Sony throws in the towel and will support MP3!

[Colin Dunstan]

According to CNet News and various other sources, Sony confirmed on Wednesday that it is working to add native MP3 support to its portable music players--a major strategy reversal that could help it compete more effectively with rivals such as Apple Computer.

So finally, though VERY LATE, Sony listens to its unhappy customers and ends its long-standing insistence on the proprietary Atrac format. Not only does Sony plan to add MP3 support to some of its new flash-based players later this year, but also is it also working on software upgrades, so owners of current models could play their songs in the MP3 format.

[ignatz]

Though late, this move may keep Sony in the game. They were CRAZY to demand that users convert all their files to a basically unknown format. NO ONE wants to do that. Sounds like a voice of reason finally prevailed...

[gadgetguru]

Sony's name still sell gadgets. Especially now that mp3 player are entering mainstream, most non-techie buyer will get either an Apple (due to the hype) or a Sony over the rest. But since Sony now doesn't support the mainstream format (mp3) that sales is siphoned off to others. If they don't act now, and the rest get a foothold, people would no longer associated an mp3 player with a Sony. So better late than too late.

In fact if the player pictured above were to support mp3s and it were 40GB, I would get that one over an iPod that I currently uses. That Sony device kick ass with small size and looong battery life...too bad it only support ATRAC at the moment...

[JongJungBu]

Yeah, it wasn't a voice of reason...it was a voice of money...the lack of. It's suicide to create a music player that doesn't support mp3. It's like creating a Music Media Player replacement application/software that doesn't support MP3 (for PC, PPC, Palm, etc there are many for any of those apps out there already). Who's gonna want it if it doesn't.

Besides that, when you buy a music player, be it an iPod or a Nomad or an Archon or whatever and someone asks you what it is....what do you say to the laymen..."Oh its an mp3 player", and they instantly understand.


JJB

[cbarnett]

The Sony's a sweet looking machine, much more appealing to me than an ipod (though I'd still get one if I lived in the US using that free ipod marketting campaign )

Still to expensive over here for me to justify one with the wife...

Craig.

[doctorow]

Moral of the story? Proprietary formats bad. Open formats good.