Dell Wisely Drops MP3 Player Plans

Wired.com writes: We made fun of Dell during a very different economy, back in July, for making noise about re-entering the MP3 player market. We needn't have bothered, as it turns out. A source familiar with the matter tells the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) that Dell has abandoned those plans for the time being.

The company had hoped to release a portable device that works in conjunction with a server-based music service -- probably something somewhat along the lines of Slacker that would stream and sync music via Wi-Fi.

Dell acquired the wireless music-focused Zing in August of 2007, it would stand to reason that it would try to release something using that technology in time for the '08 holiday season.

With the coming shopping season expected to be the most miserly one in years, Dell is wise not to launch a new line of music players at this particular moment in time -- especially because its previous efforts, while well designed, were roundly spanked in the still-Apple-dominated market for portable audio.