Pocket PCs Masquerade as IPods
By Leander Kahney / Also by this reporter Page 1 of 2 next »
02:00 AM Mar. 08, 2004 PT
Creative Technologies' diminutive Muvo2 digital music player has been hailed by some as the "iPod killer." With 4 GB of storage and priced at just $200, Creative's player has the same capacity as Apple's new iPod mini, but costs $50 less.
Well, a British software firm can beat that. StarBrite has created another "iPod killer" that in most respects is identical to the iPod -- and costs only $20.
StarBrite is selling a pPod, a virtual iPod for Pocket PCs, that -- given Apple's past tolerance for knockoffs -- may not be available for very long.
On the market just two weeks, the product is a software iPod that runs on Pocket PCs, Microsoft's Palm-like operating system for handhelds.
The virtual iPod is, well, virtually identical to a real iPod.
The application fills the Pocket PC's entire screen with a faithful facsimile of the iPod, including the player's distinctive scroll wheel and four buttons for playing, pausing and so on.
Like the iPod, the pPod is controlled by its virtual scroll wheel. Most Pocket PCs have touch-sensitive screens, which allow users to navigate the pPod's menus with their fingers -- just like the iPod.
Naturally, the pPod's interface is also just like the iPod's. Songs are arranged by a series of nested menus, which can be browsed by artist, album, genre, etc.
"It works exactly the same way, except it's software and it costs $20," said a spokesman for the company, who wished to remain anonymous.
The price is not the only difference between the real and virtual iPod.
The pPod software plays only songs encoded as MP3 files. It does not support WMA, nor songs downloaded from Apple's popular iTunes Music Store, which are encoded as copy-protected AAC files.
The lack of AAC support appears to be a big disappointment to potential users, who are keen to turn their Pocket PCs into mobile players of iTunes songs.
"I was so excited when I saw this because I thought since it's an iPod player for PPC (Pocket PC), it would play all my iTunes music," wrote Brandon Gomez in a forum discussing the software. "Bummer that it doesn't, 'cause I've been looking everywhere for a PPC player that will play acc (AAC) files."
Neither does the pPod software magically enhance the limited storage capacity of most Pocket PCs, which typically have up to 64 MB of internal memory, enough for about a dozen songs. However, the pPod does support memory cards, which can be swapped in and out, offering potentially unlimited storage.
A demo that functions for three days is available from the company's website.
The pPod was developed because imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the anonymous spokesman said.
"I personally use an iPod," he said. "It's a good interface to use. It's easy to browse and select songs. It's an interface that's popular. People know it. It's very simple to pick up and use."
The spokesman flatly declined to comment on potential legal issues. "We'll deal with that at the time," he said.
Phillip Torrone, director of product development at advertising agency Fallon Worldwide and a Pocket PC nut, tried the software and liked it.
"I liked it a lot," he said. "Once you've used it, you don't want to use a Pocket PC any other way."
Torrone said the iPod's interface is so natural, it will be copied relentlessly.
"I think iPod interface is going to be the new Linux," he said. "People are going to try and put an iPod interface on just about everything."
The software was released a couple of weeks ago and has proven very popular, the company spokesman said. "People like it," he said. "We've sold it in Japan, the U.S., U.K. and lots of other places."
An Apple spokesman declined to comment.
To some Mac fans, the idea of an iPod knockoff running on Microsoft software is deeply offensive.
"To whip out an iPaq with iPod-like UI is like wearing a fake Fendi," wrote someone called Stonk on the MacSlash discussion forum. "Everyone can tell it's a fake, and you end up looking like a bigger, trashier idiot."
However, another poster called SlashRaid countered, "Spin it how you like, it's an innovative idea.... One could almost view it as advertising your closed platform on other peoples' dimes."
Brian Ferguson, an intellectual property lawyer with McDermott, Will & Emery in Washington, D.C., said he wasn't familiar with Apple's patent portfolio, but if the iPod is patent-protected -- and it likely is -- the software may well infringe on the patent.
"I'm just speculating, but I'd be surprised if Apple didn't patent-protect some of the ideas in the iPod," he said. "If it does infringe on the patents, end of story."
Like Torrone, Ferguson said Apple will likely face more knockoffs in the future. "I think Apple is going to be facing a lot more of these over the next five years given the success of the iPod," he said.
In the late '90s, Apple successfully prevented a couple of PC manufacturers from selling translucent all-in-one PCs that bore striking resemblances to the popular iMac.
