Microsoft poised to launch iPod and iTunes rivals
Apple has the same sort of dominance in the online music and portable music player business that Microsoft has in the desktop software space. However, Microsoft plans to change that by going head to head with Apple in both the iPod and iTunes markets.
According to a report from Reuters, sources familiar with Microsoft's plans (which generally means company insiders) have confirmed that the software giant is developing an iPod rival and an online music service to compete with iTunes.
One look at the music and video cataloging capabilities of the recently launched Windows Media Player 11 was enough to reveal that a service similar to iTunes is on the way from Microsoft. Last month, a collaboration between cable entertainment group MTV and Microsoft was announced that saw the debut of beta version of a new online music service called Urge. The service integrates with Windows Media Player 11 and offers both subscription and pay per track pricing models.
