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Sony to Compete with iPod
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Re: Something similar ready for X-mas for $99 called: ZVUE
looks like the mp3 player intel developed before
looks like the mp3 player intel developed before
dongmin
macrumors 68000
Crappy quality of not, Sony has done a pretty good job of selling the PS2. If they really integrate this PSP with the console, Sony will sell a ton. I'm pretty amazed by the feature list, but I'm sure it'll cost you. Their mp3 players and clios aren't exactly cheap. My guess on the scale of features:
$60--basic portable game player; no mp3s; no mp4s; no wireless, but you can network via a console
$149--play games + music; no wireless; memory-stick only
$199--adds a HD, but limited capacity
$249--adds mp4 playback, bigger HD
$299--adds wireless funcionality and basic web-browsing
$399--adds extras like AV in/out, surround-sound, big HD, etc.
I'm skeptical that the 480 x 272 24-bit color screen will be standard; I also doubt whether the processor and graphics chip will be standard. BUT maybe Sony will take a loss in the cheaper versions to gain marketshare.
i think out of all the hard drive mp3 players out their sony's upcoming one will be the one that has any shot taking the crown away from the ipod. sony is the best at just about all electronic items. they know what they are doing. IMO they have the best pc laptops, the best stereos, the best tv's, vcrs dvd players. this is a serious threat to apple they better step it up a noch or 2 before sony can do its thing.
Just look at what they did to nintendo when the playstation was released.
Just look at what they did to nintendo when the playstation was released.
Just to correct you, sony has nrver said that there will be a hard drive in the PSP the 1.8 G you are refering to is the UMD's which will be used to hold DVD quality movies, songs, and games with near ps2 quality.
Le Big Mac
macrumors 68030
If you could get the costs right, it would be a great seller. I'd probably buy one as a supplement, for car trips or what not (wife's car). And it would stiffle entry. There's no reason it couldn't be the same thing with much lower capacity. And most people would probably upgrade to larger soon enough.
more info
Since many of you have only herd of the PSP recently I'll give you a overview (since I have been folowing it's development for about a year now)
here is a artical from IGN.com that should give you a good idea of what the PSP is about.
"PSP will make use of twin MIPS R4000 32 bit processors running at max 333 Megahertz. One of these units is referred to as the Media Engine, and is to be used for sound, movies and I/O management. In addition, the system will include a so-called VFPU floating point vector unit with calculation capability of up to 2.6 Gigaflops. This latter unit is meant for assisting the CPU in 3D calculations.
Memory for the system is divided into two areas. In all, the system is expected to feature 8 Megabytes main memory with bandwidth of 2.6 Gigabytes per second along with two megabytes of sub-memory, also at 2.6 Gigabytes per second, which will be used by the Media Engine.
Outside of the CPU and main memory, the system will of course include a graphics processing unit (GPU). The GPU is made up of a Rendering Engine and a Surface Engine and has access to 2 Megabytes of VRAM with a bandwidth of 5.3 Gigabytes per second. The hardware will include support for traditional polygons as well as curved surface primitives along with such things as clipping, morphing and more, freeing up software from having to deal with these. Sony claims a theoretical polygon performance of 33 million polygons per second.
The system's UMD (Universal Media Disc) optical disk format has also been clarified a bit. A UMD is a 60 millimeter dual layered disk that can store up to 1.8 Gigabytes of data. Transfer rate for the reader unit is 11 Megabits per second, which is twice the transfer rate of a standard DVD system. Sony is also promising the highest level of copy protection for these discs using DiscID and AES encoding technology.
Multimedia support is big for the system. Sony announced MPEG4 support at E3, and now they've gotten a bit clearer, revealing that the PSP will use the AVC decoder, which has a high encoding rate. This will allow the UMD to store up to two hours of DVD quality video. Sound is also taking a high place on the system's feature list. The PSP will feature reconfigurable DSPs which can be rewritten allowing for support for the latest sound technology. Sony announced today compatibility with the ATRAC3 plus format along with AAC and mp3. In addition, the system will support playback of 3D and 7.1 channel sound.
