The grapevine says some at CES are being told Microsoft will no longer develop PlaysForSure, its proprietary DRM system, a move Microsoft swore up and down it would never make when the company failed to include PlaysForSure support in the Zune line.
According to PC Pro News,"Microsoft will concentrate exclusively on its Zune platform, which is not compatible with PlaysForSure. Microsoft has neither confirmed or denied the reports, which draw on comments made by an executive for one unnamed music service and have been confirmed by others in the industry. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said that he expects PlaysForSure to continue, although he has explained that Zune was conceived because the PlaysForSure approach had failed to dent Apple's dominance of digital music."
And just when Napster was starting to show new signs of traction. It's unclear yet what all this means for the many PlaysForSure partner companies but, the end of development could put them all in a very precarious place. This could be a good thing for some, as Real Networks and Sandisk seemed to see this coming a while ago, and have created a new, competing subscription-capable DRM format.
I don't know if it will revolutionize the mobile phone, but it's certainly providing a legion of reporters with something to write about.
Meanwhile, back in the land of every other portable device company whos name doesn't start with "A", SanDisk announced a slick new line up the other day that has been completely overshadowed by Apple's new toy.
"The player, which Sandisk say will hold 33 video hours or 2,000 songs, boasts a 4-inch screen similar in size to Apple's video iPod and comes with 8 megabytes of flash memory."
I'd wish for more storage, but it's definitely a step in the right direction for SanDisk. That SanDisk has managed to stave off the Zune and hold two spots in the top 10 devices is impressive, and if they keep making sharp devices at reasonable price-points, I think you'll start seeing more Sansa devices in the wild than you might expect.
Aw, keep trying little buckaroo! C|Net reports that the Zune hasn't cracked the top ten portable music players, although it has captured a "decent slice" of the hard drive based player market in big box retail stores.
The overall top ten is overwhelmingly Apple, with 8 of the top ten slots occupied by fruit etched media devices, Sandisk's Sansa models round out the rest of the ten. For what it's worth, Santa (also known as a stand-up comic and brit-pop trivia nutjob) recently delivered a Sansa to my doorstep, and I couldn't be happier.
Analysts are saying that Microsoft is "doing well for a newcomer" and reminding us that the Zune is a "multiyear haul" but, what is it going to take to wedge Apple out of the driver's seat and substitute a Microsoft product in its place? The Zune's marketing, though really pretty, is incredibly conceptual and artsy and, frankly, the American consumer isn't exactly known for their ability to "get" high-brow concepts. Coupled with the closed eco-system of Zune's "Marketplace", and the relative complexity of the whole Zune experience, MS has a very long way to go to win this little war they've started.
Truly bizarre. When the German Authorities took Sandisk's mp3 players off the floor of the IFA trade show earlier this year, Sandisk shrugged it off. Sandisk is arguing that it's mp3 processing technology differs significantly from the patents which Sisvel are attempting to enforce.
If that wasn't bizarre enough, apparently some people agree with Sandisk. According to Reuters, "In a litigation currently pending in the Mannheim District Court, SanDisk is showing that its MP3 players operate a technology which is completely different from a certain audio data transmission and reception techniques that has been patented for Philips and others many years ago," adding "An expert opinion from one of the founders of MP3 digital audio compression substantiates SanDisk's position."
Does Sandisk really think they can fight a patent licensed by over 600 companies worldwide? Yep. Have they completely lost their gadget making minds? We'll see. Sivesel is claiming victory after a technical ruling this week but, Sandisk says they've got the goods and the final ruling, expected in spring of next year, will exonerate them. Can't we just stick the both of them in an Ultimate Fighting Championship venue and let them fight to the death?
Those early Zune sales numbers are slipping into less-than-average territory, having dropped to 5th overall behind Apple, Creative, Sandisk and even also-ran Memorex.
Bloomeberg reports, "Zune's market share declined as SanDisk Corp. boosted sales with a 50 percent price cut on its media players, taking a 39.3 percent share and knocking Microsoft from the No. 2 spot it occupied in its first week in the market. Redmond, Washington- based Microsoft sold about the same number of units as the previous week, failing to keep pace with rising holiday sales."
All in all it appears as if the Zune will find its way under far fewer Christmas trees than Microsoft had once hoped. Microsoft's PR machine is still hopeful however, predicting 1 million units sold by mid 2007 in recent reports.
