keywords: ipods ipod nips portable apple
text: New Crop of Portable Players Nips at IPod At least a dozen portable music players are angling to steal sales away from Apple Computer Inc.'s wildly popular line of iPods this holiday season. In the past month alone, five companies have unveiled their iPod challengers - pocket-sized players with hard disks that can store anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 songs.