Apple's been hit with antitrust lawsuits over the dominance of the iPod / iTunes system before, but there's a new case brewing down California way that argues not that Apple has illegally tied the iPod to iTunes, but that Apple has abused its dominant market position by not supporting WMA. That's right, we've come full circle -- Apple is now being accused of locking Microsoft out of the market. The case, brought by San Diego attorney Stacie Somers, claims that since Apple disables the WMA functionality of the PortalPlayer chip inside many iPods, it's shipping "crippleware," and that it's doing so deliberately to abuse its position as the market leader. Of course, unprotected WMA files import into iTunes on Windows just fine, so this is really a DRM compatibility issue -- and given Apple's official position on DRM and the fact that Microsoft's own Zunes don't exactly play nice with all the flavors of WMA DRM, this suit could be over sooner than expected.

Disclaimer: Although this post was written by an attorney, it is not meant as legal advice or analysis, and should not be taken as such.

Slowly, ever so slowly, a picture is beginning to form of Nokia's all-you-can eat, free-for-1-year, keep-your-songs-for-life, Comes with Music (CWM) service. We know what it's not -- Universal's Total Music (the similarities are just a coincidence) -- and now we know more about what it is. The following details were just confirmed to us directly by Nokia:

• Audio is wrapped in an old-school, WMA DRM wrapper
  
• Songs can be burned to CD only after purchasing an upgrade of undisclosed cost
  
• Nokia has not announced any CWM devices, yet
  
• You can download music directly to your CWM device or computer using a unique PIN
  
• Songs will play only on your CWM device and the computer you registered with your CWM account
  
• Oh, and tracks will "typically" be delivered in 192kbps, while "older tracks may be delivered at 128kbps"
  

There's no mention of registering the music to new devices after the phone or PC gives up the ghost. Understandably, Nokia was not willing to discuss the financial arrangement they are offering the labels. But come on Nokia, surely you can convince 'em to drop the DRM by mid-2008, right? There are plenty of places to hide any added costs.

While we're pretty sure the world doesn't need too many more thin, black MP3 players, Korean manufacturer Technonia thinks otherwise. The company has announced a rather MPIO-ish portable audio player -- the 7.5mm thick Slimline. This little guy does pretty much everything you'd expect from something in its class, and really, truly nothing you wouldn't. Those things include playing MP3 and WMV files, tuning in FM radio, and displaying your images on its 1.5-inch OLED screen. 1GB unit on sale by the end of the month in Korea for 90,000KRW (or about $97US).

[Thanks, Doom]

We've watched Greenhouse's wee Kana grow up from its early Kana-SD stages and evolve into the entirely more mature Kana D, and now the next logical growth spurt is in order as the device makes the leap to include a voice recorder and FM transmitting capabilities. The Kana GT packs the same 1GB of internal memory that was seen in its predecessor, still lasts just seven hours on a full charge, handles MP3 and WMA files, and connects to your PC via USB 2.0. This iteration, however, also includes an OLED display, up to 140 hours of voice recording potential, a built-in FM tuner and FM transmitter, a dedicated antenna, and even a car cigarette USB charger to keep the music flowin' on lengthy road trips. The newest Kana will come in black, red, and silver motifs, and should land in mid-June for an estimated ¥7,980 ($66).

[Via Impress]

Although the recording industry is making quite the stink around here about satellite radio receivers with internal storage, that's not stopping Olympus from kicking out a svelte clock radio with gobs of room for backing live broadcasts up. Granted, the VJ-10 only tunes into AM / FM transmissions, but the whopping 37GB internal HDD gives users the ability to store between 1,250 and 2,500 hours of footage based on quality into WAV files. Moreover, the USB 2.0 connector allows users to access the drive from any PC if you're looking to consolidate your radio and external storage, and the SRS WOW XT stereo speakers should provide decent office enjoyment as well. As expected, users can queue up recordings based on time, and thanks to the large integrated LCD screen, all the information you need will be front and center. Currently, the VJ-10 is slated to land in Japan on March 16th for the ever elusive "open price," but it looks like an English version will only be a fortnight or so behind.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

[Via Digital-Lifestyles]

HandHeld Entertainment is keeping the streak alive, as its latest PMP features about as little innovation as possible, yet still manages to seem mildly attractive if you're interested in just the basics. Making a ripple a CES, the ZVUE 260 sports an unmistakably iPod-esque appearance, rechargeable Li-ion cell, built-in speaker, a pocket-friendly 4.16- X 2.4- X 0.5-inch enclosure, and a 2.5-inch backlit LCD screen. This device plays nice with WMA, WMV, and WMA-DRM, and can reportedly play back 320 x 240 video at 30fps without a hitch; moreover, the ZVUE isn't much of a burden, as the SD-based unit doesn't house any sort of internal hard drive to weigh it down. Possibly the best thing about the otherwise ho hum ZVUE 260 is the price, as it should fit in nearly anyone's budget when it lands in mid-2007 for just $99.

