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Commodore - Back In The Hardware Biz At Last?

Posted by simoniker on from the nobody-beats-the dept.

Aphrika writes "Commodore is back in the hardware business [via current owners Tulip Computers] and this time they're taking on... Apple? Due for release in August are three MP3 players; the eVic, fPet and mPet. The eVic is a 20GB (hence the name) hard drive-based player, while the mPet and fPet are closer to the Muvo/iRiver styled flash players. They'll also be hoping you pay a visit to the Commodore World Music Store once in a while to stock up on tunes..." We also recently mentioned Commodore's 'TV Game' and ROM-store projects over at Slashdot Games.

11 of 400 comments (clear)

  1. marketing ploy by grahagre · · Score: 5, Insightful

    this is of course a marketing ploy to draw on the vintage name of commodore, and might i say a damn good one; if i didnt have an ipod i'd buy from them right away!

  2. name by senatorpjt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's not Commodore, it's just the name.

    It's like if I started calling my garage Digital Equipment Corporation and started selling pet rocks, it doesn't have anything to do with a VAX.

    1. Re:name by H0NGK0NGPH00EY · · Score: 4, Insightful

      But it's no different than what "Napster" or "Atari" has done.

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  3. Really just a Dutch company called Tulip... by MMHere · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They bought the Commodore name some years ago and have just now revived it for an unrelated line of hardware.

    So this isn't really Commodore -- why should anyone care?

  4. too late... by mshultz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm really surprised that they're introducing something like this, so late in the game. Sure, the market for digital music players may be growing fast, but there are a lot of others in this market, too.

    There doesn't seem to be any indication of price, but I think they're going to have a hard time grabbing any kind of market share at all unless these things are cheaper than air... since the feature list for the eVic [what kind of name is that, anyway?? short for Victrola?] looks fairly standard, they're going to have to compete mostly on price.

    One potentially useful feature would be the recording capabilities, assuming the interface allows live monitoring of levels. The specs mention bitrates for "music" and "voice" recording, but with a 20GB hard drive in there, it would seem reasonable to have the option to record uncompressed as well.

  5. Manufacturers still don't get it by noewun · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The mp3 player market is now a commodity market, which means the focus is of user friendliness and style, not features. There is precious little to choose between the various horizontally-opposed players; what sets the iPod apart is its style and its user interface. Your average consumer isn't going to care about the name Commodore. They will want to know whether the thing works and looks better than an iPod.

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    I am a believer of momentum and curves.
  6. Win-win for consumers by Hao+Wu · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Even if Commodor does poorly, it will keep pressure on Apple to innovate and have fair pricing.

    And if Commodor beats out Apple, then good for them.

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    I suggest you read Slashdot
  7. Re:Huh? by jimbolaya · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Commodore, it would seem, also needs a hint. "Cute" names that only a geek will get aren't like to sell a tremendous number of MP3 players. "iPod" struck me as an odd name, but Apple wasn't trying to be geek-cute when they chose that name. And they don't market the iPod as a geek toy, but as a hip accessory. Apple gets that music is about "cool" and "hip," and its obviously worked for them. Dell ("It's all about Cheap") and the rest of them either haven't learned this yet, or haven't been able to capitalize on it.

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    There ain't no rules here; we're trying to accomplish something.

  8. Re:Of course they'll only let you play... by TommydCat · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You insensitive clod, how can you leave out M.U.L.E.?!?

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    This comment does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the author.
  9. Wow, this is just plain sad by MrLint · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Sad indeed, so it looks by all accounts its using something from windows media player. and what looks like some thinly veiled OEM mp3 players. There seems to be a total lack of technical info on their 'music store', I suppose its now the current fad to throw up a web music store and sell some players and thru a brand name you bought at bankruptcy auction in order to generate some capital.

    Am I the only one that sees this as cynically as the rebirth of Atari?

    I think the most ironic part is that you need WMP (with optional Commodore skin) to play your purchase from the Commodore music store. I wonder if they have the Amiga version ready yet?

  10. Re:This is shamefulThis is shameful by thephotoman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    While Microsoft got the rights to the look and feel legally, they didn't get the rights to the security, functionality, and sheer usability. Basically, they got the rights to make crap look pretty.

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