According to the Financial Times, Apple is currently in discussions with music companies regarding the possibility of providing users with unlimited access to music downloads. The plan would most likely involve customers having to pay a premium for iPods/iPhones and then being able to download as much music as they want - essentially embedding the cost of music into the price of the player itself. However, the discussions are apparently stalling a bit at present as the companies negotiate over pricing. Apple is reportedly offering only $20 per device, which is much lower than companies like Nokia, which is paying almost $80 per handset for a similar plan. Another possibility is that users may pay a subscription fee each month to have unlimited downloads, with the capability of keeping 40 to 50 tracks each year even if the subscription is cancelled.

Meizu became well known with it's own audio/video capable M6 player, which had the same theme as the Apple iPods, but brough video to a much smaller package than the normal Apple counterparts. The M3 looks much like the iPod Nano in dimension. Both players have been updated in design, the M6se is now thinner, while the M3se (pictured below) has become shorter and features a full metal enclosure. Both players should be much cheaper than the Apple variants.

SINGAPORE - May 3, 2007 - Creative (NASDAQ: CREAF), a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products, today introduced the Creative ZEN Stone, the tiny, featherweight 1GB MP3 player priced at only S$69.00, available by May 4.The Creative ZEN Stone features a smooth contoured design, so it feels naturally comfortable in your hand. It is so light that at first, you might not believe it is an MP3 player. The Creative ZEN Stone allows you to rock in color; pick your favorites from black, white, red, blue, pink and green, to fit any mood or fashion.

Apple plans to launch new iPods featuring Wi-Fi in the second half of 2007. USI will produce the Wi-Fi modules and Foxconn will perform as the OEM system assembler. USI will begin shipments later in April, while Foxconn may do so in the third quarter. Wi-Fi equipped players stand a chance of becoming the mainstream for all portable music models.

The folks from Zune Scene have managed to gather some rather interesting info about Microsoft's upcoming additions to the Zune family: namely, Zune 2, as well as a flash-based Zune. They are both scheduled to hit the market this year.

Apparently, the hard drive version looks like the generation 1 Zune, but is thinner. It has a larger hard drive and still uses the doubleshot (read here). The flash based player is about "3 by 1 1/4 by 1/4 inches" in size. It is video capable and the screen covers about 75% of the front, similar to the hard drive Zune. The flash player has Wi-Fi and also uses doubleshot.

After 5 years and generally very innovative PDAs at great prices, Dell has quietly removed the last Axim - the x51v from their website. The Axim is still a very high end product, featuring a VGA display, 3D system, 624MHz CPU as well as WiFI and Bluetooth. I had the pleasure of testing on such a device and am rather dissapointed to see them discontinued.

Microsoft is planning to release a new range of Zunes, according to Browserden.co.uk. Called the Zune 360, the new device will look a lot more like Apple's iPhone. The Zune's screen will be extended to the full size of the device and controlled by a touch screen or with buttons on its side. It will have a stylus and handwriting recognition which you can use to search for music in your online library. It will not be able to make a call and will come with two disk sizes 40GB and 80GB. The default brown color will be changed to white. Microsoft also plans to capture the iPod Nano and cellphone market in one go, with the release of Zune 180. The machine will be based around Sony Ericson's Walkman W880 phone and will be able to make mobile calls as well as holding up to 2 GB of removable flash based storage. Microsoft will customize it with a Zune interface and the ability to play Zune Marketplace DRM encoded files. The new Zune players are planned to be released in June 2007.

Microsoft has released firmware 1.3 for its Zune media player. The new firmware improves device and software reliability, such as device detection and synchronization. The new firmware also corrects a skipping problem with content downloaded from the Zune Marketplace as well as the FM tuner which no longer drains the battery when running in sleep mode. Zune users can update their devices from within the Zune software package.

