Microsoft's "Argo" / Xbox wireless portable media player

We've had to sit on this one for a while, but it's about time we showed you guys at least one possible form Microsoft's Argo / Xbox-branded wireless portable media player could take. Sent to us from an insider working on the project, we're told the device pictured above is indeed a part of "Project Argo," and from what we can tell it definitely jibes from the blurry pics we caught a while back; though if the piece from earlier today is to be believed, this could just be one of numerous Microsoft portables. It's hard to tell just how much larger the screen on this thing actually is, but it does indeed appear to be a 4:3 aspect ratio display, and could be 3, even 3.5-inches wide. Keep your eyes peeled, you know we do our best to have this stuff as early as possible.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 13th 2006 1:47AM]

I notice no one here raises the issue of music quality.

Microsoft could do very well if it reversed the trend of the degradation of music quality we've seen over the past 30 or so years, viz. good quality records were always better than compact discs and compact discs are better quality than the portable digital files. Now, with SACD, critics are saying "this really IS as good as the best pressed records" - these are the same people who told us "CDs are indestructible and offer perfect sound" - wankers.
Oh, and the poor quality of the digital files available is the reason why there's no point spending money on quality earphones - the source is not worthy.

Microsoft should work on a better music file, advertise music quality, and it would then bury the iPod.

Regarding my experience with Apple, I offer the following:
I have a Nano, and my earphones developed the all too common and incurable rattle after a few weeks. I bought a pair of in-ear earphones and they sounded as bad in their own undynamic way. I contacted Apple support (because you can't return any of Apple's stuff to the store you bought it from) and Apple support (an award-winning site, apparently) wanted my credit card number to process the complaint, even though the Nano was still under warranty. I emailed them last week about this and got bounced around by different departments and...well, the problem's still not fixed. Basically I've given up: maybe that's clever business, frustrate your customer so much that they give up. Meanwhile I found my 10 year old pair of Sony earphones that are strangely reliable and dynamic. Go figure.

So, Microsoft could also improve on Apple with better service.

iTunes can be a prick if you're connected to a LAN. It wants to invade network drives, etc so that when you disconnect from the LAN it often won't run.

So Microsoft could improve this also.

Have I had trouble with Microsoft products? Yes.
But I wish them luck on this one.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 13th 2006 5:22AM]

it looks nice, but didnt they say that this would also be a handheld console, becaus it doesnt have enough buttons to make good games on it, dont you think.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 13th 2006 5:49AM]

i would suggest they would change the colours to black and blue,now that would look fancy

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 13th 2006 12:07PM]

Internet fighting is like running in the Special Olympics, even if you win, you're still retarded.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 13th 2006 12:27PM]

Good points Chris and very true. I work in advertising so there are a lot of optical tricks influences the appearance of an image or video. Finally someone who is rational about both sides of the bench. Microsoft never labeled it an iPod killer, in fact no company does except Creative and only gets the unfortunate label from the media. The the Apple freaks join the feeding frenzy and spew hatred at anyone who supports anyone other than Apple. Competition is good for everyone and instead of spewing hatred at something you are not going to buy, add some positive comments on how it can be better designed. If I recall a forum during the 3 gen iPod and some other company released a video mp3 player, all the ipod owners scoffed at the idea claming no one watches video on a small screen and the iPod is about simplicity and they would never add video. Also think how silly you are arguing about something that isn't even confirmed yet. We know nothing about it. Now before you post another comment about how ugly it is and why people would ever buy something so ugly, look at where you live. Think about your furniture, your refrigerator, your bed frame, your computer chair, your car...would you post those things online? Everyone has different tastes and it would be terribly boring if everyone had an iPod. The ugly stuff only makes the iPod look better.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 13th 2006 5:19PM]

Here's a new one... Apple invented the wheel. Mac ultra-fans are delusional! Use the computer, like it, but don't blindly follow some company.

Linux.

It explains itself.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 13th 2006 8:46PM]

Looks like a cheap piece of s&@%

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 14th 2006 2:38AM]

"The device in the blurry picture had an antenna on it..."

I believe that was the headphone plug coming out.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 15th 2006 12:54PM]

Someone asked, "What does this have to do with the XBOX". Answer: Everything

The Xbox is the poster child of Microsoft. Microsoft saw the writing on the wall a few years ago with their worthless OS and their Office Suite.

If you look at the IT world today. Any company that wants to save money does NOT do business with Microsoft. We have client after client asking how to get rid of Microsoft. Easy.. Open Source.

Why do you think MS had to install the new open source standard in their Office product?

This goes so much deeper then just a rip-off of a MP3 player. The Xbox is the new center of MS's design and future. It is all they have left..

All the fortune 500 companies I know are all talking about dumping Microsoft and going Open Source with OpenOffice.org and Linux, or even switich to the new iMac with OS X since it is based on open source tech.

Hell even the websites that were only IE compliant have reworked their code to include firefox and other browsers.

Google, OpenOffice, Apple, Wii, and even PS3 are all gunning for MS and MS is losing.. The funest so far.. MS had to back the HD-DVD and not Blu-Ray becuase the Blu-Ray is in the PS3.. That's funny.. Sony's Blu-Ray will win this battle.. Ever major tech company is backing Blu-Ray.

http://www.blu-raydisc.com/general_information/Section-14009/Index.html

The Xbox is all they have left...And that is why MS will try to tie-in all devices in to the Xbox.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 17th 2006 11:30PM]

some retard named pual made this comment "That thing is hideous. I'm sure if will have to be rebooted twice during every movie and somehow someone will manage to infect it with viruses and spyware ;)"

i hope he dies.
loooks like an awsome design hopefully itll have wifi and a large hard drive. and to people who think they are better cuz they have macs- go buy a pc and stfu the apple propaganda isnt true. macs dont get viruses, cuz no one uses em. pcs are so much better in like a thousand ways. ive had 3 times as many crashes with apple computers than pcs.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 17th 2006 11:45PM]

"M$ shows no shame. They'll take what OS X they can to put in Vista, now they'll take what iPod they can to make a MP3 payer. I wouldn't enjoy working at M$. Everything has to be "playing catch up" there."- some retard

you think microsoft has no shame. the OS X interface is almost exactly the same as a linux KDE interface, plus they even put in the unix bash shell. at least microsoft shows some creativity. steve jobs stole linux and sold it. pfft and you apple fan boys thought you were sooo original. also if you fanboys thought you were helping the good guys by buying macs, you are wrong. bill gates is giving his money away to medical research, steve jobs is trying to make more money by building a propreitary computing world. if only wozinak hadnt left....... well there you go. macs suck. pcs are superior.

[farmok Posted Jul 18th 2006 12:06AM]

I have to say that I'm not a big fan of the current design of the argo. Even the idea of all the features that will be implemented don't interest me much. All those things will only suck the juice out of the system. The click wheel doesn't bother me much, because honestly, why reinvent the wheel? Your target audience is already familiar with it, so why change it?

As far as the success of the product? I think the whole X-Box live connectivity thing and live community may be a bit much for your basic consumer making it seem that they have to buy more than they realy need to just to use it. X-Box owners will be excited though with the ability to have added functionality for live, and maybe some devs will make game specifically for this device (I doubt it though). What they need to be successful is that they need a spectacular campaign that can topple the "cool" itunes and ipod commercials. If they can convince the general public that the only way to be cool is to have this device, then apple may have a problem.

