Microsoft, RIM Planning iTunes Rivals: Are They Dreaming?

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Dejavue All Over Again. Microsoft and RIM plan to launch iTunes rivals.
Dejavu All Over Again? Microsoft and RIM plan to launch iTunes rivals.

Haven’t we seen this movie before? Companies drool over the success of Apple’s iTunes. Companies announce iTunes alternatives. Alternatives gather dust, eventually vanishing from the consumer consciousness. Now come PlayBook tablet maker Research in Motion and Microsoft both hoping to launch new services that rewrite the way most of these tech stories end.

For its part, RIM wants to include the UK-based 7digital music store on its as-yet-to-be-released PlayBook tablet, while the software giant reportedly plans a music and video service codenamed “Ventura” to replace its beleaguered Zune.


RIM reportedly will unveil the new PlayBook and 7digital service later this week at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Tex. The service offers some 13 million 320kps digital tracks. Although RIM bypassed such a tie-up with its BlackBerry, the company now calls the digital music sales service “a perfect complement to the high-performance BlackBerry PlayBook.”

As for Microsoft, the company is developing its “Ventura” service within the firm’s Entertainment and Devices division. Although publicly mum on “Ventura,” Microsoft is reportedly “committed to providing a great music and video experience.”

Before anyone sees hope in these two reports, remember, Apple has its thumb on 66 percent of the digital music sales and a near equal amount of control is expected for the tablet market. Earlier today, a JP Morgan analyst predicted the iPad 2, to be released Friday, could cut tablet rivals off at the knees. A breath-taking 50 percent of rival tablets may never reach consumer hands.

[AppleInsider, ZDNet]

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