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Microsoft's iPod-Killer: Portable Media Center?
securitas writes "The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Todd Bishop reports on what's billed as an iPod-killer: the Microsoft Portable Media Center line of digital media players that 'will store and play back video, music and photos.' The devices are expected to be demonstrated at CES this week. Hardware manufacturers Samsung, ViewSonic, iRiver, and Creative are apparently developing versions of the devices that 'will run a specialized version of Windows CE.' Analysts say that the PMCs will come with 40 GB hard drives and retail for $400 to $700. I got a look at an early version of the RCA Lyra Audio/Video Jukebox mentioned unfavorably in the article due to its size. The size is a function of needing a reasonably-sized screen to watch video. The article has an image of a Portable Media Center prototype. The devices are slated to ship in the second half of 2004."
The Blue Screen of Death has now been replaced by the Color Bar Test Pattern.
It costs 300 dollars more. And it runs Windows CEment.
add bluetooth so it can connect to the internet via a bluetooth cell phone and play internet radio.
What people want is something small, stylish and cheap. For this kind of price I think most people would buy a palm PC instead, which although with a lot smaller storage they are cheaper and can do more.
Just because it does everything does not make it valuable to consumers... look at the N-Gage.
Microsoft seems to have developed the generation 2 ipod in terms of features and uses. I would expect Apple already has a generation 3 in development... but i wonder. How long until cell phone companies finally get the hint from RIM's success and build a proper all-in-one? One would think Sony-Ericcson could do that.
I am going to hell and I am going to take all of you with me.
The device is HUGE - check out the article image - the screen is just small enough to be annoying to watch a video clip on and just big enough to be too bulky.
I am all for this type of device, but Microsoft is no innovator. They shoudl wiat for Apple to creat ethe device, then rip it off. What is Bill THINKING!?!?
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
Microsoft's iPod-Killer
Ha yea, I bet a whole bunch of Mac owners are gonna swap their iPod's for a Microsoft "Portable Media Centers".
These don't really seem like competitors to the small, sheik, audio-only iPods. They seem like competitors to the previous Lyra Audio/Video Jukebox, and the like.
A Portable Media Center with a 40-gigabyte hard drive is expected to hold up to 175 hours of video ... or 100,000 pictures, using Windows Media audio and video files.
Expects predict that an unofficial name of Portable Pr0n Center will be commonplace within 6 months of launch
Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
Remember them this time last year - they were called Media2Go - and were expected in stores "before the end of 2003"
These things aren't going to be iPod killers. One thing that the iPod has over just about every other hard disk MP3 player out there (besides fabulous design and iTunes music store) is great battery life. A fried of mine has an Archos, and it needs recharging after 4-5 hours, whereas I can listen to my iPod all day at work.
What would kill the iPod for me would be something with the form factor of the iPod that also had PDA and cell phone functionality - especially if it used Bluetooth to connect to a cell phone headset and either Bluetooth or WiFi for internet access.
The next Cmdr Taco duplicate will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and see it early!
porn.
pocket.
{Goodbye productivity!}
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
When Walkman where the big thing, Companys already tried to copy that success with portable video walkman.
The thing is walkman/mp3 player are successfull because you can still WATCH THE STREET.
I see that thing bomb
Artists conception
Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
While Tablet PCs aren't that great, from what I know, they have hard drives, screens, and can play media such as these do... ...only these won't have the added benefit of also being PCs.
And with "real" (ie non-Tablet) laptop prices coming down to $700 - $800, I think it will be hard to justify less functional devices for roughly the same amount of money!
libertarianswag.com
Be assured, if Apple don't launch the ultimate portable multimedia device to rock your world, SOMEONE will. But like the mediocre and confusing MS PocketPC products, failed MSX 'standard' of the 1980s, MS Smart Display etc, successful versions of such potentially ground breakingly useful products can only come from design innovators, not huge multi-nationals who lack the cohesive vision. Evidence? Original Palm Pilot, iPod and Tapwave Zodiac, each (almost) meticulous in their execution.
O'WONDERWe're working on it.
