Successfully connecting your Apple iPod Touch to a WiFi wireless network can be a real challenge.

Many owners find the process difficult and frustrating. This is mainly due to the abundant choices available for wireless standards and security protocols that can be used for setting up and securing networks.

Why is Connecting to a WiFi Network a Challenge?

A WiFi compatible device does not guarantee it will work with every network available. Wireless connections can be set up and configured in many different ways. The key point to understand is that the WiFi settings on your device need to be compatible with the network's settings. The key standards that need to be compatible, are the communication protocol and the security protocol. There are many to choose from given that these standards have historically evolved over many years.

The iPod Touch can only connect to WiFi networks that are based on the IEEE 802.11b or IEEE 802.11g wireless standards. If security is also configured on the wireless network, the same security protocol used must also be set up on the device to enable a secure connection to be made successfully. The exception to this rule is where a WiFi network has been set up with no security and is open to all WiFi devices. These are called "Free WiFi Hot Spots" and are offered by establishments such as McDonalds as an incentive to visit their stores.

11 Simple Steps to Connect Your Apple iPod Touch to a Wireless Network

Follow these simple 11 steps to quickly and easily set up your device to connect to a WiFi network:

1. Turn on your iPod Touch.
2. Press the "Home" button.
3. Tap the "Settings" icon.
4. Tap the "Wi-Fi" menu.
5. Slide "Wi-Fi" to "ON".
6. Slide "Ask to Join Networks" to "ON".
7. Wait for the device to detect a wireless network that is in range. If it is close, you will see 3 bars of signal. If it doesn't detect it, try sliding "Wi-Fi" "OFF" and "ON" again.
8. If the detected network has a "padlock" icon, then it is secure and you will need the password to connect. Tap the menu showing the detected network and enter the password. If a connection is made successfully, then a tick mark will appear. If not, then it means the matching security protocol was not setup on the iPod Touch for the network.
9. If you need to change the security protocol tap "Other…" to go to "Other Network" page.
10. Enter the name of the wireless network and select the matching security protocol used by the network. You have a choice of WEP, WPA, WPA2, WPA Enterprise and WPA2 Enterprise.
11. Enter the password for the network and then tap the blue colored "Join" button on the bottom right of the screen. If the network is successfully found and connected to, then it will appear in the list of WiFi networks with a tick.

Connecting to a free WiFi network is straight forward, however connecting to a secure home or business wireless network requires some technical knowledge. You need to know which security protocol is used with the network if it is secured, the network name (or ID) and the password to connect to it. If you didn't set up the network at home or at the office, then you will need to obtain the details to log-on from the person who set it up, or seek help from the administrator of the network.Make "Smarter" Devices that Connect Automatically

As the technical standards continue to evolve and consolidate for wireless networks, the challenge of connecting to a WiFi enabled network with portable devices will become a thing of the past when devices become "smarter". Such devices will be able to automatically detect any wireless standard and network configuration in the local vicinity and connect securely and seamlessly. Hopefully we will see these advances in the next generation of the iPod Touch!

You can find more useful information about wireless technologies at http://www.best-wireless-router.com/ that explains the best wireless router technologies.

Discover new music without using peer-to-peer networks! Get It Now - Radio2MP3

So how do you decide which one to choose? Here are a few ideas to help you make your decision.

Audio or Video or Both? Do you intend to play only audio tracks, or do you also want to play video? If you need video, you will need to select a MP4 or MP5 player. But if you only want to listen to music, you can probably get away with an inexpensive MP3 player. For video though, you will need to get a MP4 or MP5 player.

Flash Memory or Hard Disk: The songs that you download on to your digital music player will be stored in memory. This can be a flash memory, or a hard disk. Flash memory modules usually have smaller capacities than hard disks. Common flash memory capacities on the market today are 4 gigabytes (GB) and 8 GB, which hard disk capacities can range up to 160GB. A few things to note about units with hard disks – they are typically more expensive than MP3 players with flash memory; they usually consume more power (more frequent recharging or more batteries) than flash memory units; a jolt or bump can cause "skipping"; a hard enough jolt or bump can damage the spindle mechanism of the hard disk.

