iRiver cuts prices to compete with the iPod shuffle
By Dan Wu 
posted January 31st 2005 10:56AM
posted January 31st 2005 10:56AM
Admitting that Apple's inexpensive
iPod shuffle is putting a little bit of pressure on them,
ReignCom, the makers of the iRiver
line of MP3 players, has cut the prices of their flash-based models by 20 to 25 percent in Korea (with other markets to
see price drops in February). This follows
Cowon's price cut of 15 percent (10
percent for international markets) on their
iAudio audio players. Note that
neither cut extended the discounts to their hard-drive based players.
should we recycle all the banter from last week on this?
iPod shuffle w/FM radio cannot be too far off.
i couldn't care less about FM radio. why does everyone treat that feature like the second coming of the feathered jesus?
AM *and* FM or digital terrestrial maybe. FM only? pass.
FM radio is useful for workouts at the Gym...where you often have to tune to a certain FM channel to hear the television. Otherwise you're looking at a television with no sound.
along with the point about the gym and TV/FM broadcasts, for the non-teen adopters NPR is a huge issue, particularly for commuters. Also one of the top reasons for direct FM encoding (as the quality of music encoded that way isn't all that high.
FM radio in an iPod? I don't think that's Apple-like.
Steve Jobs has said that he likes to "control the primary technology" in Apple products. With the iPod and iTMS, Apple standardized the player, AAC format/DRM, and more. This all creates an outstanding user experience and integration.
FM/AM radio have none of these advantages. The technology is not in Apple's direct influence. It is also unstable---even if the attenna is good it is not ultra-Apple-style-simple to find music. Stations can be unclear, interfered with. And the radio features require more advanced controls that need to be developed.
Radio can be simple but it's clearly not straightforward enough for the iPod brand. There are some third-party accessories that provide white iPod-like earphones w/ built in FM radios. Podcasting and radio-shifting are another story. Griffin's Radioshark is something Apple is probably watching. I like that product myself. I hope Safari RSS integrates podcasts with iTunes (iPodderX is a good at this right now).
-----------
The Shuffle and other iPods are the new Radio.
Someone on Engadget called the Shuffle a radio station that mixes up YOUR favorite songs. You can plug into your car with a cassette adaptor and use Shuffle as a radio station. That's a cool idea.
"Wireless Pod-jacking":
Apple could take this personal radio idea step further and let you share your iPod with nearby people. Say you're on a train and won't be moving anywhere for a while. Put a Bluetooth 2.0 chip in an iPod Photo (best battery life of the line) and allow streaming between iPods. It's like the iTunes Library sharing feature except only for a playlist. Tune into your neighbor and start a conversation.
What do you guys think?
Brian,
FM/AM Radio unstable?
What the heck are you taling about? iPod sharing and copyright. hmmm...
Red - Brian simply said that there could be radio interference with the station you're tuning to. I can't get the talk station I listen to inside the building where I work. In fact, I can only get two or three stations whose towers are within a few miles. Apple's theme is that they control all data aspects (iTunes, AAC, iTMS, etc.) Using an open-air radio frequency would go against this stance.
Cool, cheaper MP3 players all round :D
This is a bit of a cutthroat attack on a lot of the other players I have to admit that DO offer very nice screens/displays + features, who no doubt have to put more money into their players for this. But, the drop in prices (hopefully across the board) is going to push towards two or three things.
1) The more expensive players drop in price, people buy them and realise what they were missing - Happy customer
2) The companies making the cheap + nasty mp3 players realise they have to smarten up their gadgets as low price isn't on their side anymore - Happy customer
or 3) The price cut actually kills off a lot of the smaller and less successful companies leaving only the established and the very big - May be bad if this takes out some of the innovation only seen from fresh companies..
Time to get CREATIVE (CREAF)??
From: PennyStockWatchman.com
Date: January 27, 2005 07:15:16 PM
Singapore based Creative Technologies (Nasdaq: CREAF) has a holiday season hit on its hands. Both brick and mortar and online stores are having trouble keeping them in stock. Creative's CEO Sim Wong Hoo has
held nothing back and has gone public with his intentions of taking on Apple and it's IPOD line. Creative's Zen Micro product line, which has more capacity, 5 GB, comes with an AM/FM Radio, and a voice recorder, has quickly found a fan base. The Zen Micro comes in ten
different dynamic porcelin stature colors which has helped drive market acceptance.
Upon further review of other Creative Technologies recent activities comes to light that they sold over $61.7 million of Sigmatel(Nasdaq: SGTL)Inc stock over the past 3 months from October to December of 2004. Creative still holds over 6.7million shares of SGTL, which of late has been on fire. SigmaTel on January 26 gapped up $5 on great sales news relating to their flash memory chips.
Creative Technology has gotten its foot in the door in the very lucrative MP3 market. Their Zen Micro MP3 player as well as their Muvo line have gotten rave reviews and a marketing push by the company will ensure it grabs its portion of a very large pie.
Its recent pullback from the $17 level came after the company announced earnings. Although those earnings weren't spectacular they did show both an increase in sales and revenue. They also included a charge that Creative took to acquire 3D Labs.
The company of late was awarded Best of Digital Life at the CES in Las Vegas.
Rumors abound that Sony is looking for an MP3 partner, with whom to get into this lucrative growing segment. Creative is one of the names that has pooped up in these rumor talks.
why just fm?
Apple cannot do just an FM like the ugly korean mass production stuff.
Steve must do something more cool or nothing.
What about a full radio scanner?
capable of receiving:
Ultra-low frequency (ULF) -- 0-3 Hz
Extremely low frequency (ELF) -- 3 Hz - 3 kHz
Very low frequency (VLF) -- 3kHz - 30 kHz
Low frequency (LF) -- 30 kHz - 300 kHz
Medium frequency (MF) -- 300 kHz - 3 MHz
High frequency (HF) -- 3MHz - 30 MHz
Very high frequency (VHF) -- 30 MHz - 300 MHz
Ultra-high frequency (UHF)-- 300MHz - 3 GHz
Super high frequency (SHF) -- 3GHz - 30 GHz
Extremely high frequency (EHF) -- 30GHz - 300 GHz
and of course all frequency shuffled. ahaha
ok ok at least the TV frequency, FM, AM, police, aircraft, firefight, space-astronaut.
With these feature, I will buy it for sure.
For now I'm polish my creative nomad 40gb.
iPod shuffle is cheap, but it has NOT enough functions so it makes me get disappointed.
I think Apple should focus on the hard-disk type MP3 player's market.
Even though I use an weird brand's MP3 player, I'm gonna recommend iRiver or MobiBlu to my friends.
has cut the prices of their flash-based models by 20 to 25 percent? it's about time! enough worrrying about the balance sheet. think of us the consumer.
which iriver mp3 player is that pictured? i cant seem to find it...