ZUNE 80 Versus iPod Touch

Is a Zune better than an iPod Touch?
I've now owned both media players for more than a week. I started with the Touch and added the Zune 80 as soon as I could find one locally. My Touch is an 8 gig version. Obviously the Zune has more media capacity. Ten times more to be precise. So are the added capacity and unique features enough to make the Zune a better device? I'll answer that question eventually. For now I want to concentrate on how easy and how well each device plays media.

Music:
The Touch with it's touch screen has direct access to each function. The Zune may require scrolling up as many as 6 items before you can click on MUSIC. The touch pad on the second generation Zune allows an upward swipe to move the selection all the way to the top, so two actions at most are all that are required to open the music application. The iPod Touch wins but only by a hair with it's one-tap access.

Each player has sorting categories within the MUSIC application. On the Touch you can one-tap select from Playlists, Artists, Songs, Albums, and More. Selecting More brings up Audiobooks, Compilations, Composers, Genres, and Podcasts to choose from. Seven Explicit Music categories.

The Zune has Playlists, Songs, Genres, Albums, and Artists you can select from by clicking right or left within music app. There is a seperate application on the main menu for Podcasts. The Zune also has an FM Radio option that the Touch doesn't have. Five Explicit Music catagories.

Considering just the songs you have on either device, the Touch with it's Composer and Compilation sort option has the edge on finding your song by category. I've got three Christmas albums on both devices. Using Genres to find them, the Touch took 5 taps to display just Christmas albums from the Home screen. The Zune took as few as 3 clicks from the main menu, but took up to 7 clicks if the Zune was not already on the Music/Genres options when starting the search. To play a specific song from a specific Christmas album took two taps on the Touch. On the Zune it took four clicks at minimum assuming your were polished at scrolling with the Zune's touch pad. The Touch wins again as a quicker way to get a song to play.

Finding a song from the alphabetical song list is much easier on the Touch. Only 8 songs are visible on the Touch at one time. The Zune shows 12. The Touch has the complete alphabet along the right side of the screen. Tap on any letter and you are instantly moved to the songs beginning with that letter. One more tap is all it takes to begin playing any song listed on the screen. The Zune has no direct way to jump to a beginning letter group, and as such may take several swipes of the touch pad to just get close to the song you want. The Touch wins here again, thanks to the touch interface.

Once a song has been selected to play on either device, the large screens both show the cover art. The Touch has a Volume slider on the screen that you can slide with a finger. The Zune lets you control volume with upward or downward swipes across it's touch pad. The Touch has a software PLAY arrow on the screen you touch to pause and again to play. The Zune has a dedicated hard Play/Pause button. Both players will shut off their screens to save energy while still playing a song. You have to wake the Touch up with a button press and unlock it with a slide to get to the controls. The Zune wins this comparison with it's hard button controls that don't need the screen on for access.

Videos:
The Zune seperates video into Music Videos and All Videos categories. The Touch seperates Video Podcasts from Movies. Within iTunes you can add cover art to DVD movies you've converted to sync to the Touch. The Zune software found and synced the same movies to my Zune, but there was no option I could find to add cover art. As such, movies are easier to spot on the Touch. The Zune grabs a video frame to use as art, and depending on the frame chosen does not always make it easy to spot the movie you want to select from it's artwork. Both players play videos horizontally. The Zune screen is a 4:3 ratio and the Touch screen is a 16:9 ratio. Playing the full screen movie Borat, the Touch appears to stretch the image a bit to fill the screen. The Movie looks great on both devices, though. The Zune screen is brighter, with what appears to be a higher contrast ratio than the Touch. The Touch screen has a higher native resolution, and is easier to see fine movie detail on. The wide screen movies Duets appears full screen on the Touch but with bars top on bottom on the Zune. Wide screen movies are 20-25% smaller on the Zune screen than they are on the Touch. Ouch! Titles/credits on the Zune screen are too small to resolve. The same can be easily read on the Touch. I'll call the Touch the winner for resolution and detail, but the Zune wins, especially with 4:3 movies, on contrast, brightness, and black blacks. Black colors on the Touch appear a little brown/gray, but it will play both 4:3 movies and 16:9 movies full screen.

