Napster's Portable Music Player

[MacRumors]

KnoxNews provides a preview of Samsung's Napster-branded portable music player (photo in article) that will be co-marketed with Napster's upcoming music service. Napster 2.0 will be launching officially on October 29th and Samsung's new Napster player will be priced comparably to the iPod at $399 for a 20GB model.

The article details that the Samsung player will be roughly the same dimensions and weight as the iPod, and also provide line-in audio, a limited FM-transmitter, 10 hour battery life, and integration with Napster 2.0 jukebox software.

Early limitations noted by the reviewer include limited functionality of the FM transmitter, more complicated controls than the iPod, bugs with transferring songs and playback.

Napster is considered by some to be Apple's biggest competition in the music download arena.

 

[edesignuk]

Hmmm...it's ok...but looks a little cluttered. Yup, I'll keep hold of my iPod thanku

 

[arn]

yeah... doesn't look quite like the iPod killer as it could be considering the lead time between the iPod's introduction and this device.

The line-in is nice... but the iPod seems a much more appealing device -- even without the audio recording. And the iPod is comparably priced.

I think the Dell DJ may be more competitive. It's still unclear who Dell is partnering with for their Dell Music Store.

arn

 

[LFrascogna]

What

Bring 'em on. That thing looks like everything else in the pc world. Why can't they do something other than black and gray. There are a whole lot of good unemployed product designers. C'mon, if you are going to attempt to bring in something to the iPod's house, you better be able to beat it off the shelf on looks alone. Average user cares about looks and storage, not recording, broadcasting, and what not.

 

[LimeLite]

Can it be used as an external hard drive? A bootable one, none the less? And does it store calender and contact info? And does it have connectors that lend itself to special peripherals? (like a card reader) Whenever anyone says the iPod is over priced, I say yes, if all it did was play Mp3's, it would be. But it does much more, and can be used for backup and storage. Without all the features I just mentioned, this Samsung-Napster creation is quite overpriced.

 

[davester]

lol!

It looks like a radio-equipped breathalyser.

 

[csimmons]

Napster - puhleez...

Am i the only one here who seems to think that Napster will not do as well as many people seem to think?

the Napster "name" is strong, sure, but it's a name recognized for (illegal) file swapping, not purchased music, whereas iTMS is widely recognized for legal downloads that work. As soon as people see that they can't download stuff from Napster for free anymore, they'll think twice about it.

Napster better be as simple to use, if not simpler, as iTMS, or they will have a very rough time (BuyMusic.com, anyone?). I've already heard from many of my PC-hugging colleagues who have iTMS for Windows and LOVE IT. Ease of use is a much bigger factor than brand recognition, and iTMS has that nailed.

 

[theipodgod16]

what so many of these "analysts" dont seem to realize is that the only similarity between the New Napster and Napster circa 1999 is the name. There is nothing remotely similar except the name. And yet they think that just because roxio bought the name up, it will be sucessful. I swear, these "analysts" are spewing the most illogical garbage i have heard all week.

BTW, once people realize that under the $10 per month subscription mode, it will cost them $1 per song to transfer to that ipod ripoff up there, i do not think that people will be flocking to the store

edit: sorry csimmons, u must have posted just before i did, but hey, nice to know im not the only person who feels this way.

 

[Sayhey]

I think it's great. Great that they are trying a strategy that is in the same price range as the iPod. My worry was they would undercut the price by a lot and along with a lot of FUD from Microsoft they would have a big effect on the market. The first part of that scenario at least won't come true.

 

[crap freakboy]

-quote from article-
"It can tune into and record FM radio stations. And, with an included antenna, it can transmit FM signals, allowing its music to be picked up by any nearby radio, such as a car stereo. "

and thats a feature that wont be allowed in the UK considering the iTrip is banned here due to some victorian radio licencing law from 1856. Overall doesnt look like an iPod killer to me, though the line in is nice. Hope the extra features give Apple a 'rocket up the backside' to add a line in and a decent remote. Thats the only thing I really dislike about the iPod at the moment, that damn minimal design remote with its silly little clip...stops mid rant.

 

[mproud]

Positive or Negative? Pointless, really.

The rating system is useless. I always get confused on how to rate this kind of article.

Yes, any positive news from a competitor may spell bad news for Apple, iTunes, and the iPod.

