SanDisk's New Media Players
With Apple focusing on their iPhone (more about that some other time, but I'm not as impressed as everyone else is so far...), and perennial players like Creative not introducing any new audio players, I found the most excitement from CES to be around the SanDisk audio player line. I wondered before what they could really do to update their line; after all their current flagship, the e200 series already goes head to head with the iPod Nano line. I'm pleased that they're keeping it around, and introduced three new players.
First up is the Sansa Express. This is strictly an audio player, and its claim to fame is that it connects quickly and easily to a USB port to transfer songs. Simplicity is key here, and it has a 1 GB capacity, that can be supplemented by additional microSD cards, so the player can grow with your music collection. For a mere $59 in my mind it's a bargain as it undercuts the iPod Shuffle on price, and adds in a OLED screen, recording capability and an FM radio compared to the entry Apple product. Of the new products, I think this may be the runaway best seller in this very price competitive segment.
The next product is the top of the line Sansa View- Pocket Video Player. Forget waiting for the "true video iPod," this baby has a 4 inch screen, and built in speaker. For the $299 price tag, it comes with 8 GB of storage. While that hardly seems like enough when talking about video, it does accepts the SDHC (those are the high capacity Secure Digital cards; thank goodness they didn't go with the microSD stuff here) which allows for some serious expansion. While I don't envision this becoming a runaway hit, for kids stuck in the backseat's of cross country trips, and traveler's of all ages on planes, this could be just what they need. I'm also encouraged that this player appears to have simple controls, and also be small enough to fit into a pocket.
Last, but from the buzz it's been generating, by no means least, is the Sansa Connect MP3 Player. This is SanDisk's attempt to "swing for the fences" and make a really new type of player; it will either be a great hit, or a dismal failure. I don't see a middle ground here. On the one hand, it's a 4 GB player that will retail for a premium $249. The real story here is that this may be the first player to really take advantage of WiFi technology. Unlike Microsoft's Zune that limits WiFi to trading tracks on a limited trial basis (of 3 plays or 3 days), the Sansa Connect is trying for more wireless features. Apparently, much of the feature set will be tied to subscription music services, although the details are still rather sketchy. I've seen talk of being able to download images from a Flickr account as well. It will also be social, for example, if a friend earmarks tracks for you, they'll be downloaded to your device, assuming you're on the same digital subscription service (which may be a big assumption in the end). Be that as it may, the most exciting feature to me is to be able to listen to internet radio while in range of an open WiFi network. This could be a serious boon both when traveling (as many airports and hotels have wireless access), and also around the house where my wireless router covers things quite well. While we'll all have to wait a few months to get our hands on this new toy, at least in my mind, this is the most innovative of the three new devices.
--Jonas
Technorati tags:
audio, iPod killer, media player, mp3 player, portable audio, Sansa, sansa connect
First up is the Sansa Express. This is strictly an audio player, and its claim to fame is that it connects quickly and easily to a USB port to transfer songs. Simplicity is key here, and it has a 1 GB capacity, that can be supplemented by additional microSD cards, so the player can grow with your music collection. For a mere $59 in my mind it's a bargain as it undercuts the iPod Shuffle on price, and adds in a OLED screen, recording capability and an FM radio compared to the entry Apple product. Of the new products, I think this may be the runaway best seller in this very price competitive segment.
The next product is the top of the line Sansa View- Pocket Video Player. Forget waiting for the "true video iPod," this baby has a 4 inch screen, and built in speaker. For the $299 price tag, it comes with 8 GB of storage. While that hardly seems like enough when talking about video, it does accepts the SDHC (those are the high capacity Secure Digital cards; thank goodness they didn't go with the microSD stuff here) which allows for some serious expansion. While I don't envision this becoming a runaway hit, for kids stuck in the backseat's of cross country trips, and traveler's of all ages on planes, this could be just what they need. I'm also encouraged that this player appears to have simple controls, and also be small enough to fit into a pocket.
Last, but from the buzz it's been generating, by no means least, is the Sansa Connect MP3 Player. This is SanDisk's attempt to "swing for the fences" and make a really new type of player; it will either be a great hit, or a dismal failure. I don't see a middle ground here. On the one hand, it's a 4 GB player that will retail for a premium $249. The real story here is that this may be the first player to really take advantage of WiFi technology. Unlike Microsoft's Zune that limits WiFi to trading tracks on a limited trial basis (of 3 plays or 3 days), the Sansa Connect is trying for more wireless features. Apparently, much of the feature set will be tied to subscription music services, although the details are still rather sketchy. I've seen talk of being able to download images from a Flickr account as well. It will also be social, for example, if a friend earmarks tracks for you, they'll be downloaded to your device, assuming you're on the same digital subscription service (which may be a big assumption in the end). Be that as it may, the most exciting feature to me is to be able to listen to internet radio while in range of an open WiFi network. This could be a serious boon both when traveling (as many airports and hotels have wireless access), and also around the house where my wireless router covers things quite well. While we'll all have to wait a few months to get our hands on this new toy, at least in my mind, this is the most innovative of the three new devices.
--Jonas
Technorati tags:
audio, iPod killer, media player, mp3 player, portable audio, Sansa, sansa connect
posted by digitaldoc at 10:20 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home