Napster Certifies New Crop of Napster To Go-Compatible Portable Devices; Brings Total in Market to Over 25
Napster Certifies New Crop of Napster To Go-Compatible Portable Devices; Brings Total in Market to Over 25
Palm's Treo 650 Smartphone, Rio and Samsung Offerings Respond to Demand for Devices Supporting Portable Digital Subscription Service
LOS ANGELES, July 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Napster(R) (NASDAQ:NAPS), the biggest brand in digital music, announced today that it has increased the number of MP3 players and devices compatible with its groundbreaking Napster To Go(TM) portable subscription music service to over 25. Among the latest crop to pass the company's rigorous testing and certification process are the Treo(TM) 650 smartphone from Palm, Inc., Rio Carbon and ce2100 line of players, Samsung YH-925 and Samsung YH-820. Available nationwide, these devices further expand the flexibility for Napster To Go members to select the features and storage capacity that suits their personal preferences.
The certification of the incredibly popular Palm(R) devices -- including the Treo(TM) 650 smartphone; LifeDrive(TM) mobile manager; and Tungsten(TM) E2 handheld -- brings a new manufacturer into the Napster To Go family and further expands NTG compatibility to devices beyond traditional MP3 players. The Palm devices are enabled to playback subscription music content via the latest version of PocketTunes Deluxe (NormSoft) audio player(1).
"Palm, Rio and Samsung are manufacturers at the forefront of the exploding portable media device marketplace and we are very pleased that Napster To Go members will now have a wider array of cutting edge devices to choose from," said Chris Gorog, Napster's chairman and CEO. "Serious music fans have spoken and are clearly interested in devices that allow them to move all their favorite music to their favorite player without paying a buck a track."
Napster works closely with leading consumer electronics manufacturers on a rigorous testing program to ensure technological compatibility and consumer ease-of-use for all Napster To Go compatible players currently in the marketplace. Most of Napster's device partners participate in joint marketing programs such as incorporating the "Works with Napster To Go" logo in their marketing materials and bundling their devices with special Napster promotions. Napster To Go is the world's first portable subscription service and offers a compelling alternative to a la carte download-only offerings.
"Ever since Rio made MP3 players a reality in 1997, music subscription services such as Napster To Go have become the next big thing to happen to this market. They give the customer the ability to legally explore, discover, and enjoy a whole new world of music they wouldn't have been able to do previously," said Dan Torres, VP of Rio Product Marketing. "With the Rio Carbon and ce2100 product lines now Napster To Go upgradeable immediately via Rio's website, we're proud to lead the growing roster of players supporting the new service."
"In a constant effort to align our growing brand with the digital music industry, we are proud to partner with Napster and further extend our ongoing relationship," stated Peter Weedfald, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Consumer Electronics & North American Corporate Marketing, Samsung Electronics America, Inc. "Supporting their latest cost effective subscription-based Napster To Go service with two of our feature-rich hard-drive portable music players, the 5GB YH-820 and the 20GB YH-925, is key to expanding the benefits to our customers and driving our digital audio business."
Napster To Go compatible MP3 players: Audiovox SMT 5600 Smartphone; Creative Zen PMC, Creative Zen Micro 4 GB, Creative Zen Micro 5 GB, Creative Zen Micro 6 GB; Dell Pocket DJ, Dell DJ 20, Dell DJ 30; Gateway MP3 Photo Jukebox 4 GB, Gateway MP3 Photo Jukebox 6 GB; iriver H10 5 GB, iriver H10 6 GB; iriver H320; iriver PMC-120; Palm's Treo 650 smartphone, Palm's LifeDrive mobile manager, and Palm's Tungsten E2; Rio Carbon 5GB, Rio Carbon 6GB, Rio Carbon Pearl, Rio ce2100 2.5GB, Rio ce2110 2.5GB; Samsung YH-820, Samsung YH-925; Samsung YH-999 PMC; Toshiba Gigabeat 10GB, Toshiba Gigabeat 20 GB; Toshiba Gigabeat 40 GB; Toshiba Gigabeat 60 GB.
About Napster
Napster, the biggest brand in digital music, is a subscription service that enables fans to freely sample the world's largest and most diverse online collection of music and move an unlimited amount of songs to compatible MP3 players. Napster (www.napster.com) members have access to songs from all major labels and hundreds of independents and have more ways to discover, share and acquire new music and old favorites with community features like the ability to email tracks to friends and browse other members' collections. Napster also offers Napster Light, a "lighter" version of the service for those who just want to purchase songs and albums a la carte. Napster is currently available in the United States, Canada and the U.K. and is headquartered in Los Angeles with sales offices in New York, London and Frankfurt.
Safe Harbor Statement
Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this press release, in particular matters related to the interoperability of popular hardware devices with the Napster services contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Additional information on these factors are contained in Napster's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K as filed with the SEC on June 13, 2005, copies of which are available at the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov/. Napster assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements included in this press release.
Copyright (C) 2005 Napster, LLC. All rights reserved. Napster, Napster To Go, the Napster kitty logo and Napster Light are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Napster, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. Palm, LifeDrive, Treo and Tungsten are among the trademarks or registered trademarks owned by or licensed to Palm, Inc.
(1) Pocket Tunes Deluxe not included with Palm devices.
Napster Contacts: Dana M. Harris Napster 310-281-5073 dana.harris@napster.com
Nancy Sullivan, John Conroy Rogers & Cowan 310-854-8199 or 854-8178 nsullivan@rogersandcowan.comjconroy@rogersandcowan.com
Source: Napster
CONTACT: Dana M. Harris of Napster, +1-310-281-5073, dana.harris@napster.com; or Nancy Sullivan, +1-310-854-8199, nsullivan@rogersandcowan.com, or John Conroy, +1-310-854-8178, jconroy@rogersandcowan.com, both of Rogers & Cowan, for Napster
Web site: http://www.napster.com/
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