Storage Capacity: How much memory do you need in your player? Well, that depends on how many songs you intend to store in the unit. Typical music tracks in MP3 format range in size from 4MB to 5MB. So for every 1GB of storage, you can expect to store between 200 and 250 songs. Use this as a rough guide to determine the capacity that you are looking for. The other consideration is market conditions. Currently, you get the most "bang for your buck" with 4GB units. So you may be better off buying a unit with 4GB capacity, rather than one with 1 or 2GB.

Built-In Battery or External: Your digital music player will be powered by a battery. MP3 players on the market today can either have a built-in, rechargeable Li-ion batter, or may use an external (usually AAA size) battery as their power source. Units with built-in batteries are usually much smaller, and do not have the added expense of batteries. Units that use AAA batteries are typically larger, and also have longer play times. If you're flying from LA to NY and your built-in battery runs out of juice at 30,000 ft., there's not much that you can do!

Budget: The market can supply you with any model and configuration you need to fit your (reasonable) budget. So before you start shopping for a MP3 players, figure out how much you want to spend, and then search within your constraints. It is very easy to lose sight of budget constraints once you look at the bells and whistles available on today's models!

This is not intended to be a comprehensive checklist that you can use to make a decision. Instead, the intent here is to give you a good starting point for your questions as you embark on this effort to select the best unit for you. Do your own research as well, and talk to others before you spend your money.

Author -Dale Arnold. Your one-stop shop for good quality inexpensive MP3 players

Discover new music without using peer-to-peer networks! Get It Now - Radio2MP3

What used to take days or weeks of waiting for the mail carrier to deliver your audio books on tape or CD, now takes no more than a few minutes. You can be listening to your favorite MP3 books straight away. And it's going to get even better, easier and quicker, judging from the advances in audio and web technologies in recent months.

The hard-core audiobook listeners may take a while to "convert" from using tapes and CDs to an MP3 format. The sheer convenience, perfect control and the size choices MP3 players offer, the "change-over period" is likely going to be a short one.

So, if you are a budding MP3 book pioneer and want the latest portable audio technology conveniences, they are waiting here to serve you without having to spend a fortune or extra time to do it right.

To download audio books in MP3 format to your computer and over to your MP3 player, look at the exact steps you need to take to do it quickly and easily.

Just note the following instructions use Windows Media Player – Version 10 as an example.
Let's assume you are already good at downloading files from the web onto your computer.
Let's also assume that you already own an MP3 player, but don't know how to do this transfer correctly yet.

1 - If you are using an older version of Windows Media Player and need to upgrade, surf over to Microsoft and download it at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download. Follow the installation instructions.

2 - Download the MP3 books to your computer. It is a good idea to create a separate folder, say in "My Documents" folder and name it "My Audio Books". It allows you to keep your audio book downloads all in one location. Done it? Good.

3 - Now, connect your computer (switched on) to the MP3 player using the USB cable supplied with your player.

4 - Once the connection between the two is live, your computer will show that it has found a new piece of hardware. If it doesn't say this, just unplug everything in the above sequence and try again.

5 - Is it working now? Okay.
Open your Windows Media Player and open the audio book MP3 file you want to copy. This will open your audio book in the main display area of Windows Media Player.

6 - Add the audio book to the Sync List of your Windows Media Player.

7 - Go ahead and click on the Sync tab on the Windows Media Player. It brings you to a pull-down arrow menu on the left-side box of the Sync tab. Make sure you select the choice "Removable Disk (E)", or the name of your MP3 player as the source where the audio book will be copied to.

8 - Do you see a display with the choice to "Start Sync" right now? Great! Go ahead and click on it. Once you've done this, the Windows Media Player will let you know that it's sending the audio book to your MP3 player.

