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Sandisk has announced the Sansa Connect Wireless Internet MP3 Player at CES 2007. Allowing users to listen to music from certain sites anywhere there’s an open wireless internet connection, this player is designed to free users from the need for a PC connection to download music and offer a community-based connection.

The MP3 player includes a microSD expansion slot for additional storage, a 2.2 in. TFT display, slick and thin design, and a universal connector for accessory upgrades, battery charging and USB 2.0 connectivity. The 4 GB Sansa Connect is expected to be released in the US late March 2007 for $249.

The biggest drawback of the Sansa Connect that I can think of is that it needs an “open” wireless connection or Wi-Fi hotspot. That means you cannot use your home wireless network without disabling the security. Of course, you could just plug this into your PC’s USB port at home but that defeats the purpose of having a Wi-Fi-based player. Another drawback is that it doesn’t support video playback, only music and photos. I hope Sandisk will provide a solution to both these issues when they release the next version of the player.

Site [Sandisk] Product Page [Sansa Connect] Read [Engadget] Read [Gizmodo] Read [Mobility Today]

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Yup, I know the Zune has basically already come and gone but I was doing a little spring end-of-the-year cleaning and wanted to put these up. Overall the player was cool. I definitely like the scroll function on my nano more and wish the text would scroll across, as opposed to staying static (so you can’t read what the entire song title is as you search through). My other complaint was that after using the Zune for three weeks in NYC (on the street, subway, and trains to Conn) I have yet to run into a “social interaction” - the reason I bought the Zune in the first place. I know I could go on about the Zune but I’d rather you just enjoy the quick peep show and when the time is right, we can blog more about Microsoft’s DAP.

McDonalds recently ran a contest for winning a free MP3 player for text messaging a code. It appears that 10,000 people won an MP3 player and couple free songs. What they didn’t account for was winning some free spyware with their player. It seems that McDonalds didn’t think to carefully when choosing the vendor that supplied their McDonalds branded MP3 player. The MP3 player when plugged in, automatically installed the spyware QQPass that sends password information to a web site as well as other information. It also opens up the computer for backdoor access that can cause even more problems for the infected computers.

We all heard about the Sony rootkit issue with playing Sony CDs and them restricting users from burning to CD as well as opening up the computer to a new vulnerability which spawned even more viruses that compromised the infected computers.

This new McDonalds spyware causes even more problems including the user/password sending to a set server for collection from the developers. This issue is becoming increasingly worrisome for regular computers users, it seems that the playing field isn’t as clear as it used to be. Not only do you have to worry now about playing games online, downloading anything from anywhere or attempting to listen to a CD but you have to worry about what you plugin to your computer and risk losing by doing such.

This story is early in its bad media cycle so it will be interesting to see how badly it gets spun and how McDonalds will deal with the issue.

Read [New Launches]

Is this going to be the next battle in the MP3 player arena? Read on and find out for yourself.

The new Walkman S700 Series introduced by Sony is expected to be able to mount a new challenge to Apple’s dominant iPod MP3 player...at least that is what the top brass at Sony had hopes for with this new product launch. Sony is betting on its noise-cancelling technology, a facility which literally cuts down background noise that will produce crystal clear sound for an excellent music experience.

While Sony has offered noise cancelling headphones before, this is the first time that the Japanese giant has integrated the technology into the player itself. What does this mean to average consumer like you and me? Well, for one we don’t have to spend more money buying noise cancelling headphones to complement the sound quality of a non-noise cancelling player.  It kind of kills two birds with one stone MP3 player....if you know what I mean.

Having such a nice player means you need lots of power for extended fulfillment of your joys listening to your favorite songs. The S700 series has really got it going on when it comes to battery stamina with a massive 50 hours playback. If only I can last that long....!  That’s right, I went there.  The S700 series also comes with FM radio and is available in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB versions.

Mr. Steve Jobs is probably already talking to his engineers and designers in Cupertino....maybe telling them how nice the sound quality of the S700 series?

