Microsoft obviously has a more complicated relationship with "industry" standards, because anything it decides is its standard—even proprietary ones—becomes a kind of de facto standard for everybody else, simply because of Microsoft's overwhelming marketshare. This was more true in the past than today, with Microsoft playing ball with everybody else more often.

Microsoft's AV Club
Let's start with Windows Media Audio—most commonly, it's known as Microsoft's proprietary audio codec that at one point fought the good fight against MP3, but is now much more, having grown into a sprawling family of various codecs with multiple versions. To name a few of the current ones, there's WMA 9, WMA 9 Lossless and WMA 10 Pro. Microsoft says it offers superior quality/compression over MP3, with "CD quality at data rates from 64 to 192 kilobits per second." Needless to say, while it's baked into Windows Media Player for ripping CDs and is supported by a fairly wide range of PMPs and phones, it obviously never displaced MP3, nor is it ascendant as the "new" standard like AAC (the official successor of MP3), basically since it isn't supported by the iPod, which owns over 70 percent of the MP3 player market. WMA Pro, despite being an even better codec than WMA, has more limited support still, mostly with Microsoft's own hardware, like the Xbox 360 and Zune.

WMA's more ignoble legacy, undoubtedly, is PlaysForSure, Microsoft's grand attempt to standardize the entire digital music industry (except Apple, or rather, against Apple) by getting everybody on the same page. PlaysForSure was technically a certification for players and services with a variety of requirements, but support for WMA, WMV and Windows Media DRM is what it amounted to in practice. Microsoft succeeded, for a time: Pretty much every PMP maker and services from Walmart, Rhapsody, MSN Music, Yahoo, Napster and others were all aboard PlaysForSure. Then it imploded. As every real music service went to DRM-free MP3, Microsoft re-branded it to Certified for Windows Vista. Which, incidentally, was a badge they slapped on the Zune, Microsoft's own audio player that didn't actually support PlaysForSure. When Microsoft ditched its own standard for its premiere player, everybody knew PlaysForSure was dead.

Windows Media has been more successful on the video front, with WMV. Like WMA, it's gone through multiple versions: At one point (WMV 7) merely Microsoft's take on the MPEG-2 standard, Microsoft actually succeeded in making it a genuine industry standard, with WMV 9 becoming the basis for the VC-1 codec that's backed by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. VC-1 is part of the spec for both HD DVD and Blu-ray, though at this point it's really just an alternative to H.264, which is becoming the dominant modern video codec. WMV saw some success as the codec of choice for some services during the heyday or PlaysForSure (since WMV support was part of the certification), but now it sees a lot of action as the video codec for Silverlight, Microsoft's Adobe Flash competitor.

Internet Exploder
Silverlight itself actually isn't doing so bad, considering it's fighting Flash, which is installed on the vast majority of internet-connected computers, powering Netflix's streaming service and last summer, NBC's streaming Olympics coverage. But like Flash, it's proprietary, which is obviously a bit disconcerting for people who want an open web. Which brings us to Internet Explorer. The early history of IE and Netscape is grossly complicated, but suffice it to say, being included with Windows eventually gave IE over 90 percent of browser marketshare. In other words, Microsoft defined how an overwhelming majority of people looked at the internet for years—meaning it essentially defined what the internet look like. Microsoft essentially stopped moving forward with IE6, sitting on its ass for years, which is a problem since it's totally non-compliant with what most people would call modern web standards. (Short version: Web developers hate IE6.) With IE8, which entered a new world with Firefox having devoured a huge chunk of its marketshare, Microsoft supports actual real web standards (mostly—it still fails the Acid3 test miserably). And, they're actually serious about HTML5, even though they're not planning to implement the controversial video aspect at all.

Do You Trust Me?
Obviously, Microsoft's in an odd spot in part because the constant specter of antitrust allegations hang over its head—it's had to de-couple Internet Explorer from Windows in Europe, and it's moved to separate other stuff from the core OS, like even its mail, video and photo applications, making it harder to achieve the kind of de facto standards through sheer force of market like before.

Which might be part of the reason it's moving to make tech legit industry standards—besides VC-1 above, for instance, its HD Photo has become the basis for the successor to JPEG, now dubbed JPEG XR. Also, it's simply that standards matter more now than ever as people do more and more of their computing on the web, on multiple platforms from Windows desktops to Android phones, so industry-wide standards are way preferable to proprietary formats, even if most people still are on Windows.

