For the Shorties - SanDisk Sansa Shaker

This is one of those posts where there isn’t a whole lot of information to share, but it’s still information that needs to be shared. It’s no secret by now that DAPs -digital audio players, or mp3 players if you must call them that - are on the extremely fast track to replacing CD players and they’re also butting in on a whole lot of related segments, too. While older kids will probably still want an iPod (or maybe even a Zune - we don’t judge), there’s that segment of the kid population who wouldn’t mind an mp3 player of their own, but you might not want to put a $250 iPod in their tiny little hands either. Apple makes the iPod shuffle and nano as well, but they aren’t really “kid-centric” devices. So SanDisk has decided to step in and see if they can’t add something to this new market.

The SanDisk Sansa Shaker is an all-new kid-centric mp3 player, right down to the very design of the hardware. The Shaker sports a cylindrical hardware design in either pink or blue with some very interesting playback and additional features. The controls are found on the edges of the cylinder, as seen in the picture. Each model also features dual headphone output (presumably so you and your BFF can listen to the same track). If there’s more than two people, you might want to consider the built-in speaker for everyone’s enjoyment. The Shaker has a built-in 512MB capacity as well an an SD card expansion slot for adding more of that SanDisk flash memory goodness. In a bit of a mystery, there’s also an all-new “Shake” feature, as the name implies but does not elaborate on. My guess? A random play feature.

There’s exactly no details on pricing or release dates for the Sansa Shaker, but since it’s aimed at kids, it seems like it’d be pretty cheap. You can find out a little more about it from AnythingButiPod, that is also an extremely neutral and unbiased source of information in regards to mp3 players. Really.