This will make for an interesting battle. I think Microsoft has gotten so big that the only way they can maintain themselves is to grow into other areas. Unfortunately, its not possible to spread out and still maintain the same level of quality on all the products.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 18th 2006 4:31AM]

Looks cheap and nasty .. unless you have a 1980's kitchen and then it would fit nicely. I resisted the iPod mania for many years and eventually splurged on the Nano (after borrowing a Zen player for a week and an iPod). There is no comparison. The iPod (Nano at least) is awesome in comparison and being so small I can run with it too! I don't see the benefit of the Microsoft one. I believe that the embedded OS's from MS run very well (although I have constant troubles with my desktops) so if it works well there will be a market and competion to the iPod. However, it's a little too late I think to really make a difference.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 23rd 2006 12:43AM]

very good, great idea from microsoft because i don't like ipod
this new portable mp3 player open great businnes to other people
congratulations

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 24th 2006 4:27AM]

If this is not a fake (and it might be), I am really disapointed. If they want to "kill" the ipod, M$ is going to have to revolutionize the market. You can't do that by merely copying the leading design out there (and I'm NOT talking about the click wheel). Does this thing look revolutionary?? No. It looks like a typical media player, and most like an ipod. It doesn't look new, it doesn't surprise me, and it's not going to make me want it enough to buy it over something that is already proven to work.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 24th 2006 4:56AM]

You can't even speculate that the design might be ripped from apple if you are looking at this thing. It's 3rd gen - white, plexi, scroll wheel, small round control buttons (which turned out to suck anyway). It's unbelievable.

The thing that attracts people to apple is innovation in design. The only way MS can compete is to come up with a player that is innovative in it's own right. No one wants an imitation. If they do, it's b/c of price, but then they will probably still envy the real thing.

I hope this is not it for MS's sake. I want them to advance the field, not just say 'me too'.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 24th 2006 6:16PM]

if it looks like that i'll just get a black ipod video. it looks so much better...

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 25th 2006 1:30AM]

Retards did u forget that ms had the original idea of the ipod this is goin to be a sweet device i hate ipods cuz everyone has them and im goin to be in line to get a ms media player dont forget its a project still not offical design

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 25th 2006 10:36PM]

Wow you MS vs Apple people really get into this name calling stuff don't you? Can't we all just get along? Okay, I know that's not happening.

Anyway I'm an independent hardware ergonomics design consultant. Admitedly, I'm not a very good one, but I get paid as though I know what I'm talking about. My only claim to fame is that I did make some substantive contributions to the Moto Razr. But enough about me: Our design group at work took a serious look at this photograph. We all agreed that there was subtle genius (not born by iPod) in this potential MS design. In fact, I think it fair to say the geniuses at MS have done it again.

At first glance, it was not at all obvious to us--the simplicity and efficiency of design seemed similar to the iPod in many ways, albeit strangely clunky. And the screen--we couldn't figure it out. With so much media moving toward widescreen the vertial arrangement of the device seemed nonsensical. Then it hit us...WHAT GENIUS! MS has done it again... the truly expandable MP3 player that isn't just for music.

Take a careful look at that photograph. The device is physically expandable. Essentially, there is a connector at the top of each device, so that two of the players can be "hooked up", or mated if you will. After the two devices are connected, you turn them sideways such that you have a wide screen with a thumbwheel on each side. Now clunky becomes absolute genius!

What we basically have here is a rockin' electronic Etch-A-Sketch. You connect your earbuds and listen to the Tunz, and while you're enjoying the music you can electronically play the game of your childhood. While mated the new MS devices use an internal lighting system to turn the devices red, while the thumbwheels stay--what else--traditional white.

MS has no desire to copy the iPod--that would not be innovative, and could lead to long legal battles. I think the company that makes the Etch-A-Sketch (is it Electronic Arts?) will collapse fairly quickly, and would happilly be bought out by Steve and his gang.

Oh yeah, best part: if the new VistaSketch ever locks up, no cntl-alt-del, instead you just shake it really hard!

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 28th 2006 1:07PM]

black trimmed iPod + huge screen + v1.0 software = iPod killer.

I doubt it.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 28th 2006 1:29PM]

So, they took apart a second generation iPod and put the buttons and wheel in a different arrangement. Big deal! Is that all they could come up as an iPod killer. A second generation with a bigger screen. I could build one with stuff from Radio Shack.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 28th 2006 2:43PM]

White. I hate white. Why can't they make it out of anodized aluminum or some other non-plastic, non-white material? Course, that's just a personal quirk and doesn't mean the product sucks in any way.

