Newsflash: you might want to upgrade your digital audio player to support the AAC format. After all, this is the format to be used by Apple in selling their non-DRM music from EMI from now on, with lots of major music labels expected to follow suit on the months to come.

AAC is known to be the better digital audio format in terms of sound quality compared to the more popular MP3. Yesterday, Apple and EMI announced that they will be selling non-DRM tracks for US$ 1.29 per song. Such songs will be available in the AAC format.

Will your digital audio player support AAC? As of now, Microsoft, Nokia, Sandisk (e200 line), and Sony already include AAC playback on their devices. Those that don't have AAC format support are players from Creative, Toshiba, Cowon, Philips, etc.

Thankfully, upgrading your digital music player to support AAC can be done via firmware update. Just check your manufacturer's support if you want an upgrade.

The i.Sound MovieTime Universal solves the most common problem for the gadget-trendy entertainment fan - which one to use. The dock makes listening universal for the most popular players around like the iPod, Zune and the PSP, and has these features to boot:

• Surround sound feature
• Compact
• Four 32 mm speakers
• Total Power: 12 Watts RMS
• Frequency response: 180 Hz with 20 Khz
• Buttons: go/stop, volume, surround
• Auxiliary audio Entry + audio cable mini jack for the connection with your other audio devices.
  

One thing about this multi-functional gadget is that the appearance is unlike any other we've seen so far. At 77 bucks a pop, it's certainly worth the consideration, but style-conscious users may want to give it a second thought.

It's back to the courts for Apple's crack lawyer team again. InfoWorld reports that the Cupertino-based company is among those being sued by a little-known Texas firm for infringing on an mp3-related patent.

The suit by Texas MP3 Technologies, filed February 16 in Marshall, Texas, alleges that Apple, Samsung, and Sandisk are infringing on U.S. patent 7,065,417. The patent was awarded in June 2006 to former iPod chip maker SigmaTel, and covers "an MPEG portable sound reproducing system and a method for reproducing sound data compressed using the MPEG method."

According to InfoWorld, SigmaTel sold the patent to a Dallas-based patent licensing agency shortly after receiving rights because it felt the agency was better equipped to take advantage of its potential value. SigmaTel said it had retained international rights to the patent and has insulated its customers from any legal action associated with the patent.

InfoWorld said that it is still unclear whether Texas MP3 Technologies is the Dallas-based company that bought the patents from SigmaTel or whether it acquired them from somewhere else. In the lawsuit, Texas MP3 Technologies said that it is the "assignee of all rights" of the patent and holds "all rights of recovery."

It seems like SanDisk is determined to prove that we all should say iDon't to iPod. With their alternative to the iPod - the SanDisk Sansa series - they are out to prove why they are the second (albeit far second) choice when it comes to portable music players.

The latest addition to their Sansa MP3 players, Sansa e250, is now being touted by some as "like iPod Nano, but with video". With replaceable and rechargeable battery that Sansa claims can last up to 20 hours in continuous playback, a digital FM tuner, voice recording, and microSD expansion slot, will the Sansa e250 have enough tricks to convince people to switch over to the underdogs?

Now that Amazon.com has offered $128 (shipping fee comes for free) for this 2GB marvel, some people just might be convinced...but is it enough to scare Apple?

If SanDisk thought their iDon't campaign is going to make the 50 million or so iPod users switch to them, Bill Palmer's article should make them think twice. Bill Palmer of iProng.com wrote seven reasons as to why the iDon't campaign is not to be taken seriously. He admits to being an iPod user but insists that he tried his best to view the campaign on an objective level but still came to the same conclusion: "the 'iDon't' campaign is a joke".

Even if he was speaking from an iPod user's point of view, Palmer did point out some well-thought out arguments. He mentions that if the iDon't campaign was meant to be a "switch campaign", it has failed miserably for its attack on the iPod users. To quot:

"'iDon't' isn't the first time a tech company with a minority marketshare has launched a campaign to try to let users know that there's another choice out there. Apple has twice used such campaigns (first with 'Switch' and currently with 'Getamac') to promote its Macintosh computers in the face of the PC majority. But while Apple has never hesitated to insult the PC, it's always been careful not to insult users of the PC in the process."

Another good point that Palmer has raised is the iDon't websites use of 'disreputable' sources. One of the links that is supposed to evidence that iPod is bad was a website launched two years ago by an aspiring independent filmmaker who thought the best way to jumpstart his career was to document himself defacing Apple's streetside ads in Manhattan.

Also, the CNET review that SanDisk has linked to mention that the alternative Sansa e200 - which Palmer notes as "a device that looks like they blatantly copied the iPod nano and then ran over it with a pickup truck" - has buttons that are "difficult to press" and "low levels of system noise can heard through headphones at low or zero volume".

If all iPod users react to the iDon't campaign the way Bill Palmer does, then it's a clear indication that SanDisk's ad blitz is going down the drain.

We all know (or at least observed) that sheep have strong flocking behavior. They seem like they don't have lives of their own and always go with the flow. This is the reason for SanDisk's use of the woolly creature in their iDon't campaign.

iDon't.com is SanDisk's marketing campaign to convince people that their Sansa e200 is the better choice compared to iPod. They are trying to convince people that "going with the flow" and "going mainstream" is not the best thing to do, so you should "Say iDon't to iPod". But really, if you visit the website, you'll see no strong argument as to why people should choose their product over Apple's except that the iPod has become 'mainstream'. They never refuted why it shouldn't be one's choice. In the iDon't website, all they did was provide 'the alternative'. And that's what they call a non-"pushy, cheesy, sales hack".

As for comparing iPod users (the same people SanDisk is trying to convince to switch over to their product) to sheep, here's a word from someone who's into advertising: Never, ever insult your target audience.

It had to happen -- a Nano clone. There was just no way around it, we checked. The force of giving in to copying a proven model is just too much and Samsung and SanDisk have given in like good Catholic girls at the prom.

Enter Samsung's YP-Z5 and SanDisk's Sansa e200, two players that tweak on the Apple model just enough so as to keep Sue-e Steve away. Samsung's model even comes in identical capacities, two and four gigabytes of flash coupled with a size almost identical to the Nano. Where the Samsung model exceeds, though, is in the reported battery life -- a staggering 38 hours in comparison to Apple's 14-hour claims.

SanDisk, on the other hand, is now reporting 128 hours, a hard-to-believe claim. We'll have to see if those numbers stay true when SanDisk prepares to ship its product in March. Samsung should be good to go in February.

[Via, The Register]