To kick off the Consumer Electronics Show here, the company announced Rolly, an MP3 player and robot. The palm-sized, egg-shaped media device moves its "arms", "shoulders", and wheels to the beat, all while flashing an array of lights. (Sony claims it can display up to 700 colors). Rolly has 2 Gbytes of flash memory, which will store roughly 520 128-Kbit/s MP3s files. The player also supports AAC files (but obviously not those with Apple's DRM attached).

Microsoft is touting this function as a means to access spreadsheet data on-the-go, without the assistance of a laptop. Rather than powering up a personal computer, users can access "killer deal-closing slide with just a few flicks of [their] finger," wrote Blair Neumann, a program manager in Microsoft's Mac development group.

Apple Computer Inc. announced Monday that it signed new deals with the companies supplying flash memory components for its popular iPod digital music players ahead of the holiday buying season.

Bloomberg reports that Apple's earnings report later today will focus on Mac and iPod sales which make up for 75% of the company's revenue.

Apple Releases Free Firmware Update for iPod Touch Owners

According to Craig Berger analyst for FBR Capital Markets, Apple has revised both its third and fourth calendar quarter iPhone build numbers "significantly higher" to more than 15 million units. The company also placed orders for an additional 2 million 2G iPhones.

Billboard reports that Spanish consumers will soon have to pay an anti-piracy tax on media devices such as the iPod which are capable of storing, recording or playing sounds or images.

Analyst Ben Reitzes of Lehman Brothers noted to clients this week that the 8GB iPod touch is currently showing a shipping delay of 1-2 days on orders made on the online Apple store.

Through iTunes, the premiere iPod syncing software that works on Mac or PC, you import a CD easily, buy songs or podcasts from the iTunes store sync or upload it to your iPod. iTunes starts syncing automatically after hooking up your iPod. Instant music to go, as well as news and commentary on any subject you like. I like the Audiobooks section for those long rides which has over 11,000 titles. Prices start at just $2.95 per title, Songs are only 99 cents. Syncing is blindingly easy and you can start building your own library of audiobooks — a number of them available exclusively at the iTunes Music Store including the all six Harry Potter audiobooks. Let's Accessorize! With all new things come the upgrades and gizmos to customize the new toy to perfectly fit your tastes and preferences. iPod Nano is no different offering a wide-variety of earphone choices, many colored skins to make you Nano uniquely yours.

Many of the newer cars come iPod capable with the hookups necessary, but since I have an older model vehicle I've done the conventional iTrip and plug-in car Monster option. Either way, it allows you to take you music with you on the road with "seamless integration between you car and your iPod." In other words, fabulous sounds while you drive. A menu will popup and you have to select the option onvert Selection for iPod? iTunes will automatically convert the selected files into an iPod-ready video format. You will be able to monitor the status of the conversion process by clicking on ource? And then converting Songs? After converting your video clips, you now how two files with the same content. You may delete the older file. It is very easy to distinguish between the two files.