Will iRiver Prices Now Have To Drop?

[Sp00k]

New Ipod due out Monday... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5457434/site/newsweek/

Bl**dy revolting-looking specimen... but it's dropped $100 in price for the 20 & 40 Gb versions.

What happens next, I wonder? ... Will iRiver have to drop their prices now?


Hmm... above page appears unavailable... abridged text below... scroll down for pic.

By Steven Levy
NewsweekJuly 26 issue - Veteran Podsters understand that at least once a year Apple performs a feat that at once infuses them with dread and delight: an iPod upgrade. The delight comes from a new look and new capabilities. The dread comes from the realization that you're a step behind the cutting edge and must consider whether to buy your way back on it.

And here it goes again. The considerably tweaked fourth-generation iPod will roll out this week, and NEWSWEEK got an advance peek. It looks a bit different, operates more efficiently, has a few more features and costs less. Here are the highlights.

The click wheel. The iPod keeps getting slimmer and more streamlined. While the initial version had a relatively boxy feel, subsequent versions have been curvier and smaller. This one is about a millimeter thinner and, more significantly, eliminates the control buttons that sat under the display screen. Instead, it uses a "click wheel," where the controls are placed on the compass points of the circular touchpad that lets you scroll through menus. This is an innovation carried over from the diminutive iPod Mini. "It was developed out of necessity for the Mini, because there wasn't enough room (for the buttons)," says Steve Jobs. "But the minute we experienced it we just thought, 'My God, why didn't we think of this sooner?' "

More efficient menus. There's less thumbing required to get to your favorite stuff. "Music" is a first-level entry, and now a single click initiates the popular technique of shuffling your library for playback.

New features. You can create multiple on-the-go playlists and delete songs from those ad-hoc mixes. And audiobooks are not only easier to find, you can listen to them at normal speed, slower or 25 percent faster, without its sounding like a Munchkin.

Longer play. Coast-to-coasters rejoice: the new iPods are rated for 12 hours of rockin' between charges—a 50 percent boost in battery life. This is accomplished, Apple says, not by a heavier battery but diligent conservation of power.

Lower price. The top-of-the-line iPod, holding 10,000 songs (40 gigs, as geeks will tell you), now costs $399. The lower-capacity model, with room for 5,000 songs (20 gigs), costs $299. That's a $100 price reduction for each. (There's no more 15-gig model.)

[sweetspot]

More info: Newsweek cover

Mac Daily News

I predict, that at those featured price ranges, Apple is going to make an absolute killing ! If the battery life issue is resolved, then we'll be seeing a lot more Iriver ship jumpers for sure. The competition will definitely be swayed, and my god, there are going to be a hell of a lot more annoying metrosexual ipodders on this planet ! (Hell, I may even buy one at that rediculous price ! That aqua really suits me..Heeeeeey!)

[ManchesterUnited4Life]

As someone has cleverly posted in the links provided, it absolutely wreaks of ' I Just Learnt How To Use Photoshop! ' ...

Sorry, but not fooled ...

Still no reports of Filetree Browse, LCD Remote although the 'improved' battery life and the sound quality remain to be seen - as for aesthetics, if that really is the real design, then I prefer the scroll wheel and four buttons, and so think Apple have taken a step down, which is good to see. It's now a matter of seeing whether all the 3G owners flock over to the 4G ...

[NYC_Jeff]

Originally Posted by Sweet Spot

I predict, that at those featured price ranges, Apple is going to make an absolute killing ! If the battery life issue is resolved, then we'll be seeing a lot more Iriver ship jumpers for sure. The competition will definitely be swayed, and my god, there are going to be a hell of a lot more annoying metrosexual ipodders on this planet ! (Hell, I may even buy one at that rediculous price ! That aqua really suits me..Heeeeeey!)

Its not the current iRiver folks jumping ship that scares me, its the lack of advertising and support that will lead potential iRiver customers to follow the crowd and buy an iPod. The macworld story indicated that the 4G ipod will include a carrying case and a dock as well, all at the lower price. Yikes. So while the new iRiver HDD players are getting slightly larger and more expensive with little more than cosmetic upgrades, ipods are getting smaller, cheaper and improving their functionality (mutiple on-the-fly playlists? We can only dream...). I wonder who's going to win this fight?