When UMG forced Microsoft's hand and extorted gained a deal to get $1 per Zune sold as compensation for what UMG CEO Doug Morris calls "a repository for stolen music", it became a widely held belief that UMG beat Microsoft at the negotiating table. Microsoft, just days away from the Zune's launch _needed_ UMG's extensive catalog -- which includes labels and imprints such as Def Jam, Geffen, Interscope and Verve -- for the Zune Marketplace.
ZDNet's Jason O'Grady offers a different idea, "Why in the world would Microsoft agree to such a dangerous precedent? The obvious reason is that MS needed to get access to the Universal catalog. My favorite (and more dastardly) reason comes from Macalope who claims that Microsoft did it "to try to screw up Apple's business model.""
We're watching the beginning of a slippery slope. UMG won't be the last label to demand a royalty on hardware, and now that the precident has been set, Apple may be UMG's next target. Graver still, O'Grady posits that the movie studio's will be next, and offers evidence that they are already warming up to demand tighter DRM restrictions on movies bought from the iTunes store. How far will UMG go and, what that means for device manufacturers is still up in the air but, recent statements by UMG's CEO show that he's ripe and ready for battle.
USAToday reports on Zune's first few weeks out the starting gate and according to analists they interviewed, it's not all bad. Microsoft claimed 9% market share of the portable media devices sold since the Zune launch, compared with 63% for Apple and just 8% for Sandisk.
"For a new brand that received limited to mixed reviews, and which is incompatible with the leading music store (Apple's iTunes,) as well as other music stores, it was a good launch," which is the retail equivalent of saying, "Other than that little incident Mrs. Lincoln, the play wasn't half bad."
The NPD Group analisys USA Today spoke with aren't affraid for Apple as a result of the Zune, and the numbers above bare that out. If anything, Microsoft's Zune may have more impact on Sandisk, given that the cost difference between Sandisk's top-of-the-line Sansa e280 -- a flash based 8gb player -- isn't much when compared with the 30GB hard drive based Zune.
This is a really cool idea. Integrated Mobile Electronics is showing off this universal mp3 player dock at the anual SEMA conference (where all the auto makers and accessory people hang out and droll over shiny things). The dock achives it's near universal capabilites with interchangable dock modules, leaving the rest of the system totally intact. IME's new toy should ship with the ability to connect the iPod, Zune, Creative Zen Vision, Sandisk Sansa e2xx, and the iRiver Clix.
The iPod has a definate advantage when it comes ot in car integration. An estimate says 70% of new cars are optionable with an interface to Apple's popular mp3 player, and that's great news for the heath and safety people; the more tightly integrated your mp3 player to your in-car audio, the less attention you lose in fiddling with the controls. If more manufacturers switched to something like the IME device, it could help to weaken Apple's total stranglehold on in-car intergration.
Could it really be that the anti-DRM message is starting to bubble up to the surface? USAToday, a paper not known for sticking its neck out or producing any ground breaking journalism has a feature today on how eschewing DRM might just allow the majors to wrestle control of the digital music market back from Apple.
"Soul legends The Temptations had a 1970s hit called Ball of Confusion, and no song better describes the digital music business in the 21st century. CD sales are in freefall -down 17% since 2003; online song trading is still rampant, big hits are fewer, record stores are seriously hurting. [...] Digital is widely recognized as the future of the music business. Digital sales are up 72% so far this year, and sales are expected to climb to $9 billion by 2009, from $2.8 billion in 2006, according to researcher In-Stat. But first, digital will have to overcome its compatibility growing pains. "You don't have to buy a camera made by YouTube to show a clip online," says Bill Pence, chief technical officer for online service Napster. "The industry is dysfunctional.""
The article cites Yahoo Music Chief Dave Goldberg, who may be the highest ranking anti-DRM voice available. It also takes serious AIM at Microsoft and it's new closed DRM strategy launching with Zune. ""Microsoft is thumbing its nose to its partners and millions of consumers," says Richard Doherty, an independent analyst with the Envisioneering Group. "I can't think of anybody doing anything like this in all the years I've covered consumer electronics.""