Although the Zune is still unavailable in Europe, Microsoft is already planning its next addition to the portable media range with a flash-based version of the Zune. Whilst the standard Zune is going head-to-head with the iPod Video, this new version is likely to be fighting against the iPod Nano, although it has a few extra features. This new Zune will be "a truly WiFi enabled device" which could be suggesting wireless downloads and maybe even improved music sharing. Prices aren't available yet but expect this for Q4 2007.

Samsung is clearly going after the iPod Nano with the Samsung K3. It is just 7 mm thick, sports a 1.8 inch OLED screen and blue, touch sensitive controls. The battery life is quite similar to the Nano as well - 25 hours.

There will also be a new Bluetooth enabled multimedia player which can handle a range of audio, video and photo formats and also play Flash games. It will last about 30 hours on a single charge for music and 6 hours for videos.

Microsoft does offer limited WiFi capabilities with their Zune, but SanDisk is now joining the frey, SanDisks's new Sansa Connect doesn't have the sharing features of the Microsoft Zune, but it does allow users to connect directly to the Internet via a wireless hot spot to download music or distribute photos. No PC is needed to accomplish these tasks. The Sansa Connect has 4GB of internal storage as well as a microSD slot. A 2.2-inch color screen an internal speaker round up the entire package. The Sansa Connect will be available in retail store in late March for $249.99.

Walletex is currently developing what appears to be the world's thinnest MP3 player. The device is as thin as an average credit card, and can handle water and dust with ease. It can take custom product labels, but has no screen. It should be shipped in June, and there is no mention of price.

On November 15th, we reported that the Microsoft Zune music player was not Vista-ready. Microsoft has patched the Zune installer so that it will not only allow installs on Windows Vista, but add a performance increase for people who do so. Microsoft also patched various security issues in the installer they refused to elaborate on. You can download the updated software here.

New firmware for Microsoft's Zune player has been released. Apparently, it does not add any new features, but it has improved stability and performance. For devices being upgraded from Zune firmware version 1.0, this update includes the enhancements provided in Zune firmware version 1.1. Click here if you don't know how to update your Zune firmware.

LG had great success with the "Chocolate" phone, which was a cell phone that doubled as an MP3 player. LG decided that it wants a better name for itself in the mobile music player world, so they mixed a new type of chocolate. The UP3 Flat is a small MP3 player that will soon debut in Korea, and hopefully around the globe. It uses flash memory, has a slide-out USB connector, the ability to record voice and arrow keys for music navigation that glow a brilliant red. The UP3 Flat will be available in 512MB, 1GB, and 2GB flavors, and the 512MB version is expected to cost KRW60,000 ($65/£33/€50).

These MusiQ MP3 players are designed to directly compete with the iPod Shuffle. The Steel Wing version of MusiQ, pictured below, comes with either 512 or 1024 MB of onboard memory. It also comes with an SD slot to increase storage, a USB port to transfer music and recharge the battery, and a necklace loop. The MusiQ player is made out of an aluminum-magnesium alloy. The MusiQ player will be available in China on December 15th, and there is no word on when the players will be released for the rest of the world.

Interest in the Zune appears to be "diminishing", according to Amazon.com sales charts. While at launch the Zune was very strong, second only to the iPod in sales, it is now hanging around 60th place on a top 100 list of music players, updated hourly. The Zune accounts for nine percent of sales and 13 percent of MP3 player revenue. While Jason Reindorp, marketing director of Zune, is "very happy with consumer reception to Zune and its sales over the past two weeks", the Zune is certainly nowhere near sales of the iPod. Various iPod models hold the top 6 places on the MP3 player chart, hold 63% of all sales, and take 72.5% of revenue. The Zune also makes most of it's sales through upgrades. In a survey conducted by Reuters, only seven percent of people would buy a brand new Zune, and 33% would buy one as an upgrade. For comparison, 80% of the same group would buy an iPod, but only 18% as an upgrade. This shows that the Zune is much more competitive against basic MP3 players using Microsoft Plays For Sure technology then the iconic iPod.