iPod killers ready to roll
p2pnet.net News:- The first handhelds dubbed ‘iPod killers’ and able to play music and movies on Microsoft Corp software, will be available in Europe by the end of this year.
EMI Music and Napster II say they’ll support Microsoft Windows Mobile-based Portable Media Centers, "created for people who want to enjoy their digital movies, recorded television, photos and music on the go".
"Microsoft will localize Windows Mobile software for Portable Media Centers to allow manufacturing partners to ship devices in Europe, Asia and North America in the second half of 2004," it says.
Expected to be available from Creative Technology, iRiver International, Samsung Electronics, SANYO and ViewSonic, the 40GB devices will hold up to 175 hours of video, 10,000 songs and 100,000 pictures, says Microsoft.
"Windows Mobile software for Portable Media Centers is built on Windows CE .NET, the real-time operating system designed to power the next generation of smart mobile and small-footprint devices," it adds. "Portable Media Centers are being developed on the Intel XScale technology reference design."
March 19th, 2004 at 8:18 pm
Oh Christ, these multi-media players have been available for a while – the RCA Lyra and Archos players, this is nothing new and hardly news! and the former are more ‘open’ than this Microsoft version.
MS will surely F**k it up anyway, they won’t allow it to use popular video/audio codecs like DivX, MPEG4, Ogg Vorbis, AAC etc. Plus these ‘Totable’ Media Center players will be full of ‘bugs’ and flaws, let’s be realistic, Microsoft is involved.
This thing will be a brick, huge, about 4 times the size and 5 times the weight of an iPod with maybe 3 hrs. battery life if you watch video on the teeny screen.
As far as ‘iPod killers’, Microsoft just wanted to get that buzz phrase in the media, and the so-called tech news sites fell hook-line&sinker. These already available, in a different category altogether, players are slow selling. Slow down and look at the details and expense of these, only a few tools will fork over $800 CDN for a stripped mini-laptop with a 90mm (3.5″) screen. Apple’s shakin’ in it’s boots all the way to the bank LMAO.
Long live Kazaa and iPod!
May 7th, 2004 at 5:23 pm
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/products/portablemediacenters/pmc_promo_video_56k.asx
from what I see, ipod is toast.