Here's my real concern. I have a 60GB iPod that I love. What I don't love is iTunes. I don't like the way the software works nor will I ever pay money for a 128k quality song. If I'm going to buy it it needs to be Apple Lossless quality at least. Otherwise, I will just keep buying CDs and encoding them at the high quality settings. I just don't get buying a reduced quality song. Even if I wanted to have a 128k quality file for a player like the nano, I can always rip my CD at that quality. If I buy it at 128k I can't make it any higher quality. All well, I'm sure M$ will do the same thing.

I guess I find it hard to believe that M$ will make a product that will beat the iPod enough to cause a big defection. Things that it would have to have to get me to consider switching would be a user changeable battery, a non-white version (:D), an online store that let me buy non-lossy compressed songs, or just uncompressed songs, sound quality that equalled or bettered the iPod, and a form factor that is as slim as the iPod's. I don't want to carry anything clunkier than the 60gig I have now.

It'll be fun to see how close they come!

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 28th 2006 5:49PM]

I wont be buying it, its from microsoft isn't it? So it'll probably come from the factory with glitches, and who knows, maybe even spyware to upgrade my pc's outdated spyware! Besides, iTunes is the king of content.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 29th 2006 5:10AM]

preaty cool little thing!!... look good but again it is not an iPod, maybe they'll make something better than an iPod so Apple can make somthing even better than that.


I love Apple.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 30th 2006 11:46AM]

I hope their wheel/touchpad works better than that touchpad ipod uses. That device is so hard to get around on... makes it damn near impossible to select what you want on the first try when you are running at the same time.

That is why I returned my ipod in the first place.... Apple was making my life harder, not easier.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 4th 2006 10:51AM]

It's all fake

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 2nd 2006 11:32PM]

if this is real thing then it's ugly it looks to me like some made in china no name crap (must admit it does) ...
MS must have something much more better (if they want to compete on the market @ all)
I had Ipod shufle >>> minimal design is ok but I wanted somethng with screen, normal Ipod was the solution but not for long time .... ;))) then I bought myself 30GB Ipod video ........ ;)

only one thing to complain @ is damn small screen ;)

then my friend got PSP ;)))))) my G.O.D. what a display ;))) .... only thing I hate on PSP is that UMD thing ...... its OK but how about a RW-UMD discs ??? you must agree with me ??? but that's a Sony ;)

back to this MS A*/X360;))) hoax

if it's true then this isn't it .... it can't be
it'll look different ....
MS must compete with Ipod, PSP, DSLite (which is great) and now with new Creative thingy & others ...

so untill I see it on the street or even better bring out the real specs.
- wide display, touchscreen, replaceable/rechargable batt., WLAN, Bluetooth, DivX/Xvid codec support, and other codecs too ;))), HDD, CPU,RAM ??? (games)
c'mon lets get real ??? it'll cost a lot !


& btw. 4 all Ipod fans out there for that "ripoff wheel"
anybody remmembers of some Sharp, Sony, Phillips ... home stereo boxes ???? they had jog dial wheel wih push to enter ;))) function so who is ripping off ideas ??? ;>

this is HOAX

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2006 3:05AM]

It will be hard for Microsoft to compete on design. Apple win in design area. but Microsoft have a lot of money to burn. Let's see which one will win

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 18th 2006 6:53AM]

Check out this video starring the ne zune player at www.zune-player.net

[lulianping Posted Dec 2nd 2009 7:41PM]

The device in the blurry picture had an antenna on it...
http://www.laptopbatteryclub.com/

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 22nd 2006 2:39PM]

Apple just has a lot more imagination. They got lucky and got the perfect design down before the rest.

Microsoft will just have to suck it up and try to win in some other way.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 18th 2007 9:57PM]

when does it come out? lol