Zune Thoughts: Startup to Create Real Wi-Fi Sharing Device

"Three digital music veterans have launched a stealth startup and are close to unveiling both a new portable media player and what they're calling an "internet radio ecosystem," Wired News has learned... Capitalizing on their involvement in earlier generations of digital music devices and services and using what they learned the first time around, they're building a portable player they hope will be the first major step forward in the category since Apple released the iPod... The device will feature wireless connectivity, a new type of integration with online radio stations, a social aspect and most likely some sort of automatic customization feature for recommending new music, according to a source familiar with the product. It's unclear whether these features have all been finalized, however, and some details could change between now and the product launch. In interviews with Wired News, the company said it was "too early" to discuss which types of connectivity its device will offer, but disclosed that "traditional USB connections will (only) play a minor role in getting content to your device." A spokesman added that the device has yet to be officially named."

That sure didn't take long. I figured eventually someone would think "Say, DAP Wi-Fi sharing is a good idea. Too bad Microsoft dropped the ball on it. I know, let's just do it ourselves!", I just didn't think it would be this fast. Frankly we still haven't a clue whether Wi-Fi sharing is something people actually want or will use. Sure, we can all say "But does your DAP share via Wi-Fi?", but how many of use will ever actually do so? Probably not me, but then again my 'social' is real small. ;-)