Microsoft PlaysForSure
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Microsoft PlaysForSure is a certification given by Microsoft to media players and content services that have been tested to all work well with each other on Microsoft Windows. It is required for portable media players, network-attached digital media receivers, and media-enabled mobile phones seeking the "Certified for Windows" logo. The PlaysForSure logo is applied to device packaging as well as to online music stores and online video stores.
The future of the certification has been rumored and speculated to be in question as Microsoft now also makes its own portable music player called Zune, which works only with its own content service called Zune Marketplace, which is compatible only with Zune devices. Microsoft has said it will continue to support new and existing PlaysForSure devices and services, all of which are made or run by 3rd-party companies, as part of the Microsoft Windows platform, even as its own Entertainment and Devices Division develops and markets Zune.
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[edit] Overview
The logo certifies that the device is able to play files encoded in Windows Media Audio or Windows Media Video format with Windows Media DRM digital rights management, used by Windows Media Player versions 10 and 11. This means portable devices must implement Janus (WMDRM-PD), and network-attached devices must implement an interface to Cardea (WMDRM-ND).
A variety of online stores sell digital media that will play on PlaysForSure devices, including Napster, MTV URGE, and Amazon.com Unbox. Apple Computer's iTunes Store (iTMS), however, uses a competing format (AAC+FairPlay DRM), which only works on Apple's iPods. Similarly, Apple's popular iPod personal music players and iTunes software do not support PlaysForSure-certified content. The same is also true with Microsoft's own Zune player and service.
Portable devices that pass the PlaysForSure certification are able to use the Media Transfer Protocol to sync both protected and unprotected content to the device from a Windows PC. Network-attached devices that pass the PlaysForSure certification are able to stream protected and unprotected content over a network from a Windows PC using Windows Media Connect. PlaysForSure-certified content providers can offer audio and video that will play on any certified device as either a purchased download and/or as part of a monthly subscription.
[edit] Content Providers that offer PlaysForSure-certified audio
[edit] Content Providers that offer PlaysForSure-certified video
[edit] Hardware Vendors that support PlaysForSure-certified media
- Archos
- Cingular
- Cowon
- Creative Labs
- Denon
- Digitrex
- D-Link
- iRiver
- Motorola
- Nokia
- Palm
- Pioneer
- Philips
- Roku
- RCA
- Samsung
- SanDisk
- Toshiba
A complete listing of supported devices and services can be found at http://www.playsforsure.com.
[edit] Criticisms
The PlaysForSure logo does not imply anything about the device's capabilities with other formats, such as Ogg Vorbis, and does not imply a standard user interface.
A 2005 court case strongly criticised the wording of a Microsoft licensing agreement related to portable devices<ref>Judge blasts MS bid to monopolize music devices, The Register, 27 Oct, 2005. Accessed 22 Aug 2006.</ref>. The license prohibited makers of portable devices compatible with Windows Media Player from using non-Microsoft audio encoding formats. Microsoft indicated that the wording of their license was poorly written due to an oversight by a junior Microsoft employee. Microsoft quickly amended their stringently worded license agreement at the judge's behest.
In a possibly related decision, iriver dropped support for Ogg Vorbis from their latest H10 portable music player in order to market it with PlaysForSure certification.
Some users report that Media Transfer Protocol is not as convenient for some purposes as having the device appear to the host computer as a USB mass storage device. Most current operating systems provide support for such devices without additional software. Furthermore, such a device can be used for alternative purposes such as transferring files or even as a boot device.
A stir accompanied the release of the Microsoft Zune when it was revealed that the Zune is not compatible with media from PlaysForSure retailers. Purchased or subscription Zune Marketplace content, however, should work with other PlaysForSure capable applications and portables. This functionality is not officially supported by Microsoft since it is outside of the Zune Ecosystem.
[edit] Removal
Tools have been created to strip Windows Media of DRM restrictions. One example of this is FairUse4WM<ref>Engadget FairUse4WM strips Windows Media DRM!. Retrieved on 2006-08-25.</ref>.
[edit] References
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