Pictures:
The Zune has the brighter display. The Zune software also puts demo pictures on the Zune by default, and as they are the only photos I've got on the Zune I added them to my PC's collection using the Zune software, then copied them onto my Touch using the iTunes application. Both devices let you select individual photos to display and also let you play a slideshow of all the photos in a group. The default time between photos seems to be about 4 seconds on both devices. The Touch and it's multitouch screen moves ahead at this point. Any photo on it's screen can be zoomed in on and panned around on to bring small detail up close and centered on the screen. An icon tap on the photo screen brings up an option to select "Use As Wallpaper" and "Assign To Contact". Photos on the Touch also rotate as you rotate the Touch itself. Photos that don't fit the screen ratio in one orientation will rotate and enlarge to fill the screen in another. The Touch makes a more versatile little photo viewer than any Photo picture frame I've yet seen. Photos on the Zune have a limited zoom and pan with a click on the touchpad. A picture can also be selected to be the background image, but a portion of a picture cannot. The Touch wins this category thanks to it's more versatile ability to manipulate the photos. When full screen on either machine the photos appear more vivid on the Zune. So I'll give the Zune a 1/2 win here.

The iPod Touch steps away from the Music player pack now, mainly thanks to it's wireless internet access. It also has some PDA functionality with Calendar, Clock, Contacts, and Calculator. Apple will soon release the software development kit for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and once that happens there will arrive all sorts of 3rd party applications that can be added to either device. Given theses added features, the Touch wins this overall comparison easily. When you ignore them and consider only the common media playing features, the Touch still wins 6 to 2.5.

Both devices have wireless capabilities. The Zune's wireless is limited to syncing and limited sharing of songs to nearby Zunes. The Touch's wireless with network and internet access opens up far more potential. Internet applicatons like Seeqpod.com and Tversity on your PC mean you don't have to put every song you own on your Touch, yet you can stream nearly any song out there including your own songs that are shared on your home server. You can play any MP3 or quicktime file you can find on the internet without needing it physically installed on your device. The 80 Gigabyte advantage of the Zune melts away when a Touch is within range of a wireless internet access point.

So is a Zune 80 a better media player than an 8 Gig iPod Touch? Perhaps it's a little better at video. The bright and high contrast screen of the Zune looks better and the hard drive space will store considerably more videos. But for music, even with it's limited storage space, the Touch wins hands down.

The Best MP3 Players To Buy Your Kids This Christmas!

Kids. Plural. More than one. Twins maybe? Parents with more than one child who are looking for "equal" gifts to get each of your children are the target of this post. There are a few hundred MP3 players to choose from out there. These are the ones you should consider for siblings. Why? Each of the players mentioned in this post have a sharing feature. When these players are in close proximity they can share files including music and photos, and the Samsung P2 or T10 can play games one-to-one wirelessly between devices! All these players do a fine job of playing music, podcasts, FM radio and videos, and displaying photos. The two Samsung models can even display text files including ebooks in the .TXT format. The players I recommend are:

Samsung YP-T10 4GB

Samsung YP-P2 8GB

Microsoft Zune 8GB or 16GB or 120GB

The Samsung YP-T10 is the only one of the bunch that I haven't personally played with. It's the little brother of the Samsung P2, yet has most of it's features and a few tricks of its own. Generally available for around $100, this 4gb player features Bluetooth 2.0 for use with wireless headphones, file transfer, and potential* pairing with your Bluetooth enabled cell phone. The built-in microphone allows voice recording, and for two friendly siblings this means easy sending of recorded messages to each other via Bluetooth. The kids can even be in separate rooms, so long as they are within about 30ft of each other. The FM radio included allows recording of songs heard playing on your favorite local channels. Should one child capture a great song he/she thinks the other should know about, it can be sent wirelessly to the other T10 using Bluetooth again. The T10 comes in at least three colors.

