Round Rock (TX) – Dell is ready to return to the MP3 player battlefield and take another shot at Apple’s iPod.  Following the Digital Jukebox (Dell DJ), which was introduced in 2003 and scrapped in 2006, Dell apparently believes that it has now what it takes to compete with the iPod for market share.

According to an article published by the Wall Street Journal today, the new device could be on sale as early as September. Our sources indicated that actually several new devices are in the works, which all may be aiming more or less for consumers that are attracted by the design-focused Apple brand. In fact, Dell has invited journalists for a product unveiling on August 12, which promises “new products that redefine mobility as the industry knows it.” While this event appears to be notebook-focused with “mind-blowing designs and exciting new features,” it would only make sense for Dell to show this new media player at this event as well, if the WSJ is correct and a media player in fact has been developed by the company.

Details of the possible player are scarce, with the exception that Dell will be marketing it for less than $100, the integration of Wi-Fi capability and a connection to a Dell music subscription service, which is likely based on technology the company acquired through the purchase of Zing systems in 2007.

The sub $100 player could be wirelessly linked to Dell PCs and to a Dell music subscription service, according to reports.

It was not only Dell that tried to compete with Apple’s iPod. There are several interesting iPod alternatives out there, including Sandisk’s Sansa series and Microsoft’s Zune. However no one has come up with a recipe to crack Apple’s market dominance that has resulted in a market share of well over 70% and unit sales that are approaching 200 million units. Apple is currently selling more than 50 million iPods annually.

Huh?

Jul 30, 2008 14:41     

Creative Zen X-Fi.
Aaron report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1

re: Huh?

Jul 30, 2008 14:56     

I love Creative, I own a Zen. It has great sound quality, it is beautiful... but no one knows about it. It is not out there. It is not advertised. Also, due to the lack of people owning it.. and less testing by the mass.. the zen drivers/firmware/softare is a little buggy/slow. but i agree that it is a great player. I hope Apple introduces a small netbook (small as in small footprint, not thin and light like the macbook air.. which is pointless). Hopefully they incorporate the atom chipset.. but even if they did, i fear this would not be a cheap piece of equipment (despite the reasonably low cost of the Atom processor). Dell has some good products out there, they are really trying to beat apple in terms of looks. They're new "mini inspiron" could give the new apple netbook a run for its money starting at sub 400$

michael report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1

Hard

Jul 30, 2008 15:20     

while I do hate that I have to convert WMA, WMV, and Divx formats to play them on an iPod it's going to be hard to convince the general public who doesn't deal with those 3 formats to switch from using the ipod and itunes.
Action Jackson report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -1