“According to most analyst estimates, the iPod has the largest market share among all portable digital media players. But if any company can take on Apple in the media-player space, it is iRiver, a company that has been setting the high-mark standard for media-format compatibility. The company is perhaps the first major media-player manufacturer to offer players that are compatible with MP3, WMA, ASF, WAV and OGG music file formats,” Kirk L. Kroeker reports for TechNewsWorld.
[MacDailyNews note: iRiver players cannot play song purchased from the market-dominating (with over 70% of the market) iTunes Music Store. So, writing that iRiver “has been setting the high-mark standard for media-format compatibility,” strains credibility.]
TechNewsWorld Asked Sasse a few questions:
TNW: Your company, unlike Apple, has not focused on a direct synergy with an online music store. Instead, iRiver has favored background partnerships, media player integrations and broad format compatibility. Are you planning an integration effort or some partnership that will pair your media players directly with an online source for music?
Sasse: We are doing our best to remain as agnostic as possible in this arena. Our customers are looking for flexibility to choose the options that best suit their needs. By favoring the secure Windows Media format, it opens up the opportunity for competition in services, ultimately providing our customers with multiple libraries, service options, and payment structures to choose from. We aim to produce the best devices possible, in multiple categories, supporting multiple formats and services so our customers can always choose what is best for them.
TNW: Do you see the Apple iPod as your main competition at this point, or are there other players you admire more on the market?
Sasse: At this point, there are very few companies that have a product line that rivals iRiver. Without question, Apple has done a great job marketing their solution and the industry as a whole has benefited from that, but our strategy is entirely different. We believe there are many different consumer needs that need to be met with the right product; as such, our product line has something for everyone, whereas other companies may take the approach of “one product for everyone.”
TNW: How do you plan to take the iPod crown away from Apple?
Sasse: Apple can keep the “iPod crown.” The “portable entertainment crown” is still up for grabs, however, and we have our sights set squarely upon it.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Sasse ignores the fact that his company’s players do not work with the world’s number one legit online music store, Apple’s iTunes Music Store, nor does he seem to remember the iPod mini, so his “one product for everyone” comment is meaningless.
Apple will always have the iPod� crown.
Shouldn’t the words “Secure” and “Windows” in the same sentence give Sasse red flags?
My God, I have shivers …
bla bla bla… iRiver who?
give most people too many choices, formats, stores, etc and they will completely screw everything up on their iRiver.
I was entertained. iriver who?
which comes first, the iriver or the entertainment
i know i’m going to get flamed here..but since the i in iPod came from iMac (which referred to Internet, I believe, not Individual or I).. what the hell does iRiver expect us to think its inspiration is..?
Come on.. you wanna talk about the iRiver brand?! LMAO.. as if, what, you haven’t been ripping off the iPod since day one?
Perception is everything, and I’m pretty sure people see iRiver and assume it’s an Apple product (need I go into the many i-apps and i-gear?)
PS. Portable Movies will fail, just like.. *ahem.. the portable video gear that is already on the market lol
btw–“iRiver”–nice ORIGINAL name there. did ya’ll come up w/ that on your own??
mike –you beat me to the punch..
iTMS is the World’s NUmber One legit online music service. Technically that may be true, but it’s also misleading. It suggests that it’s a global venture. It is not.
It would be more accurate to call it “USA’s number one legit online music service”.
It may be that Kaazaa is the #1 legit service if you were to include downloads in countires in which it is not actually illegal.
So, Hywel, should we refer to Bill Gates as the “Richest Man in the U.S.A.” because he lives in the U.S.A. exclusively? …even though he’s also the richest man in the world?
How about the 509 meter high Taipei 101 tower in Taiwan? That shouldn’t be referred to as the tallest building in the world since it’s only in Taiwan, right?