9 - As soon as the sync (or copying) of the audio book file is complete, you can check to assure it is on your MP3 player. See it there? Excellent. One more step to go.

10 - To finish this process properly, ensure you click on your PC's hardware icon (found in your system tray – in the right bottom corner – usually a small icon with a green arrow) to "Safely Remove Hardware".
Don't remove the USB cable until you get a clear signal saying "Safe To Remove Hardware".
Removing the USB cable without following this step may damage both your computer and the MP3 player.

Note: Are you using an older version of Windows Media Player? Even so, you can still follow the steps above. The only major difference is that instead of having "Sync", you will have "Copy" in the menu. You can click on it and follow the same steps above to have your audio book copied to your MP3 player.

If you have a portable MP3 player that uses a drag-and-drop file method instead of Windows Media Player synchronization, then the steps are easy to follow. Simply connect your player to the computer as above. Open the player's window by clicking on its name or on "Removable Disc (for example E or F) under "My Computer" icon.

Then, open the MP3 books folder (the location where you have them saved) in a separate window. Keep both windows open side-by-side. Now, left-click, hold and drag the audio files over to the open window of the portable player. Once you release the left mouse button, there will be a short file-transfer moment. Done? Now, your MP3 books are on your player, ready for you to enjoy listening to it.

So, can you play back the audio book from your MP3 player now? If you have followed the steps, you should hear the audio book playing on your MP3 player.

If you have difficulties, you can watch an easy-to-follow video that shows you how to do it at http://www.mybigaudio.com/help.html

Author – Lou Smith shares with you hard-to-find Audio Books in too many categories to mention it here. Be our guest and download free MP3 books right now.

Discover new music without using peer-to-peer networks! Get It Now - Radio2MP3

It does seem unfair… you paid for those songs and now you can't play them outside of the iTunes environment, on hardware not supported by Apple, or on operating systems not supported by iTunes.

That's because the iTunes tracks that you purchase and download are in a "protected" AAC or M4P audio format. Only it's not YOU that is being protected, it's Apple, or rather Apple's bottom line. Apple explains this by saying that their proprietary format gives you superior sound quality, but that's a smokescreen. It's all about DRM, and DRM is all about the money.

The ability to make copies of copyrighted materials is seen by the recording industry as a threat to its profitability, and perhaps rightly so. DRM (Digital Rights Management) was created by digital media publishers so they could control the duplication and dissemination of their content. But DRM is actually a misnomer. Because rather than granting rights, DRM actually restricts the consumer from doing perfectly valid and reasonable things with music they own.

MP3 is the standard for digital audio. An MP3 music track can be played on almost ANY player, whether it's portable or computer-based. You can burn MP3s to a CD and they'll play just fine on almost any modern CD player.

But Apple's iTunes software doesn't create MP3 files when you buy a song. The files are "protected" and cannot be played on a computer which does not have the iTunes software. You CAN copy them to your portable music player, as long as you bought that player from Apple and it says iPod on it. Understandably, this makes Linux users, and the millions of owners of non-iPod music players a little upset.

Converting iTunes to MP3

If you right-click on a music track in iTunes, there is an option to Convert Selection to some other format. Probably it says "Convert Selection to AAC", which is useless because your iTunes tracks are already in AAC format! So click on Edit / Preferences / Importing then change the Import Using from the default setting to "MP3 Encoder". Click OK to save this setting. Now when you right-click on a music track, there is an option to Convert Selection to MP3. But just try it… iTunes will tell you that "Protected files cannot be converted to other formats."

Converting AAC to MP3

Bzzzt! Sorry, thanks for playing. It turns out you can only convert non-protected formats (such as WAV or WMA) to MP3. So what can we do? Fortunately, there are two ways to get around this annoying restriction.

