Hands On with Sansa's Billboard slotRadio
Back in October SanDisk announced slotMusic, and with it the Sansa slotMusic Player. slotMusic is basically microSDs with pre-loaded, DRM-free MP3s. Basically a last ditch effort to rescue the continuously declining physical music sales.
We sort of poo-pooed the idea at first. We doubted anyone would be any more inclined to buy a microSD with an album on it than they would a CD with an album on it. That said, the Sansa slotMusic player is actually pretty cute. We got some hands on time with it this afternoon and turns out we sort of like it.
We messed around with the Billboard version, which comes bundled with a microSD holding 1,000 songs, divided into seven playlists as well as an FM radio. The one we were handling had the SD card glued in, we presume because so many people would be pulling it in and out. Unfortunately we didn’t get to try the ear buds that come bundled with the player because the display model was hooked up to a set of over the ear headphones, probably because no one would want to share earwax with thousands of other people.
SanDisk said they’re currently in talks with RadioShack and it should be available in the Spring.
Check out pictures after the jump.
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Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
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falchard I like it. Deal with the digital version and you have the DRM issue. Deal with the CD version and you have a 5" CD to deal with that can get scratched. MicroSD on the other hand is very small easy to store and doesn't have the scratching issue. Only the electric, burning, and breaking issue.Reply -
zodiacfml pretty good idea, to sell cheap mp3 players and 1000 songs at the same time.Reply
slotMusic microSD card should have lossless audio formats included with it and other bonus digital items like videos, lyrics.......
then it will have better value over cds and buying online.