Oh, and the concept of “legit” is not limited to legality. A service/product not being explicitly illegal in a particular locality does not make it “legit” in that locality or elsewhere.
stealing is stealing.. despite the euphemisms of information sharing…
PS. I am a hypocrite because i use the best file sharing program out there..acquisition
bill gates isn’t the richest person in the world, the guy who owns ikea is.
dave, touch�.
By the way, for those of you who would like to spoof my moniker for posting, I always use proper case on the name.
AB and dave, I don’t think either of them are the richest man in the world. They are just not as good at hiding their wealth as others are.
MDN, I usually agree with your “take,” but I must say this. chastising companies for not “working” with the iTMS or iPod when Apple doesnt allow for it (whether for good or bad) is really kind of foul play. The redorick of these online music companies and MP3 player makers about choice is all the ammo they got. We can point out how sad it all is to have 50 choices of how to buy the same music in the same format, but saying “asse ignores the fact that his company’s players do not work with the world’s number one legit online music store” just doesnt do anything because he just can do it, he didnt choose not to do it.
[MacDailyNews note: iRiver players cannot play song purchased from the market-dominating (with over 70% of the market) iTunes Music Store. So, writing that iRiver “has been setting the high-mark standard for media-format compatibility,” strains credibility.]
It does not strain credibility. APple locks other people out from supporting iTMS files. This is no fault of iRiver. If iRiver is an inferior product, which can easily be demonstrated, then use an argument with some actual substance to back your claims. Not this very weak argument you put forth.
I am sure that if given the opportunity, iRiver would support m4a files with fairplay DRM…
Sturgeon,
Apple does NOT lock anyone out from playing iTMS files. ANY PRODUCT that plugs into the Quicktime codec can play iTMS-purchased songs. Period. That’s how RealPlayer 10 does it.
You are simply wrong. Do some research. Know something about the subject before you post.
Yes, RealPlayer 10 can play iTMS-purchased songs. Yes it can. Last time I checked, Apple didn’t make RealPlayer 10, right? Right?
Hey bomb, now that you’ve given yourself ample time to pat yourself on the back…
What portable music device, other than iPod, plays iTMS songs? Because that’s what this is about. iPod, iRiver, and other portable devices. Not the god damn software for computers.
Sorry to knock you down a peg. Mouth.
I agree with Buffy/Sturgeon.
iRiver will have competition…The iPod is slowly becoming a multimedia player. If rumors are true, and some are, the new iPod will be color and be able to display pictures. Also, the ITMS isn’t all about music anymore. There are movie trailers now. I think Apple will definitely make the iPod more of a multimedia device and the iPod MINI will stay true to music. Sounds like a great strategy to me…
Sturgeon, you idiot, do you know anything about the software running portable devices? Apparently not. Holy crap.
The entertainment crown? Say what? Gee does that mean that with every player you get to have the services of a hooker? Remember prostitution is the number 1 global entertainment industry. That sure says something for an endeavour that was not even created by humans.
I find this interesting: “TMS is the World’s NUmber One legit online music service. Technically that may be true, but it’s also misleading. It suggests that it’s a global venture. It is not.”
why? because the iTMS only operates through one country and dominates the rest of the globe entirely. Does anyone else see the disparity between other nations and the US?
I guess it is how you look at the “greatest” country concept. Some would say greatest country because they have so much material wealth than everyone else. Others would say that the greatest country would be one that supports bring others to a close realization of equality, at least materialistically.
I wonder which one the US fits best?
It is true that you can’t directly use iTMS songs on an iRiver device but so what. I own an iRiver iRock860, it’s a 256m flash device, holds about 55 songs, has FM and works with iTunes. I love the thing. Apple did not want to work in that part of the market. This thing holds enough music for me to last about a week of on and off listening which is just right. Apple makes some truely outstanding hardware and software. I am one of their biggest fans. But there are others out there doing the same, and iRiver is one of them.
I owned an iRiver before I got some sense and switched to iPod (40GB!). It’s named iRiver because it gave me an iRiver of pain.