The Samsung P2 is my personal favorite. It's a touchscreen player with a 3" 480 x 272 pixel widescreen. Available now at BestBuy for $179.99, it is exceptional for video playback. Large enough to make reading text files easy. Both the P2 and the T10 feature Samsung's DNSe 2.0 audio enhancement feature for optimizing the sound of music you're listening to through headphones. The P2 has a touchscreen interface which is user customizable. Clever use of touch, tap, double taps, arcs, and swipes on the screen allow very efficient access to all your media. It's Bluetooth allows simultaneous listening with two bluetooth headsets at once. You can pair the P2 with your bluetooth capable cell phone and use the P2 to receive or initiate phone calls. Transfer your cell phone's contact list to the P2 using bluetooth. Transfer any file on the P2 between it and your computer (assuming it has bluetooth), any other P2 or a T10. I use my P2 as a wireless headset for Skype phone calls on my iMac. The P2 includes 5 games, and two of them can be played one-to-one with another P2 or eventually* the T10 using bluetooth! Your children can be in separate rooms, or front and back seats of your crossover, so long as they are within 30 feet playing games against each other on their P2s. The P2 comes in Black, White, and a Burgundy Red.

Last there is Microsoft's Zune. You can get an 8gb model for $149.99, a 16gb model for $199.99, and a 120gb (larger) model for $249.99. All feature WiFi wireless networking. What I love about the Zune is the ability to "squirt" files wirelessly using wifi to other Zunes. Kids can send photos or music files to each other. The music files can be played on the other Zune for three days before they will self-delete. The Zune's wifi can also be used to synchronise media files on your PC with itself. You can access the online Zune marketplace for music purchase from the Zune, and download songs you purchase directly to the Zune. If the built-in FM radio plays a song you would like to own, you can mark it for subsequent purchase using info (RDS) the radio station has broadcast along with the song.

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All three players can play MP3 music files purchased or made from your own CDs. For kids just starting a music collection, all players work with subscription music services so an unlimited number of songs can be downloaded for a flat fee per month. The Samsungs work with Rhapsody, and Zunes work directly with the Zune Marketplace. It is not required to subscribe to these services, but they are a great legal way for kids to grow their personal music collections. Both brands have great PC-Based software to organize your media collection. You can download and try them out for free at:

Zune.NET

Samsung's Emodio

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Yes, your kids may have asked for iPods. While the iPods come in a rainbow of colors, and are seen being worn by 70%+ of the U.S. population, they are NOT the best sounding or most feature packed players out there. iTunes does not offer a subscription model for buying music. No iPod has an FM radio, which in addition to music would give your kids access to local news, weather, and event reports. No kid can follow the local radio broadcast of the high school football game on their iPod.

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IF you've got more than one child, and you treat them equally at Christmas and other gift-giving times, then you owe them the smartest MP3 players out there. With a Samsung T10 or P2, or the Microsoft Zune, they will be unique among their friends and the envy of all of them.

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4D

* The Samsung T10 is expecting a firmware update to enable gameplay between devices as well as "maybe" cell phone pairing with it's Bluetooth feature.

Cowon C2 Review

Cowon's latest offering is a little hard to figure out. The C2 looks like a smaller thinner version of their D2. A throwback (after their Android D3) to the basics perhaps. Something new to buy for those wanting Cowon's great playback quality but at a far more reasonable cost than the Android based D3. The C2 is compact and  well built. Mine arrived 7/21/2011 and opening up the package felt a little like Christmas in July. In the (reusable cardboard drawer) box I found:

• Cowon C2-16BS 16 GB Video Player, Black with Silver
• Earphones
• User Manual
• USB cable (proprietary)
• An e-Music offer for free songs
• An Audible offer for a free audio book.

