Digital Trends News' Geoff Duncan reports that SanDisk today announced a partnership with Yahoo! "to provide music, media and messaging service for its new Sansa Connect Wi-Fi-enabled flash-based media player."

"The announcement is timed to coincide with the retail availability of the Sansa Connect in the United States," Duncan writes. "Announced last January, the Sansa Connect combines the features of a flash-based media player (with microSD slot) with Wi-Fi capabilities which (now) tap into several online Yahoo! features and services. Users with a Yahoo! ID and access to an open Wi-Fi connection (WAP/WEP encryption is supported) will be able to tap into Yahoo's LAUNCHcast Internet radio, Flickr photo sets, and see what music nearby Sansa Connect owners and Yahoo! Messenger friends are playing. In addition, Sansa Connect owners with Yahoo! Music Unlimited To Go subscriptions will be able to download music, as well as listen to or download tracks their friends are listening to, or which they've recommended."

More here from Macworld ... more here from Computerworld ... more here from Reuters ... and the press release is here.