posted on March 18, 2004 09:13:37 AM new
In a time where the iPod has become the ruler of the roost because of ease or use and compact size Microsoft decides to try to compete with a product three times as thick and twice as large and dubs it the iPod Killer? Sounds to me like a MS proprietary portable DVD player at twice the price.
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Microsoft: Europe 'iPod Killer' Debut in 2nd Half of '04
LONDON (Reuters) - The first handheld gadgets to play music and movies on Microsoft Corp.'s "iPod killer" software will be available in Europe in the second half of 2004, the world's largest software company said on Thursday.
The gadgets will run on Microsoft's yet-to-be-unveiled Portable Media Center software in a direct assault on iPod, Apple Computer Inc.'s (NasdaqNM:AAPL - news) hot-selling digital music player.
Working with a host of manufacturing partners, Microsoft is introducing a device that plays movies and stores digital photos as well as songs in a bid to grab a share of the fast-growing digital media player market.
"We think this is going to be one of the hot devices for Christmas 2004," said James Bernard, product manager for Portable Media Center. The U.S. software giant has enlisted Creative Technology Ltd. (CREA.SI) and Korea's Reigncom Ltd.'s (060570.KQ) iRiver International unit to develop devices for the European market.
Microsoft said the Creative devices will be available in Sweden, the United Kingdom and Denmark first, retailing for between 550 euros and 599 euros ($678.50-$738.90) and 399 pounds and 449 pounds ($724-$814.70).
The product will be available in Germany, France, Italy and Spain to follow, but also by year-end, Microsoft said.
Price details and retail launch dates were not available for the iRiver device.
FATTER THAN THE IPOD
The Creative players will be sold with 20 gigabytes or 40 gigabytes of storage capacity, the latter would provide 175 hours of video playback or 10,000 songs, Microsoft said.
The devices play MP3 files as well as audio and video content recorded in Microsoft's digital format. The devices run on the Windows CE operating system.
The Creative player weighs in at 330 grams (11.5 ounces) -- roughly three times as thick as an iPod and roughly twice as long to accommodate its television-quality color screen. It has a USB port and comes with audio and video outputs cable to play media on a television or stereo hi-fi.
Microsoft will be up against Paris-based Archos Inc., one of the earliest entrants in the multi-media player market, and Dell Inc. (NasdaqNMELL - news) to grab a piece of a market that some analysts predict will not take off for a few more years when consumers become more accustomed to saving video content on their PCs.
"I don't think these devices will be changing the consumer electronics landscape in any way this year. By definition, they just don't have widespread appeal," said Mark Mulligan, an analyst with Jupiter Research in London.
But longer term, Microsoft is betting heavily on its strategy to create devices that plug into their computers from which they can store and access all their entertainment content.
Microsoft's Bernard envisaged a scenario where the owner of a Portable Media Center gadget would be able to store hours of their favorite music and movies on the device. They could then download from a news-oriented Web site a round-up of the day's news to watch on the train.
To that end, Microsoft is busy assembling media partners to provide content including movies, music videos and news. It has signed up music label EMI and digital music outfit Napster.
Bernard said more media alliances will be announced closer to the launch date.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on March 18, 2004 12:08:07 PM new
M$ is quite a few days late on this one...that player is a brick compared to an iPod, and runs on Windows to boot..combination players have been tried before, most people don't want them....
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posted on March 18, 2004 12:37:57 PM new
You mean you don't think that a $700, nearly 1 pound, inch thick, 8 inch long opportunity to watch movies that will take most users the better part of a day to download and probably 4 to upload is going to be a big hit amongjoggers? You just lack vision
This monstrosity is going to tank. I doubt it will ever be seen in the US. BTW - how is the movie industry going to justify selling ddigital files of movies after their lawsuit to pull the software that would allow you to rip your own from a DVD you already own?
I'll have to remember to check the ebay.uk site around the holidays to see how they are doing.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
[ edited by Fenix03 on Mar 18, 2004 12:39 PM ]
posted on March 18, 2004 12:41:03 PM new
Oh yeah - did you know that Coke is now in the MP3 game with their own site in Europe?
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on March 18, 2004 08:34:00 PM new
I have seen the coke mp3 player, it's a rebranded RIO-Volt SP50 made by Sonic Blue....very collectible in a few years I'd imagine...haven't seen or heard of their download site, got an address?
All these lame attempts to compete with iTunes Music Store and the iPod...you're right, they just don't get it...in order to compete, they're going to have to realize that mp3 player buyers, who are mostly late teens and genXers are not just buying appliances, they're buying panache, cache, or whatever you call that sense of style that so far only Apple's player has. Then they're going to have to affiliate themselves with a download site that actually has close to as many songs and albums as the iTunes Music Store...so far nobody even comes close...Take WalMart's dumb attempt...all their files are in Windows Media Player format !
posted on March 18, 2004 11:54:50 PM new
The Coke site MyCokeMusic.com. I was reading about it on the BBC site. It's new, just launched in April and is averaging about 10,000 downloads a week but they are using media player format too.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
ELL - news) to grab a piece of a market that some analysts predict will not take off for a few more years when consumers become more accustomed to saving video content on their PCs.