Increasingly, if Microsoft wants people to use their tech, they're going to have to open it up in the same quasi-way Apple has (it'll also go a long way with the whole trust/control issues people have with Microsoft). So don't surprised if you see Microsoft continue to "open up" and "standardize." Just don't be surprised if the standards they embrace have Microsoft tech at the core.

Still something you wanna know? Send questions about standards, things that are open other than your mom's legs or Steve Ballmer's deodorant to tips@gizmodo.com, with "Giz Explains" in the subject line.

(Before we jump in, here's our ultimate codec primer, if all this "code" talk is confusing.) Here's how a directshow developer lays it out: MPEG-4 and H.264 codecs are hard baked into Media Foundation, and you can't override them, since Microsoft's list of preferred codecs in the registry can't be edited, even in admin mode. Which means basically that Microsoft has "blocked the possibility to use alternate codecs in their applications," according to the developer, so you couldn't use them in Windows Media Player or Windows Media Center.

The flip side is that we are talking about a beta (the 7057 build, in between the public beta and the upcoming release candidate), not a final release, so maybe this won't apply in the final version of Windows if developers bitch loud enough. Also, third-party applications should be able to find a workaround, postulates DigitalWerks, so VLC should be okay. Oh, and with so much codec support built in, it's likely the average person won't need third-party codecs anyway.

Still, pretty lame and non-open on Microsoft's part if it stays this way. [CoreCodec via DigitalWerks via Zatz Not Funny]

Toshiba doesn't look like they're showing any of said MCE-equipped products here. So we'll just have to take their word for it, but if you're a Media Center head, this might be the way to go later this year. At least it's something to make up for their still-gaping Blu-ray hole.

TOSHIBA INTRODUCES NETWORK DEVICES DESIGNED TO DELIVER ON THE
PROMISE OF THE CONNECTED HOME
New TV, LCD TV/DVD Combo and Standalone Player Utilize Widget Channel, Developed by
Intel® and Yahoo!®, and Microsoft’s Windows Extender for Media Center Platform to Deliver
an Exciting Content Solution for the Home

CES, LAS VEGAS – January 7, 2009 – Toshiba America Consumer Products, L.L.C.
(“Toshiba”), announced its new audio/video (A/V) devices with Network Player capabilities,
which deliver on the promise of digital convergence in the home. Toshiba is launching this
initiative across three product categories – REGZA® LCD TVs, LCD TV/DVD Combos and
standalone players – in an effort to meet individual consumer needs.

Toshiba’s new A/V devices offer consumers access to a diverse range of rich content over the
Internet. With an extensive library of TV shows and movies, music, sports, and information
services such as stock prices and weather forecasts at their fingertips, consumers will be
provided with greater flexibility to easily customize and enhance their entertainment experience.

“Toshiba took the initiative to bridge the ways consumers normally access Internet content and
entertainment media with the introduction of network devices that will bring the Internet
experience to consumer electronic products in the home,” said Yoshi Uchiyama, Senior Vice
President, Corporate Planning. “According to a recent study conducted by NPD for Toshiba, a
large majority of consumers cite simplicity as the essential issue for adoption of Internet content.
Therefore, key to Toshiba’s home network strategy is a focus on simplicity – making it simple to
2
 
connect, simple to operate and simple to access content. The new line of Toshiba AV devices
with Network Players will open up an entire new world of content delivery in a way that
consumers will like.”

Getting Connected
Toshiba’s A/V devices with network player capabilities use a combination of two core
components, including the Widget Channel, developed by Intel and Yahoo! and Microsoft’s
Extender for Windows Media Center.

While consumers may be familiar with widgets from the PC world, TV Widgets, enabled by the
Widget Channel framework, now take that simple to use “dashboard” experience and place it
into the TV allowing consumers direct access to numerous sources of content simply via their
remote control. While some TV Widgets may be pre-installed, consumers now also have the
flexibility to customize their experience by adding widgets of their own selection based on their
interests or needs. TV Widgets will feature a rich array of content and as more TV Widgets
become available, consumers can add them to the Network Players to enhance their assortment.

