iPod mPod saga continues
p2p news / p2pnet: According to The New York Times, Microsoft wants to do a number on Apple by producing an iPod killer. But, contradicts the BBC, that’s not the way it is.
“Microsoft has said reports that the company is planning an MP3 player to rival the iPod are based on ’speculation and rumours’,” it says.
But iPod versus mPod is too good to drop and elements of the mainstream media are still treating it as a virtual fait accomplit.
“Microsoft is indeed developing a digital-media player to compete with Apple’s iPod, and there’s much more to the story,” says The Seattle Times‘ Brier Dudley.
"Microsoft isn’t commenting, saying what’s being developed is actually a complete line of Xbox-branded digital-media products, including Argo, a device that plays media, a software media player and an online media service” and being developed within the Xbox group under Xbox co-founder J Allard.
“His team includes people who previously worked on MSN Music, an online music service that had a promising debut in 2004 but fell victim to Microsoft’s dithering over its music strategy,” says the story, going on, “Now the company is firmly behind Argo. It has committed hundreds of millions to produce and market the devices.”
And, the mPod will be Wi-Fi capable, says Dudley.
With that in mind, Microsoft and Apple are in a, “desperate behind-the-scenes race to develop a new generation of personal music and video players in time for Christmas, with Microsoft, the biggest name in software, aiming to finally break the dominance of the mighty iPod,” declares The Independent.
“It already looks as though the winner could be the first to develop a wireless player, where songs can be downloaded without having to plug the equipment into a personal computer.”
Moreover, “Apple is also said to be closing in on a new product launch in collaboration with Research in Motion, the maker of the Blackberry, plus a new version of the video iPod,” says the story, adding:
“The secrecy surrounding both sides’ product development project reflects the high stakes being played for. Apple is selling about 3 million iPods every month and sales of the devices are expected to top $8bn (£4.3bn) this year. It makes a further $2bn in revenues from music sales through its iTunes online music store. Microsoft, whose MSN network of websites also sells music, is determined to move back in from the sidelines of this market.”
Meanwhile, “Microsoft’s mobile player probably will look like an iPod but with a larger screen,” says James Coates in The Los Angeles Times.
“It will access a huge Microsoft-sanctioned version of Apple’s online music store for 99-cent downloads using the Windows Media Player 11, Microsoft’s version of Apple’s iTunes music software.”
And it looks as though it’ll also do an Apple, using DRM to make sure consumers only consume what they’re told to consume..
Apple iTunes are for iPods alone. Similarly, having cost the now standard rip-off dollar per download, “Apparently the only music [files] that the Media Player will permit sharing will be tunes acquired from Microsoft’s store" to prevent, "swapping pirated music files,” says Coates, adding:
“Remember that this same software is the program that you will use to play sounds and videos on your PC. There will be no escaping the Media Player when the next Microsoft operating system arrives."
Digg this.
Also See:
do a number – Microsoft iPod Killer is nigh, July 6, 2006
contradicts -Microsoft denies mPod plans, July 7, 2006
The Seattle Times – Argo aims guns at more than iPod, July 10, 2006
The Independent – Microsoft and Apple race to launch wireless downloads, July 11, 2006
The Los Angeles Times – Media Player 11’s function fine; form to matter more, July 9, 2006
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