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MuVo Transfers Tunes Sans Cables

At last week's Macworld Expo, Apple announced new models of its iPod digital music player, featuring lower prices and Windows compatibility. As exciting as these devices might be for MP3 fans, they'll be obsolete this autumn. That's because several manufacturers have already announced players that will transfer music from a PC wirelessly.

The first, available in August, is Creative Technology's Nomad MuVo. According to CNet, which has already tested one of the devices, the $170 unit eliminates the cables and data transfer software that usually accompany a digital player. It does so via a removable flash memory pod that docks directly with a USB port.

On Macs and PCs running Windows 98 or newer, the pod is recognized directly as a removable storage device, without any drivers being required. Users can drag and drop music files to the flash memory via the Finder or Windows Explorer. Like some earlier wired devices, the Nomad MuVo can also store any other type of computer data file. Therefore, it acts as a solid-state equivalent to a floppy disk drive.

According to both CNet and IDG, which carried reports yesterday, Intel will shortly release a reference design for a digital player that goes a step further. Its proposed device is essentially a handheld computer customized for media storage: it will include an XScale processor, hard drive and liquid crystal display.

Wireless networking based on the 802.11b specification will also be featured, allowing consumers to get music from a PC to the device without using any cables. However, Intel is clearly worried about copyright concerns; its spokesperson told both CNet and IDG that the devices would not be able to send music directly from one to another. Instead, they will require each user to have a PC of his or her own.

Hoping that third-party manufacturers will produce the devices and sell them for about $400, Intel has no plans to place its own name on a music player. Last year, it closed a division that had produced an MP3 player and other PC peripherals.


By Jonathan Angel
http://www.technologymarketing.com/mc/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1557064
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