People like to carry around a small device for listening to music on the go. You don't watch videos on the go. If you have a need to bring a portable video player somewhere, these already exist. From what I understand, they don't sell extremely well, due to the limited need.
These devices may be useful to some people, but not many; it's certainly no iPod killer.
Just my 2 cents.
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
Before even mentioning DRM issues and probable lack of good portability between music formats.
;).
I have I must admit very much supported Microsoft hardware (you can shoot me later) because all the hardware I have ever bought with MS stuck on it has lasted a long time and is made durable and much more comfortable than competitors.
So I'd hazard a guess the thing will be pretty good at dealing with the bumps and scrapes inherent with portable players. But believe me, if the software is anything similar to the stuff they put on Windows Smartphone (Mobile phone/cellphone) it has got no chance. Straying off topic a tad but them things hang, call people without you asking, hang up calls without you asking, dont respond to cellular events too well (like someone rings and hangs up phone believes the sender is still ringing in).
So if its the same "specialized" version of WinCE they used on thier phones expect an abysmal effort at software design. But at least it wont smash when you drop it
From the article: "Why should we work with another music store when we're working with the Microsoft of music stores?" - Steve Jobs
If Jobs is not on the ball, he may end up with another Netscape on his hands. They owned the market, thought they were invulnerable, and then circled the drain for a bit before selling off to AOL.
Am I cheering for Microsoft? Hardly. But they play to win, fair or otherwise.
When the iTunes service starts to lose major share of the market, though... That's when there will be real trouble. Losing the iPod is a small fish compared to iTunes.
Be excellent to each other. And... PARTY ON, DUDES!
This is the future. I've always carried around a book, paperback usually, in the winter I can fit it in my inside coat pocket. When I'm on a bus, or a plane, or i'm just bored, I whip it out and start reading.
Now, instead, we're going to whip out our portable media devices and watch "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" instead. Ahh, the future! Behold!
40 Gigs, video, audio...
and 1 hour of battery life.
I've actaully reverted to my old Palm because CE's battery life is so poor.
If I seem short sighted, it is because I stand on the shoulders of midgets
Call me silly, but the last thing I want is a tiny screen for video, what I'd much prefer is a device the size of an iPod, or a bit smaller, for which I can buy a screen I can attach. That way when I buy the normal device I know that if I don't want to watch video (99% of the time) I'm not going to lug around the TV screen.
Sounds like classic "geek feature creep" put it in because its cool... not because it has a point or purpose.
An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
Even if they took a 100% loss on this, they would not topple the iPod. It's just that superior.
There exists no way of exchanging information without making judgments. --Bene Gesserit Axiom
Gibson's Wurlitzer Digital Jukebox also at CES this week.
No way you're going to get the 128kbps internet radio that most are used to... you could make a case for 56K audio designed to be streamed from a modem, but realistically, from a cell phone you'll more likely to be getting the low end of 20-60 kbps, that ain't gonna happen either...
Highly unlikely, with the technologies that are around right now, and really, internet radio this way would be far too costly and lousy sounding.
...a portable, discman type DVD player that will play audio CD's, DVD's, CD-R's and DVD's with mp3s.
Simple gray LCD display, simple controls. You could listen to music with headphones or plug it into a TV for video (throw in Divx decoding, maybe).
How about a $99 price point?
What's needed is a wireless link to a pair of goggles (no larger or bulkier than typical sunglasses) where you see a virtual screen the size of a movie theater image.
Until then I'll stick to watching things properly in my home theater. I'll also maintain my attention span health so I'm not constantly craving electronic stimulation everywhere I go like a three year old.
--- Ban humanity.
1. Release product that is more expensive and more DRM encumbered than already expensive iPod. 2. ????? 3. Profit!
Jonathanjk.com
But Microsoft's influence in this market may not be so profound. Apple has successfully moved from personal computers into a new market where the the line between the computer and home electronics are blurred. Every prior effort Microsoft has made to do this has met with only limited success. Witness WebTV and UltimateTV, both of which have sputtered.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
It's really no surprise that everyone here is quick to point at the PMC and declare that it is useless. What is surprising is that a group of such 'gifted' people can't bring themselves to recognize any reality besides their own.