[Via MobileWhack]

Greenhouse is apparently taking a break from TV tuners and USB ashtrays to update its wee Kana-SD MP3 player, this time giving it a more refined look, a (tiny) LCD screen, and removing the "S" from the nameplate. The Kana D touts a 1.12- x 3.27- x 0.87-inch enclosure, USB 1.1 connectivity, USB-stick design, 1GB of storage, about seven hours of battery life from a single AA battery, and six pre-packaged EQ settings. The unit comes in black, white, or blazing red color schemes, plays nice with Windows, and supports both MP3 and WMA. Best of all, the pocketable DAP can be had for just €39 ($52) when it drops later this month.

[Via Akihabara News]

So, ZVUE has a new audio player out to compliment its lineup of chubsy PMPs, and while we're happy for 'em and all, we can't quite figure how they've managed to get so dang excited by such an incredibly boring DAP. The 512MB ZP3 player is just as feature-vacuous as it looks, featuring MP3 and WMA playback (we're guessing of the PlaysForSure variety, like its big siblings), a voice recorder, and a AA battery which promises a lizame 8 hours of battery. ZVUE is particularly proud of its inclusion of "30 of the top hits of 2006" as pre-loaded tracks on the player, but we're still not feeling it. Now, given the fact that ZVUE has a video player under the $100 mark, we're sure this thing will be priced plenty competitively when it's released this fall, but it might not make much of a difference when everybody and their mother bought a player with this feature set four years ago.

Who says you can't have your audio player and eat it too? Not that we recommend ingesting consumer electronics, but you just might be tempted to if your DAP was encased in a small container of shichimi Japanese chili powder (we're betting that they've rinsed it out, though). This 2.6-inch tall 128MB player will play back both WMA and MP3 files, and features a headphone cable integrated into the neckstrap. It'll set you back a scorching ¥8800 ($74), and while that may not buy you the kawaii-est player in Nippon, it'll surely get you the hottest. We'll be here all week.

[Via Engadget Japanese]

With the bevy of proprietary speaker systems out there, it's refreshing to see Axxen drop an unbiased (albeit oddly shaped) boombox of sorts that'll play nice with just about anything. Hot on the heels of its minuscule Playdisc, the company is still making noise at KES by unveiling its i-EGG DAP speaker, which sports a "futuristic" oval enclosure, detachable stereo speakers, a 3.5-millimeter audio input jack, USB port, and an SD slot for loading up your tunes. This battery-powered device also touts stereo out -- in case the mysterious internal wattage isn't robust enough for you -- and it supports both MP3 and WMA from your USB thumb drive / SD card of choice. While pricing information was not disclosed, we do know that Axxen plans to hatch this in late October for the Korean market.

[Via Akihabara News]

Now that Samsung swung the doors wide, Scitec can step through with their own version of the MP3 player with integrated speaker. The 25-gram SSF-512 with OLED display brings an FM tuner, voice and line-in recorder, 10-hour playback off AAA battery, and a piddling 512MB of flash to host your MP3/WAV/DRM'd WMA audio. No details about that speaker but really, how good can it be? Available in silver and black 'cause even pirates need to jam. On sale today in Japan for a ¥8,980 or about $76. Argh.

[Via Impress]

We're no strangers to the Pontus line of consumer electronics devices from Japanese manufacturer Edia, and now the company has announced yet another in-car nav unit that's heavy on the multimedia features but light on the internal storage -- and by light, we mean that it has none. Therefore, the EN-3700 gets all its maptastic goodness from the included 1GB card (its predecessor, the EN-3500, only shipped with 512MB), though you also have to pack your MP3, WMA, JPEG, and BMP files in with whatever maps you need to store. As for the screen, it's a 3.5-inch little touchscreen number with a QVGA display -- not bad, but since they're cutting corners in the storage department, we'd expect a little more for our 74,800 yen ($642). If you're looking for a way to navigate your way around Japan (or just locate one of the seemingly abundant McDonalds locations) and this sounds like the right GPS system for you, you should be able to snatch one up sometime this month.

Take a healthy dose of Samsung's YP-K5, sprinkle in some LG chocolate, and bake-in the latest Korean design trends for a pair of new DAPs from Safa. The SS220 is a bit of a mystery. In addition to featuring touch-based controls and a built-in speaker, we know it's capable of splashing a range of unspecified video, photo, and text formats up onto its tiny 1.5-inch screen. It also packs in an FM tuner just in case the few reticent GBs of audio dumped to flash can't slake your jones. We know a bit more about the other player -- the SS200 -- a 71 x 48 x 12-mm wafer with a 2-inch, 260k color, 220 x 176 pixel display. The SS200 is capable of 6/8-hours of video/audio playback with support for MP3, WMA, and WAV media formats. No ship date or pricing unfortunately, hell, we can't even say for sure which of the two is pictured above. Let's just be thankful for the scraps they've thrown, mkay?

Mere days after Microsoft started pushing a new IBX version for "protecting" PlaysForSure files from its users, the FairUse4WM guys have thrown down a new version that deals with that and other little DRM-circumvention obstacles. The new release -- version 1.2 -- knocks out DRMv1 files you've ripped yourself with protection, breaks down individualized WM9 files and has a workaround for WM11beta2. Of course, we're guessing it won't be long until Microsoft has another quick update to break FairUse4WM again, but it seems like a more drastic update might be in order to shut down this hack for good. We're sure you're well familiar with our stance on this whole issue, and hope that version 1.2 treats you right.