Method 1: Burn the track(s) to a CD, then you can open the CD in iTunes and the Convert Selection to MP3 will do exactly what you want. Just be aware that you'll have TWO copies of that song in iTunes — one in the original AAC format and one in MP3 format. You can delete the AAC version if you like.

Method 2: If you have lots of music, you might need a big pile of CDs to convert everything with the "burn and rip" method above. That's where the JHymn software can help. JHymn was created to allow you to exercise your fair-use rights under copyright law, and will free your iTunes music from DRM restrictions with no loss of sound quality. JHymn provides a drag and drop graphical interface for both Mac OSX and Windows users. But currently, JHymn will not work with iTunes Version 6 or higher. If you have an earlier version of iTunes, keep it, or visit http://www.oldapps.com/itunes.htm to search for a backlevel version.

Note that JHymn is not meant to aid music piracy, but it does contradict the iTunes user agreement, and may not be legal in your country. You should be aware of the legalites of DRM circumvention in your country and make your own decision whether using JHymn software is right for you. Then use JHymn only for making archival copies of your own music, for copying tracks to an MP3 player, or for playing your music on a non-Itunes platform. If you decide against using JHymn, you might want to look into TuneBite. The makers of Tunebite claim that it lets you make "totally legal" unprotected copies of copy-protected music files by recording them while they are being played.

This article was reprinted. To see more information from commenters of this article, see: http://www.askbobrankin.com/convert_itunes_to_mp3_format.html

Author Bob Rankin is a tech writer and computer programmer who enjoys exploring the Internet and sharing the fruit of his experience with others. His work has appeared in ComputerWorld, NetGuide, and NY Newsday. Bob is publisher of the Internet TOURBUS newsletter, author of several computer books, and creator of the http://LowfatLinux.com website. Visit Bob Rankin's website for more helpful articles and free tech support.

Discover new music without using peer-to-peer networks! Get It Now - Radio2MP3

With millions of titles available, and low pricing, Amazon is betting it's online store will be a bigger hit, than the popular Apple iTunes Store. Why, because the Digital Rights Management hassle is avoided and MP3 players that are not Apple Ipods, can now download their favorite tunes without realizing you can't convert it LEGALLY if you purchased from iTunes.

So how do you get started? With the AmazonMp3 download utility.

Once you have downloaded the tool, run setup by clicking on AmazonMP3Installer.exe and click Install to start the installation.

NOTE: Install instructions are for Windows OS's, but will be similar for Mac's.

When finished, the installer will launch your browser informing you that the utility has been installed successfully.

To test MP3 downloads, AmazonMP3 store lets you download a free song (Energy by The Apples In Stereo) by clicking the Download Song button from the same page that informed you the install was successful.

After entering your information, you will see the Open dialog box. Make sure you check the box to "…automatically open files like this for now" and click OK.

Next, you will see the download progress.

When completed, your default music player will pop open and start playing (in my case, Windows Media Player). The song will be added to your play list automatically.

You can control which Media Library and directory songs should be added along with other configuration options in the Amazon MP3 download utility by selecting File \ Preferences from the menu.

A real nice feature with the utiltiy, if you are using iTunes, songs are added automatically added to your iTunes directory

Now all you need to do is go back to the AmazonMP3 site, download more tunes and enjoy free DRM music!

Discover new music without using peer-to-peer networks! Get It Now - Radio2MP3

You may have come across many websites that offer free iPod downloads. But beware as there have been stories of copyright infringement when the copyrighted music and other media files are distributed and shared.

As a layman, you do not know whether it is legal to download the iPod music, movie or TV show you are searching for. So, avoid such iPod download sites as you may be on the wrong side of the law when you download iPod media files from these sites.

On the other hand, more paid iPod downloads membership sites have been appearing recently. You now have better choices to download iPod music, movies and TV shows legally at much cheaper prices than iTune. However, as an iPod user in the midst of multiple choices, we are once again caught in a dilemma to decide which one is the best for us.

