Microsoft, Toshiba, Victor to Build iPod Rival for Japan

Microsoft will team up with Toshiba, Victor, NTT DoCoMo, and five other companies to develop and market a portable digital music player and related services that should give the uber-popular iPod, made by Apple Computer, a run for its money in the Japanese market, Bloomberg reports.

Microsoft is to develop the software for the device, while Toshiba and Victor, two producers of electronic goods, will build the actual music player, according to Bloomberg.

NTT DoCoMo, the largest mobile phone operator in the Land of the Rising Sun, said in May that it plans to release a handset that can run on Microsoft’s software and enable users to send Windows-formatted music files from computers to their mobile phones, Bloomberg reports.

For related news coverage, read Nike, Apple Team Up for iPod ‘Sport Kit’.

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