Member Avatar for mikeandike22

Ok so that latest news on the web is that Microsoft is coming up with an iPod killer which people are calling xboy. And reffered to by Microsoft as Argo (also rumours of it being called Zune?). Now there are also rumors that the release of Argo will also incorporate a online music store much like iTunes (just so you know Apple didnt develop iTunes they acquired it), and that they are already trying to get deals with major tv networks for show content. The other big thing that is floating around is that they argo is going to have built in wifi. Chyea thats sweet I rarely buy music from itunes but I mean if im out on the road somewhere and dont have access to a computer I would be much more likely to actually pay for a song.
Now a lot of people are probably saying omg the ipod is so great they can never beat it. In my mind they can, probably very easily. The iPod's popularity is because of music stars carrying it around in commercials not becuase of its actual qualities. Here are somethings that they could improve on:

1. Price - Like most apple products the iPod is expensive, if a company like dell or creative can offer the same product for much cheaper.
2. Durability - iPod's are prone to breaking. Hard drives often freeze screen gets scratched (like every 3 secs), and dropping your ipod can most of the time mean almost certain death.
3. Sound quality - in terms of sound quality iPod's are decent, but they arent really that great unless you encode at the highest bitrate. In the experience I have had with the Dell Jukebox and Creative zen products was one of better quality sound.

I think Microsoft stands a good chance only thing im really waiting for is the first (official) images. And if Microsoft cant really get out there in the market a partnership with creative or dell would prove very fruitful.

here is a possible image of it I found on engadget
[IMG]http://www.engadget.com/media/2006/07/microsoft_argo_player.jpg[/IMG]

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Dani AI

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Good points from (price, durability, sound) and (Linux support). For anyone reading this years later: Microsoft did follow through and shipped a Zune player (first 30GB model) with a Marketplace and device-to-device wireless sharing in mid-November 2006. (news.microsoft.com)

Practical checklist when comparing non‑Apple players (addresses the original concerns): prefer solid‑state (flash) if you want drop resistance and longer shock tolerance; check battery specs and whether the battery is user‑replaceable; look for native support for lossless codecs (FLAC) if sound quality matters; confirm whether the player exposes USB Mass Storage (easy) or uses MTP (needs special handling); and verify the store/ecosystem DRM policy before you buy. Measure perceived audio quality with known reference tracks and a decent pair of headphones rather than marketing claims.

If you use Linux, this matters: many modern players use MTP instead of plain USB storage. Install and use libmtp and a userland bridge (jmtpfs or gvfs-mtp) so the device can be mounted and files copied from native file managers. Example (Debian/Ubuntu-style):

sudo apt update
sudo apt install mtp-tools libmtp9 jmtpfs gvfs-backends
mtp-detect
mkdir -p ~/mtp
jmtpfs ~/mtp    # then copy files; umount with fusermount -u ~/mtp

If the device first mounts as mass storage, unmount it before trying MTP tools. Add distro udev rules from libmtp if permissions block access. (libmtp.sourceforge.net)

A final note on stores/DRM: ecosystem limits can matter more than hardware—Microsoft moved users between services and that affected compatibility for some previously purchased tracks, so always confirm that purchased files will play on the devices you plan to use (or buy DRM‑free). (wired.com)

Member Avatar for Landstalker

Hopefully they don't partner with Creative. I'd sooner see devices supporting more formats and having an easier interface without relying on their software to link upto a PC.

Reason I don't want them to link with Creative? Creative are my company of choice for portable media players and I'd like them to be supported in Linux more and I can only see a link with Microsoft as a hindrance

Member Avatar for mikeandike22

yea i guess so. I do see that dell would seem much more likely considering they only sell windows based machines.

Member Avatar for Landstalker

Thats not true, Dell also sell Linux machines:

Member Avatar for mikeandike22

yea but mainly just servers with enterprise edition distros when you think dell you dont think supplier of open source OS's. Also Microsoft just took a step towards open source with their open document format that will be managed and updated by the sourceforge community.

Member Avatar for Landstalker

I think that their step with this though is mainly to shut people up. All they've done is taken the work away from them having to do much and made it look like they are being helpful. I think they've been pretty clever about it.

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