By integrating Extenders for Windows Media Center in Toshiba’s new A/V products with
Network Player capabilities, the devices will act as “hubs” for delivery of content anywhere in
the home. Using a home network, Extender for Windows Media Center technology allows users
to access a wide range of digital content from Windows Media Center on the PC to their big
screen TV. Windows Media Center also delivers an extensive amount of Internet TV and movie
content, live and recorded TV with the addition of a TV tuner, plus photos, music, home videos
and more.

The combination of the two software platforms in one hardware device will deliver on the
promise of the new digital lifestyle.

Toshiba will approach the market by offering several choices from which consumers can select
the product that best fits their particular needs.
3
 
The Network Player capabilities described above are scheduled to be built into certain models of
Toshiba’s REGZA LCD TVs. This will provide consumers with easy access to the rich media
experience without the need for an external set top box or device.

As the market leader in the LCD TV/DVD Combo category, Toshiba will also integrate the
Network Player capability to offer flexibility and simplicity for consumers whether they choose
to use it as a primary TV in the home or in the bedroom, kitchen or children’s room.

Toshiba will also develop a standalone player, which acts as a hub for content delivery into the
entertainment space. The new player can deliver content directly from the Internet, content from
the PC with Extenders for Windows Media Center or from its built in DVD player with 1080p
upconversion. With an SD card slot and USB port for added flexibility, the device allows
consumers to access their entertainment content in any room of the house and all at a value that
consumers have come to expect.

Toshiba’s A/V devices with Network Player capabilities will feature picture quality enhancement
technologies, allowing viewers to enjoy a wide range of content upconverted to near HD quality.
The new models are planned to ship in the second half of 2009, and product pricing and
availability will be announced later this year.

Straight up, you run into DRM pretty much every day. Bought music from three of the four major labels or any TV show from iTunes? Played a game on Steam? Watched a Blu-ray movie? Hello, DRM. If you wanna get technical about it, digital rights management and copy protection are two different, if similar things. Digital rights management is copy protection's sniveling, more invasive cousin—it isn't designed simply to make it harder to steal content like straightforward copy protection—you thieving bastard you—but to control exactly how and when you use media. We're going to cover both here, since they both refer to technologies that restrict what you do with music, movies and more.

There are, approximately, 10,742,489 kinds of DRM and copy protection. Almost every company or format has its own flavor that works in a slightly different way from everyone else—Apple's iTunes-smothering FairPlay, Blu-ray's BD+, the restrictions built into every gaming console. They've gotten more complex and nuanced over time, too, as content delivery has evolved. For instance, elementary-school DRM would simply keep you from copying or converting or doing other unseemly things to a file, like playing it on a non-sanctioned device. Or you might remember old-school CD keys, before the days of online activation. Today's DRM, like for movie rentals, music subscriptions or software, constructs more elaborate obstacle courses, nuking videos 24 hours after you press play, or allowing a certain number of copies.

Many of these work in similar ways—files are encrypted with the DRM flavor of the day, and they're unlocked or decrypted for your use by authorized programs and devices. Think of it like a secret handshake that only certain programs or pieces of hardware know. Often, they're tied to an account like on Steam or iTunes. This makes it easy for the Man to keep track of and manage what you're doing with stuff—how many copies you've made, how many machines you've authorized to play your content, whether your monthly all-you-can-eat music subscription is still active, that kind of thing. DRM-busting cracks look for ways to strip that encryption out to allow free usage, copying or modification of the file.

So, aside from the fact that DRM keeps you copying or modifying content, and playing it on whatever damn player you wanna play it on, and maybe limits your time with a movie to a fleeting window, it doesn't sound so bad. Okay, it does. But it can get worse—like when DRM breaks. For instance, Valve's Steam network had a hiccup in 2004 that meant people were locked out of the game they paid to play. Or when Windows cocks up and tells users their OS isn't genuine. Or Sony's infamous rootkit CDs. Or when DRM servers are shut down, rendering music useless. The list goes on.

But wait, haven't you heard that DRM's dead? Or has a cold? Weeellll, yes and no. Sure, some music stores sell DRM-free MP3s—Amazon is unrivaled in that has 'em from every major label, and iTunes sells DRM-free music from EMI. And CDs have never had 'em, except for that aforementioned BS copy protection from Sony and a few other short-lived misguided attempts. So, it's sort of going away for pay-to-own music, but it's still fairly ubiquitous, in all-you-can-eat subscription music, in movies and in software, and it's not going away anytime soon. The emergence of streaming serious video content, like with Hulu in particular, sort of challenges this on the video front—there's no DRM, but then again, it's not as easy to rip a stream for Joe Blow as it is to share a file over Limewire. Harder questions, though, like whether DRM means you ever really own anything anymore, we'll leave to the lawyers.

