Dell Expands into Consumer Electronics

Dell on Thursday confirmed that it intends to let loose an assortment of PC-centric consumer electronic products in time for the holiday season.

Like Gateway and HP before it, Dell is leveraging its position as a leading OEM to branch out into alternative streams of revenue stemming from the convergence of home electronics and PCs, and the perceived marketing might behind its brand name.

Under the umbrella of its PC brand, Dell is readying: its first portable music player coupled with an online music store; a hybrid LCD TV/Monitor; a new handheld; an overhead projector; and most strikingly, Dell Media Experience - a clone of Microsoft's Media Center Edition.

The new product offerings are set to coincide with the remodeling of Dell's online storefront - its primary, low overhead point of contact with potential consumers. Dell's Web site will be ready for re-launch in October with an improved backend and enhanced visual attributes directed at improving the consumer experience from point of sale through support services.

Dell's Digital Jukebox (DJ) is a new portable music player that touts a trendy design, competitive storage capacity, promises of long battery life, as well as simplified controls. Its arrival fills a gap in the Dell product line and provides shoppers with an alternative to Apple's iPod, which was pulled from the pages of the Dell catalog in April.

To provide legitimate, copyrighted content for the DJ, Dell is opening its own online music store. The store will vend music downloads on demand, carry a line of accessories for the DJ and analyze play lists to make recommendations for additional music purchases. Rumor has it that the music service will be outsourced to an as of yet, un-named party.

Dell's announcement comes on the heels of Apple's revelation that it will opening up its iTunes Music Store to Windows users. iTunes has recently experienced in excess of 30 million downloads of protected digital content, which it sells for 99 cents USD a pop.

Media playback on new Dell desktops will soon take place in an exclusive software application for home digital media management christened "The Dell Media Experience." Media Experience bears a strikingly similar look and feel to Microsoft's Media Center Edition of Windows XP.

The software, which can run on Windows XP Home -- rather than be tied down to XP Professional like Microsoft's offering -- enables digital playback of music, DVDs and video clips. It also bundles a slideshow utility which can be synchronized with user defined audio tracks.

"From one perspective, Dell would be able to offer a consistent digital media experience across all its PCs, even those without Media Center. On the other hand, Dell also would be able to put a Media Center-like interface on PCs running Windows XP, which is cheaper to license than XP Professional-based Media Center," Joe Wilcox, senior analyst for Jupiter Research, told BetaNews.

"That could help Dell undercut some competitors as the company could deliver a similar experience for customers interested in music, photos and movies but not willing to pay for TV viewing or digital video recording, among other Media Center enhancements," said Wilcox.

Other upcoming Dell products project a more visual appeal.

The Dell W1700 LCD TV integrates a back-lit ultra-bright flat-panel monitor and a television tuner into one device. It is available in 17-inch format with built-in speakers.

For those who think bigger is better, the Dell 2200MP Projector aims to take presentation technology away from the boardroom into the living room. Couch potatoes could potentially shock and amaze guests with what Dell dubs, "larger-than-life images of sporting events, video games or DVDs on a wall or screen in vivid color." The projector is designed to interoperate with Dell PCs and other branded consumer electronics.

Dell's new products appeal primarily to home users, with the exception of the new Axim X3 handheld PDA - successor to the company's X5. The X3 includes integrated 802.11b wireless connectivity, making it suitable for both work and play.

Wrapping up today's announcement, Dell chairman and CEO Michael Dell said, "By introducing high-performing consumer electronics products that closely integrate with the computer, we are delivering what is most important to consumers — content and experience — at a better value than they're currently getting."

Dell, however, has yet to announce pricing details of its new product lines.

A Microsoft spokesperson was not available to comment on the Dell Media Experience by press time.