On top of all this is Wireless LAN. The system will include as standard IEEE802.11 wireless LAN. Sony had originally intended to make this an option, but game creators were pretty adamant about its inclusion. Sony revealed no further details about the system's networking features, unfortunately.
The PSP will, of course, play games as well. Sony will be tapping into its PlayStation heritage and including the familiar triangle, circle, X, square, start, select, L1 and R1 buttons on the system. These will be digital. In addition, the system will include a single analogue thumb pad".
-Compare & Contrast- ipod vs. psp
Personaly I think for most people 10,000 songs is overkill unless you use it for storing large files like movies, but then there's no screen on the ipod.
I mean it doesn't take much to realize that the psp will absolutly destroy the ipod in the multimedia area. radio, t.v. tuner, Playstation1.5 power (as in between PS1 and PS2), 4.5 inch screen, analog joystic, mp3 player, will be compatible with PS2 and at no more than $200-$250 there is no way the ipod could even come close.
Personaly for me the PSP is the way to go, but don't get me wrong the ipod as an absolutly amazing device, but for the mony and the fetures the PSP fit's my lifestyle perfectly.
Since many of you have only herd of the PSP recently I'll give you a overview (since I have been folowing it's development for about a year now)
here is a artical from IGN.com that should give you a good idea of what the PSP is about.
"PSP will make use of twin MIPS R4000 32 bit processors running at max 333 Megahertz. One of these units is referred to as the Media Engine, and is to be used for sound, movies and I/O management. In addition, the system will include a so-called VFPU floating point vector unit with calculation capability of up to 2.6 Gigaflops. This latter unit is meant for assisting the CPU in 3D calculations.
Memory for the system is divided into two areas. In all, the system is expected to feature 8 Megabytes main memory with bandwidth of 2.6 Gigabytes per second along with two megabytes of sub-memory, also at 2.6 Gigabytes per second, which will be used by the Media Engine.
Outside of the CPU and main memory, the system will of course include a graphics processing unit (GPU). The GPU is made up of a Rendering Engine and a Surface Engine and has access to 2 Megabytes of VRAM with a bandwidth of 5.3 Gigabytes per second. The hardware will include support for traditional polygons as well as curved surface primitives along with such things as clipping, morphing and more, freeing up software from having to deal with these. Sony claims a theoretical polygon performance of 33 million polygons per second.
The system's UMD (Universal Media Disc) optical disk format has also been clarified a bit. A UMD is a 60 millimeter dual layered disk that can store up to 1.8 Gigabytes of data. Transfer rate for the reader unit is 11 Megabits per second, which is twice the transfer rate of a standard DVD system. Sony is also promising the highest level of copy protection for these discs using DiscID and AES encoding technology.
Multimedia support is big for the system. Sony announced MPEG4 support at E3, and now they've gotten a bit clearer, revealing that the PSP will use the AVC decoder, which has a high encoding rate. This will allow the UMD to store up to two hours of DVD quality video. Sound is also taking a high place on the system's feature list. The PSP will feature reconfigurable DSPs which can be rewritten allowing for support for the latest sound technology. Sony announced today compatibility with the ATRAC3 plus format along with AAC and mp3. In addition, the system will support playback of 3D and 7.1 channel sound.
On top of all this is Wireless LAN. The system will include as standard IEEE802.11 wireless LAN. Sony had originally intended to make this an option, but game creators were pretty adamant about its inclusion. Sony revealed no further details about the system's networking features, unfortunately.
The PSP will, of course, play games as well. Sony will be tapping into its PlayStation heritage and including the familiar triangle, circle, X, square, start, select, L1 and R1 buttons on the system. These will be digital. In addition, the system will include a single analogue thumb pad".
-Compare & Contrast- ipod vs. psp
Personaly I think for most people 10,000 songs is overkill unless you use it for storing large files like movies, but then there's no screen on the ipod.
I mean it doesn't take much to realize that the psp will absolutly destroy the ipod in the multimedia area. radio, t.v. tuner, Playstation1.5 power (as in between PS1 and PS2), 4.5 inch screen, analog joystic, mp3 player, will be compatible with PS2 and at no more than $200-$250 there is no way the ipod could even come close.
