Sansa Connect Rivals Apple's iPod, Hits Shelves Friday

You've got to give them credit for trying.  Months after the last threat to the Apple iPod – the Microsoft Zune – fizzled like a Sanjaya Malakar solo, Yahoo, SanDisk, and unknown tech company Zing are attempting yet another siege of Steve Jobs' castle.  The Sansa Connect hits shelves on Friday, and unlike the Zune it has the backing of software AND hardware manufacturers in-the-know.

 

First introduced at the mega-popular Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, the Sansa Connect will be shooting for the market held by Apple's Nano series.  The Connect features a 4GB flash hard drive, USB connection, and even a slot for SD memory.  However, the device makes its most ambitious move – albeit hardly a pioneer – in using Wi-Fi, or wireless internet support.  That's a page taken from Microsoft's struggling Zune player, and another one-up on the iPod.

 

Who the hell is Zing?

 

Other than a witty quip, it's also a tech company responsible for writing software that gives the Sansa Connect its ability to link up with Yahoo's music store.  Zing's central goal is to make the process of downloading music from a web service to the Connect the easiest in the history of portable media.  By doing so, the company hopes the Sansa device "can tap into those newbies".

 

With the iPod having sold its 100,000,000 unit since Christmas, 2001 and the Wi-Fi Zune losing its religion in a corner somewhere, the 4GB Sansa Connect may have a tough time linking up with the mainstream for a lofty $250. 

 

Zing.
4 comments
Posted by modsuperstar on April 10,2007 at 1:51 PM

How did I miss the point?  This is yet another also-ran product that won't capture the imagination of the public.  It connects to one of the also-ran music services that isn't even the leader when it comes to subscription based download services.

Posted by kris on April 10,2007 at 12:58 PM

Yeah the product looks so ugly. They don't know that the iPod's look really gets people to buy it.

Posted by kevin on April 10,2007 at 12:20 PM

wow, you really missed the point of this.

Posted by modsuperstar on April 10,2007 at 10:50 AM

The problem with this device is it's downright fugly.  And this device will fail because it does what so many past failed devices have done.  Add more functionality, yet fail to address what makes the iPod so popular, ease of use.  Nothing beats the iPod in regards to simplicity.  Apple has purposely kept their device so simplistic that your 85 year old grandma can use it and has drastically expanded the portable media player market because of it.  Adding WiFi just adds further complication.