As part of its Digital Entertainment Anywhere launch event yesterday, Microsoft unveiled Windows Media Player (WMP) 10 Mobile, a new media player jukebox for Pocket PCs and Windows Mobile-based Smartphones. Primarily available for a new generation of portable devices based on Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition (SE), device makers will offer WMP 10 Mobile as an upgrade for select recent models.
"Today's announcements not only introduce exciting new devices and services, but also bring to life entirely new scenarios for consumers, [including] taking subscription music on the go," Senior Vice President of the Windows Client Business Will Poole said. "What's great for consumers is they now have all this choice without having extra complexity."
WMP 10 Mobile visually resembles the desktop version of WMP 10, with a nice Energy Blue theme and an integrated media library. It also features compatibility with the many Windows Media Audio (WMA) and Windows Media Video (WMV) online services that are now available, including Napster, MSN Music, and Audible e-Books. WMP 10 Mobile is currently the only software for Smartphones and PDAs that supports subscription music services based on Microsoft's Windows Media Digital Rights Management (DRM) platform.
Existing users of Dell Axim X30 and HP iPAQ rx3000 Pocket PC devices will be able to upgrade to WMP 10 Mobile within 60 days; other Pocket PC users running Windows Mobile 2003 SE should contact their device makers for upgrade information. Dell also just unveiled the stunning Axim X50 Pocket PC, which features a VGA screen and a powerful 624MHz processor. That device ships with WMP 10 Mobile pre-installed.
For more information about WMP 10 Mobile,
refer to my review on the SuperSite for Windows.