Dell Planning To Purchase Wireless Device Designer Zing

Zing, the innovative company behind the Sirius Stiletto 100 and WiFi-enabled Sandisk Sansa Connect player, could be the target of a Dell acquisition deal. Apparently, the company wants to integrate Zing's technology into consumer entertainment devices:

"In a move that reflects the renewed interest and energy being directedat its consumer business, Dell plans to use Zing and its capabilitiesto continue improving the entertainment experiences it provides itscustomers."

This won't be the first time Zing CEO Tim Bucher, who founded the company in 2005, has sold a company; he was a founding member of WebTV, which was acquired by Microsoft. After that, Bucher worked as an Apple executive until Steve Jobs fired him in 2004, saying, according to Bucher's wrongful termination lawsuit,

"People sometimes think you are manic-depressive…. I'm not sure what I
am going to do, but I think I am going to have to ask you to leave thecompany."

So far, Bucher's designs have found their way into products that leave the iPod behind in terms of functionality. If they let the Zing team continue to work their magic, Dell could stand a better chance of cracking the portable entertainment market than it did last time, especially if it can beat Apple to the punch on integrating a music store into the player.