The scoop: Sansa Connect wireless MP3 player, by SanDisk, about $250.

What it is: A cell-phone-size digital music player with Wi-Fi connectivity, the 4GB (flash memory) Sansa Connect lets you store about 1,000 songs. A microSD card stores an extra 2GB of songs. The Wi-Fi connection lets you listen to Internet radio stations through the Yahoo Music service and Yahoo's LAUNCHcast, as well as access Flickr photos. Subscribers to Yahoo's Music Unlimited can access that service through the device as well. The Sansa Connect includes a 2.2-inch bright-color screen, a carrying pouch and USB cable for transferring music and recharging the battery.

Click to see: Sansa Connect wireless MP3 player

Why it's cool: Like Microsoft's Zune player, the Sansa Connect lets you access services not available on the iPod. And kudos to SanDisk for supporting advanced wireless security settings -- on my WPA2-protected network I was able to enter my pass code and connect quickly. A click wheel and button combination on the device makes navigation easy: The click wheel moves you up and down through menu choices, and lets you input letters for passwords.

Some caveats: The device takes a long time to recharge its battery when it's connected via a computer's USB port. It's faster to recharge the battery by connecting the AC adapter. Another small annoyance is that to transfer music from a PC to the Sansa Connect, you have to use the Yahoo Music management software, which means another application on your PC that wants to play all your music files.

Bottom line: The Wi-Fi connection is cool if you are into Internet radio or Flickr photo access, or want to access Yahoo's Music Unlimited service remotely. If you're not that interested in Wi-Fi access for those things, the Sansa Connect is a standard digital music player.

Grade: **** (out of five)

The scoop: OT-3 wireless MP3 headset player, by OTTO Engineering, about $85 for the 512MB version.

What it is: The OT-3 is a behind-the-ears headset with a built-in MP3 digital music player. All the controls -- including play, forward, reverse and volume -- are built into the headset. There are no wires -- just slap on the OT-3 and start listening to music.

Click to see: The OTTO wireless MP3 headset player

Why it's cool: This device is great to use while you're exercising or taking part in outdoor activities, because you don't have to worry about headphone wires getting in the way.