This is going to be another short entry to the series.  One of the avenues I wanted to explore was wireless connectivity.  This is an area which really is a sign of things to come.  Down the road, I think these technologies will really come much more to the forefront with things like wireless connections to an online marketplace, wireless sync, and wireless audio.  For now, however, these technologies have gained a pretty minimal foothold into the media player market.  In fact, only one of the players involved in the series (the Zune) offers a wireless connection.  Two of the players (Sony Walkman Video and Samsung YP-P2) offer Bluetooth audio connections.   The other three do not offer any kind of wireless connection.  And even those which do offer such connectivity, leave much to be desired in the implementation.

Let’s starts with wireless networking.  I first saw this innovation with the Sandisk Sansa Connect (now defunct), but it was dropped when the new line, including the View was introduced.  At that time, and also with the original Zune, the point of the wireless access was to allow two devices to communicate with one another and share music.   Honestly, I never got that feature.  I never knew anyone who owned the same portable media player I did.  And even if I had, I rarely listened to music while connected to the same wireless network.  But that is just me.

With the Zune 2, however, Microsoft has really given us some reasons to be excited about this technology.  First, like Apple’s iPhone, Zune features an online marketplace.  If you are connected wirelessly, you can surf straight to this marketplace from your device, and download music directly without the intervention of a computer.  Now that is a really useful feature. 

Even more exciting, however, is the interaction between the wireless network and the FM radio.  Now, I have to preface this by saying I rarely use the FM radio on any of my portable media players.  Nonetheless, if you listen to FM radio, you have probably shared this experience.  You come into a song halfway through.  You are pretty sure you know the band, and can hum the chorus.  But good luck finding the CD (or download) with only that information.  With the Zune, you can hit a single button and zip straight from the FM radio to the Zune marketplace where you can download any song and replay it as you wish. 

The other really cool feature on the Zune is the wireless sync.  Just connect to your wireless network, and it will automatically sync with your Zune account, without the need to connect to your computer.  This may not seem like much, but it means you don’t have to sit down at your computer in order to update your library, and that is pretty cool.

And while you are at it…you can still connect your Zune to anyone else on your network using a Zune, and share your music with them…if you choose to do so.

While the Zune lets you connect and download music on the fly, the one thing it does not allow you to do wirelessly is listen to your music.  For this, you will need a Bluetooth connection.  Only two of the media players I looked at offer a connection to Bluetooth headphones: Sony and Samsung.

To be honest, I have found Bluetooth to be probably the most underutilized technology available in the mobile marketplace.  The problem with Bluetooth is sort of a chicken and an egg type problem.  As it has currently been developed, it works well for making phone calls, but does not offer a great connection for listening to music.  Because of this, most high end headphone manufacturers do not implement the technology, feeling that the sound will be unacceptably poor.  At the same time, because there are not many Bluetooth headphone manufacturers out there, most device manufacturers do not add Bluetooth capability to music players.  Someone has to move first, and until they do, we will be stuck listening to music on wired headphones. 

In the meantime, another upstart, Kleer, has come along featuring an alternative to Bluetooth, which features a more secure and significantly stronger, wireless connection.  I have not had the chance to use Kleer (though I have been trying to get my hands on some headphones using this technology), but it could very well be the answer to listening to music wirelessly.  For now, though, only two of the players feature Bluetooth connectivity.  So, let’s take a look at how this all worked with the Sony and the Samsung players.

The Sony Walkman had no trouble finding and connecting to any of the Bluetooth headphones I threw at it (and for purposes of this article, I am using the Etymotic ety-8 in-ear headphones.)  The nice thing here was that you could set any headphones as the default.  When you activate the Bluetooth, it will automatically seek out and connect to the default headphones.

I did find, however, that the connection to my Bluetooth headphones could be a bit finicky.  Oftentimes, the signal would fade or skip at inopportune times; especially if I turned the headphones to the wrong angle. Generally, these are problems which which are associated with straying with the headphones too far from the base unit.  I never strayed far enough, however, to justify this behavior. 

The story on the Samsung was even worse.  The Bluetooth skipped terribly.  In fact it was unable to complete more than a single bar of any song.  That being said, unlike the Sony, the Samsung can connect to more than just your wireless headphones.  It can also connect via Bluetooth with your  mobile phone, computer, or any other Bluetooth enabled device.  This allows you to transfer files (such as music or video) wirelessly, which is always a pretty cool option.

Overall, I have to say that I have been incredibly disappointed by the implementation of Bluetooth on portable media players.  And, I have to say, everyone involved is to blame.  First, the current Bluetooth protocol is not strong enough or secure enough to adequately handle the constant stream required for stereo audio.  Bluetooth needs to be significantly improved, or abandoned for a better technology which is more capable of handling stereo audio – such as Kleer Wireless.  One of the reasons, I imagine, that the Bluetooth protocol has not been improved by now, is that almost no media players have adopted Bluetooth audio.  To be more precise, Apple has virtually shunned Bluetooth.  It has never been included in any iPod, including the iPod Touch or iPhone.  Like it or not, the iPod is the most popular line of media players around.  When Apple recently brought us the ill-advised Shuffle with the special controls-on-the-headphones-design, headphone manufacturers practically fell over themselves making compatible headphones.  You can only imagine what this would mean for Bluetooth (or any other wireless protocol) were Apple to adopt it.  Finally, there are not enough manufacturers willing to include Bluetooth in their headphones.  Until higher end manufacturers find a way to offer wireless sound quality which is the equivalent of the same sound quality they are able to deliver through wired headphones, it is simply unlikely that wireless audio will ever become more than the novelty it is today.

I have long had high hopes for a wireless world.  A world in which we could purchase, load, and enjoy music with no wires.  As these devices have shown, we are not even close to that point.  Only one device currently allows you to purchase and load music wirelessly (though in the interest of completeness, the iPod Touch, also allows you to access iTunes wirelessly directly form the device).  And only two devices allow you to enjoy your music with wireless headphones.  And those treat it more as an afterthought or a novelty than anything else.  Heck. Sony has a full line of media players, and offers Bluetooth only in one model.  I can only say that I am disappointed in the way the industry, as whole, has ignored or underutilized wireless technology.  Hopefully, this will begin to change soon and we will begin to see more convenient, easier to use devices…and at last a complete end to headphone tangled wires.  One can dream, right?

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