Wednesday, August 13, 2008

MUSICAL FLASH

Expect more ways to listen to music next year

Technology has continuously been improving the way we listen to music over the years. The transition from walkmans to CD players to MP3 players and to the latest iPods stands testimony to this miraculous growth. Digitisation of music has in fact given a new face to the Indian music industry, and has significantly enhanced its reach and potential across the board.

The iPod, for instance, has a capacity to store thousands of songs and even videos, truly an iconic product. But for a price sensitive market like India, where until now, only a small percentage of consumers own iPods & MP3 players, what can come in as a relief is the iPods with the flash-based technology. Talking about the advantages of flash-based technology, Aarti Gahlaut, Assistant Manager, Peripherals Research, IDC India told B&E, “Flash based technology is cheaper than hard drive technology as is evident in terms of form factor – price of a flash based player is lower than a hard drive based player of similar specifications.” She further projects that “smaller memory capacities might be all available only in flash memory in times to come.”

Apparently in consideration of this trend, Apple is rumoured to be converting its entire range from hard-disk based iPods with NAND flash storage to leverage on the price factor. Microsoft’s Zune is also expected to hit the marketplace with its 8 GB flash-based music players soon. Microsoft’s $199 red coloured player, whose main attraction is its touch control, is slightly thicker than iPods and has been rated as a product with better sound quality than even the iPod Nano. The Zune supports MP3, WMA and WMA formats of digital music.

Coming on to Wi-Fi enabled music players, this market in India is still small and a large share of the market being in the ‘grey’ segment suggests that the market is currently operating at the base level of prices and features. Sandisk, the world’s largest supplier of flash based technology recently introduced a new Wi-Fi enabled MP3 player which goes by the name of Sansa Connect. It’s unique technology enables the listeners to listen to music alongside viewing images through any open wireless internet connection in the vicinity. The Sansa Connect Wi-Fi MP3 player has been designed to work with Microsoft’s Windows Vista. Microsoft’s 8 GB Zune (mentioned above), too, is a wireless music player with music sharing features. Initial test marketing of these products is very much expected in the year 2008 as the underlying Wi-Fi technology gains rapid acceptance in India. So relax, the technology revolution in music players is still going strong!

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs

No comments: