Microsoft to Enter Handheld Market?

eldavojohn wrote to mention that, via Joystiq, he read an article over at BusinessWeek that indicates Microsoft may be working on a portable media device. The article states that, if they are, they're not just going after the iPod. The plan would include a way to leverage a powerful part of the Microsoft empire: games. From the article: "Microsoft would probably use the Xbox brand to market the gadget. 'I think the brand is an opportunity,' Moore says. True, perhaps, but also risky. If the new device comes with the Xbox brand, most consumers will view it as a game player, like Sony's PlayStation Portable. That might limit its appeal, since the portable gaming market is much smaller than the one for digital media." A funny comment, considering the success of the DS.

Comments

Their last portable...

[truthsearch]

When their big push was portable music players a large percentage of their own employees used iPods. Even an executive said the iPod was better then what their hardware partners offered. If they can't get their own employees to use their portable products why would anyone else? Let's see if they repeat their last failure.

this pig could fly....

[Churla]

Leveraging Xbox live as a networking system to game against others, put in all the PsP goodies like local wireless access.
Slap a derivative of Windows Mobile on it for the OS so you also have a PDA capable device. And make it look and feel like other OS products people know (windows and media center)
Give it a touchscreen to nudge in on the PDA market futher.
Enough storage capacity out of the box to be a small MP3 jukebox of viable portable drive.

Not to mention the ways to integrate it and tie it in as the device which moves between your media center, xbox, and windows machine.... Lots of possibilities to leverage work they've done in other areas.

Possible designs

[Eightyford]

Here are a few possible designs:

xbox
xbox
joke
xbox

And, a portable gamecube:
gamecube