HP swaps in Rhapsody for iTunes as default audio player

We could never quite tell what was in it for HP in their Apple partnership that allowed them to sell HP brand iPods in exchange for pre-loading iTunes on their shipping PCs. Obviously the branded iPod thing didn't work out too well, since they discontinued that this year, but now that their agreement is coming to an end with Apple, it looks like they're ditching iTunes and getting Real. They've just announced that this spring they'll start shipping RealNetworks' Rhapsody as the default music player on all new PCs, along with a 30-day trial subscription to the music service. Rhapsody has one of the better subscription services, so it's not a total loss, but it's pretty clear these partnerships usually aren't actually about "consumer convenience," so let's not kid ourselves here.

[Graham @ Jan 6th 2006 1:58PM]

That's a shame.

[sinamachai @ Jan 6th 2006 2:05PM]

Real, HP,.... Google, I guess only one more day.





But god do I hope that google/real video doesn't happen

[otakucode @ Jan 6th 2006 2:06PM]

RealNetworks will never, not in the fullness of time, be forgiven for their disgusting lawsuits against Streambox. They've also treated their employees with historic levels of sociopathic malice.



If you give a cent to RealNetworks in any form, you are a bad person and the black spot on the fabric of your soul will forever bar you from partaking in any part of any heaven you might believe in.

[Geoffrey Sperl @ Jan 6th 2006 2:08PM]

I still think that HP should have pushed their XP MCE boxes hard with Apple users. Whether or not Apple releases a PVR next week, HP could have approached all of those iPod users out there, both Mac and Windows users, and basically told them that they would be more than willing to handle the TV/PVR part of the digital hub and, since they were cool with iTunes and had created the hpTunes plug-in for XP MCE, they would make sure that the iTMS songs and the AAC-based music library would work.



I really thought HP had a chance to beat Apple to the punch on this one to make their MCE boxes the must-have PVR, just as Apple has made the iPod the must-hve music player... but they just don't have the vision over there the way Apple does.

[otakucode @ Jan 6th 2006 2:13PM]

RealNetworks will never, not in the fullness of time, be forgiven for their disgusting lawsuits against Streambox. They've also treated their employees with historic levels of sociopathic malice.



If you give a cent to RealNetworks in any form, you are a bad person and the black spot on the fabric of your soul will forever bar you from partaking in any part of any heaven you might believe in.

[Jay @ Jan 6th 2006 2:16PM]

I think it should only be HP in that grave yard.



along with Real that is.



Apple OWNS them both and for a long time to come! HP Sauce and Get Real... LOL..what a bunch of 3rd rate morons.

[zain @ Jan 6th 2006 2:21PM]

bad choice. should have gone with yahoo or napster or even urge (msft/mtv)

[Jeff @ Jan 6th 2006 2:24PM]

Well, just one more piece of junkware for people to uninstall when they buy an HP machine...



Better yet, just wipe the OS and start over from scratch. (The last HP machine I bought a couple years ago actually came with a real Windows XP disc, sans crapware.)

[Andrew @ Jan 6th 2006 2:25PM]

Not for nuttin', but HP stopped selling the HP branded iPods "last" year, not "this" year.

[JT @ Jan 6th 2006 2:36PM]

Is it me or is this CES really disappointing?

- HD everywhere: yeah, right... never saw that coming

- Microsoft Keynote: what did they announce exactly? Oh, right, a sega-CD

- Sony Keynote: go see Da Vinci Code in theatres (no online distribution, though)

- Yahoo: go see MI-3 in theatres (no online distribution, though)

- Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD: who cares? By the time it's settled, we're all gonna download movies from the comfort of our ultra fast Internet connection... What if they all have the same fate as SACD and DVD audio (remember those?)



New cellphones, new cameras, new VOIP phones and new ipod-killers (good luck with that).

Not a single interesting thing. Zip.

[Tim Irons @ Jan 6th 2006 2:49PM]

Dont you mean last year? lol

[Valandil Lunin @ Jan 6th 2006 7:03PM]

That's really a shame. I must have gotten one of the last ones, my HP here is only a week old. iTunes is really great, I don't really think Real can compare to it. =/

[Reg Muffit @ Jan 6th 2006 7:09PM]

Article: "We could never quite tell what was in it for HP in their Apple partnership that allowed them to sell HP brand iPods"



Well, the HP CEO at the time, Carly Fiorina, understandably thought it could be favorable having HP associated with the huge iPod buzz.



HP wanted to sell a music player, didn't want to go the Dell DJ route, and if was felt an HP iPod would bring some of the shine of the iPod to the company. iTunes is the sync software for iPod.



Although, as this is Engadget - the well known iPod bashers - it is easy to see how that rather obvious fact may not have been understood.



(Seriously guys, for so-called "gadget experts," your comments in the Engadget podcasts along the lines "I'll never own an iPod and I'm damn proud of it" just make you look like lame Bill & Ballmer brown-nosers...)

[Liam @ Jan 8th 2006 3:22PM]

man i dont know about Rhapsody, but Realplayer sucks like crap. iTunes Rules!!