Millions of people around the world commute by train or bus every day. A PMC is designed almost specifically for these people.
But that's not really where the PMC is headed, if you read between the lines. MS wants to be "the king of all media" and if you could download your TiVo'd shows onto your PMC, you could then watch your shows at your leisure wherever you were. Likewise, as these things grow a video out port, you will be able to playback any saved video on any display device.
The PMC is not an iPod killer. They aren't even competitors.
I have been pwned because my
...is something that is half the price and looks almost as good.
You can't kill iPod by making more expensive competitors! iPod is already too expensive.
Compare the stability of the following:
Windows vs Linux (or mac)
WinCE vs Palm OS
XBox vs PS2
Microsoft are moving from the PC space, where people have amazingly decided that a crashing computer is acceptable, to the consumer electronics space, where crashing is mostly unheard of. Either they improve there QA, or people will be returning these back to where they bought them after freezing up while in normal use!
On another note, the apple iPod plays MP3 and Wav files, in addition to their implementation of (the open standard) AAC.
Will this box play anything other then Microsofts proprietary WMV... or is this another attempt by the beast of Redmond to kill off competing formats?
Tony.
it wouldn't be for video and certainly not something as ugly as that prototype pictures. Damn that's ugly!
Battery life. Com'n, video playback? And a hard drive? Before you finish that 175-hour long video collection, the battery is probably on the way to garbage bin due to repeated recharges.
Personally, I'm curious to see what Steve his up his sleeve at MWSF.
Que Deus te de em dobro o que me desejas
[May God give you double that which you wish for me]
or is portable video virtually useless? Like another poster said, music lets you do other things while listening. Also, music sounds virtually identical whether listening to it on an Ipod or on your massive PC rig at home. While walking down the street listening to tunes you aren't being constantly reminded that the item delivering the music to your eyes is the size of a cigarette packet.
Completely different for video. You actually have to focus on a tiny screen and devote pretty much all of your attention to it (unless you are a woman, we all know how good they are at multitasking). You have to make sure you havent got glare in the screen and you can watch the video where you won't be disturbed (like AT HOME, perhaps?). Music on the move is in easily digestible 2-10 minute chunks. You can squeeze off a track while waiting for the bus or queueing up at the supermarket. Try watching LOTR in 40 odd 5 minute sessions. OK so movies are pretty useless on portable devices unless you are in the same place, undisturbed for several hours. Such as an airplane. If only there was a way for airplanes to deliver movies to passengers while they are waiting for their three hour flight to land...
What other uses then do we have for portable video? Music videos, maybe? Well you might as well just listen to the music separately. A black man staring at the camera shaking his hands about making kung fu motions with 100 pounds of gold round his neck doesn't add much on a 50 inch plasma, let alone a 6 inch LCD. With music videos and movies pretty much worthless as far as portable video is concerned what else is there that is of any value to the mainstream consumer? Funny movie clips? Recorded video? (we have devices called video cameras for the playback of such video). Porn is one thing that would be mentioned on Slashdot, but as any guy knows, you need to be on your own to enjoy porn. You wanna blow 500 bucks just so you can jerk off in a rest room squinting at what you think is a woman getting fucked?
So when your next walking down the street and you feel a pang of jealousy seeing someone with one of these on their waist, think to yourself, 'What am I actually missing out on?'
Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
I think a portable C64 emulation would be a real cool thing:
- its oldskool,
- you'd have tons of old games ready to play
- and at the same time its a brand new toy
Not that "Color Gameboy" shit.
so.
Microsoft, and many slashbotters will never get this, but I will try anyway. Jobs understands that in product design, sometimes less is more. Steve knows when to make something, but more importantly - when NOT too.
The iPods works because it is a simple elegent music player that ppl can take with them to the gym, or whatever. Nobody is going to walk around with a movie player. Why would they? Can you ride a bike, jog, work out, watching a movie? - urrr no. End of product.
Memo to Microsoft - stick with the formula that got you where you are today - cloning and rebranding other ppl's ideas - give up on inventing your own.
