Microsoft anti-iPod team
p2p news / p2pnet: Microsoft, Toshiba, Victor Co of Japan, NTT DoCoMo and five other Japanese companies are working together to create a rival to Apple’s iPod.
“Microsoft intends to develop audio and video playback software and provide it to Toshiba and Victor which will develop portable music players that accept the software by the end of June, it said,” states TMCNet.
“NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s largest mobile-phone operator, is also expected to come up with a mobile phone that can be used as a music and video player in the summer, it said, adding five other companies, including NTT Communications, will also take part in the project.”
Microsoft will develop the software while consumer electronics makers Toshiba and Victor, will make the portable device, says Bloomberg News, going on:
” DoCoMo, Japan’s largest mobile phone operator, last month said it would offer a handset that is compatible with Microsoft’s software, and that lets customers transfer Windows format music files from their personal computers to their cell-phones.”
Neither story says if the companies will also develop an iPod sales tool such as iTunes.
Also See:
TMCNet – Microsoft to tie up with Toshiba, others in music distribution, May 31, 2006
Bloomberg News – Microsoft, Toshiba, DoCoMo, Victor to Develop Japan iPod Rival, June 1, 2006
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June 2nd, 2006 at 3:29 pm
If it’s cheaper than an IPod for the same storage, and it plays .ogg and .flac, count me in.
June 2nd, 2006 at 5:39 pm
With Monopolysoft developing the software do you really expect the resulting product to support .ogg and .flac?
Geez, you’d think iTunes and iPod were magic or something. Sure, they are well designed products (for the most part…). THE thing, the ONLY thing that really sets them apart from their competitors (some of which are offering totally worthy products that are every bit as good as Apple’s) is MARKETING. Once more for emphasis, M-A-R-K-E-T-I-N-G. If somebody wants to seriously challenge Apple in the portable market it will be done with marketing, advertising, and branding. A decent product wouldn’t hurt either, but even a product that blew Apple away will not take over without very effective marketing.
P.S. If you think your buying habits are not heavily influenced by marketing you are a fool.
June 2nd, 2006 at 7:22 pm
If it:-
- Runs Rockbox
- Is easily upgradable and fixable. Like disks and easily replacable batteries
- Supports USB Mass Storage and USB host
- Has a decent size screen
- Is big enough to take a 60Gb 1.8″ disk or preferably a standard 2.5″ disk
Then yes please.
But if it’s another pile of borked Creative firmware, tied to borked Microsoft software, then no thanks.
June 2nd, 2006 at 7:23 pm
We don’t need no steenking DRM, m’ok?
And you just know this is going to be riddled with it.
June 4th, 2006 at 4:45 pm
If your buying habits are heavily influenced by marketing, you ARE a fool. Do your own research before buying anything.
You need to look at commercials in a certain light. Sure, it sounds great, but what is being left out? It eats batteries? The ink cartridges cost 50 bucks a piece?
Do your own research! Be a RESPONSIBLE consumer.
June 7th, 2006 at 8:07 am
I’m sure if the Microsoft X-POD or whatever they call it catches on then within a year or two you’ll be able to instal Linux on it – just like you can on the X-BOX and the iPod. Then you’ll be able to play .ogg and FLAC and shit on it. (At least if it has a hard drive and it’s not just a flash memory system…)
Anyway, I think Microsoft’s main motive here (more than hardware sales) is to win the format war with Apple’s AAC and have DRMed WMA become the defacto standard. But with P2P getting bigger by the day, I antisipate that MP3 is here to stay for quite some time since it plays on everything.