[sweetspot]

Furthermore, Iriver will not lower the prices on current offerings because that would mean lowering them in the Asian market first, where the iPod does NOT dominate, so that would be a silly move to say the least. Nope, aint' gonna happen.

[sweetspot]

I dunno NYC Jeff, the way I see it is, if Iriver can't deliver the goods, current users WILL jump ship in the near future and look towards buying from a company who can. So far, Rio is the number one contender if you ask me. They have an excellent firmware set, great software set, and the only thing holding them back is their contract with Hitachi and their bummed HD situation. It was in fact, ONE OF the only thing(s) that kept me from being a Riovolution member instead of a Mistic man ! (didn't want software to connect to pc..usb mass storage support was a HUGE deciding factor for me, as well as the LCD remote)

Looking at the current 3xx series, it looks to me as if Iriver is taking steps away from what "AUDIO" enthusiasts are really looking for in an Mp3 player. If I wanted a picture displayer, I'd buy something else. While other Mp3 player manufacturers are focusing on smaller form factors and the technology which accompanies such, Iriver seem to be taking steps away from that in order to satisfy some niche population in Asia ! I personally will not be buying the new 3xx player(S) because I want a music player, with full audio capabilities, which means having .wav support for one ! I want smaller, not bigger, I want gapless, and Rio have proven that they could do gapless with much success. I want full playlist capabilities, which include bookmarking and smartlists...

So when I say jump ship, I do mean "may the best player win". Sure, my IHP still has my heart, what with the mass storage connectivity, great recording features, superb battery life, file tree folder sorting, fantastic audio reproduction...But I'll tell you this much, Rio isn't far off the mark at all. They only need an LCD remote and a nice official case to get my dollars. I AM waiting for the Karma 2...if they deliver this time around (better build quality, different HD, LCD remote, case), I'm sold for sure.

As for the iPod, to be honest, I say I'd buy one at that price, but something still turns me off about them...I'd still never have gapless, would be tied into some stupid piece of software, whether it be iTunes which I LOATHE, or some 3rd party POSoftware for file transfers..not to mention the "can't transfer tunes back to pc from iPod etc...To me, the iPod is more of a statement these days than it is a convenient music player. Plus, I'm not sure if the color would go with my undies as seen in Spooks avatar !

[y0da]

rio has a chance here....they need to come out with something great...and not have any sort of build quality problems with it....if they do that they could really steal the show as far as i am concerned....i too am awaiting the karma 2 ...even tho i will not be upgradeing for awhile....i think the h100 series will go down as one of the better DAP's to have come down the pike...but unfortuantly i don't see much of a future for iriver in the world market ....they seem intent on fadeing into the aisan market where they will wallow in obscurity....there flash players still impres me ...and a new IGP has a chance at doing something....alltho now that i think about it the demand for the mini seems to be even more then the demand for the ipod....its a shame that iriver went this route ...because as i said the h100 series is a wonderfull DAP and the h300 could of really been a contender

[rd]

I totally agree, yOda.
Rio has a huge opportunity here to grab a decent market share.
The new ipod is totally underwhelming. It's like that Conan bit "What if they mated?". People keep asking if it's photoshoped... that's how boring it is. It's about as exciting as creative's zen touch release. No wonder they had to drop the price.

If I was Rio I would be doing cartwheels at the office right now. Rio would really have to screw up to not take advantage of this opportunity. Obviously they aren't getting challenged on their firmware. The rumors are that they are going with a color screen in something smaller than the Karma 1. Sounds perfect. While I care more about the audio features, I do like color screens. I don't really care about showing pictures I just think it's easier to read. They are obviously going to get a better hard drive so the only question marks are
1) Better quality casing?
2) Remote?
3) Recording?
It seems like Rio is aware of these issues. I'll be suprised if they botch it.

IRiver has to feel OK about the 4G features but they can't be happy about the price. I can't see too many people paying $100 dollars more for the IRiver. Those interested in the 300 series should be happy because it might mean a price drop.

[Lone]

The only thing worthwhile about the 4g iPod is the lowered price. The only real upgrade is the battery life.

[Skeeve]

The thing with those prices is that even with things like educational discounts the 4g ipod is still dearer than the current prices of a h140 and thats a more direct competitor to this latest player from apple.

The prices of the h3xx series are bound to drop, but it wont be due to this player it will due to enough places actually having stock and thus there being a decent amount of competition, atm its a case of finding somewhere with them in stock and they are priced accordingly.