Dell Looks At Digital Music Player, Again

The sub $100 player could be wirelessly linked to Dell PCs and to a Dell music subscription service, according to reports.

Dell plans to leverage technology it bought from software startup Zing Systems in August 2007, to run the player and the service, according to paidcontent.org. Dell first took aim at Apple's iPod in 2003 with the Dell Digital Jukebox (Dell DJ), but started to exit the market three years later. Dell executives could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

At a Bear Stearns conference in 2006, then-CEO Kevin Rollins said it was quite challenging to make money in certain consumer electronics segments such as digital music players.

"There are some competitors who have had great success in certain categories like Apple with the music business which appear to be doing quite well, so we're probably not going to go take a whack at that one, because we have better fish to fry in storage and services and the enterprise," Rollins said at that conference.

The reports come a day after Dell announced it was revamping its desktop line to include a thinner-line of PCs, branded Studio Hybrid, as well as its Inspiron line of desktops and notebooks.