Here's a list an quick blurb on every major kind of DRM you're likely to run into, and why it sucks (beyond the whole keeping-you-from-sharing-it-with-all-your-friends business):

Audio
• FairPlay is Apple's flavor of DRM that's baked right into iTunes, iPods, QuickTime and iEverything else—most music from the iTunes store is lojacked with it, with exceptions from EMI and some indie labels. It allows for unlimited copies of music files, but only five computers at a time can be authorized. FairPlay files only play on Apple's own iThings. Like every other DRM scheme, it's been cracked.

• PlaysForSure (now simply "Certified for Vista," which is confusing since not all "Certified for Vista" stuff will play PlaysForSure, like Microsoft's own Zune) was Microsoft's attempt to get everyone in the portable player industry on the same Windows Media DRM. Even though Microsoft has basically ditched it, it's successful in that a bunch of services, like Rhapsody and Napster, and players—essentially everyone Apple, from Sony to Toshiba to SanDisk—have used or supported it. It's fairly generic copy protection that keeps you from sending it to all of your friends, though it works with and enforces subscriptions, with the biggest bitch being that it restricts you to Windows and to PlaysForSure devices. (Read: Not iPods.)

• Zune uses a totally different DRM tech than PlaysForSure and is incompatible with it. It allows you to share DRM'd subscription content with up to three other Zunes, though it won't let you burn songs unless you buy 'em. And if subscriptions die, it nukes your songs. It also manages the Zune's "squirt" feature, making sure you don't play beamed songs more than a few times and other annoying restrictions.

• PlayReady: Hey lookie, another Microsoft DRM scheme. This one's different from the similar-sounding PlaysForSure in that while it's backward compatible with Windows Media DRM, it works with more than just Windows Media audio or video files, like AAC and MPEG, and is meant to cover a broader range of devices, like mobile phones.

Video
• FairPlay for video is a lot like the audio version, but adds a couple tricks like nuking rental videos 24 hours after pressing play and presenting a slightly more complicated obstacle course to sync them to portable iThings.

• High-Bandwidth Digital Copy Protection prevents video from being copied as it moves across certain digital video interfaces like HDMI, DisplayPort and DVI, which sounds innocent enough, until you try to watch something on a non-HDCP compliant display—and you can't.

• Content Scrambling System (CSS) was DVD's piddly encryption scheme, long ago busted open like a rotten watermelon.

• AACS (Advanced Access Content System) is one layer of copy protection that's part of the spec of both HD DVD and Blu-ray. It's way stronger than DVD's CSS setup with several components involved in the encryption/decryption process, and allows for blocking specific players that have their keys compromised. Plus it can allow specific numbers of DRM'd copies of content, like for portable players. Also cracked, rather explosively.

• BD+ is Blu-ray's secret sauce DRM that's actually a virtual machine, allowing it to do stuff like make sure the hardware and keys are kosher, and execute code. It's been cracked, twice actually, but part of the appeal is that it can be updated—the last version is at least three months away from being cracked again, though it totally will be. BD+ was the main reason some studios supported Blu-ray over the AACS-only HD DVD, and you can see why.

• Macrovision VHS, yep, that old chestnut: copy protection on VHS tapes that made everything squiggly when you tried to run two VCRs together. Why include it in a digital roundup? Well, besides nostalgia, if you want to convert your original 1986 Star Wars VHS tape to digital, this will make your life difficult—fortunately, a quick Google search turns up ways around it.

• TV and cable—there's a lot going on there to keep you from stealing cable's goods, so you need a box or a CableCard to take the encrypted feed and make it watchable. The industry didn't even really get behind the plug-n-play CableCard, either—it was more or less forced on them. There's also this thing called a broadcast flag that stations like ABC or NBC or HBO can embed in shows at will so you can't record them.

• Tivo uses DRM from Macrovision that can slap you with all kinds of restrictions, ranging from no copying at all to automatic expiration, limiting copies or managed transfers to PCs, or even not allowing you to view certain football games outside of a designated region. Its TivoToGo, for porting stuff to portable devices, actually uses Windows Media DRM though.

