Yahoo and SanDisk build a better WiFi music player

In a sea of digital audio players, it can be hard to stand out: to most folks, either it's an iPod or it's not. Despite the plight faced by the Zunes of the world, SanDisk has managed to carve out a niche for itself, becoming the number two vendor of DAPs in these United States. Now they're pushing the envelope further: the company has partnered with Yahoo and a startup called Zing to create the Sansa Connect, a music player that attempts to show the big guys how WiFi ought to be done. As I'm sure you already know, Apple does not offer WiFi functionality in any of its iPods and while Microsoft's Zune does, the WiFi connection isn't good for much of anything. The Sansa Connect, however, uses the full potential of WiFi, allowing for over-the-air downloads from the Yahoo Music Store without aid of a PC, firmware updates via WiFi and Internet radio streaming--they even threw an instant messaging client into the mix. In addition to its WiFi capabilities, the Connect sports 4GB of internal flash memory, a microSD slot for expanding the onboard storage and USB connectivity. Based off of initial reports, this little guy certainly sounds like a contender. But will it be enough to spur Apple to take action? The Sansa Connect is available now for the suggested retail price of $249.

For more on the Sansa Connect:
- see this Ars Technica article
- and this hands-on writeup at Engadget