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Thursday, September 02, 2004

Microsoft announces Windows Portable Media Center devices and Microsoft Music beta

According to Microsoft, five years ago, less than 13 percent of Internet users had a digital-music file on their computer. Now, 70 percent of computer users listen to music on their PCs. Last year, more than 100 million digital photos were taken. More and more people are using PCs to view videos. By the end of this year, 9.5 million TV tuner cards will have shipped.

The company has announced a series of new products and services, along with services and devices from partners. The release today of Windows Media Player 10, Portable Media Center devices, and MSN Music preview will place Microsoft in direct competition with other companies betting on individual content, like Apple and HP with their iPod devices.

The company says the new Windows Media Player 10 is central to Microsoft's digital-media strategy. The new Media Player 10 offers a built-in online Digital Media Mall, which provides access to online stores and services, including the newly announced MSN Music, and others like CinemaNow, MusicMatch, MusicNow, Napster and Wal-Mart. Windows Media Player 10 also includes support for more than 70 portable devices, and it enables users to automatically copy music, video, pictures, and recorded TV to portable devices. The new version will be available 2 September 6AM PDT.

The Portable Media Center is an entirely new category of handheld devices to make digital music, TV, movies, and pictures stored on a PCs to be available on a mobile device.

The first Portable Media Center, built by Creative Labs (Creative Labs 20GB Zen pictured), includes a 3.75-inch screen (9.5 centimeters) and 20GB hard drive, enough storage for 80 hours of video, 5,000 songs, and tens of thousands of pictures. Samsung is also working to put its own Portable Media Center in the market.

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