Personaly for me the PSP is the way to go, but don't get me wrong the ipod as an absolutly amazing device, but for the mony and the fetures the PSP fit's my lifestyle perfectly.
1macker1
macrumors 65816
At 200 dollars, i could justify buying one maybe two iPods as gifts for close frineds, but at 300, i cant do that. The extra 100 bucks do make a difference to me.
3 iPods@ 200 = 600
3iPods @300 = 900
it's a big difference.
And if they get the price down to 100 bucks, hell i'd get one for just about anyone that i know.🙂
3 iPods@ 200 = 600
3iPods @300 = 900
it's a big difference.
And if they get the price down to 100 bucks, hell i'd get one for just about anyone that i know.🙂
MISTAAAAKE!, but i think they will be more compition to apple then dell or napster or anyone else.
Wonder Boy
macrumors 6502a
its about time the music player monopoly was challenged by an actual player. lets see how this turns out.
meh
The iPod is an mp3/AAC player. It can do other tricks, but thats its main purpose. And it does this very well. This PSP thing is supposed to be an all in one magical player that can do everything you'd ever want from a portable device. So comparing the two directly is not fair, and useless since PSP is far from being released.
My theory on electronic devices, and other equipment is this. If you attempt to design a product that does multiple tasks (i.e. MPEG4, mp3, cell phone, corkscrew, etc.) then you will not be able to make the device perform any one of the tasks with great success. Aspects of each task will have to be compromised in order to create a cost effective device.
There seems to be a lot of this going on today, nailing two products together that have never been nailed together before and calling it innovation. I'm not impressed.
Take for example those all-in-one home gym systems, that "combine 237 health club quality excercises." No, they don't. They are just a weak attempt at copying very expensive equipment and selling it to people who can't tell the difference.
So this PSP may be competitive with the iPod in the future, but I see some problems.
1. Battery life would be low if the screen was color or you played video on it.
2. 1.8GB? please. I dont want to carry around 10 discs everywhere i go. Hard drives are the way to go.
3. If it doesnt play mp3s, and uses some other format, forget it. Adhering to standards is essential in making a successful product.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. We'll see how this turns out.
The iPod is an mp3/AAC player. It can do other tricks, but thats its main purpose. And it does this very well. This PSP thing is supposed to be an all in one magical player that can do everything you'd ever want from a portable device. So comparing the two directly is not fair, and useless since PSP is far from being released.
My theory on electronic devices, and other equipment is this. If you attempt to design a product that does multiple tasks (i.e. MPEG4, mp3, cell phone, corkscrew, etc.) then you will not be able to make the device perform any one of the tasks with great success. Aspects of each task will have to be compromised in order to create a cost effective device.
There seems to be a lot of this going on today, nailing two products together that have never been nailed together before and calling it innovation. I'm not impressed.
Take for example those all-in-one home gym systems, that "combine 237 health club quality excercises." No, they don't. They are just a weak attempt at copying very expensive equipment and selling it to people who can't tell the difference.
So this PSP may be competitive with the iPod in the future, but I see some problems.
1. Battery life would be low if the screen was color or you played video on it.
2. 1.8GB? please. I dont want to carry around 10 discs everywhere i go. Hard drives are the way to go.
3. If it doesnt play mp3s, and uses some other format, forget it. Adhering to standards is essential in making a successful product.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. We'll see how this turns out.
silvergunuk
macrumors regular
Re: $100 iPod
The iPod has already saturated the market. And with Apple holding the keys to the most popular music store online, I'm sure the iPod will reign supreme.
The iPod has already saturated the market. And with Apple holding the keys to the most popular music store online, I'm sure the iPod will reign supreme.
stoid
macrumors 601
One problem with devices of this nature, even if Sony gets all the funtions to work well.
If you're playing a game or movie and your batteries go dead, you suddenly can't use it for cell phone or something like that. If you buy one product that serves 12 functions for you, then if one function needs to be in for repaired, suddenly you are out the use of eleven other functions, heaven forbid one of them be something like cell phone or other device that could be needed in an emergency.
While this product is a great idea, I don't see it having the huge market desirability like people are hoping.
