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SanDisk, RealNetworks join hands  comment: 9 | Monday, September 18 (2006) 08:16AM | Posted by Robert SinkePersonally, I still find it hard to not-associate RealNetworks with a little thing called "RealPlayer" - however, the company has provided a worthy addition to the spectrum of "legal download" services quite a while ago, namely the rental-based "Real Rhapsody". Although it's not as popular as Apple's iTunes Music Store in terms of brand recognition, RR proved to be easy to use & good-looking; plus there's a large selection of tracks to choose from nowadays. Well, if you're an American, that is - we Europeans get diddly-squat, as usual.  Enter SanDisk, the ever-growing player in the DAP industry. From zilch to second on America's hit list in a mere 18 months time, and ready to expand beyond their current market share. These guys have been looking at last week's announcements (new iPods, iTunes 7 and Microsoft's Zune) and probably decided (a while ago) that a combination of decent hardware and non-exploding music download service would work out swell for them. So now we're waiting for something called the "Sansa Rhapsody". Well, it's just an Sansa e2x0; but one that's fine-tuned to operate smoothly under Rhapsody's umbrella. Under the deal, RealNetworks and SanDisk plan to release the Sansa Rhapsody, a portable music player based on SanDisk's e200. The companies said they expected the gadget to be available in time for the holidays, but they would not say exactly how much it will cost.  The player will come pre-loaded with hundreds of songs from musicians such as the Dixie Chicks and Jessica Simpson, as part of a free trial of RealNetworks' Rhapsody To Go subscription service. Anyone who buys or already has the music service will then be able to use the gadget to listen to nearly all of the songs available through the core Rhapsody service.RealNetworks is bypassing the "Microsoft step" here, taking care of Digital Rights Management themselves. "The fact that one company was making the player, one company was making the software and a third company was making the service meant it was not seamless," said Dan Sheeran, senior vice president of music for Seattle-based RealNetworks. The Sansa Rhapsody will use RealNetworks' own technology for managing digital rights, which RealNetworks says will work more smoothly and allow the company to offer more bells and whistles. The gadget's release also will coincide with an update of the Rhapsody service. Apple, Microsoft and "the new kid in town", Sandisk... interesting bunch. Let's see where things will go from here. LINK Comments
You must be logged in to make comments on this site - please log in, or if you are not registered click here to signup | You must be logged in to post comments on this site - please either log in or if you are not registered click here to signup Lacene
The ZVM is pretty much the most "high-end" DAP I ever got....I got started on DAPs by getting a Dell Pocket DJ, lol. It was a re-branded Creative DAP. All others I got are Sandisk DAPs....
Saijin_Naib
Yeah, I used to remember when I was jealous of Creative DAPs. I couldn't afford to have the "top of the line" DAPs back then, and messed with no-name Chinese OEMs.
These days, you're almost better off taking that route. Cowon still seems to put out quality. Samsung just makes Android players, same for Archos. MPIO (my favorite) has become defunct. These are dark times for DAPs Lacene
I still have my ZVM that I got when they first came out....it still works and looks like new...I never abused it and put one of those clear protective shields on it and got a silicon case for it.
A shame that Creative put it out - their most highly-regarded DAP ever - and then seemed to go downhill immediately afterwards... Saijin_Naib
Yeah, I played with one. Pretty slick, great interface. So great in fact, that Apple largely knocked it off and sued Creative to keep the rights. Bastards.
I have a Creative Zen Vision Micro 6gb I need to repair/swap drive out of. LiQuiD_FuSioN
Anyone have experience with the Creative ZEN Vision:M? Now that was a cool looking player too, never got to try one out though.
Saijin_Naib
Yeah, my friend had the S9 and he really loved it, especially the custom GUIs people would cook up.
I noticed that Cowon recently released a D20 and an X9. They both look rather tempting. Availability looks spotty at the moment though :L My favorite DAP probably would have been the Zune30, if it was slightly more customizable. The RIO players had great auto-playlisting & searching support. Similarly, the Haier Ibiza (despite its other shortcomings) has a brilliant filter feature and related features during playback. It, however, can't make a shuffle list to save its digital life so it gets on my nerves using it as my car player. Yeah, people still seem to love convergence devices. I'm still of the mind that I'd rather have devices that are designed for a specific task, and execute that task properly. The biggest pet peeve I have is crappy tools, and convergence devices by definition, are crappy tools. By attempting to do everything, they do no single task well. SarahV
@Saijin: The J3 is one of the best DAPs I've had. The GUI is way better than the S9. The hardware is pretty similar. I still have a special place in my heart for the iRiver Clix, though. Loved the interface on that so much...
The problem we have today is that hardly anyone actually uses a DAP and they don't want to carry more than one device. I probably carry my mp3 player more than my phone, but I realize most people are not like me 
Saijin_Naib
This community was tops. I still think we could be.
LiQuiD_FuSioN
Good ol' DAP Review! I still remember when Engadget would rip your stories off.
Saijin_Naib
That sounds like a decent size for a music library. How are you finding the Cowon? They seem to be one of the few manufactures left that makes anything halfway decent. I'm not interested in Yet Another Android Slate (YAAS) like the Archos line have devolved into.
But Sarah, the iProducts are the bestest things ever! Their batteries last like, totally way longer than like, other players do! View all posts (9209)
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Comments: 65
Given that Sandisk has been increasingly proactive in helping the Sansa find markets, from improving the design, contacting Rockbox, putting out more attractive versions of the C100 series (it's not in stores yet, though), I wonder if they're shifting towards the more value-added area of flash DAPs rather than merely flash cards or USB drives. Don't know if that would be a particularly good idea, given Apple's stranglehold, but that might change with the release of the Zune,.