Here, I will share with you some key tips on what to look out for in the iPod download membership benefits.

1. Per iPod Download Vs One Time Fee

Does the site charge for per piece of iPod music, movie or TV series file you download? I find it expensive to download media files at iTune, do you? I mean $1.99 for a music video and $0.99 per song is crazy. Nowadays, for a low one-time lifetime fee, you can download as many songs and music videos as you wish. Make sure you compare the pricing.

2. iPod Music Downloads Variety

What variety and range of music files can you find? To me, it is important that they have genres ranging from popular pop to jazz.

3. Huge Media Library of iPod Music, Movies, TV Shows and Video Files

Does it provide a huge library of media files? Do they have a wide selection of movies, TV shows, music and videos? Do they frequently update their database with new iPod downloads?

4. Ease of Use of Member's Site Interface

Is the member interface easy and user-friendly? Ease of use is very important.

5. Free iPod Downloading and System-compatible Software Provided

Do they provide with free software to help you in downloading those movies, mp3s etc? Are they easy to use? Are these software compatible with PC or MAC or both? Can they be used to download iPod files to older generation iPods or only to the newer models?

6. Fast iPod File Downloading Speeds

How fast is the iPod downloading speed? How long does it take for the files to be transferred?

7. Safe Downloading Process of iPod Media Files?

Do they ensure the iPod downloads to our computers are safe? Is spyware removal included to ensure that nothing goes wrong while downloading the music and movies?

8. Testimonials And Excellent Track Record

Is the company getting complaints or positive testimonials? Read these at iPod forums. Hear their experiences in using these iPod downloads services.

9. Legality of iPod Downloads

Is it legal? These are proper sites which have the right to distribute the iPod media files so you can have a peace of mind that you are not breaking any copyright laws.

10. 24/7 Responsive and Expert Technical Support

Do they provide fast and responsive support? 24/7? Do they have the expertise to trouble-shoot when you encounter difficulties in the iPod downloads? Sad to say, some download sites display this feature as an advertising gimmick only and are unable to deliver the level of service.

11. Secured Payment Processing System and Measures to Safeguard Your Privacy

Is the payment processing secured? Will your personal details be divulged to anyone? Most of these sites have secured payment processing and they make it absolutely certain that your privacy is not compromised.

I hope that these tips will give you a good start in finding your choice iPod Downloads site. In my next article, you will be able to read a review of the top 3 downloads site based on the criterion I have described here.

The content of this article is provided for the purpose of education and illustration only and is in no way associated with Apple, iTune, or any company or subsidiary of Apple. This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website. The author's name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.

Davion is a successful webmaster and author. Find out how you can access to unlimited ipod downloads – digital quality music, full length DVD quality movies, TV shows and videos legally and easily from home at ipod-downloads-site.blogspot.com.

Discover new music without using peer-to-peer networks! Get It Now - Radio2MP3

Author: Chris Prato – I hope you found these iphone tips helpful. If you have an iPhone and have been wondering how best to fill it up with music and movies, check out Top iPhone Downloads for the latest reviews of iPhone download sites.

Discover new music without using peer-to-peer networks! Get It Now - Radio2MP3

When you load a CD into your computer's CD-ROM reader, it automatically loads iTunes and then, if it's set up with its default, will begin loading the audio files onto the hard disk drive. But what happens if you have downloaded an audio book file from an Internet site directly to your hard disk drive? There's an additional few steps because of the digital rights management (DRM) restrictions.

If the audio books you have downloaded are subject to DRM and you need to enter a password etc when you first use them, you need to open them initially on your hard disk and complete the signature process.

Next, burn the files to a CD-ROM using Windows Media Player (Windows operating systems come with Windows Media Player as a free add-on) or some other software program that will burn CD-ROMs. Leave the CD in your computer CD reader.

Open iTunes and on the left side of the screen you will see the title "Audio CD" under Devices. Look to the bottom right of the iTunes screen for a button that says "Import CD". Click that button and iTunes will begin to download the audio book files from your CD to your hard disk.

