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Sony plans iPod competitor, PSP gaming device

updated 09:35 am EST, Wed November 5, 2003

Sony on Tuesday detailed plans for a much-anticipated all-in-one handheld gaming device--""--that includes a digital music and video player and could even act as mobile telephone, according to Reuters. "Officials of the world's largest consumer electronics maker also said Sony would launch a rival to Apple Computer Inc's iPod digital music player next year for as little as $60. Sony described a prototype for its PSP gaming device. 'We are taking on iPod with our new device," another Sony official said. "We are coming at him (Steve Jobs) on that front.'"

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11/05, 09:48am | report spam | close Reply |
1st POST! BOO-YEAH!!!

Sony seems a bit muddled.

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11/05, 09:51am | report spam | close Reply |
iWalkman

Apple has awakened the sleeping giant! The stage is yours Jonathan Ive...
--
http://homepage.mac.com/johnhood

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11/05, 09:54am | report spam | close Reply |
Dysfunctional

The world's largest consumer electronics company feels the need to "come at" Steve Jobs personally? This is a deeply dysfunctional company. Little wonder that they are hemorrhaging money.

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11/05, 10:07am | report spam | close Reply |
Lets see the details...

Will it support AAC? Protected AAC (iTMS music)? MP3? Which video standards? How much memory installed? What software comes with it?

There's no way an iPod challenger will cost $60.

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11/05, 10:22am | report spam | close Reply |
For $60

you couldn't buy half the parts required to build an iPod. How is this thing going to compete?

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11/05, 10:24am | report spam | close Reply |
VAPORWARE

Vaporware for analyst and investors.

"PSP is designed to rival Nintendo Co. Ltd's Game Boy handheld game player, mobile phone maker Nokia Oyj's N-Gage wireless gaming device and Apple's iPod and iTunes music download service."

All for significantly less than each of these devices alone. SUUUURE.

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11/05, 10:26am | report spam | close Reply |
sounds like a grudge

sounds like someone high up has a grudge vs. steve. didn't the sony ceo say he tried to buy them out a while ago, or was thinking about it? of course, considering sony's spot in media, a portable device seems like a logical next step just hope it works out better than nokia's n-gage (read past few months of penny-arcade.com for their take on the n-gage).

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11/05, 10:26am | report spam | close Reply |
I agree

There is no way it can have the same capacity as the iPod and cost 60 bucks unless Sony plans on losing money on the thing. They have their stupid music vault thing as well that does not make it convenient to put music on their existing MP3 players. So if it uses the same forget it.

They are taking a page from Microsoft. Announcing vaporware in hopes of preventing people from buying the competitors product. Too little too late Sony.

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11/05, 10:29am | report spam | close Reply |
They will do it

I have little doubt that Sony will succesfully take on the Apple iPod and the Nintendo Gameboy. They know exactly what the consumers wants in their hardware peripherals(DVD player in Playstation 2, pure genius).

Meanwhile Apple won't care at all and still make the iPod a product for the elite and not for the masses. We mac users are all too familiar with the story. N

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11/05, 10:32am | report spam | close Reply |
More of challenge

to the Dell POS and all the other pretenders,

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11/05, 10:34am | report spam | close Reply |
and it will be...

c***. Just like most of Sony's so-called products.

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11/05, 10:40am | report spam | close Reply |
35% profits on IPOD

why does apple not come out with a IPOD for xmas 30 % off ??? There making 35% profit on it now .. The Ipod could be the gateway drug for the masses.

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11/05, 10:45am | report spam | close Reply |
re: and it will be...

why will it be c***, because it doesn't have an apple logo with a high price?

sony has always been very good in audio/games/tv stuff, and they plan on releasing a device that does those 3 things. if it's good and cheap, it's very welcome

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11/05, 10:47am | report spam | close Reply |
Re: 35% profits on IPOD

As long as they are selling every iPod they can make, it would be stupid to lower the price.

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11/05, 10:55am | report spam | close Reply |
Sony

THe most overrated brand name for the past decade.

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11/05, 10:56am | report spam | close Reply |
prototype

the pics of the prototype look totally sweet!!! I doubt it will cost $60, but I have no doubt sony will make it smaller and cheaper than anything out there...

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11/05, 10:57am | report spam | close Reply |
RE:re: and it will be...

"why will it be c***, because it doesn't have an apple logo with a high price?"

Ah, hmm, it seems EVERY iPOD COMPETITOR has their price right around what Apple has. So, hmm, genius, where's the HIGH PRICE!?!?

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11/05, 10:58am | report spam | close Reply |
pic

from a better mac site

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11/05, 11:04am | report spam | close Reply |
re: sounds like a grudge

"just hope it works out better than nokia's n-gage (read past few months of penny-arcade.com for their take on the n-gage). "

Yeah, I always make my purchasing decisions based on the opinion of a f__king comic... and how long did it take him to ape the "Clerks cartoon" style for his strip, I wonder, hmmmmm?

