Both models will also play back MP3, WMA and downloaded WMA-DRM files, sport a backlit four line dot matrix display and feature voice recording facilities.
To qualify for WMA status the villagers had to allocate part of their land to wildlife protection.
The player has been designed to integrate seamlessly with the legitimate music download version of Napster (2.0) and its secure Windows Media Audio (WMA) audio files.
It features 20 gigabytes of storage (5,000 WMA songs) and is expected to retail for between £300-400.
The SD Audio Player, which is priced at $329.95, is the latest addition to Panasonic's e-wear line of digital audio players, which support MP3 and WMA standards and feature silver and blue good looks.
Microsoft argues, with good reason, that WMA has several technical advantages over MP3, including smaller file-sizes; but the fact remains that Microsoft is using the clout of Windows to promote its own playback software and music format.
As well as encouraging users to switch to Windows XP, it contains a new music-compression format called WMA, which is being positioned as an alternative to the popular MP3 format.
All kinds of factors are responsible, they say: cheap listening devices; listening on the move via mobile phones, or the ubiquitous iPod; and compressed audio file formats such as WMA, AAC and MP3 that allow huge amounts of music to fit on to portable devices.
"My insiders at WMA acknowledge, 'Dave and Jim have failed as leaders,' " Finke wrote in late March, adding, " 'They've got to let Ari lead and get out of the way.' " Endeavor agents argue that other news outlets were, like Finke, reporting the merger as essentially a stealth takeover by the smaller, more vigorous Endeavor, so her reporting must have been accurate.
Finke not only championed the union — "I think Endeavor-WMA is a great fit," she wrote in February — but spoke for the growing alliance between Emanuel and a group of William Morris agents who resented the agency's top executives, Jim Wiatt and Dave Wirtschafter.
Finke not only championed the union—"I think Endeavor-WMA is a great fit," she wrote in February but spoke for the growing alliance between Emanuel and a group of William Morris agents who resented the agency's top executives, Jim Wiatt and Dave Wirtschafter.
