I've actually started considering MP3 players outside the iPod family such as the new Sony touch screen player and the HD Zune. does anyone know how iTunes AAC encoded/purchased (256 kbps unprotected) works on these players? Also, any experience with iTunes AAC on a Blackberry Storm and Playstation 3? All of these devices claim AAC compatibility but I know in the past there were issues with iTunes tagging.

I have two Sony players and never encountered problems. Regarding PS3, the only stupid problem is for tags which are not recognized. I say stupid because on PSP for example all works so i can't really understand because on their admiral machine don't fix it even with tons of FW upgrades released. So tags here works only if the AAC stream is inside a 3gp container.

You can get tags to show up on the PS3 if you use software such as TVersity to "stream" the songs to your console. TVersity will convert the track tags on-the-fly leaving the audio in tact (ie it is a lossless process). You can then play the songs (stream) or use TVersity to copy the songs to your console's internal hard drive. There is a lengthy procedure for getting the track tags to show up when playing the AAC files off of a USB storage device (or anything else that isn't being streamed over a wired/wireless network). You have to take the AAC audio out of the mpeg-4 container, put it in a 3gp container, and then convert the track tags.

My Halo 3 30GB Zune plays iTunes AAC files without problems and I imagine the new Zune HD does as well (the new Zune PC software also plays iTunes AAC files just fine).

Thanks everyone! Just curious, what is a 3GP container?

3gp. I mainly used 3gp with my older cellphone. My new one accepts mp3 files, mpeg-4 AAC files (ie AAC files in an mpeg-4 container), WMA, and many other audio formats that aren't in the 3gp container (same thing for video formats) so I stopped using it about 4 years ago. Don't worry about it as the process of getting iTunes/Nero AAC files over to the PS3, when using a USB storage device (with the tags showing up), is way too complex. TVersity and PS3mediaserver (I think) both convert the track tags on-the-fly so you don't have to go through the long procedure (I believe it takes about 6 minutes, per song, to put them in a 3gp container and convert the tags).