In the end, ease of use is winning customers easier than open formats but, will that always remain the case? Thinking back on the dawn of the PC age, most consumer complaints had the same root; Interoperability. Apple, Atari and Commodore couldn't compete in a world of compatible clones but it took a very long time for the battle to play out. Relatively speaking, we're still in the very early stages of the digital music revolution. The reality is, without government assistance in the form of pro-DRM legislation, the pro-DRM forces have a much tougher battle over the next decade than I think even the most anti-DRM among us realize.
A couple of weeks ago I told you about Real Networks hooking up with SanDisk to take on Apple and iTunes, with SanDisk cranking out the players and Rhapsody selling the tunes in an integrated lovefest.
Today BestBuy has announced it will join the two crazy kids in love by becoming their retail partner. The chain will begin selling the SanDisk e200R model, specificlly made for use with Rhapsody on October 15th. The 2GB e200R will retail for $139, a full ten bucks cheaper than Apple's 2GB Nano with roughly the same specs.
I'll have to say, a Sandisk e280"R" model (as yet unconfirmed) that put 8GB of space in my hand in conjunction with a subscription service and all you can eat downloads would make even my DRM hating knees a little wobbly.
Business Week isn't the most likely place for tech gadget reviews, but they take the SanDisk Sansa to task in today's web edition. The review makes me wonder how many Apple fanboys are employed by Business Week.
Nailing SanDisk on a few nonsensical things, namely lack of iTunes compatibility (see tired, old, and not-SanDisk's fault) and a too-small-for-video screen (still larger than Apple's 1st gen Nano). The review isn't so much a review of the Sansa as it is a list of reasons why you should buy a Nano instead.
I'll have to admit, I've been watching the Sansa extra close as I prepare to throw for a new Mp3 player to replace my not-so-gracefully aging Creative Muvo2. The level of acrimony that SanDisk receives in print only goes to prove that Apple's iPod, like so many other things in life, is popular simply because it's popular.
Wonder-twin powers activate, form of, excessive DRM! Sandisk and Real have announced a partnership to deliver the next entry in the DRM market. The deal will couple a modified version of the Sandisk e200 device to Real's Rhapsody, just as Apple's iTunes and iPod are irrevocably linked.
Rhapsody is currently based on the (now vulnerable) Microsoft PlaysForSure system, and will apparently remain so for users of existing devices. However, with Zune showing a strategic shift away from PlaysForSure by Microsoft, it's anyone's guess how long the platform will continue to be viable.
"This is kind of a way for both Rhapsody and SanDisk to say, `Well, if you're gong to compete with [us], guess what, we're gong to compete with you,' " said analyst Phil Leigh of Inside Digital Media.
Hypebot says of the deal, "The stated goal of all of this may be ease of use, but the hidden demon is that purchased and rented music could be stuck within a single company's system and consumer choice limited to those offered by that provider."
The grapevine says some at CES are being told Microsoft will no longer develop PlaysForSure, its proprietary DRM system, a move Microsoft swore up and down it would never make when the company failed to include PlaysForSure support in the Zune line. 
The iPhone is getting more press coverage than, well, a thing that gets a lot of press coverage. Here's a sampling from around the mainstream...
Aw, keep trying little buckaroo! 
Truly bizarre. When the German Authorities took Sandisk's mp3 players off the floor of the IFA trade show earlier this year, Sandisk shrugged it off. Sandisk is arguing that it's mp3 processing technology differs significantly from the patents which Sisvel are attempting to enforce. 
Those early Zune sales numbers are 
This is a really cool idea. Integrated Mobile Electronics is showing off this universal mp3 player dock at the anual SEMA conference (where all the auto makers and accessory people hang out and droll over shiny things). The dock achives it's near universal capabilites with interchangable dock modules, leaving the rest of the system totally intact. IME's new toy should ship with the ability to connect the iPod, Zune, Creative Zen Vision, Sandisk Sansa e2xx, and the iRiver Clix.
Could it really be that the anti-DRM message is starting to bubble up to the surface? USAToday, a paper not known for sticking its neck out or producing any ground breaking journalism has a feature today on how eschewing DRM might just allow the majors to wrestle control of the digital music market back from Apple. 
A 
Business Week isn't the most likely place for tech gadget reviews, but they take the SanDisk Sansa to task in 
Wonder-twin powers activate, form of, excessive DRM! Sandisk and Real have announced a partnership to deliver the next entry in the DRM market. The deal will couple a modified version of the Sandisk e200 device to Real's Rhapsody, just as Apple's iTunes and iPod are irrevocably linked. 
