Microsoft To Construct iPod/DS/PSP Killer

Karsten writes "According to The Mercury News Microsoft is developing a PSP/DS/GBA/iPod-killer. J. Allard is leading the project." J. Allard is the man behind the Xbox, and from looking at the article it sounds like it's at least a year before this device, if it hits daylight, would be coming.

Might not be 'killers'...

[baker_tony]

Microsoft might not be producing any real 'killer' products (well, not until the 3rd iteration from history), but if they start throwing themselves at the competition, then the competition is gonna start freaking out and producing an even better product, one would hope. So stop dissing Microsoft for having a go.

Let's do the vapourware boogie

[Ginger Unicorn]

Well well MS "announce" a "product" to preemptively compete in a market without actually having to enter that market. Perhaps one of the PSP-killing features will be the ability to download games over the Avalanche file sharing protocol.

Despite any pretences this thing is going to be 3 years late, the size of a shoebox, and it will be a slightly reconfigured WinVista PDA. It's primary function will be to "deliver" windows DRM. The ability to play some games will be secondary. MS will shore it up with an inexhaustible slush fund much like the xbox in order to subsidise the infiltration of windows DRM into common home appliances.

Re:killers

[/ASCII]

No, Microsoft doesn't make products, they make 'solutions'. Just look at Origami. The pre-announcement hype was about a PSP-killer/iPod-killer/whatever-killer and in the end, it turns out to be a slightly smaller formfactor for tablet PCs, obviously inspired by the Nokia 770. There isn't even a product; the only thing Microsoft will release WRT Origami is yet another stripped version of Windows, to fill the imagined gap between CE and Media center.

Re:Obligatory

[releppes]

Unfortunately, I can see Microsoft killing just about anything they set their minds to. All they have to do is throw money at it. Just look at the xbox. When I first heard about microsoft breaking into the game console buisness, I laughed and thought they wouldn't stand a chance. Well, sure enough there it is. And they were able to pour so much money into it that they even made good games. On top of all that, people actually went out and bought the product. Now the thought of owning an xbox is like a status symbol in the gaming community. Much like an iPod is a status symbol in the portable music community.

Can Microsoft pull it off? Absolutely! It's unfortunate, but true. Even if they don't pull it off, they have such a fat wad of cash, the they can afford to flop. And their flop will most likely have a devastating effect on the market as well. I absolutely hate buying microsoft stuff, but the truth is they do make some good products. I concider Office to be their flagship. All their hardware ventures are pretty good (mice,keyboards,...). It's just that their OS and their vision of what an OS should be that really sucks (in my opinion).

However, when microsoft tried to take over the PDA market, it's surprizing to see that they were unsuccessful. They made a big dent, but I'm surprized they didn't completely wipe out all competition. PalmOS was really the only contender. And their offering of an OS and device were pretty lacking (still is!). So, given that little history, maybe they won't be successful.

Re:*YAWN*

[Lumpy]

If you want to know why the DS is killing the PSP then you need to look at economics.

the DS is less t han 1/2 the price of a PSP and the games as well are near 1/2 the price as well.

This alone will guarentee much higher market share.

the PSP is a really nice device, it's pretty, elegant, and cool.

but adults make up a small portion of the Handheld games sales. preteens make up the bulk and parents would rather have little Jimmy break a $139.00 device than a $270.00 or more device. Parents will shell out $19.99 for a game readily and without a fight. Parents do NOT like paying $50.00 for a game for a portable.

Sony loses because they took a expensive device andthen crippled it and ensure that it's games would be expensive.

The PSP could have edged in if sony quit being asshats and not only allowed the hacking community to continue but encouraged them.

Re:Obligatory

[Ucklak]

Their stuff is too expensive and complicated.

I'm a little older and not really in the gaming community anymore (yet) but I don't see how the xbox is a status symbol. Maybe it is but I don't see it.
In my day, Intellivision was a status symbol just because it was more expensive, new, and had better graphics but the controller and games sucked. At the end of the day, if you had an Intellivision, everyone opted to play Atari instead and your console collected dust.

