Microsoft confirms 'iPod Killer'

CNN ^ | July 21, 2006

[The Lion Roars]

Microsoft Corp. said Friday it plans to release a new music and entertainment player and accompanying software under the "Zune" brand this year, in a belated attempt to challenge the dominance of Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod player.

The announcement comes after weeks of rumors and speculation about such an offering. Microsoft has already touted the products to record companies.

"Under the Zune brand, we will deliver a family of hardware and software products, the first of which will be available this year," said Chris Stephenson, general manager of market for entertainment and services at Microsoft, in an statement. "We see a great opportunity to bring together technology and community to allow consumers to explore and discover music together."

The world's largest software maker faces an uphill climb in closing the gap on Apple's (Charts) iPod media player and iTunes Music Store, the runaway leaders in their respective areas.

[laotzu]

community to allow consumers to explore and discover music together

Let's all hold hands and sing.

[aft_lizard]

If they make it cheap and easy enough they can take on iPod,

[Abathar]

Until some idiot Euro-judge demands they pay huge fines and release all their code because they are taking too much of the market-share you mean......

[Spktyr]

No, because the iPod installed base is far too large and people have too much invested in iTMS purchases.

Also, there's going to be a lot of lawsuits by current MP3 makers over this - Samsung, Sony, Sandisk, et al *cannot* be happy about this.

[Mr. Brightside]

I hope Microsoft can do this.

It is frustrating that I cannot get my Media Player playlists onto my iPod. Also, some of my files cannot be read by iTunes, which is necessary to get the songs on the iPod.

[inkling]

Why would any technology firm take on the iPod now? The thing's been around for years!

It's a telling sign that Microsoft is spending its time looking backward and trying to undo years of Apple's dominance. They should be working on developing the next iPod-like "must-have" technology. I'm sure Apple is.

[bcsco]

I bought an IPod. I hardly ever use it and it was a dumb purchase for me. The only time I use it is when I'm mowing the lawn.

Beyond that, there's problems with the Apple IPod that perhaps Microsoft can circumvent: The Apple music file format is not compatible with PC CD burning. The songs can be burned to a CD, but the disc isn't playable on a car or home system. When the disc is inserted the display shows the total time but only one track. Nothing plays.

To get around this, one has to purchase software that converts the ITunes file to a WMA or mp3 format that is compatible with disc burning. That, of course, costs the user extra cash.

Microsoft's entry will probably get around this but at what expense? There are already other units available that play mp3 file formats. Creative and RCA both come to mind as makers. The RCA Lyra units are pretty inexpensive comparatively, although they don't have nearly the storage capacity.

This is something anyone should know before spending a lot of cash on an Apple Ipod.

[MichiganConservative]

We see a great opportunity to bring together technology and community to allow consumers to explore and discover music together."

Yeah, like there will be a lot of exploring and discovering going on. The group that seems to have taken to these iPods the most seems to be college students. I bet that if you took their iPods, most of what you'd find is what is currently being pushed on eMpTyV: pop-punk, generic R&B/hip hop/rap, top-40 pop bubblegum. I don't need an iPod or eMpTyV to find music.

[aft_lizard]

I dont buy the there installed base is too large argument. Sony came in and dominated an already saturated videogame market in 1995 with the PS1. Plus I heard MS is buying rights to music to the sum of billions of dollars so that purchasers can put music for free on there players, or at a heavy discount. And we both know that MS is willing to lose billions to create a large userbase.

[MichiganConservative]

I got an iPod free. I intend to sell it unused to the highest bidder.

[bmwcyle]

Creative Zen Photo, I have one and love it.

[Mr. Blonde]

Is there a worse name for this they could think of? They should have taken another page out of the Apple playbook and continued using X in front of their products.

[theFIRMbss]

>No, because the iPod installed base is far too large and people have too much invested in iTMS purchases

Ha, ha-ha-ha, ha!
Ah, ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha! Ha!
HA-HA, ha-ha-ha . . .

[TruthWillWin]

Not hardly. Genesis describes events occuring 1000's of years ago. Fossil records not disputed indicate life millions of years ago.

[jimbo123]

I've already converted my music to the iPod format and downloaded a bunch of music from iTunes. Why should I buy a different player and be forced to re-import my music collection and re-buy the music I bought on iTunes. I'm a fan of Microsoft but they seem a day late and a dollar short in my eyes.

[TruthWillWin]

Not hardly. Genesis describes events occuring 1000's of years ago. Fossil records not disputed indicate life millions of years ago.

Post 15, wrong thread, sorry.

[TruthBeforeAll]

Has Microsoft ever actually had a truely innovative, original idea in their existance?

Microsoft is to the computing world what WalMart is to the retail world.

[Paloma_55]

I can't figure out why cars come with CD players when they could put a USB port on the front of the thing and allow me to play hundreds of songs without fiddling while driving.

A record button would be nice too so I could pull songs off the FM when I happen to get a good station. The record would put the last minute of music and everything up to when I push the stop.

[6SJ7]

The songs can be burned to a CD, but the disc isn't playable on a car or home system.

I've seen this problem of not being able to play a burned CD on certain car or home CD players. It can happen if the car or home player is an older model. I've also experienced this happening if I use particular brands of burnable CD's. Some work better than others, strangely enough. personally, I've had good luck with the Verbatim brand.