If the audio titles that are imported simply state Track 1, Track 2 etc, right click on them and select Get Info and then rename them to something you can better understand, for example, Wonderful_Ways_to_love_a_Granchild_ Part 1.

Make a new Playlist with the title something like "Audio Books" and drag the newly titled files into that playlist. Then, when you want to find them on your iPod, you will find it much easier.

Depending on whether you have your iTunes program set for Automatic or Manual Synchronisation, when you attach your iPod, iTunes will automatically begin copying the audio book files and Playlist title to your iPod. If it's not automatic, you will need to highlight the audio book files and select the Synchronise option.

Because audio book files can be huge, I tend to zip them and backup a copy to my external, portable hard disk drive which I use to store data instead of bogging down my laptop hard disk drive. If I need them again, I can quickly unzip and download or listen to them directly from the hard disk.

If you collect a lot of audio books and want to keep them, you need to get a storage device specially for them as they take up a lot of room and, let's face it, once you've paid for them you don't want to lose them.

This article should help you copy files from your hard disk drive to your iPod so you can enjoy them any time, anywhere … one of the distinct advantages of audio books. I also like the fact that I can store them electronically and not in a bookshelf (no dusting or tidying up and little space!).

Happy listening.

Copyright 2007: Robin Henry is an educator, human resources specialist and Internet entrepreneur. The most recent among his online endeavours is Download-Audios.Com a division of Desert Wave Enterprises which he operates out of his home at Alice Springs, Central Australia. At present, however, he is temporarily in the United Arab Emirates.

Discover new music without using peer-to-peer networks! Get It Now - Radio2MP3

iTunes 7.1.1 can be downloaded from Apple web site.

Discover new music without using peer-to-peer networks! Get It Now - Radio2MP3

What would life be with out your iPOD? Miserable for sure. If the un-thinkable has you wondering when the day will come that your iPOD needs to serviced because your battery or hard drive needs to be replaced, or the click wheel or head phone jack is busted, the good news is that you may be able to fix it yourself with a series of video instructions…

   
The website ipodhowtovideo.com iPOD repair video tutorials will show you how to fix some common problems and save you money in repair costs. The site is just gearing up, but offer tutorials for iPOD Mini, iPOD 3rd and 4th Generations.

Tutorial videos include:

        iPod Video LCD Screen / Faceplate Replacement Tutorial
        iPod Video Battery Replacement Tutorial
        iPod Video Hard Drive Replacement Tutorial
        iPod Video Logic Board / Click Wheel Replacement Tutorial
        iPod Video Headphone Jack / Hold Switch Replacement Tutorial

In addition to the videos, their E-Commerce site offers parts, an iPOD pry tool (used to pry open you iPOD with out damaging it), diagnostic and repair service. Check them out and get your iPOD back to life!

Discover new music without using peer-to-peer networks! Get It Now - Radio2MP3

By implementing these 5 tips, you can help to prolong the lifespan of your Apple iPod battery.

Author Ricky Lim is an avid iPod fan who runs an iPod newsletter. Visit his site for more ipod information such as the apple ipod shuffle review.

Discover new music without using peer-to-peer networks! Get It Now - Radio2MP3

Checking the battery status of your iPod shuffle is simple. Just press the button on the back of your iPod then check the LED colors with the table below that indicate the status of the battery:

   

    * Green = good charge
    * Amber = low charge (or charging when connected to USB)
    * Red = very low charge
    * No light = no charge

When Charging your first generation iPod Shuffle, make sure the computer is not in sleep mode. If you need to check the battery status while it is charging, eject the iPod shuffle from iTunes first, before checking (click the Eject button next to the iPod shuffle icon in the iTunes Source list). On some computers, sleep mode can turn off USB signals and prevent the battery status from working.

iPod Shuffle Second Generation

iPod shuffle second generation has two status lights, one on the top, and one on the bottom, that let you know when you've pressed a button, the state of the battery, that iPod shuffle is enabled as a disk, or if there's something wrong.

