from Kinyo, falls into the been there-done that category unless you look below the surface, for there you’ll find the niche that sets this product apart from others of its ilk. This set of speakers can accept files from a flash drive, via its built-in USB port. Such a direct connection to your music should give you a bit more digital quality, we should think.

Just a package of AAA batteries is needed to power this player, which can accommodate MP3, WAV, and WMA files. The player can be had for just US$39.99.