Optional accessories (available at jetmall.net and amazon.com) include:

• COWON Line-in cable for C2
• COWON AV (TV out) cable for C2

Hardware Features:

• MicroSD expansion slot (for up to 32gb cards).
• 2.6" Clear Color LCD touchscreen (240x320)
• FM Radio and radio recording (but with no RDS).
• Speaker.
• Microphone.
• 55 hour battery for music). 10 hours for video.
• Metal back.
• External Volume +/-,  Menu, and Power/Hold buttons.

UI: You have two choices. One uses icons that you may have seen on the Cowon D3. The other is a simpler text-based set of icons that will take a bit to get used to.

Music:  File formats supported include MP3/2, WMA, OGG, FLAC, APE, and WAV.  I can verify that the C2 will play WMA lossless, which is a challenge for most media players. The only format I haven't tested is APE.  All other play fine and sound great. The now playing screen doesn't sit still.  Instead it puts your cover art on an LP and spins it around to keep you entertained visually.

Music's Now-Playing features are a little more cryptic to find than they were on the J3, and they required an extensive examination to figure out. You can find Favorites and Bookmarks, but not easily. There is an alphabetic search option (limited to 12 characters) as well. You have the typical playback shuffle and repeat, speed and pitch controls. You can also access extensive EQ/JetEffect settings including 4 User configurations, Normal, and 34 unique presets.  The music app is full featured, but far from intuitive to use if you really want to master it.

Videos:  File formats supported include AVI, WMV, ASF (and MP4 unofficially).  The video app is also fairly complete, but given the small screen perhaps not the best excuse for getting a Cowon C2.

The settings in the video app are nearly the same as on Cowon's other players, but again a little bit of a mystery as to where to find. A single tap on the screen brings up the play controls.  Those include Prev/Rewind, Play, and Next/Fast_Forward.  There is a slider to let you move to any position in the video, as well as Position (time) and Length (time) info.  You can tap the lower corners to for "next" or "prev" pages which will take you to more video settings including Subtitle, Display, Playback, and Speed (to the right), with  Loop, Brightness, Capture, and JetEffect (EQ) settings (to the left).

Back to that first tap on the Now Playing screen:  To the right after that first tap is an Open icon which when tapped will bring up a list of the available videos.  From that list a tap on the tiny "next" icon moves you to Video Favorites if you've marked any, and one more tap gets you to Video Bookmarks.  A tap on "Prev" brings you to an alphabetic search page.

Pictures: JPGs appear to be the only picture format supported. You get all the basic features with the Pictures app including incremental and double-tap to Zoom, Pan, SlideShow (with transitions), and Rotate. 

Documents: You can view  .TXT files on the C2 with the Documents app. You can also hand write notes to yourself with the included NotePad app. Lastly, you can type notes with the Typist app.  Both would be fine for making notes to yourself. The NotePad app is limited to 30 pages, and of course there is no printing from the C2. The Typist app has 60 available pages.  I highly recommend using a stylus with these apps on the C2.  Any PDA stylus should work, and you don't need an expensive capacitive stylus with the resistive screen.

Radio:  You'll need to have the earphones plugged in to serve as antenna for the radio. All the expected features are there. A panel to the left (tap ) include region and stereo/mono options.  The upper left corner of each panel has a speaker icon you can tap to silence the radio.  

Games: Flash games are supported on the C2.  No samples came with it, and I didn't have any examples to try.

Clock: There is a timer and alarm in the Settings>Time app, with a Stopwatch (or Countdown timer) as a separate StopWatch app. Very handy.  You can also use it as a simple clock.  It would make a great travel companion. Add a simple stand for greatest convenience. The default theme has it's first page as a clock with inspirational sayings.  Tap on the upper right corner of this page to cycle through them.  I find the clock and related features to be one of the best excuses for a C2.

Summary:  For codec support and audio output quality, the C2 gets an A+.  The User Interface and app options are something you'll need to study awhile to get used to.  All the features are there, just hard to find.  I'm enjoying my C2 for its small size, light weight, and great sound.  I'm not using the included earbuds though.  Find a great set of  headphones for the C2 and you'll be in audio heaven.

