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Coming soon: Media2Go

Sandra Vogel ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 20 Mar 2003

Creative Technology recently announced that it will develop a portable media player based on Microsoft’s Media2Go platform. A Media2Go device is a pocket-sized, hard disk-based device designed to provide mobile access to digital video, music and images.

Devices based on Microsoft’s Media2Go reference platform will appear later this year, from Creative Technology and others.

The technology was announced by Bill Gates during his keynote address to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January. At that time Samsung, iRiver, ViewSonic and Sanyo were announced as hardware partners. All are expected to announce Media2Go products this year, as is Creative Technology.

Media2Go is built around Windows CE, Microsoft’s embedded operating system, which Microsoft is keen to put into a number of consumer-orientated devices. As well as being used in Media2Go, the OS is part of the company’s Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) push which should see intelligent watches and other small devices appear before the year is out.

The Media2Go reference device is powered by Intel’s XScale processor, and although final hardware specifications are in the hands of the OEMs, we can expect to see devices with 20GB hard drives capable of storing up to 8,000 songs, up to 175 hours of VHS-quality video and up to 30,000 digital images. Creative has said that its Media2Go product will provide continuous video playback for up to six hours, and continuous music playback for up to 12 hours. Microsoft is expecting Media2Go hardware to offer features like TV and car stereo system connectivity, allowing users to take advantage of appropriate local technologies for viewing and listening.

Key to the hardware’s success, Microsoft expects, will be its ability to synchronise with a desktop PC via fast connections such as USB, FireWire and wireless links (802.11b and Bluetooth) using a Windows XP component called Sync & Go. There’s no mention of compatibility with earlier versions of Windows, though; also, Digital Rights Management issues are absent from the official reference materials we’ve seen so far. With non-rippable music CDs already a reality, the potential of any Media2Go device for accessing your digital audio anywhere, anytime could be reduced.

Media2Go devices are built around Windows CE, and will synchronise with Windows XP desktops using a component called Sync & Go.

Microsoft isn’t the first to think of the ‘multimedia in your pocket’ idea. Archos’s Jukebox Multimedia 20, which has been available for some time, can display digital images and MPEG-4 video clips stored on a 20GB hard drive. Although its built-in screen is small, it can be connected to a TV and it has a range of other enticing features. Microsoft’s Media2Go announcement might also spur Apple to bring out its much talked-about ‘video iPod’.