Once again, the "iPod killer" will be slaughtered by the iPod and again Apple will be able to evade innovation.
Is Apple the only company that can make a decent portable media product these days?!
edit: Dang windows and it's inability to check spelling as I type 😱
If you're playing a game or movie and your batteries go dead, you suddenly can't use it for cell phone or something like that. If you buy one product that serves 12 functions for you, then if one function needs to be in for repaired, suddenly you are out the use of eleven other functions, heaven forbid one of them be something like cell phone or other device that could be needed in an emergency.
While this product is a great idea, I don't see it having the huge market desirability like people are hoping.
Once again, the "iPod killer" will be slaughtered by the iPod and again Apple will be able to evade innovation.
Is Apple the only company that can make a decent portable media product these days?!
edit: Dang windows and it's inability to check spelling as I type 😱
QuiteSure
macrumors 6502a
iPod is not competing with this product.
The iPod is an audio device. Most people in purchasing an audio device are going to use it in conjunction with another activity (e.g., exercising, driving, reading, partying, etc.). When you add video and gaming, you're requiring the user to devote primary attention to the device. This product will not compete with the iPod, but rather with Gameboys and portable DVD players.
The critical advantage with the iPod is and will remain its small form factor, easy navigation and superb integration with iTunes. These are the factors which will continue to drive unit sales, along with, of course, constant storage capacity.
The iPod is an audio device. Most people in purchasing an audio device are going to use it in conjunction with another activity (e.g., exercising, driving, reading, partying, etc.). When you add video and gaming, you're requiring the user to devote primary attention to the device. This product will not compete with the iPod, but rather with Gameboys and portable DVD players.
The critical advantage with the iPod is and will remain its small form factor, easy navigation and superb integration with iTunes. These are the factors which will continue to drive unit sales, along with, of course, constant storage capacity.
Re: iPod is not competing with this product.
Excellent analysis. In fact the entire thread has been a good one...thanks to all.
Excellent analysis. In fact the entire thread has been a good one...thanks to all.
johnnyjibbs
macrumors 68030
Sony has always made expensive but quality products. Selling something at a cheap price lowers their perceived value, regardless of the product. Even their PS2, more of an exception, is still the most expensive games console on the market, despite being the oldest and least powerful. Therefore, I doubt any $60 "iPod killer" would cause any loss in sleep for Apple.
It depends what market Sony is going for. The games device will be a different market to the iPod because it will be more competing with the Nintendo GBA.
I've never believed in convergence of devices. When I buy a console, I want it to play games, not do everything else. A phone should be small and portable and be used to make calls, not something that is as complicated as Windows to use, crash-prone, and can do a million other things in one - all in one very expensive device that is the size of a bus. I think Steve Jobs has a similar view, which is why we aren't seeing iPod AV and the like - these features drive up the price and make it bigger/more complicated, and lose focus on the actual purpose of the device, when all you probably want is something that primarily plays your music on the go (caldenders, etc on the iPod don't add to the size/weight/cost and are just bonus extras).
I think Sony has to think very carefully about which market it wants to be in, and then sell at a price that people would 'expect' it to be priced at. Sony has never been seen as a 'budget' company and its reputation would be ruined if it was to become one.
Edit: QuiteSure - you're damn right.
It depends what market Sony is going for. The games device will be a different market to the iPod because it will be more competing with the Nintendo GBA.
I've never believed in convergence of devices. When I buy a console, I want it to play games, not do everything else. A phone should be small and portable and be used to make calls, not something that is as complicated as Windows to use, crash-prone, and can do a million other things in one - all in one very expensive device that is the size of a bus. I think Steve Jobs has a similar view, which is why we aren't seeing iPod AV and the like - these features drive up the price and make it bigger/more complicated, and lose focus on the actual purpose of the device, when all you probably want is something that primarily plays your music on the go (caldenders, etc on the iPod don't add to the size/weight/cost and are just bonus extras).
I think Sony has to think very carefully about which market it wants to be in, and then sell at a price that people would 'expect' it to be priced at. Sony has never been seen as a 'budget' company and its reputation would be ruined if it was to become one.
Edit: QuiteSure - you're damn right.