SanDisk Corp. and Yahoo music partnership

SanDisk Corp. will pair its new wireless music player with free and subscription music services from Yahoo Inc.

Photo: SanDisk Corp. and Yahoo music partnership

Users of the Sansa Connect device will be able to use a Wi-Fi wireless connection to listen to LAUNCHcast Internet radio, browse Flickr photos and see what Yahoo Messenger friends and other Sansa Connect owners nearby are listening to. LAUNCHcast and Flickr are both part of the Yahoo network.

Sansa Connect users with a Yahoo Music Unlimited To Go subscription also can download music and listen to or download tracks their friends are listening to or have recommended.

Apple Inc.'s iPod continues to dominate the portable music player market with a more than 70 percent share while SanDisk has risen over the past few years to rank second with about a 10 percent slice of the market, according to market researcher NPD Group.

Separately, Apple said Monday it sold its 100 millionth iPod.

When the 4-gigabyte Sansa Connect is not connected to a Wi-Fi network, the player behaves like a traditional Flash music player and can be connected to a personal computer. Users can play music and view photos stored either on the player or on an optional microSD card.

Users can listen to subscription music under Microsoft Corp.'s PlaysForSure system through a computer connection.

The Sansa Connect is available in the United States and will be available in Canada later in the year.