Got it. It's more than twice the size of an iPod. Given battery life on other devices with decent color screens, there's no reason to believe these will offer two hours of continuous playback reliably without spare batteries. Or maybe that's why it's so thick and weighs twice as much as an iPod or PDA.
Even at $400 it's twice the price of those cheap no-name portable DVD players you can get. It's too expensive to give to kids for car trips, and they'd be happy with one of those cheap portable DVD players anyway. Business travelers might like it, except they already carry laptops that can play the DVDs that they already own or rent for $2 a week.
Any decent content will be pay-per-view and won't be viewable on a TV unless you have a high-end PC running XP Media Center Edition in your living room hooked up to that TV, which amounts to a few thousand people right now. And with Media Center PCs retailing for $1600 or so in a market where most PCs sell for half of that or less, it's going to be a few years before that changes.
It's as expensive as a high-end PDA but isn't a PDA. It's a second or third gadget to carry around and with all that extra space needed for more batteries, it's not a zero-carry.
I wish the first-generation licensees luck.
I'd actually like it to have a cradle on top of my TV. There, it would be charged and at the same time double as my PVR. If they could pull that off, doing a PVR (TiVo style or whatever else) in a small portable package, they might have a winner.
Hurricane Application Group, Dept of Meteorology Control, Ministry of Proactive Defense
In this situation, Apple has created a pretty self fullfilling market place:
- a device that only works with their music store
- a music store that only works with their device
In a situation where there is already a market leader, the above scenario doesn't fly because people have to replace both their digital device and their music store content.
However, Apple is #1 in digital music device sales and on-line music sales. So the following scenario holds true:
Person puchases an iPod and loves it, then buys Y songs from the iTMS at $1 each. When the iPod breaks or they want the cooler, newer digital device, they are gonna buy the one that their existing investment of Y x $1 songs can play. Vice Versa, if they have puchased a large library of songs from iTMS, then the only device they are interested in is one that plays their music, else they basically have lost their investment.
It is a nice little situation Jobs has created. For Rio or Dell or someone to sell a digital device, they hav eto overcome both the iPod AND the existing investment in AAC files. Likewise, for Wal-Mart music store or whoever to win, they must overcome both the iTMS library a user may have AND the exisitng iPod they own.
The hope for both WMA music sites and WMA digital devices is that the market is not saturated to the point that too many people own iPods. With Apple to announce within two hours their low-cost iPod, the game just went to level ten.
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
just... ick.
that "suggested design" has got to be one of the worst things I've ever seen. I can just imagine what it would be like to hold one, kinda like the Sega Nomad. waay to big, and you can't operate the thing one-handed. Besides, what's really the point in portable video devices like that? I mean, sure, you can take maybe six DVDs along w/ you, plus your music collection, but who watches stuff on the go? If you're walking somewhere, you need to watch where you're going, not some collection of flicks you D/Led. The same thing applies to driving.
As for flights, most people in the market for that thing are probably going to have laptops, which for the most part serve the same purpose. On top of all this, the price is just dumb. Low-end laptops are about the same price, and have similar enough features to render this device unnecessary. Maybe the uber-gadget-freak market would buy this, but it's never going to be a mainstream item, at least not in my lifetime.
Isn't this just a pocket pc? Why the hell are they always calling the natural evolution of an existing product a new separate product?
Anyway, it's inevitable that the majority of us (besides you "i need separate devices!" purists) will use something similar to the O2 XDAII (anyone know how i can get one of these in the US?) with more power/higher resolution- One device you carry with you all the time that is your cellphone, your still/video camera, and your portable web device.
...It'll keep getting lighter and more powerful, and wireless internet speeds will get faster and faster. You'll be able to watch television shows streaming live over the air, as well as stream video from your device live to whomever you want to see it. It won't have to store locally either.
Imagine the next big event like "9/11", or an earthquake, etc.- thousands, millions of live camera angles and witnesses. Any time a crime or accident is taking place, one can record evidence immediately.
