Samsung to launch Napster branded MP3 player

Those of you who have been on the internet
for a couple of years probably remember Napster and most likely also used
it. Those of you relatively new to the internet will probably only know Napster
because of the zillions of lawsuits related to the music sharing network. Roxio
believed that the Napster brand would be ideal for a legal music download
service and has purchase the assets of the Napster company, and is now allowed
to use the brand. Samsung will join Roxio, and has announced it will release a
Napster branded MP3 player.

Samsung is trying to do what Apple Computer has done with its iPod music players and iTunes online music store," said Michael Kelleher, an analyst with market research firm Yankee Group in Boston. "Certainly if Napster can build itself up as a legitimate file sharing portal, then that's good for Samsung." In its first incarnation, Napster provided a rogue music downloading service that captured the imagination of tens of millions of music fans. The original company was snuffed out of business by a court order and its assets were purchased by Roxio, a maker of software for copying digital music, which plans to launch a legal Napster 2.0 music download service this fall. The Samsung devices will be co-branded and identified as "Napster compatible" on the packaging. The 500,000 song titles will be available from all five major record labels and hundreds of independent labels, according to Roxio.

The new Napster-ready device will be available in
retail stores this fall, Samsung said in a statement. The Napster service
should be launched before Christmas 2003.

Source: Yahoo.com