Sony will STOMP the iPod. Accept this as fact. And if you think the N-Gage is ill-conceived (I'm on the fence) look up tapwave.com and count the days before that POS goes under...

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11/05, 11:13am | report spam | close Reply |
Tapwave

Actually the Tapwave is a whole different beast from the N-Gage. It doesn't try to be a phone built around a poorly designed game system. It's a portable entertainment device. Use it as a PDA, as a gaming machine, as a MP3 player, or as a Video/Picture viewer. If anything, Tapwave did proper research in terms of design. I have mine now and I'm very impressed. Can't say the same about the N-Gage. I'm not trying to trash it, but Nokia just didn't do a proper job with it. It's name as well as poor ports of console games are all that's carrying it.

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11/05, 11:17am | report spam | close Reply |
cool

Cant wait to see it happen!

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11/05, 11:18am | report spam | close Reply |
Indeed

"Sony: THe most overrated brand name for the past decade."

I completely agree. Admittedly, I own several Sony products (DVD player, PS2 and I'm sure at least one of my many CD ROM drives is manufactured by them), but they're really nothing special. The PS2 is the exception (by default in a way...it was out before both the GC and Xbox and has the best titles. But that doesn't necessarily make it the best console).

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11/05, 11:21am | report spam | close Reply |
Sheesh

I'm inclined to think it's vaporware too. If it isn't, what't the big deal -- that they FINALLY have a competing product after, what, three years? It'll be big $hit for a minute, then Apple will introduce something else that we early-adopters will all drool over.

I actually like the way that this all works. It's fun to watch.

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11/05, 11:47am | report spam | close Reply |
People are confused

I think some people are confused. The $60 iPod challenger is coming this Christmas. The PSP is a totally different device, that is supposed to be an all-in-one device, that plays games, movies, music, etc.

When the PSP comes out, it will destroy the GBA. There's no question about that. It has the processing power and specs to do it handily and of course game developers are going to jump all over it. Expect to see re-releases of hit PS1 and PS2 games all over the place.

As for it taking on the iPod, the PSP really can't. It isn't designed to. It has no internal storage for mp3 files and only works on the UMD media format, which Sony has said they will purposely not make available to PCs in order to thwart piracy.

The PSP is really only designed to take on Nintendo's Gameboy Advance. That's all. Sony is looking for total dominance in the gaming industry. What this $60 mp3 player will be like it anyone's guess.

Most people inside Sony see the PSP as a way to distract the gaming public from the fact that the PS3 is going to be seriously delayed.

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11/05, 12:39pm | report spam | close Reply |
I think you are confused

Sorry dude, not before Christmas but NEXT YEAR...

"Officials of the world's largest consumer electronics maker also said Sony would launch a rival to Apple Computer Inc's iPod digital music player next year for as little as $60."

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11/05, 12:40pm | report spam | close Reply |
so, is it two devices?

the article suggests that its the psp plus the 'walkpod', but goes on to describe the psp as being all-in-one gaming/music/video/phone.

although from the specs i read (its a mini-dvdish drive, 10 megs memory split between video and system) it wont be a ipod killer. its twice the size, holds 1/5 of what the smallest ipod does now (1.8 gig 2 layer 'universal disc'...i'd guess in order to keep some type of security the user-writable disc will probably only use one layer, so its 900 megs in that case...plus having to buy a new r/rw drive), and with such a small amount of memory will not have too much skip resistance, specially if its playing video.

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11/05, 01:07pm | report spam | close Reply |
F'n idiot

"Yeah, I always make my purchasing decisions based on the opinion of a f__king comic... and how long did it take him to ape the "Clerks cartoon" style for his strip, I wonder, hmmmmm?"

I'll take their opinion over 1000 "professional" journalists from ign, cnet, zdnet, etc, because I know they aren't going to hype some POS for advertising money like the big sites. They pretty much refuse all advertising for things they don't like, so there's no confict of interest. They have been avid gamers for years, so when they say something like a controller is unusable or a menu system is convoluted, I can be certain its not because they are clumsy or can't figure it out, its because they can (and do) cite numerous references to other games that had done it better. Its about as unfiltered an opinion as you can find these days. I mean, s***, companies are paying teenagers to hype products in blogs and chat rooms, so don't even tell me that those are a good source of "pure" opinion.

Oh, and to bust on thier art style, just because you don't think they are a good place to look for game opinions is just stupid.

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11/05, 01:15pm | report spam | close Reply |
Of course it will be

The walkman of the future! They're ANNOUNCING it for END OF 2004. That definitely qualifies it for the title of "walkman of the future". It is certainly not the walkman of today...
Who knows what the iPod will look like by the end of 2004?

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11/05, 02:02pm | report spam | close Reply |
$60... plus monthly fee!

Look, there's only one way that they are going to sell these things for $60. It'll be $60, plus a monthly fee, 2 year contract, and you have to purchase $10 in content per month. Or something like that.