4D

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Kindle Review

I couldn't resist. My wife was threatening to buy another book, so I broke down and let her open up the Amazon Kindle I'd bought her for Christmas.

Nice box! Very bookish. The packaging looks very well thought out. Inside we found the Kindle on one side and the cables (USB and Power adapter). The leatherish cover was wrapped in paper and also included.

There have been several reviews stating that the cover is poorly designed and that the Kindle falls out/off of it easily. I think those reviewers failed to look closely. There is a stretchy strap attached to the back of the cover, and many have shown it being used to hold the Kindle to the cover. If the user manual is examined, you see a picture showing the strap is there to hold the cover closed around the Kindle, and not hold the Kindle itself. The cover has a stiff plastic tab that engages the slight recess in the Kindle back plate. With the Kindle inserted thoroughly this tab prevents it from sliding back out easily. The cover is not really ideal as a way to hold the Kindle while reading it, but is perfect for protecting the Kindle when you're carrying it. I'll give the cover an A.

The Kindle itself was smaller and thinner than I had expected. It fits nicely into the cover and together they make a very easy-to-carry package. Form factor? A.

Setting it up proved very frustrating. As it turns out the wireless service used by the Kindle does not reach into my house very well. The Kindle has to be registered at Amazon, which you can do on the device itself using it's wireless connection. That of course assumes the Kindle can connect. Since my Kindle could not connect well, my initial impression was soured with unexplained freezes and "Cannot connect, try again later" messages. I'd like to point out that I had tried to determine if my house would be within the network service coverage area Kindle uses, and could not. Obviously the network does not reach everywhere. I sent off an angry email to Kindle technical support and went to bed.

It is amazing what a night's sleep can do for technology. This morning I woke up with the suspicion that the computer and cabling nightmare in my office may not have created the best environment for cell phone service reception. I took the Kindle into the living room where very little technology lives, and found that the Kindle would connect.

Within a few minutes I was checking out the "experimental" web browser. There is a basic and an advanced version, and JAVA is supported with the advanced version. Web pages would not load as they would on your computer's browser. The Kindle browser does something with the text on any page it goes to to try and optimize it for it's screen. There are several default bookmarks already listed, and most of them look fairly decent. I'm guessing they were included as defaults primarily because of how well they looked using e-ink.

The Kindle Store is well executed. I'm not much of a book reader or buyer, but it appears that anyone who would be should be happy here.

My wife is the book reader, and she was primarily interested in getting books on the Kindle. Within a few minutes she had found, ordered, and was reading one of two books she had bought. Ecstatic would be an understatement for the joy she was experiencing. The great price of the books impressed here. Although they have been advertising top-selling books for $9.99, there are hundreds of books available for less than that. My wife found a book printed in 2000 for $6.99, that was still $17.99 for the hardcover.

I love the concept, the technology, the product design, the networking. My wife sees immediately how great it is to have several books with her, with the near-instant ability to order and read any new one whenever she feels like it. She bought a new purse solely to have a way to carry her Kindle with her all the time. That purse, of course, has a pocket perfectly sized for a Kindle.

Conclusion? If you have a decent connection, the Kindle is an amazing product. With no or little connection it will become very tedious very quickly. The Kindle concept makes perfect sense to me, and I'm not a book reader. The Kindle itself makes perfect sense to my non-technical wife who IS a book reader. Wife Acceptance Factor (WAF)= 10/10.

I say the Kindle, this version AND the next one, will be/is a success. Get one if you can. If you really love a book reader, you have to.

4D

Sansa Clip 4gb. My Review.

In some cases good things DO come in small packages. A great example is the Sansa Clip. Available with 1, 2 or 4gb of internal storage, the Clip is a great value for the money. Best Buy had the 4gb model on sale last week for $49, which means you can have 4 times the capacity and three times the features for the same price as the 1gb iPod Shuffle. The Clip even matches the Shuffle with 5 available colors (black, red, pink, blue, silver), although the 4gb version is only available in silver.

