Based on an inaccurate Bloomberg piece (Score 1)

Just so you guys know, the source of all this sound and fury was a Bloomberg article that crossed the wire on Wednesday - turns out the article was wrong and was corrected online a few minutes afterwards, but the original keeps getting picked up.

Can't find the links, but here's the before and after:

Before:

Microsoft Music Players to Sell for 80% Less Than Apple's iPod
Bloomberg
Connie Guglielmo and Peter J. Brennan
May 26, 2004

Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, will begin selling portable music players for as much as 80 percent less than Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod.

The Microsoft-branded devices will ``look and feel'' as good as the iPod for as little as $50, said Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president of MSN at Microsoft Corp., at the Goldman Sachs 5th Annual Internet Conference in Las Vegas. The iPod sells for $249 to $499.

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, will release a number of music players when it launches its online music service later this year, giving customers more choices than Apple, Mehdi said. Apple's second-quarter shipments of iPods rose more than eightfold from a year earlier, helping to triple its profit.

Shares of Microsoft rose 4 cents to $26.14 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. They have fallen 4.5 percent this year. Shares of Cupertino, California-based Apple increased 10 cents to $28.51 and have climbed 33 percent this year based on optimism about the iPod.

After:

Microsoft Music Service Will Support Multiple Players (Correct)
(Corrects in first paragraph to show electronic companies are developing music players for Microsoft's music service.)
Bloomberg
Connie Guglielmo and Peter J. Brennan

Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, says some of the portable music players being developed to work with its planned music service will sell for as much as 80 percent less than Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod.

Consumer electronic companies are developing some devices that will ``look and feel'' as good as the iPod, while others will offer flash-based memory players that will sell for as little as $50, said Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president of MSN at Microsoft Corp., at the Goldman Sachs 5th Annual Internet Conference in Las Vegas. The iPod sells for $249 to $499.

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, said manufacturers are developing a ``multitude'' of players that will work with its online service, which will go live later this year. That gives customers more choices than they have with the Apple service, which works only with the iPod, Mehdi said.

Apple's second-quarter shipments of iPods rose more than eightfold from a year earlier, helping to triple its profit.

Shares of Microsoft rose 4 cents to $26.14 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. They have fallen 4.5 percent this year. Shares of Cupertino, California-based Apple increased 10 cents to $28.51 and have climbed 33 percent this year based on optimism about the iPod.