That’s always been the paradox when it comes to Dell, America’s leading direct-to-consumer computer retailer. Say the name and people think computers. Founded by Michael Dell in 1984, the company is known for quality products and reliable support, as well as that obnoxious “Dell Dude” who saturated the TV airwaves a few years back with the battle cry, “Dude! You’re getting a Dell!”

But when it comes to selling music players, Dell just doesn’t seem all that interested in pushing its product.

Case in point: On September 20th, Dell introduced a new digital player to compete with Apple’s iPod Shuffle. Called the DJ Ditty, it weighs in at only 1.29 ounces, can hold up to 220 songs and its battery can last up to 14 hours. Plus, this little Ditty has an FM tuner, something Apple has yet to offer in its line. As with the Shuffle, the DJ Ditty starts at $99.

And, like the Apple iTunes/iPod synergy, Dell has the Dell Music Store, which is powered by MusicMatch. Dell players are also compatible with Napster-To-Go which means, unlike the iPod, Dell’s players are ready to go when it comes to those subscription music plans where you get all the music you want as long as you pay a low monthly fee.

Yet, 24 hours after the announcement, there wasn’t a single mention of the new DJ Ditty on Dell’s home page. Oh, sure, you’ll find all you need to know if you dig hard enough, and if you already know the name of the product, Dell’s search feature will point you in the right direction.

But unlike Apple, which plasters pictures of iPods all over the company’s home page whenever Steve Jobs does so much as sneeze, Dell’s music player line seems almost as if it’s an afterthought. In fact, the category that leads you to Dell’s music players is titled “Home & Home Office” and describes itself as “Computers, printers, TVs and other consumer electronics and accessories for you and your family.”

To Dell’s credit, the company did issue some press describing the product. However, the press release we found on the company’s Web site was titled, “Dell Expands Personal Technology Portfolio with Printers, Handhelds and Miniature Music Player.” A title that, we’re sure you’ll agree, totally drips rock ‘n’ roll.

So far, Apple has sold more than 22 million iPods. But, it’s not so late in the game that a competitor can’t overtake Apple by offering better features, such as the FM tuner, Napster-To-Go capability and longer battery life. As with all Dell products, there’s plenty of steak in the DJ Ditty. Now, if only the company would put some effort into selling the sizzle.

While Dell was quietly telling the world about its new music player, Steve Jobs was raising a ruckus in France.

Speaking at the Apple Expo in Paris, the iPodmeister confirmed rumors that at least two major record labels want him to raise song prices on iTunes. Calling the labels greedy, Jobs promised to fight their efforts to induce him to raise prices, and said that such a move would only encourage music piracy.

Jobs also said that the labels, after you subtract manufacturing, marketing and return costs, earned more profit from selling songs through iTunes than from selling CDs.

“So if they want to raise the prices it just means they’re getting a little greedy,” Jobs said.

The rumors about some of the labels wanting higher prices emerged as current contracts to supply iTunes with inventory moved closer to their expiration dates. While no one has admitted to actually threatening to pull their product from iTunes, both Sony BMG and Warner Music Group have been mentioned in published reports as being not-so-happy campers. Furthermore, Sony BMG has yet to license its wares to Apple for the company’s Japanese iTunes store.

But there may be more issues than iTunes’ standard 99-cents-per-song price tag. Philip Leigh, of market research firm Inside Digital Media, said the labels aren’t too keen over Apple’s a la carte, pick ‘n’ choose format.

“A full CD might have only three or four popular songs,” Leigh said. “Now that the consumer’s able to buy each song individually, they don’t have to buy the whole CD and the labels are concerned that this will result in lower revenues.”

Sprint and RealNetworks have hooked up to bring Rhapsody’s radio stations to cell phone users.

Rhapsody Radio will be available on the Sprint PCS Vision SM Multimedia Service, and will include several of the subscription music service’s radio channels, including alternative, country, ’70s and pop hits.

Along with the radio formats, Rhapsody Radio will include streaming podcasts from National Public Radio’s popular Southern California station, KCRW, including the critically acclaimed music show Morning Becomes Eclectic, as well as Harry Shearer’s Le Show.

“We are delighted to make some of the popular stations in Rhapsody Radio available to Sprint PCS customers,” Dan Sheeran, Senior VP of Premium Consumer Services at RealNetworks, said when announcing the hook-up. “This is an important step in our plan to make Rhapsody available to consumers any time from any device.”

As if the digital age didn’t make one paranoid enough, what with identity theft, computer viruses and password phishing, there appears to be yet another reason you should be looking over your shoulder.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, recently announced they came up with a way to spy on what people are typing on their keyboards simply by listening to the subtle differences of the sounds made by fingers striking the keys.

The researchers used several 10-minute recordings of people typing and fed them into a computer.

In the first analysis, the computer scored approximately a 60 percent accuracy rate. However, after the software improved with experience, it eventually scored as high as 96 percent accuracy.

“It’s a form of acoustical spying that should raise red flags among computer security and privacy experts,” said Doug Tygar, a Berkeley computer science professor and the study’s principal investigator.

So far, Berkeley researchers say that the study is rather limited, and does not take into account such keying methods as hitting the backspace, control or caps lock keys. Nor, for that matter, does it account for any mouse action. However, the same researchers have described a method to overcome those limitations. Isn’t science wonderful?