Sony Considers MP3 Support to Silence iPod Fans
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Consumer electronics giant Sony Corp. said on Thursday it is mulling a major strategic shift to make digital music devices that play MP3 song files.
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Consumer electronics giant Sony Corp.  said on Thursday it is mulling a major strategic shift to make  digital music devices that play MP3 song files.
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MP3 players should carry warnings users risk damaging hearing by having the volume too high, experts say.
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(InfoWorld) - In what can be seen as either a joke or a real attempt to get employees to give up Apple iPods in favor of the Zune MP3 player, the team at Microsoft that builds Zune has set up a bin at its headquarters so employees can drop in iPods they don't want to use anymore. A photo of the "iPod Amnesty Bin" , which has on it an image of a bitten green apple and the words "Bite me," has been posted on Flickr. From the looks of the photo, not many people have been willing to give up their iPods, though a few of the earlier versions of Apple Inc.'s popular media players were lying at the bottom of the bin. A user who calls himself "fimoculous" and identified himself in an e-mail as MSNBC.com employee Rex Sorgatz , posted the photo, and said he thought the bin was someone's idea of a joke, nothing more. MSNBC.com is a joint media venture between Microsoft and MSNBC. "My guess is someone at Zune thought it would be funny, that's all," he said. Sorgatz said he is an iPod user, but could be convinced to switch if he found a superior product. Matt Rosoff, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, also suspects the bin's placement is meant to be funny, as it would likely be in the Zune team's best interest to use the latest iPod devices for competitive purposes. Indeed, none of the iPods in the bin in the photo were current versions. "Most of the people [working on] Zune would want to have an iPod to keep track of the competition," he said. "On that team, they're all into digital music, so all of them probably have a bunch of players." The photo got numerous comments from Flickr users, who in general thought it was amusing, though some were less impressed than others by the joke. "Only someone stupid enough to buy a Zune would be equally stupid enough to not sell their discarded iPod on eBay," commented Ariel Waldman , (ariel_waldman on Flickr), a digital insights analyst at interactive marketing agency VML Inc. "That's funny," wrote another who goes by "Dr_Watso" on Flickr. " I was always amazed that people ... jumped on the iPod bandwagon, even though there are so many much better devices that cost a whole lot less." The Zune team is based at Microsoft's Bear Creek offices in Redmond, Washington, near the main campus. An Apple spokesman declined to comment. A spokesman for the Microsoft public relations agency that represents Zune said she could not reach anyone on the team for comment, but she suspects the bin is meant to be a joke or a "morale booster" for employees at Zune headquarters. Microsoft launched the Zune last November, but the device has done little to sap enthusiasm for the iPod, which remains a top seller in the hard-drive media-player market, according to marketing-research firm NPD. Still, Microsoft is ramping up its marketing efforts around Zune in the hopes it can drum up interest in the device. The company released a pink Zune earlier this month that is outselling Zunes in white and brown, according to the company, and also launched a new print advertising campaign to promote the pink Zune called "Sync Pink." Microsoft also introduced a new TV commercial that highlights the features of Zune that differentiate it from the iPod, such as wireless sharing and the FM radio tuner. Microsoft is leveraging the popularity of its Xbox game console to promote Zune as well. In light of the highly anticipated release of the "Halo 3" Xbox game later this year, Microsoft unveiled a limited edition, "Halo"-themed Zune that comes preloaded with "Halo" videos, soundtracks and trailers. The device will be offered exclusively at GameStop retail stores and on its online store beginning June 15. There already have been preorders for the device, Microsoft said.
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Sony executives yesterday said they &quot;fell asleep&quot; in the portable music market - but the company is awake now. Sony plans to improve its position in the market by next year, promising a range of products that aim at Apple&#39;s iPod.
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MacCentral - Sony Corp. is broadening support for the MP3 file format in its portable music player range. It will introduce a new hard disk-based MP3 player in December, and will offer software upgrades for earlier players with hard disk storage so they can play MP3s too.
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SonyÂ is broadening support for the MP3 file format in its portable music player range. It will introduce a new hard disk-based MP3 player in December, and will offer software upgrades for earlier players with hard disk storage so they can play MP3s too.
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Customers might not like the idea of technology that allows some uses of music (like copying iTunes downloads to their iPods) but forbids others (like copying the same song to another kind of music player). But until recently, it didn't seem to bother the executives behind these anti-piracy systems.
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Sony Electronics has released the first of its digital audio players to support the popular MP3 format, marking a significant shift in its music strategy.
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The latest version of Hymn can already remove DRM protection from songs purchased from the iTunes 7 store to enable playback on non-iPod players.  In Listening Post.
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The electronics giant belatedly decides to support the popular digital music format on its hard-drive players. Watch out, Apple. Ah, remember the &#39;80s.
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Sony says its digital music players will now play MP3 format music tracks, and not just its own Atrac format. It is a major move for the electronics giant which has been criticised for only letting its own format be played.
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Blog: Sony has taken the wraps off the ICF-C1iP clock radio and ZS-S2iP boombox, both of which feature docks for Apple's iPod music player--rival to Sony's once dominant Walkman brand.
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An iPod for Bill Gates? Why not?
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Hammered by iPod, Sony will retool, adding native MP3 support to some digital music players by next summer.
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Sony is on a roll after the announcement that some of its digital audio players will now support MP3 files. Up to now, they only supported the company&#39;s proprietary ATRAC3plus format, a technology used in its Mini Disc players.
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Even with Microsoft Zune looking to knock the iPod from its lofty perch, Apple&#8217;s portable music player is expected to remain at the top of the charts for MP3 players during the holiday shopping season. In fact, market-research firm NPD Group says the iPod will joins the ranks of plasma and LCD televisions, notebook computers, and digital cameras as the hot-selling items this December.