How on earth can you either say "negative" or "positive"? It can certainly be both, and often times, a post on MacRumors will contain information from two different sources!

Napster creates a portable device - bad for iPod, good for competition.

It has bugs. Bad for Napster and consumers - good for iPod.Maybe good... maybe not...

Positive? Negative? It's really quite ridiculous.

 

[reyesmac]

Same price as the iPod?! Are they serious?

If it doesnt say Apple all over it and is as compatible with the Mac as the iPod, why would any Mac user buy this thing? And why would a PC user buy it if it costs the same as Apples iPod?

Anywho I hope one of these new gadgets gives Apple a run for their money. Apple will have the iPod around for a long time to come but if nobody competes with them they will be super slow at making the thing better every year.

All they did this year is include a different adapter on the bottom to allow other companies to build devices for it. Apple just sits back and will eventually incorporate the popular hacks/devices into new iPods. They could have saved us a year by just adding the stuff people have been asking to be on the iPod since day one. The sooner other companies add better features to their players the faster Apple will have to add new ones to the iPod, which is always a good thing for the customer.

 

[shangodee]

Good

This is prcisely what we need -- something in the same price range with a similar feature set to the iPod to keep Apple innovating. I know plenty of people who will buy this product just for the line-in so they can drop their MD recorders. Maybe the next iPod revision will finally bring similar functionality (and no, the memo / note taker iPod add-on is not comparable).

 

[MDA]

Given the tone of this review I see no reason to be concerned about Napster's player as a serious threat to the iPod. While it may offer a couple of more features, the reviewer seems more impressed with the iPod.

MDA

 

[jholzner]

I was really hoping that all those rumors about apple buying Roxio were true...to elimate the competition in this area. Turns out that they were false. Lets hope people see that the iPod/iTunes solution is a better one.

 

[shadowfax]

it's not such a bad design overall, though the interface looks pretty crummy. it needs an explicit play/pause button, if you ask me. is that on the sides or something, or what?

 

[Stike]

Originally posted by crap freakboy
-quote from article-
"It can tune into and record FM radio stations. And, with an included antenna, it can transmit FM signals, allowing its music to be picked up by any nearby radio, such as a car stereo. "

and thats a feature that wont be allowed in the UK considering the iTrip is banned here due to some victorian radio licencing law from 1856.

This feature will also be banned in Germany, since those broadcasting abilities are supposed to interrupt/disturb some machines´operations. Here we go. Next.

 

[Gymnut]

Wouldn't mind seeing Apple drop the price of the 10GB ipod to $199.99. That'll give any mp3 out on the market a run for its money.

 

[Belly-laughs]

Korean chic

This thing´s just tacky. It re-defines the word.

 

[Kermit]

Pardon my french, but it looks f***ing horrible.

 

[eddyg]

Originally posted by Stike
This feature will also be banned in Germany, since those broadcasting abilities are supposed to interrupt/disturb some machines´operations. Here we go. Next.

It will probably also be banned on aircraft at all times unless you want the control surfaces bouncing along to the latest rap songs

 

[macphoria]

They should market this device at lower price. That would make it more competitive.

 

[Stella]

This player only relies on the napster name.

At the same cost as the iPod, and this device looking very ugly, sorry, the Napster device isn't going to sell to the majority, only to the Napster faithful.

The mp3 (wma, aac etc) market is getting very full, just how many devices can be in the market at one time? I hope Apple can reduce the prices because as the competition becomes even more cutthroat, prices are going to come down. iPod will look very expensive, yes, they have done well so far, but they can't rely on past history to ensure continued #1 position.

It won't do Apple any good with a market like the Mac / PC suitation where they hold a small percentage of sales in both Music Store and digital music devices. Remember, iTunes can only be used with iPod. It won't do them any good, they need a large market share especially for the muc store (otherwise their ability to keep getting new music will be reduced.)

Originally posted by Kermit
Pardon my french, but it looks f***ing horrible.

 

[macMaestro]

I totally agree. Who on Earth would buy a thing that ugly???

Oh, yeah. The same people who buy Dell.

 

[telos]

we all agree the iPod looks great and does what it does magnificently. but the napster line-in option is one big plus on its side. you can directly record sounds from any source! whether a mic, vinyl, MD....

if apple sticks a line/mic-in jack in the iPod and keep it competitively priced - it's guaranteed to remain the indisputably best mp3 player (etc..) in the consumer market.