Read [Real Tech News]
Read [Sony]

Nintendo is getting ready to release an MP3 player for their DS / DS Lite.  They’ve really been broadening the scope of the DS lately by adding web browsing functionality… and oh yeah, it’s a gaming device as well.  The picture above was spotted in a brochure from the Leipzig Games Convention in Germany - which over 180,000 people attended from August 23-27.  It looks like this is the real deal, so expect it to be announced soon.  The package will likely be released for around $40 on October 8th.  Have a look at the specs below:

• For Nintendo DS (to be inserted into slot 2) and Game Boy Advance hardware


• To store music you need SD cards. Up to 2 GB cards are supported, this equals to 500 songs (best sound quality)


• Choose between different skins (including one with Mario)


• The interface shows all important information


• The unit itself features another headphone port

Via [Gizmodo]
Read [MaxConsole]

Gmail will soon let you play MP3 files right inside your emails, without having to download the MP3 or open an external media player. When you receive an audio file as an email attachment, click the play button and Google will play the audio file for you in a pop-up window. This builds on their flash movie player for Google video. Actually, it is the Google video player stripped down to just play the audio file.

To try it out you can go here: http://mail.google.com/mail/html/audio.swf?audioUrl=MP3_URL and change the MP3_URL to an actual location of a MP3 file on the web, to play it inside Google Video. You can also embed the Google MP3 player in your website or blog. 

After discontinuing their hard drive based digital audio player back in February, Dell has now called it quits in all aspects of the DJ.  Yesterday iLounge took note that the last remaining DAP, the DJ Ditty (flash-based), has gone missing on the company’s online store.  Additionally, tips were sent in that they are no longer listed in Dell’s catalogs either.  Instead of going up against the big bad iPod themselves, Dell’s going to help out others in the attempt by selling their players in the online store.  Included are players from SanDisk, Samsung, Archos, Creative, and iRiver.  Will we see the Zune show up when it’s released?

Via [CrunchGear]
iLounge

LG has just announced another MP3 player that will come in 512MB and 1GB flavors.  The MFFM20, which looks kind of like a Rio or a Sony Walkman, is another one of those PlaysforSure devices that will pairs up with such services as Napster for music downloads.  The play/pause button is located on the rim of it, so it will kind of be like controlling a Blackberry (minus the jog wheel).  Apparently, the device will sport 20 hours of battery life and some sort of stress-reducing feature.  LG has yet to elaborate but we’re thinking it’s ocean sounds or something cheesy like that.  If they’ve got a dude with acupuncture needles in there, you can count us out.

Via [Stuff]

Here it is in all of it’s glory, the LG VX8500 for Verizon, better known as the Chocolate phone. We were able to snag one before Monday’s releases date (July 31st), and as always wanted to offer a peep show of the super hot handset. Read on for more images of this heat-sensitive, music playing, slider phone.

Update: See a pic of the Motorola RAZR and LG Chocolate phone compared.

The handset came with a power adaptor, rather slim battery (that is covered in the same black glossy plastic), a headphone adaptor jack, and the regular manuals.

We also got the V-Cast music pack from Verizon that came with a USB cable, headphones, and all the necessary software, allowing you to download V-Cast content to your PC and phone as well as sync your own music to your phone. Finally, we popped in a 2 GB microSD card, with storage for plenty of music, pics, video, and more.

The handset has a 4 way jog dial on the front. The buttons are clearly labeled up, down, next, forwards, and OK...like almost every MP3 player interface. Once on (see below) there are two soft-keys as well as a send and clear “button.” I say “button” because none of these are buttons, they have no tactile feeling to them, all “buttons” are heat-sensitive points that are activated when your finger taps them—very cool. The right side of the phone as a dedicated end/power button, music button, and camera button while the left has volume up and down as well as a multifunction microphone button. Finally, once you slide open the phone you have access to a slightly cramped keypad on the front and a 1.3 megapixel (still and video) camera on the back. There is a mirror for self-portraits but no flash.

The only waterproof MP3 player that I’ve had experience with is my iPod...wrapped in an OtterBox of course.  The only setback of the OtterBox was that it made a sleek 30 gig iPod look like a brick.  The new Freestyle Fusion Amp however, brings underwater music to a new heights, with an armband and waterproof headphones.  The device can be submerged in up to 10 feet of water and comes in 256MB and 512MB configurations.  You can swoop them up for $160 or $200.

Via [OhGizmo]