What you get with a Clip but not with a Shuffle is FM radio (including the ability to record it), and Voice Recording. You also get a small screen so you can see which application you're using and the song or channel you want to listen to. On the 4gb silver model the screen is hidden behind the mirrored front. It only appears when lit, showing through the mirror.

Controls are very simple and 'almost' intuitive to use. There is a Power and Hold slider on the left side next to the mini-USB port. The right side is where you find the volume +/- rocker and the headphone jack. The front features a 4-way control pad with center button and a separate Home button. Lastly there is a small hole for the microphone on the rear of the top edge.

The Music option is fairly complete. You won't see cover art, but you can chose a song by artist, album, songs, genre, top rated, playlist, podcast, audiobook, or recording. You can also simple select "Play All". Music play options include Shuffle (on/off) or Repeat (on/off). When a song is playing the small screen will display the artist, title, number (in the database), and progress. There is also a small icon to indicate when in shuffle mode.

The FM radio option is fairly straightforward. Once selected you see the current frequency along with a graph of your location in the entire frequency range. There are 4 radio options including Add Preset, Auto Presets. View All Presets, and Recording. If you select Recording you'll see three options including Record Now, Play Recordings, and Delete a Recording.

Voice Recording is also simple and direct. You can choose to Record Now, Play Recordings, or Delete a Recording. Voice is recorded as a WAV file. You can also play back FM or Voice recordings from the Music app.


The last option to choose on the Clip is Settings. There you will find a set of equalizer profiles, Power (power off time, and a Sleep setting), Display (backlight and brightness), Language, FM region and mode, Volume (normal or high), System Info, Reset All, Format, USB Mode (MTP, MSC, or autodetect), and "Press and Hold" (Add a song to Go list, or Rate a song).


The Clip package included the Clip, a set of earbud headphones, a (short!)USB cable, an installation disk, a BestBuy Music Store pamphlet, Safety Instructions, an Audible offer, and a nice "Let's get playing" guide.


Sound quality is excellent, even with the included earbuds. Very crisp, no static. I could easily pick out individual instruments from bass to piccolo. Even the subtle strumming of guitar strings was there.


I love the mirrored screen of the 4gb model. It gives depth to the display when backlit, and allows the clip to blend in via reflected surroundings.


Conclusion? If all you need is a clip-on music player, this little Sansa is a gem. Great capacity for the price. Extra features. Excellent sound. While not as "pretty" as the iPod Shuffle or Samsung S2 Pebble, you get FM radio and a Voice recorder for putting up with the dated aesthetics. The control pad is a little confusing, but easy to get used to. The player will return to the previously used function when turned on, which IMO is a feature you should be able to turn off. Even so, I recommend the Clip over a Shuffle or any other competition. You won't regret it. At $50, the 4gb silver clip will look GREAT under the Christmas tree. Put some holiday songs on it for an even warmer hit.


4D

iHome 2Go Review

My wife got an 8 gigabyte iPod Nano for Christmas. Of course I added a $50 iTunes gift card, a belt-clip case, and an alarm clock/dock for it. She seems to enjoy waking up to music. I was so enamored of the dock/clock that I picked up an iHome 2Go for myself and my iPod Touch.

