Microsoft to battle it out at Christmas with iPod: Rumors

Microsoft to battle it out at Christmas with iPod: Rumors
LONDON - The rumors have built up into a crescendo these past days. Microsoft is definitely planning a device to rival the iPod and break Apple's stranglehold over the music market, the rumors and speculations say. The New York Times quoted unidentified music executives as saying that Redmond has briefed them about this brand new product.

The report said the iPod rival would be equipped with wireless capabilities and would be able to download music without a PC. Microsoft is through and through a software company, but has shown that it is not reluctant to venture into other fields, as evidenced by the success of the Xbox. But for it to enter the music market does seem a bit far-fetched. Microsoft and Apple are not even direct rivals.

The only presence that Redmond has on the music market is that it licenses its Windows Media Player technology to manufacturers like Samsung. The idea is far-fetched, but Lance Ulanoff of PC Magazine says it's a go, "J. Allard, the guy who brought you the Xbox, is reportedly preparing to help Microsoft launch a wireless iPod rival and connected music service sometime later this year. I'll call it, for want of a better term, the "MiPod"," he writes.

Analysts say if the move is a certainty, it betrays a frustration among companies like Microsoft for being unable to break the iPod puzzle. "Microsoft and its partners have made no significant headway into Apple's dominance of the market," said Nate Elliott, digital home analyst at Jupiter Research. "Microsoft is not a hardware company but they have shown that when they really want to make a success of something they are willing to do it themselves."

But he added that the consumers had voted for the iPod and if Redmond wanted to have any piece of this pie, it must act quickly. "We are reaching critical mass in Europe with 18% of homes owning an mp3 player. If Microsoft wants its software to be the dominant music platform it will need to get a product out there quickly."