A digital audio player (DAP) is a device that stores, organizes and plays digital music files. It is more commonly referred to as an MP3 player (because of the MP3 format's ubiquity), but DAPs often play many additional file formats. Some formats are proprietary, such as Windows Media Audio (WMA), and, to a degree, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) and MP3. Some of these formats also may incorporate restrictive DRM technology, such as Janus and FairPlay, which are often part of certain paid download sites. Other formats are completely patent-free or otherwise open, such as Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, Speex (all part of the Ogg open multimedia project), and Module file formats.
The colourful, easy-to-hold, hourglass-shaped Sansa Shaker MP3 player comes equipped with various ways for users with little hands to both enjoy and share their songs.
When the Sansa Connect is not connected to a WiFi network, the player behaves like a traditional Flash MP3 player and can be connected to a PC.
Case in point, this Sansa C250 digital audio player which now comes in pink and red. Was I in love with it before the color change? No. Now....I'm warming up. It features an FM tuner and photo viewer on top of the regular MP3 player stats. It also allows voice and FM recording, as well as 20 presets on the radio. While it sounds a great deal like the Insignia MP3 player with Bluetooth, its $99 price tag can't be beat. Granted it's no video ipod, but it is only $20 more than a shuffle.
Some people have avoided getting a Sony MP3 player because of the dreaded SonicStage software that is required to transfer music to and from their portable devices. With the Sony B100 Walkman, however, you will be able to cast SonicStage aside in favor of good ol' drag-and-drop. It hasn't been confirmed, but it appears that the B100 will show up via USB Mass Storage, allowing you to plunk in your musical content without having to go through that hideous SonicStage filter. what's more, the B100 will handle MP3s, non-DRM WMAs, and possibly even AAC. They might even abandon ATRAC while they're at it.No word on price or availability, but Sony might actually make some headway against you-know-who with this development.
The Creative Zen V ($90; creative.com) was the best MP3 player in the Good Housekeeping tests when it came to feature-rich models. It comes packed with useful goodies -- such as a voice recorder -- at a "wow, that's cheap" price for 1 gigabyte of memory (it can hold 250 to 500 songs).
MP3 players, if played too loudly, can harm your hearing, which is bad enough, but a study by a 17-year-old high school student shows that MP3 players can interfere with pacemakers by interfering with the electromagnetic equipment monitoring the heart. We Say: Naturally, they only tested ipods. In reality, of course, this would be applicable to all MP3 players. They indicated they would need to continue testing, and would also like to take a look at effects on implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs). So, if you have a pacemaker, at least for now, don't put it in your shirt pocket when using it!
This is only compounded by the ability to download MP3 music, DVDs, video and photographs, to text message, to Flickr (whatever that is) and to do any number of other electronic tasks with our tiny phones. Our lives are increasingly enslaved to our phones. The sight of someone whose phone has a dead battery is almost as sad as to see someone who has lost their best friend.I will confess that I have a BlackBerry and know very well why many call them "CrackBerries," because the things are downright addictive.