iHome 2Go
$79.99 at Target and comes with a nice padded vinyl case, an AC power adapter, an 1/8" stereo patch cord, and a few dock adapters for various ipod models. There was no adapter for my Touch, but the adapter that came with my Touch does work. Other adapters are available through an 800 number included in the literature. I am extremely dissappointed that the 2Go didn't come with a remote control. The box contained a "special" offer for the optional remote for "only" $19.99. I can get a great universal remote with learning ability for less. The markup on the remote for the 2Go is extortion. The 2Go itself only has simple controls for the ipod on it. You can play or pause and control the volume up or down. The remote would add mute, next and previous song, scan forward and back, and control over the snooze function and alarm reset of the 2Go itself. Speakers fold up to face forward and fold down flat to let the 2Go fit in it's portable case. The 2Go will run on 4 AA batteries, with an additional small watch cell to maintain the clock setting. Sound is pretty good, although the small speakers don't do bass frequencies at all. Packaging advertises an SRS sound feature. It can be activated with the remote control or by pressing a button on the right side of the unit. SRS adds a little depth to the sound, but the effect is more a gimic than a useful feature. Small speakers are small speakers. You get only what they are capable of. There is an audio/video output and an auxiliary audio input jack on the back. The A/V jack can be used for just audio output using the included patch cable, but a special cable will be required for outputting a Video iPod's video and audio to a TV. It also appears this iHome 2Go doesn't support my Touch's video output.

As an alarm clock the 2G0 has a seperate play/wake-up volume setting. You can have the music at a louder or softer level when waking up than you do when the 2Go is in sleep mode. It's not hard to set, although the buttons have more functions than they are labelled for. The user manual does provide fairly clear instructions. There is no radio or other option. If no iPod is attached the iHome 2Go will buzz like any ordinary alarm clock. Other media sources can be played through the auxiliary input, but not if an ipod is attached as the ipod uses the same amplifier channel.

I'll give the iHome 2Go a 7 out of 10 points. It loses 2 points for not including a remote control, and another point for not having onboard buttons for the functions available on the remote. The 2Go appears to come with the remote if you buy it from iHomeAudio.com. Of course it will be $20 more expensive. I suspect Target negotiated for a lower price and iHome responded by removing the remote control from the boxes Target sells.

Upgrade/Update Ponderings.

It's the time of year when old products get updated, and new products start appearing just in time for the Christmas buying season. I'm particularly interested in what new media players may appear from Apple in September and from Samsung this month. I'd also love to see some major manufacturer come out with a touchscreen challenger. Microsoft? Dell? Sony? Sandisk? Anyone?

There are strong indications the iPod Touch may get re-engineered. More memory perhaps. Perhaps changing to a plastic back that would come in more than one color. I'd love to see Apple add stereo bluetooth to it, despite many Apple fanboy protestations. There are lossless bluetooth compression protocals available now, leaving no reason to believe that listening to your iPod's music via bluetooth would diminish it's quality.

The Samsung YP-P2 will be redesigned, and at minimum be getting haptic touch response. The P2 could stand utilization of the multitouch potential of it's screen, more memory, and maybe even wifi/web access. Samsung has expressed a desire to double it's U.S. sales this year, and although pocket MP3 players aren't their prime money maker, a better P2 would help a little. There are downloadable games for the P2 in Korea. Samsung should bring the 16gb model (or even a 32gb model) to the U.S., and let us also have access to more games and other apps. If you haven't been following the P2's Bluewave Upgrade saga, you need to check THIS SITE out. The latest update allows P2 owners to create their own home page graphics and share them with others.

Microsoft is rumored to be considering a Phone with the Zune interface. Most popular phones these days are touchscreens, so imagine a new Zune player with a full touchscreen UI. Keep the 80gb model as-is, but add 8gb and 16gb flash models with wifi web access, 480x272 touchscreens, and direct access to the Zune store. Less likely than a new Touch or P2, but wouldn't it be sweet?Then there is Dell. They've announced they'll be re-entering the portable player market. No one has seen any prototypes. If they only produce one model and it's not a touchscreen, they haven't got a chance.

I suspect Sony has a Touchscreen player waiting in the wings. I believe they've been patiently checking out the competition, and won't release a new player with touchscreen until they are sure it will be amazing. Sony used to own the portable media player market, and I believe they want to own it again. It will take an amazing touchscreen player to get the world's attention away from Apple.

So bring on the Updates/Upgrades! I'm on the search for the best pocket media player out there, and I haven't found it yet.

4D