Sony Readies iPod Rival (PC world)

[docomo]

Sony is getting read to roll out it's iPod competitor within the next fiscal year . According to company officials, the music player will draw on "typically Sony" qualities, such as design and long battery life... nice!:) http://www.pcworld.com/resource/article/0,aid,125585,pg,1,RS S,RSS,00.asp

[Firipinjin]

I think the problem with Sony is that they are trying too hard to kill iPod. The company has a lot of proprietary products that is not welcome to the rest of the electronic world. This, in a way, affects their growth.

In the past, Sony tried to sell their Betamax format only to be killed by VHS. The memory stick also lacks the selling power of the SD card, which is embraced by several electronic brands. More recently, the blue ray disc is being pitted against the HD-DVD.

There is no doubt that iPod has a huge share in the portable music industry. The selling point for iPod is the simplicity in it's design which a lot of consumers like plus it accepts several music formats. Sony, on the other hand, has always been trying to 'sell' their proprietary ATTRAC music format which is really not popular compared to mp3 (but the new walkmans still play mp3 because no one will buy Sony products if they can only play attrac formats).

On a personal note, I don't like sony music cds. I can't even rip original CDs, which I bought, to mp3s and load them to my iPod.