At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, SanDisk took the wraps off of what was to be its first portable media player, the Sansa View. It was set to hit the market in the first quarter of 2007. Fast-forward to the end of the third quarter, and SanDisk is once again announcing that the Sansa View is heading to market, but in an entirely different form from what we'd last seen.

The new Sansa View, which ditches the previously seen widescreen format, has a design that resembles the Sansa C200 series. Reacting to current consumer interest, the new View is aimed to challenge the iPod nano. While the 4GB and 8GB iPod nanos retail for $149 and $199, respectively, SanDisk offers its Sansa View in 8GB and 16GB models matching those price points. The Sansa View also packs in a 2.4-inch color screen (320 x 240-pixel resolution), a built-in FM radio with 20 presets, an integrated mic, gapless playback, the Sansa Media Converter software, and a SD slot for loading additional content. (SanDisk also announced microSD/microSDHC Card capacities of up to 8GB.)

The Sansa View is compatible with MP3, WAV, and unprotected WMA on the audio side, and MPEG-4, WMV, and H.264 on the video side. Users can also view photos up to 16 megapixels in size. The music player also supports many music download and subscription services, including eMusic, Napster, Rhapsody To Go, and others. The Sansa View arrives on store shelves in early fall.
 

Price: $149 (8GB), $199 (16GB)
Info: http://www.sandisk.com