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11/05, 02:12pm | report spam | close Reply |
PSP is a rival to GBA

Sony will be able to sell them at a loss. All video gaming platforms are sold at a loss; they make the REAL money from the games sold. The PSP is first and foremost a gaming device. I believe the iPod and PSP will coexist as they'll serve different niches. I personally don't care for all-in-one devices. I would rather have one product that does one thing VERY well. I'll definitely pick up a PSP... for gaming.

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11/05, 02:47pm | report spam | close Reply |
Apple on it's Toes

Being first in usually proves to help a company so Apple should have an edge, but doesn't mean they can stop improving on a good thing.

But ... what would be considered improving? Bigger Hardrives, or is it headed down the video route.

Don't know how needed video would be?

(Album Cover Art, Artist picture, or even a music video???)

I in the past always wanted to purchase a digital version of some of my favorite artists songs ... would Apple even consider this?, or is this useless?

Bottom line, I'd like to know what the iPOD will be in say 5 years time?

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11/05, 05:30pm | report spam | close Reply |
matsushita

I thought the largest consumer electronics maker was and still is matsushita.

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11/05, 05:41pm | report spam | close Reply |
uhh...

When the PSP comes out, it will destroy the GBA. There's no question about that. It has the processing power and specs to do it handily and of course game developers are going to jump all over it. Expect to see re-releases of hit PS1 and PS2 games all over the place.

Yeah, and the XBox destoried the PS2. Face it- specs are nothing. Especially in the Portable arena. Two things matter - software library and battery life. I can play a nice 6 hour session of FFT: Advance on my GBA right now. Will the PSP, which from reports say will be a disc-powered device, be able to match that? on Two AA's? And softwear? Simply put - even PS1 can't match the sheer size of the GBA library - which has a library which has been building from 1990 on, with great games including Mario and Wario Lands, Pokemon, Advance Wars and Zelda.

Also, do we have a price on this Vaporware? If it's 300 bucks, who cares when I can have a GBA:SP and 5 new games for the same price as that system? Also conciter Nintendo's continued dominance of the kid's market - the GB has always been the utlimate toy (I remember linking my old gray GB to my friends and having loooooong tetris battles). Combined with popular youth titles, Nintendo has this market wrapped up for a long time. Also the large library of Nintendo titles they can bring back on the GBA - most recently Super Mario 3, but also including SMB 2, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and Yoshi's Island.

And of course, you don't even conciter Nintendo's innovation. They've never rested on thier laurels with thier GB line - moving from the bulky Gray unit to the sleek Pocket, to the GBC, and finally onto the GBA. And then driving that up with GBA:SP, which is fairly close to the perfect game console.

Nintendo is far from out, and Sony's the one with a hill to climb.

oh BTW, N-Gage sucks. I can't imagine people paying for it.

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11/05, 06:34pm | report spam | close Reply |
I'm not really sure...

Sony makes some nice things but their play in the MP3 player market has been lackluster at best. Another year before this device is out in the market? It will competing against generation 4 or 5 iPods. Possibly even video iPods or apple PDA�s. Sony has a bad habit of forcing its memory stick technology across its product lines. A technology that I for one find no practical use for other than to require me to buy another type of �expensive� flash memory storage and to make it impossible to leverage my existing investment in CF technology.

I guess if you buy only Sony electronic devices this is ok but most of the world doesn�t. And my playstation 2, the one device that would benefit by having memory stick technology, doesn�t even use it. Sony has been paranoid to put a hard drive in anything other than a computer. Unless we see affordable flash memory in the 20 � 40 GB range by next year they are going to have to use a HD in this �iPod� contender.

I must admit that sony does a better job on style an innovation than most PC companies and their walkman dominance of the personal music device market in the 70�s 80�s and 90�s is impressive.. But it is no guarantee of future success. Good brand recognition can�t help you once you let it die in the market. Just ask Converse.

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11/05, 06:38pm | report spam | close Reply |
that's right

The world stopped saying "walkman" and started saying "iPod." Among the non-tecnophiles it has become the term for any digital music device regardless of who makes it.

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11/06, 05:48am | report spam | close Reply |
PSP Picture

You can see a picture of the future PSP at:

http://homepage.mac.com/jmcasero/PhotoAlbum6.html

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Sony plans iPod competitor, PSP gaming device

updated 09:35 am EST, Wed November 5, 2003

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1st POST! BOO-YEAH!!!

iWalkman

Dysfunctional

Lets see the details...

For $60

VAPORWARE

sounds like a grudge

I agree

They will do it

More of challenge

and it will be...

35% profits on IPOD

re: and it will be...

Re: 35% profits on IPOD

Sony

prototype

RE:re: and it will be...

pic

re: sounds like a grudge

Tapwave

cool

Indeed

Sheesh

People are confused

I think you are confused

so, is it two devices?

F'n idiot

Of course it will be

$60... plus monthly fee!

PSP is a rival to GBA

Apple on it's Toes

matsushita

uhh...

I'm not really sure...

that's right

PSP Picture

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