It would probably eventually get small enough that the camera/microphone would be a brooch (a la Star Trek, I suppose, but w/video, although that wouldn't work too well for videoconfrencing- perhaps you'd have a camera on the device, or your watch, too) and those dorky jabra headset thingies will be the size of a miracle ear, and they'd just mix the outside sounds with those from your device (any idea why we don't have this already?) The display may roll up in a scroll form or something. maybe with a wristwatch interface? people may even start recording/broadcasting their lives 24/7, or have a "blackbox" service that stores the past hour, day, whatever on the server so that investigators can figure out what happened, should anything happen to you.
Probably by that point we will have figured out how to tap directly into one's optical/aural nerves and implant these devices, or maybe even how to create organic versions of these devices and implant the instructions to build them in our DNA. (how will we ever agree on a standard for THAT?)
At that point, it may only be a matter of time before our brains evolve to the point where we have real-time sensory input SHARING- one no longer has just 2 eyes, but billions of them. We would become one organism- sharing eachother's pain, pleasure, fear, excitement.
Once a generation of this new organism passes to where every living human has spent their whole life as a part of this organism, we may cease to have disagreements, as everyone would have the same life experience, the same frame of reference, and therefore come to the same logical conclusions....
Oh my God! Microsoft IS THE BORG!!!! Resistance IS futile!!
I still remember /.ers slashing the Ipod to pieces. "yeah it will never work... too bulky etc...". Yet no that IPod embraces success everybody praises it. /. readers have been wrong before and it can happen again.
I'm not predicting success or failure here. I just want to highlight that
Even though I don't like this new device, I somehow have a felling MSFT marketeers will make it as desirable as the IPOD.
Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity
I'm sure that this would be about as useful and sell about as many units as Apple's 20th Anniversary Edition Mac. (50k maybe on the outside.)
I suspect that its main purpose is as "discourage the competition" vapour-ware.
It definitely has no place in my comfortable home decor as I use wood and wool.
It looks like something that belongs __inside__ the 'fridge. Kee-rist Gates, hire some designers with experience in the area you're trying to market to. Its not office equipment.
Not to mention its from "The Great Rip-Off King's" outfit and none of that schlock gets into my house.
Actually its __way__ to big. It should be iPod sized. While being way too small. It should have a 50"+ projection area (Can anyone say screenless projection TV?)
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
I don't think "video ipods" of any sort will ever take off. It's just too much trouble to collect the media (currently) given its low reusability -- people are much more likely to enjoy listening to a song over and over than they are to enjoy listening to a video over and over. The benefits you get for the cost of such a dedicated device are way too low currently to justify the effort. Sure, this functionality will arrive eventually, but as an afterthought -- the way our phones can now play games because their specs allow it moreso than because the specs were set to allow game playing.
Not to mention the varying power requirements of video vs. audio. Cost will just be too high. I'd say the coming generation of cheap(ish) small factor multi-gigabyte storage will make PDAs a cheaper, more powerful solution for those really desperate for portable, nerd-friendly digital video. Everyone else will just buy a portable DVD player.
I have an IPod, and I paid a premium for it mostly because it is a very small form factor. It is the only hard drive based mp3 player I can carry in a shirt pocket without looking like a complete embicile. The IPod does one thing and it does it incredibly well.
This won't be an IPod killer because it's going to do everything and it will do it in a mediocre manner. How many people need an ultra portable video player? I live in the city and do a lot of walking so having a portable audio player makes perfect sense. But it would be dangerous to do the same thing and watch video.
Something for the kids perhaps? Not at $400-800, unless the thing is indestructible. Why would I shell out for that when I can shell out a fraction of that for a game boy that will keep them far more distracted.
I can see only two valuable uses for this:
1) Long flights - but how many of us have enough long flights to pay for this and don't carry a laptop along already.
2) Photo/Video storage on the go - if you take a lot of pictures, it's nice to have a device to store the data on while you are on the go.
Other than that, what possible use do I have for this device. I've got enough crap to lug around as it is, why would I want one more device?
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
with the Belkin iPod Media Reader. Only works with the new iPods with dock connectors, though.
I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing. -- Thomas Jefferson
No, the iPod Mini has a 4GB drive and sells for $249.
See here (among other sources)
Never, ever trust the Mac rumour sites. They are, without exception, crap.
embicile
That's really not a word you want to spell wrong.