CES 2008: Philips Showcases Design Collection Lineup

Getting Online with Rhapsody

Getting Online with Rhapsody

In addition to the new Design Collection, Philips has also announced its partnership with RealNetworks, service up Real's Rhapsody online music service with their upcoming Streamium home audio and GoGear DAP products. This makes Philips the latest manufacturer to rally behind the Rhapsody service, following the Squeezebox, and other devices from Sandisk, Samsung, and Sonos to name a few. With a universal subscription-based streaming/download service, Rhapsody is quickly gaining ground against traditional 'pay-per-song' services such as Apple's iTunes Store.

At the moment, we can only confirm the Streamium NP1100 as the first product to offer Rhapsody integration with its own WiFi and Internet Radio connectivity. Philips upcoming GoGear portable MP3 players that will also be Rhapsody enhanced however, will not (yet) support independent connection to the Rhapsody service via WiFi. According to Philips, the current generation of GoGear devices will still be based off a USB connection to a PC. So, while the Rhapsody partnership has brought increased content delivery, those looking for Sandisk Sansa Connect competition will have to wait a little longer.