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Dell to Release New MP3 Player with Zing Tech, Media Store, Says Rumour
Posted by Kit Eaton at 6:23 PM on July 30, 2008
Remember Dell's DJ Ditty MP3 player? Probably not, since Dell shut its PMP shop a while back. But over at the Wall St Journal, there's a rumour that Dell is planning on re-entering the PMP market with a new device that's been under development and testing. The device, name unknown, has a screen and simple navigation controls and would "connect to online music services via a Wi-Fi internet connection." This would tie in with a new online media service, allowing downloading of music and movies which could also be played on PC. Key in this is software developed by Zing (which Dell bought last year) which would come installed on PCs and PMPs, and manage the media movements. There's mention of a potential fall launch, and costs for the PMP of less than US$100. [WSJ. Subscription warning.]
Tags: dell | gadgets | mp3 players | online | portable | portable media players | rumours | wi-fi | zing
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Q
Posted 8:24 PM 30/7/08
Now that Dell's consumer business is being run by the former Motorola handset head, and their new VP of Consumer Sales is also an ex-Motorolan crony, I can only imagine that the DJ Dingy will have the same cutting edge level of innovation as all of the RAZR offspring these guys plastered onto the market at fire sale prices two years after the market had changed direction.
Q
JChristopher
Posted 10:10 PM 30/7/08
Unless this thing has 128 GB of Flash and decodes everything under the sun, it will dead on arrival.
JChristopher
Colonel Panic
Posted 10:09 PM 30/7/08
I remember Dell's PMP. I remember the really hot girl in the office whose dad bought her one. I remember her bitching to me about the player and how it didn't work. I remember not doing tech support for her because she also had a propensity for bitching about her boyfriend.
Dell pretty much sucks. Although I'll probably buy a bottom of the line PC from them to do home server duty.
Colonel Panic
Colonel Panic
Posted 10:56 PM 30/7/08
@JChristopher: Maybe it'll have 128 MB of flash. 128 MB is the same as 128 GB, right?
Colonel Panic
ezman
Posted 12:11 AM 31/7/08
So more than likely that this will suck... but at least it's some kind of competition. And maybe it'll have a few nifty features that might push Apple to improve their products. I'm gonna try to be optimistic on this one.
ezman
Paul D
Posted 11:51 PM 30/7/08
I loved my Dell DJ30 back in the day. (My wife had gen 1, I had gen 2.) But I outgrew mine and upgraded to a 60gb iPod 5G. My wife now has an 8gb iPod Nano.
There are still aspects of the Dell interface that I miss. (And being able to drag files in and out using only Windows Explorer was nice too)
Paul D
theblackdog
Posted 12:19 AM 31/7/08
Dell bought Zing? That explains why I haven't seen any software updates for my Stiletto in nearly a year.
theblackdog
phryed
Posted 1:02 AM 31/7/08
some people just don't learn, or they are gluttons for punishment.
phryed
ryefi
Posted 11:04 PM 30/7/08
I don't know, I think the more the merrier when it comes to PMPs. I have one of the OLD dell digital jukeboxes from before they even looked as "sleek" as the one pictured and it still works fine. It gave me one problem in 2006 and the next day, literally, it was fine again. It's simple, doesn't have hardly any features, and you have to find the right program to rip the music back off of it, but other than that, HEY, it's an mp3 player. I plug it up to my old stereo when I want to hear some favorites that I don't have laying around on CD anymore.
ryefi
jonbaird77
Posted 10:27 PM 30/7/08
A media store? It wont even put a dent in the iTunes music store, even if it DOES have DRM-free music.
Heck, I doubt this thing can even break Microsoft's 'ZuneTunes' store. :/
Sorry Dell, just stick to those fancy new bamboo computers :)
jonbaird77
JChristopher
Posted 4:41 AM 31/7/08
@OMG! Ponies!: No, I meant 128 GB. If Dell wants to win they have to overwhelm the enemy. Granted, probably no longer $100 but Dell should have better buying power than others.
JChristopher