SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Computer maker Hewlett-Packard Co. HWP.N took aim at consumers" living rooms with the launch on Wednesday of an Internet-ready home digital music center that it hopes will build a market where competitors have failed to make it big.
The Digital Entertainment Center de100c costs about $1,000 and looks like a large VCR. It stores the equivalent of 750 compact discs on its built-in 40 gigabyte hard drive and plays Internet radio stations included on a list put together by partner RealNetworks Inc. RNWK.O.
Through a built-in display or a menu on the television, the center can be programmed to rerecord music from CDs onto the hard drive, converted into the popular MP3 music file format.
The machine also will write CDs, but it lacks a DVD player. "We are going to do one thing, and we are going to do it really well," Product Manager George Prokop said. "The primary need is my music, anywhere. It is trapped on the PC today, and people want to move it to another room."
Computer and electronics companies dream of linking households to the Internet in ways beyond the personal computer, but none have found a popular formula yet.