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Death Knell Rings for Portable Media Center

By Nate Mook, BetaNews

May 8, 2007, 12:37 PM

Unbeknownst to many, Microsoft put the nails in its Portable Media Center coffin last year, telling licensees it would no longer develop the platform, opting instead to focus on Windows Mobile. The final word came in a public newsgroup posting Friday.

"With the re-investment of resources in media experiences on connected Windows Mobile powered devices, Portable Media Center 2.0 is the last version of our Portable Media Center software under the Windows Mobile brand. We do not plan any future Portable Media Center software upgrades or marketing activities," wrote Microsoft's David Bono.

Portable Media Centers first made an appearance in early 2003 under the name Media2Go. Although a number of devices and partners were shown off at the time, the platform was plagued with delays and the first PMC devices failed to hit the market until late 2004.

The idea behind the wordy "Windows Mobile software for Portable Media Centers" was to bring the Media Center experience from Windows XP to handheld devices. But low battery life and bulky form factors turned off consumers, and price tags topping $500 failed to help the effort.

In addition, more media-capable smart phones and smaller laptops drew most consumer interest - although that hasn't stopped Microsoft and Intel from pushing the new Ultra Mobile PC form factor, which is struggling to take off in the marketplace.

Microsoft did release a second revision of the PMC software in early 2006, which brought about a new user interface and enabled manufacturers to build smaller and less expensive devices. However, the platform's future was thrown into question following news that Microsoft would build its own portable media player, Zune, on a completely different platform.

"As a former supervisor who often mixed metaphors might say, the non-PlaysForSure OEM-hating Zune really 'threw a fork into the wrench,'" remarked digital media guru and Sling Media product manager Dave Zatz. "Microsoft’s PMC interface and functionality were decent, so hopefully we’ll see the evolution of this technology bundled into Windows Mobile 7."

Microsoft has yet to detail its media plans for the next major upgrade to Windows Mobile -- version 6 is expected to hit handsets this spring -- but customers have complained audio and video features are substandard on the platform. Apple is hoping to take advantage of this shortcoming with the iPhone, due at the end of June.

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By rsx508

posted May 8, 2007 - 2:45 PM

It was a still-born anyway.

Score: 0

By WeezulDK

edited May 8, 2007 - 1:08 PM

The stupidest thing Microsoft has done so far in their battle with the iPod is making the Zune. If they had continued updating and making the PMC platform actually *open* to people developing software and adding to the devices, and developing the interface and devices to include more functionality, playback of multiple formats (not just wmv, but xvid/divx/mp4) wireless, etc, iPod would have not gained as much momentum.

Instead, the DRM initiative choked a very viable platform, and made the devices obsolete. It's sad that they didn't stay the course and stand up to Hollywood and the RIAA.

Score: 0

By id242

edited May 8, 2007 - 3:36 PM

WeezulDK: "Instead, the DRM initiative choked a very viable platform, and made the devices obsolete. It's sad that they didn't stay the course and stand up to Hollywood and the RIAA."

...and the iPod/iTunes doesn't also have DRM?
Please explain to us what you think Apple's "FairPlay" is.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FairPlay

Also, "According to Jobs, Apple does not want to use DRM but is forced by the four major musical labels with whom Apple negotiates contracts for iTunes.".

Score: 0

By WeezulDK

posted May 9, 2007 - 1:02 PM

The Ipod is no better in that regard, but at least Jobs is standing up to the industry in what way he can to force the industry to stop using DRM because it's counter-productive to innovation.

I'm all for paying for content. What I'm not for is being hosed on a consistent basis by an industry that wants to "double-tap" you for something you've already purchased.

Score: 0

By id242

posted May 9, 2007 - 1:40 PM

Early December of 2006, Microsoft convened a group of bloggers to talk about, among other things, DRM. Bill Gates was asked his opinion of DRM, and he replied that it’s a hassle. He mentioned DRM is nowhere near usable, and causes too much pain for users.
http://www.techcrunch.co...es-on-the-future-of-drm/

Then on February 6, 2007, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Inc., published an article on the Apple website calling on the "big four" music companies to sell their music without DRM.
http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/

We can argue about who said what and when it was said first, but I prefer to stick to actual time-lines rather than re-writing history.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted May 8, 2007 - 3:48 PM

No, no, no....It's Microsoft's fault. It always is. These moron's entire world revolves around that belief. Are you trying to shatter what little there is of their pathetic, sheltered lives?

Score: 0

By WeezulDK

posted May 9, 2007 - 12:59 PM

Then explain to me how a device with a relatively simple and workable interface that was locked down both in user expandability/ability to customize the device's software, and DRM is better for the consumer than an open, unencumbered by DRM device with expandability and the ability to play multiple formats is?

PC_Tool, I'm no moron, and I would think someone of your intelligence would be more open to honest discussion than name-calling and sarcasm.

Score: 0

By id242

edited May 9, 2007 - 1:33 PM

WeezulDK, where are you going with your last comment?

iPod can play MP3, AAC/M4A, Protected AAC, AIFF, WAV, Audible audiobook, and Apple Lossless audio file formats.

The Zune natively supports the JPEG format for images, the WMV format for video, and these audio formats: MP3, AAC (.mp4), WMA Pro (2-channel), and WMA Standard. Like iTunes, the Zune Software will transcode, or convert, some other media formats to native ones; e.g., from MP4 video to WMV video. Unlike iTunes, the Zune Software cannot automatically download audio or video podcasts when alerted by a RSS feed. But the device can play podcast files that are unprotected and in a natively supported format.

Score: 0

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