The below table shows the the battery status lights, when you turn on or disconnect your
iPod shuffle:

    * Orange = low charge (10% – 30%)
    * Red = very low charge <10%)
    * No light = no charge
    * alternating green and two orange for 10 seconds = ERROR: iPod shuffle must be restored

If iPod shuffle is already on, you can check the battery status without interrupting playback by switching the iPOD off and then on again.

Discover new music without using peer-to-peer networks! Get It Now - Radio2MP3

First if you have your ipod attached to your PC and have the latest anti virus software installed this should automatically detect and clean your pc/iPod of any virus present including the ravmone.exe virus. The iPod nano, shuffle and mac OS are not affected and the latest iPod video are also guaranteed to be virus free.

First steps to check if your PC or ipod is infected is to download a virus scanner (if you do not have one already installed), there are many free virus scanners available and most new PCs already have these automatically installed. In 99% of cases your iPod will be virus free but it is still best to check. Simply attach your ipod to your PC and run the virus scan.

Your anti virus software will then perform the checks and inform you of any viruses that are resident on your pc/iPod. After the removal of any viruses you should use the very latest version of i-tunes to reinstall the software on your iPod. The ravmone.exe virus is attracted to storage devices and you should also scan all storage devices on your PC just to be sure.

Author Debra Warwick spends most of her spare time at her MP3 site: iPod Accessories

Discover new music without using peer-to-peer networks! Get It Now - Radio2MP3

With choice sometimes comes confusion for buyers.

The decision as to which MP3 player is the better buy is completely dependent upon the individual consumer's preferences. Price is not a deciding factor between the two as both iPod and Zune have 30GB models which come in at $249. As a result there are basically 5 questions that need to be answered to determine a buyer's top priorities and whether iPod or Zune is the device of choice.

• Is a huge capacity/storing the most songs possible critical?

For now iPod has more options than Zune, with Shuffle, Nano, and others including models with 60 and 80GB capacities while Zune currently offers only the 30GB model.

• Is playing video on an MP3 player one of the most prized features?

If the answer is yes, Zune may have a bit of an advantage as it boasts a larger screen. The 2.5" iPod screen is noticeably smaller than Zune's 3.0" screen. Both offer the same resolution; 320×240 and the same aspect ratio: 4:3.

• Is having the smallest, lightest possible MP3 Player a goal?

If tiny is a top priority then iPod will be more attractive as it is thinner, shorter, and lighter than the current Zune offering.

• What music selection choices are most desirable?

For the selection of downloads, iPod is the champ offering the largest bank of music from which to select. The Zune store offers 2,000,000 titles while iPod offers in the neighborhood of 3,500,000. On the other hand, Zune boasts a built in FM radio receiver which opens the door to an entirely different listening opportunity, one that iPod does not currently offer.

• Is wireless connectivity a priority in an MP3 player?

Unlike current iPod models, Zune is WiFi enabled although it is limited. With Zune users can share a song with someone nearby. The person receiving the song can listen to it for 3 days but then must buy it to continue to enjoy the song. Unfortunately, Zune is still unable to sync with a PC. It may not be much, but if sharing is important, Zune is a step ahead.

Anytime top manufacturers enter an arena with a new, competing device consumers are faced with decisions that aren't always clear or easy to make. In the end however, the consumers are the winners as options expand and competition pushes industry giants to develop even better products. The competition between iPod and Zune is sure to heat up the market for MP3 players for years to come.

Christine Peppler believes that consumers should not have to possess a technology degree to be able to choose home electronics and entertainment devices. Take advantage of the wealth of simple to understand, useful information and shopping available on her website at  http://www.homemedias.info

Discover new music without using peer-to-peer networks! Get It Now - Radio2MP3