Two-year-old Fujitsu Prototype. Hopefully it will not look like this.
IGN: Microsoft Developing Handhelds
June 19, 2006 – According to an article on Reuters Microsoft is developing a music and video device to compete with Apple’s iPod and creating its own music service to challenge Apple’s iTunes.
After the launch of the Xbox 360, Robbie Bach — who previously helmed development of the Xbox — was promoted to president of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division.
According to Reuters, Bach said in an internal e-mail, “While I will continue to play an important role in the games area, I will spend more time thinking about our broader challenges and opportunities across the division.”
Microsoft has previously denied rumors that it is developing a handheld videogame device, but game playing capabilities could give Microsoft’s handheld device the strength to overtake iPod’s dominance in the marketplace.
The following is a prediction with no proofs or evidence. Just a gut feeling.
This is real, and it’s going to flop. Big time. To the Nth degree.
And this will be used by Gates as the reason he “can’t” step down. That he always will have some roll in M$ for as long as he lives… something more beyond the typical “Chairman of the Board”.
He’ll also use it to spin that his creative genius is the reason everything he works on at M$ sells, and everything he doesn’t work on at M$ fails. He’ll try to convince the heard that he’s the sole force behind Office and Windows (and the 360, if the PS3 flops).
JCD had a nice column on PCMag.com about the Gates departure, and properly pointed out that Gates has no foes to fight. What JCD left out is the one thing Gates doesn’t have: A myth, a legacy, a real “he changed the world” buzz around the very mention of his name.
Steve Jobs has this. Hell, in some circles Eilson has this. The fact Gates doesn’t has to eat at him.
I’m not convinced it will flop. Naysayers said the Xbox and Xbox 360 were doomed. They were wrong. I predict this won’t be the iPod killer so much as a competitor for handheld gaming such as the PSP or Gameboy series.
I think it’ll work, it’ll do moderately well, and it will generate more revenue for Microsoft. It will make ripples because of it’s brand name, but it will not likely be anything special.
After it’s introduction, it’ll have it’s place in the market, but “Microsoft Music Handheld Device” (or whatever catchy name the PR department comes up with) is not going to replace “iPod” as the brand name synonymous with “digital music player.”
I don’t think it’ll become the dominant music player/gaming handheld, but given Microsoft’s track record, they know how to create and expand a foothold in a market. I don’t see Apple losing a whole lot of market share; while the iPod is not on the cutting edge, it generally keeps up with the new developments, and no tech company has yet matched Apple’s marketing prowess.
While Apple’s grip over the digital music player market is not as iron-tight as Microsoft’s over the consumer OS market, it’s strong enough that no one, even Microsoft, will be able to topple it overnight.
The bottom line is that this comment that I’m leaving now is the most attention that I’ll ever give the device.
John do you get a lot of these devices for review, unsolicited? I would imagine companies send you crap all the time.
Samsung is the company to watch. They’ve been making some real fancy gadgets.
Bach also said that the iTunes Music Store is not a popular site. That makes me think he does not read market news. According to the organizations that chart where people go online, iTMS is very popular, particularly with young consumers.
#4 – That’s a fair question.
I’m with Jobs on this one: the way people listen to portable music has almost nothing to do with the way they watch portable video.
iPod is popular becuase it has a streamlined interface and is small/lite. You can do other things while you are listening to music, and you can stash the iPod in a pocket or pack.
I don’t think portable video and/or games will be wildly popular until they get the googles working well [ala SmartAlix’s recent post from the SDI show].
Then players won’t have to be hunched-over staring at a tiny screen and controlling with tiny buttons.
Portable games will sell when it is a small, iPod-sized box to which you connect a set of goggles and a regular-sized game controller.
Include a slot to add a WiFi card – to allow gaming over home networks or WiFi hotspots – and they’ll have themselves a license to print money…
8. I would agree that is generally correct – video and audio are fundamentally different. You don’t want to be jogging while watching video. No portable video device will be as popular as portable audio. But I don’t think a simulated big screen (ala goggles) is necessary for the popularity of portable video. Look at the number of portable DVD players that have been sold – the ultimate back-seat child pacifier. Not to mention the sales of the PSP, which come despite the widespread acknowledgement of a lack of good games – people are watching video on it.
Should they make a protable version of the xbox, it better sport somereally good games.
Sony’s PSP is technically superior to the nintendo DS and it’s lagging way behind.
9 But I don’t think a simulated big screen (ala goggles) is necessary for the popularity of portable video.
They are not necessary, but they will increase the market far beyond what it is now.
1. No installation of small screens in the headrest/back of your car’s seats – and it can be used in any car – whether you buy or lease. Even in a rental while you are on vacation, or a business trip.
2. Airlines wouldn’t have to pay for all those screens in their planes, they could just rent headsets the way they’ve rented headphones – with the added bonus: no effect on the viewing-angle if the seat in front of you reclines… [grin]
3. Glare from strong sunlight won’t be a problem, and neither will poor/dim lighting.
4. People I’ve seen playing portable games are normally in one of three postures, which goggles would help alleviate:
a. holding the game up near their face (until their arms get tired)
b. slumped-over, with their arms resting on their thighs (forcing their head to be down close to the screen)
c. Propping their elbows on a desk, or other hard surface.
I personally like the looks of the designs that don’t block your peripheral-vision. One example: “Myvu”
http://www.myvu.com/intro.html
Whether their picture-quality is adequate is worrisome, since they are currently limited to NTSC input.
I want some goggles with at least VGA input, preferrably DVI, so I can check-out this site:
http://www.vrmag.org/
Hmm.. I wonder if this will go over as well as the Origami did.
And by the way, Gates has “no legacy”? Excuse me? DOS/Windows/MS Office that practically 90% + of the people on computers use daily sounds like a pretty good legacy to me.