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More clues about SanDisk's 8GB Sansa
So it's starting to look like those leaked pictures we saw last month supposedly depicting an unannounced 8GB flash player from SanDisk are the real deal. You'll recall that an Anything But iPod forum member claiming to be a SanDisk tester posted a shot of what's generally referred to as the Sansa e280, and now the eagle-eyed editors over at ABi have discovered even more tantalizing clues on the company's website. The most telling bit of evidence comes when you launch the 360-degree demos for either the 4GB e260 or 2GB e250, which instead of featuring the players' respective capacities on the backside, show a model clearly adorned with an "8GB" label -- see the screenshot, right. Furthermore, the entire Sansa lineup is being hit with price cuts, which could be an indication that a product launch is imminent. If SanDisk is in fact able to get this model to market before Apple breaks us off with an 8GB nano -- aluminum enclosure and all -- it would seem to do more for the company's market share than a negative advertising campaign ever could.[Via Anything But iPod]
SanDisk planning 8GB Sansa e280?
So we can't vouch for the validity of the photo you see here, but if we're to believe an Anything But iPod forum member claiming to work as a tester at SanDisk, then it depicts a pre-production version of the unannounced Sansa e280 with a "nano-killing" 8GB of flash memory -- plus a memory card slot to jack that total up to 9GB. Although anything posted to forums should be viewed with no small amount of skepticism, a WHOIS query supposedly confirms that this member was indeed posting from SanDisk's Virginia campus when he revealed his info, and the fact that the pic looks pretty legit only further enhances this rumor's believability. Plus, Apple will surely boost the nano's capacity at some point or another, so it's obvious that SanDisk will have to do the same if it hopes to shed its runner-up status -- because simply insulting potential customers doesn't seem like a great way to gain market share.
Cowon's 4GB iAudio6 DAP reviewed
Cowon's gotten some rather mixed reviews in the past for their line of iAudio DAPs, but the outlook seems mostly positive for the upcoming hard drive-based iAudio6, with Anything But iPod finding very few flaws in the diminutive player's design, features, or performance. Especially impressive is the 1.3-inch OLED screen, which gets high marks for both color depth and clarity -- ABi calls it "simply brilliant" -- and makes watching XviD-encoded movies almost bearable on such a small display. The iAudio6, which we first spotted at CES, can handle up to 4GB of MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, or WAV-encoded tracks on its .85-inch drive, but it's the drive that leads to one of the few knocks on this model, which is a noticeable lag time between operations. Other nice features include USB host capability for device-to-device file transfer with other UMS-enabled hardware, software that automatically tags certain tunes with the corresponding lyrics, line-in and voice recording, and surprisingly powerful output that can drive even large headphones. If you don't mind a bit of a delay when recording or changing tracks, or a bit of eye strain when watching your flicks, then the iAudio6 sounds like it'll make for a solid purchase whenever it becomes available Stateside.[Thanks, James]
