Dell designs own music player… again
Several years ago, Dell attempted to break into the Apple-dominated MP3 player market with a line of Creative-designed players marketed under the Dell DJ brand (a lucky Ars editor still owns one, and it continues to work flawlessly in all of its monochrome glory). The company didn’t see the response it wanted and scrapped the program back in 2006, citing competitive market pressure. The market hasn’t changed much, since Apple still mostly owns it, but Dell appears to believe it has something new to offer; it will launch a new series of MP3 players within the coming months.
The company currently sells several MP3 players on its site, including Microsoft’s Zune, but chose not to ally with Microsoft when building its new device. According to the Wall Street Journal, which broke the news, Dell will offer a tighter, seamless experience between PC, music player, and music store. The player itself will be cheaper than Dell’s previous line of Dell DJ products, will offer WiFi on at least some models, and should come in under the $100 price point.
Full article: arstechnica.com