Microsoft has announced that itsPortable Media Center based portable video devices will begin shipping in August for US$ 499. Creative is expected to release their version late August followed by Samsung a month later, both with a capacity of 20GB. Microsoft claims this is enough storage for 80 hours of video (~560kbps) or 5,000 songs (~128kbps). They have made agreement with some content providers including a Major League Baseball and movie service Cinema Now to offer suitable pay-per-view and rental content for these devices.
While the iPod is currently the market leader for portable audio devices, Microsoft wants to be a leader in the home-entertainment business using Windows Media Center PCs. Unlike other portable audio and video players, the Portable Media center will only function with Windows XP running Microsoft's upcoming Windows Media Player 10 (currently in the beta stage).
Currently only 5% of US online households even have a portable audio player, a Microsoft product manager James Bernard expects the Portable Media Center to become hot once more suitable content becomes available.
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Microsoft is announcing today that the first Portable Media Center -- its handheld device that can play video and audio files -- will go on sale next month for US$ 499. A model made by Singapore-based Creative is scheduled to become available in late August, and a version by Samsung is expected a month later. Both players will have 20 GB of storage, which Microsoft says is enough to play 80 hours of video or 5,000 songs. Microsoft also said that Major League Baseball has agreed to make its game footage available to download onto the devices, either on a pay-per-view basis or via subscription. The pricing for the games has not been announced. Samsung is making the other model. The cost also will be $ 599, with enough memory to play 80 hours of video. Read the full rather lengthy article here. |
With the announcement, Microsoft is jumping into a portable media-player business that has been focused on music and is dominated by Apple's iPod music player. The iPod doesn't play video -- and Apple hasn't said whether future versions will -- but handheld video players from other companies are starting to hit the market.
While Microsoft expects its Portable Media Center based players to become hot, there are many features and drawbacks that will surely discourage (or prevent) users from getting one:
1. Microsoft is seriously trying to push its DRM technology on consumers, this time with its upcoming Janus technology. On the other hand, the majority of consumers are reluctant to take on restricted content, unless it is fairly relaxed. For example, while iTunes allows CD burning, I doubt that Microsoft's video media will allow DVD-Video recording anytime soon.
2. As everything is piped through Windows Media player 10 which requires Windows XP, Non XP consumers only have the choice of upgrading to Windows XP or choosing a competing portable video player product.
3. As Microsoft's Windows Media player can check for pirate or non-approved content, this alone may scare many consumers away from the player. It is like having a personal officer checking every disc you pop into your DVD player.
Source: Mac News World
