The MP3 Player Blog

A few Apple updates:

Deal has some ABC affiliates feeling uneasy
USATODAY.com - Less than two weeks after replacing Michael Eisner as Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger began to put his stamp on the company Wednesday with a potentially precedent-setting deal. Iger sent several signals by agreeing to sell current episodes of some of his company’s biggest TV hits on Apple’s iTunes.

Apple releases video iPod, may change TV rules
USATODAY.com - Giving the iPod a bold new look, Apple Computer (AAPL) on Wednesday unveiled a video version of the music player that now lets it show everything from TV shows - including Desperate Housewives and Lost- to music videos and short films.

Digital music player sales seen up sharply by 2009 (Reuters)
Reuters - Global sales of digital music players are expected to jump to nearly l billion units a year in 2009, driven by consumers’ desire for the pocket-sized devices and falling costs for flash memory components, research firm IDC said on Thursday.

Nano Scratches Nothing New(s) (Ziff Davis)
Ziff Davis - The glorious new iPod nano’s screen may be prone to scratching. A sure sign of the apocalypse?

Music Download Sales Flourish (PC World)
PC World - Legal downloads more than triple in 2005, amid falling CD sales and piracy cases.

Who’s Afraid Of Steve Jobs Now? (BusinessWeek Online)
BusinessWeek Online - Ask Steve Jobs to describe the “next big thing” for Apple Computer Inc. , and a video iPod seems the furthest thing from his mind. For years, Apple’s CEO has dismissed the idea of portable video players, insisting that no one wants to watch movies on tiny screens. Then again, he pooh-poohed an Apple-branded music player just months before releasing his iconic white gadget in 2001. What’s more, two Hollywood execs say Apple has held talks with movie studios about downloading movies to PCs. …

All of Apple’s competitors, that’s who.

Especially Korean MP3 player companies who said Samsung gave Apple a sweetheart deal on the flash memory units inside the iPod nano.

“Samsung says that they did not give an unusual deal to Apple. They just adjusted the price based on the volume Apple was able to purchase. ”

Via I4U.

As reported earlier with Microsoft, it appears that Apple may have infringed apon a patent held by Creative Labs, the believed number two producer of MP3 players in the world.

This certainly could mean royalities heading from Apple to Creative, although the appeals process will take some time to sort out.

With the Microsoft incedent and now the Creative Labs one, it appears as though Apple has just ripped everyone else off to produce the iPod. Stay tuned for future updates.

Many consumers “unrealistically” believe music download services should be free.

Perhaps that’s why these cheap-skates resort to illegal P2P swapping.

But more importantly, more consumers aren’t willing to spend more on downloads today. This certainly means a decrease in prices should spur more downloads, which would increase mainstream usage.

In addition, companies should attempt to serve purchasers beliefs and not simply the interests of record companies. Many consumers don’t purchase because they’re afraid they won’t be able to listen to their music on their brand of device.

Then again, consumers are a fickel bunch.

More bad news for Creative Labs.

It appears they’ve posted their first loss in over three years, leaving them dumbfounded on how to topple Apple’s rain with the iPod.

It’s even sent executives back to the drawing board on bolstering their focus on sound cards to increase profits from their sagging MP3 portable player business.

I’d hate to see them go to the wayside, as they are one of the top contenders against Apple’s iPod. And competition is a great thing for consumers, as it opens up new avenues for product features and developments.

We’ll see how this all pans out.

Details right now are sketchy, but it appears Microsoft may own the patent on the spin wheel used on the iPod.

Certainly neither party will give up without a fight, so it looks like some legal wrangling is ahead.

The worst case scenario is Apple will owe Microsoft royalities for using the patent. It’s not like they’re going to take away your iPod!