However, don’t get too comfortable in the lime light. Web services are making way for a new, bleeding-edge class of solutions. Cloud services are web services offered in a cloud computing environment. It is even being suggested that an open protocol called XMPP (a.k.a. Jabber) could be one of the keys to forging a path to this new architecture. One of the main uses of XMPP is IM. Ever heard of Google Talk? Guess what protocol is behind it? Implementing a Jabber server is relatively easy. iDimensionz has a Jabber server running on one of our servers. With that kind of ease of use and the pervasiveness of an open protocol (and open source applications like Pidgin to support it), will cloud services descend to Earth for use by the masses or remain floating high out of reach?

An interesting side note…when PDT wasn’t working, Eclipse was defaulting to using KWrite as the (external) editor for PHP files. I was impressed with KWrite’s built-in syntax highlighting and code folding capabilities. I will definitely keep KWrite in mind when I need to make a quick change to a PHP file.

Visit http://www.eclipse.org/pdt/ for more information about the Eclipse PDT project.

I purchased the Sansa e250 2GB model for under $100 from Amazon. SanDisk currently offers other models with 4 GB, 6 GB, and 8 GB of built-in storage. The main advantage of these beefier models is that you can watch longer videos. This is because you can only view videos from the internal storage, not from a microSD memory card. Other than that difference, a 2GB model can be expanded indefinitely via the microSD expansion slot.

I purchased a 2 GB microSD (on sale at CompUSA for $40) which turns my 2 GB Sansa into a 4 GB model. MicroSD memory cards, also known as transflash cards, are VERY small SD (secure digital) flash memory cards. The microSD cards could easily fit on your pinky fingernail. A microSD card is to a Sansa player as a CD is to a CD player. You can have a microSD card with all your rock music, another with all your jazz, another with all your country music (or use whatever method you like to organize your music on your microSD cards) and just pop them into your player whenever you want to listen to something new! No need to attach your player to your PC to “re-sync” it, like you must do with the iPod Nano whenever you want change your music selection. Just pop in a different microSD card and you’ve got a whole new selection of music. This is especially handy when you don’t have access to your PC (long car / plane / train / bus ride, power outage, etc). Just be careful when removing the microSD card from the slot on the Sansa. The slot is spring loaded. I know from experience, when you push on the card to release it from the slot, if you don’t ease it out, it will literally fly out of the slot. Since the cards are so tiny, they could be hard to find.

The screen on the Sansa e250 is a rectangular shape and taller than an iPod’s square display. Viewing portrait pictures on the Sansa is done holding the unit in its normal, upright position. Landscape pictures can be viewed by turning it sideways. Video is always viewed by holding it sideways. This allows the video to take advantage of the extra space of the rectangular display. The display bright, colorful and clear supported by a nice contrast setting and back lighting.

SanDisk includes a media conversion program which will convert your video files into a format and size which will work on your Sansa. The resulting Quicktime video file (which is rotated to display width-wise in the display) is then automatically transferred to the internal memory of your Sansa. The Media Converter software (written by ArcSoft) is one of the weak links for this product. The converted video files that it creates do not play well. Some issues I’ve encountered are “jumpy” video (the motion is not smooth), garbled video (there is sometimes “garbage” on the right side of the video), and sometimes it justs stops playing and I get a message saying this video needs to be converted with the Media Converter program. These problems seem to be more prevalent the further into the video you are. Reseting the player does not resolve the issue.

The e250 also includes some other nifty features like an FM stereo radio. You can record audio from the FM radio onto the player. It also includes a voice recorder. Both of these recording types are saved in WAV format files on the internal memory. The WAV files can be transferred to your PC or simply listened to later on the player.

The e250 can also be used a removable drive on your PC. It comes with a USB connection cable. When plugged into a USB port on your PC, the e250 begins recharging its internal battery. It will also check for updates to the firmware (i.e. the operating system of the player) and download / install those updates from the internet when available.

There are two USB modes that the e250 can use. The MTP allows the player to be synced from applications like Windows Media Player 10. Music files, playlists, and album art can all be synced to the player. In MSC mode, the player acts as a removable drive and you can copy files between the player and your PC.

If your battery is getting old and will last long, you can purchase a new rechargeable and replace it yourself. It basically involves removing a few screws on the back of the unit, taking out the old battery and putting in the new one. Battery life is great between charges. It lasts around 20 hours for when just playing music. The display automatically shuts off at a configurable time limit which conserves power.

Many companies have already developed a multitude of accessories including cases, chargers and FM broadcasters (to play the music over a radio) and more.

Overall, the Sansa e250 is a great media player with lots of features at a very reasonable price. This product is set to take over the market. If Apple doesn’t stop basking in its 15 minutes of fame (which ended 5 minutes ago), it’ll find itself sitting on the curb playing a six string for change.

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