Hewlett-Packard will release a digital music player
later this year based on Apple Computer's iPod, the companies
announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las
Vegas.
The device will go on sale in June and has similar features and
navigation controls the iPod.
HP said the device would be priced competitively with other
music players on the market. The 20Gbyte version of Apple's iPod
retails for $399.
HP will also preinstall Apple's iTunes jukebox software on its
consumer PCs and notebook systems, and add a desktop icon pointing
customers to the iTunes online music store.
Carly Fiorina, HP's chairman and chief executive, said the move
fits in with its broader digital entertainment system strategy. For
Apple, it furthers its goal of getting iPods and iTunes in the
hands of as many people as possible, said Steve Jobs, Apple's chief
executive officer.
"As the industry balkanises by offering digital music wrapped in
a multitude of incompatible proprietary technologies, consumers
will be reassured in getting the same unparalleled digital music
solutions from both HP and Apple, two leaders in the digital music
era." Jobs said.
The iPod, which works with both Mac computers and PCs, has been
credited with taking digital music players into the mainstream.
More than two million have been sold since it was introduced in
2001. The deal should make HP the first company to resell a version
of Apple's product.
Earlier this week at Macworld, Apple said it would launch a
smaller version of the iPod called the iPod mini, which will retail
for $249 and come with a 4Gbyte hard drive. Its existing product
comes with up to 40Gbytes of storage.
HP said that according to its internal research, more than 54%
of its existing consumer customers download music to their PCs.
James Niccolai writes for IDG News Service