What Palm vs WinCE proved is that people want simple and the iPod gives them that as well.
Personally I liked WinCE over Palm but Palm was a better mass market PDA.

XBOX is just a 'me too' console. Sure there are some exclusive titles but most 3rd party titles are written for all consoles.
I could be wrong on this but from what I see,
if you want Halo, get Xbox;
if you want Mario, get Nintendo;
I don't know what Sony has exclusive but apparently it's still #1 maybe because of number of titles and cost?

BTW, the first Microsoft digital speakers (manufactured by Phillips) are still the best pair of speakers I've used (and still use - albeit in analog mode via Linux)

Core competency

[Infonaut]

Apple's core competency seems to be design. Their hardware and software products in general are aesthetically pleasing, easy to operate, and fun to use.

Could it be that MS, in trying to be all things to all people, has lost sight of its core competency?

Is leveraging their Windows/Office hegemony Microsoft's true core competency? If not that, what? It used to be marketing, but that's not true any more. What is the core competency of a company that has been riding on the dominance of its desktop OS and office software for over a decade?

It's the end of the world as we know it.

[rs79]

I stull can't get live.com, their google-killer to work. At least I get to wait a year until I can't get their iPod killer to work.

Oh well. Back to trying to get windoze to work.

Why do I get the impression that if Microsoft invented sex then your genitals would simply exlode if you became aroused?

Re:killer...

[Overly Critical Guy]

In a bid to capture the huge audience for handheld entertainment gadgets, Microsoft is designing a product that combines video games, music and video in one handheld device, according to sources familiar with the project.

I'm confused. I thought that's what Origami--er, sorry, "Ultra Mobile Personal Computers"-- were supposed to be? So Microsoft is now going to invalidate UMPCs with another handheld gadget. That is, if it ever sees the light of day. Microsoft has been promising digital media competition every year now.

This is just showing how unfocused Microsoft is, to release a handheld computer, then work on another handheld computer for a different target market.

ipod killer is easy - free advice

[xtal]

I should be a product consultant.

Make what the mac people are crying for.

The device must be the same, exact form factor as the current gen ipod.

Make it out of aluminum or titanium with a matte or beadblasted finish.

The screen should be the entire front of the device.

It's only user input; the touchscreen and perhaps a single scroll wheel. NO MORE. Think about inertial input in a second release. MAYBE.

Put a video and headphone jack on it.

Put 802.11 on it and stop being a bitch to the media industries.

Make it with open programmable interface and a real OS.

The only user interface and application options should be just what the ipod has - a video player, audio player, and basic little apps like the ipod has.

Let the market fill in the gaps.

Sell millions. When you do, buy me a ferrari, ok thanks?

Easy to do!

[crhylove]

Now given MS doesn't have the greatest track record on their first offering into a new competitive area in the tech market, but dominating the DS and PSP and iPod and even Cell phone industry would be pretty damned easy if you ask me.

Just do these 6 things:
1. Make it out of real metal and indestructible. Brushed Aluminum, or even Titanium, or Stainless steel. Real Glass for a cover.
2. Make the battery last and charge over a standard USB connection.
3. Give it plenty of capacity. (hopefully with no moving parts).
4. Make an interface that doesn't completely blow. I like the Sony Ericsson interface, kinda, but it's a tad slow.
5. Avoid load times on anything. Lose all the crappy shortcuts to features people almost never use.
6. Avoid all DRM. Just use mp3s (or even ogg!), and divx (or xvid!). Fuck aac, wmv, all those.

If you do those 6 things, everyone will buy it and use it. I'll be first in line.

Eventually somebody WILL make these, and sony/ms/apple/etc. can all kiss their non competing product lines completely good bye.

Again though, I seriously doubt MS will do it, as they are so married to wmv, and all their other own crappy ideas that nobody but porn spammers really like to use ever.

rhY