• Windows Media DRM, speaking of it, is one of the more popular off-the-shelf DRM kits, used by everyone from Netflix for its streaming service to Amazon's defunct Unbox downloads (now Video on Demand downloads) to Walmart's old video store, that's somewhat flexible it what it allows or doesn't, depending on the service's wants—from no copying to nothing but Windows Media compatible devices (i.e., no iPods). It only runs on Windows, naturally.

• Even Adobe Flash has DRM now. If you've used the streaming part of Amazon's Video on Demand service, you've run into Flash DRM (which had a lovely Antarctica-sized hole allowing you to rip movie streams until a couple months ago). Two bad things about this DRM, notes the EFF: First, with an unencrypted stream it's "unlikely that tools to download, edit, or remix them are illegal." That changes if it's locked up with DRM. Also, it means you'll have to use Adobe's own Flash player to video Flash videos. Lame.

• PlayReady is another Microsoft DRM flavor, aimed mostly at portable devices, but it also powers the DRM in Microsoft's Silverlight, which is what just brought Netflix streaming to Macs.

Software
• Windows Genuine Advantage is what makes sure you're not using a pirated copy of Windows. It phones home occasionally, which can cause bad things if the servers go down. If your copy is legit and it says you're a pirate, you're not the first person it's falsely accused.

• Valve's Steam is one of the most elegant, integrated DRM solutions we've seen in a physical-media-be-damned world (except for its two infamous outages). Unlimited copies of games on unlimited computers, but only one can play on an account at a time. It's fairly seamless, like good DRM should be.

• EA's copy protection system got real famous, real fast thanks to Spore, and nefariously restricts game installations to three computers—in its lifetime, not just at one time like some media DRMs.

• Pretty much every console has varying levels of DRM and copy protection (duh, it's a closed system), but DRM issues are coming more brightly into focus as we download games from stores, like on the Xbox 360 and Wii, where games are tied to your original system, so you're screwed if you get a replacement—it'll take some decent footwork to get your games back, at the very least.

• Not software DRM per se, but Windows Vista has a ton of DRM technologies baked right into it.

Any DRM schemes we missed, feel free to complain about how they make your life more miserable in the comments.

Something you still wanna know? Send any questions about DRM, rights, McDonald's managers or Taiko Drum Master to tips@gizmodo.com, with "Giz Explains" in the subject line.

Microsoft Shatters the PC-to-Television Barrier, Releases First Details on Extenders for Windows Media Center New devices from Cisco Systems' Linksys division, D-Link and Niveus Media to bring the ultimate audio/video experience to any room in the home.

DENVER — Sept. 5, 2007 — Watching a live TV broadcast in the living room, pausing it, and then effortlessly resuming it at the same moment from the bedroom or kitchen will soon become even easier, as Microsoft Corp. provides a first look at the new Extenders for Windows® Media Center platform, which will power a variety of devices to be released this holiday season. A wave of new cool, quiet, home-theater-quality devices from companies such as Linksys, a division of Cisco Systems Inc.; D-Link Corporation; and Niveus Media Inc. may incorporate new features, including live high-definition (HD) video, wireless networking and expanded support for audio and video formats such as DivX and Xvid.

The new Extender devices, which will be unveiled later this month in a variety of innovative form factors and price points, unleash the pictures, music, video content and live TV from a PC running Windows Vista® Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate for viewing and listening on a big-screen TV display for the ultimate entertainment solution.

"With more than 60 million Windows Vista Media Center PCs in use worldwide, there are many customers eager to bring the simple and elegant Media Center experience to the televisions in their homes," said Dave Alles, general manager for eHome at Microsoft. "The new Extenders for Windows Media Center make it easy to get a wide range of personal and Internet content not only on someone's main TV but on all the TVs in the house. Whether it's a high-def show recorded from digital cable, new Internet video, or your personal library of pictures, music and videos, it's all on your television — just a remote-click away."

New extenders will be available in a wide range of form factors, including both stand-alone set-top boxes and integration with other devices such as DVD players and televisions, so now connecting to a PC running Windows Media Center is even more convenient and seamless than ever. New support for Wireless N high-speed technology means there is no need to run Ethernet cables throughout the home to watch HD video in up to six rooms at once.

Extenders for Windows Media Center are also, for the first time, enhanced to allow support for popular video codecs such as DivX and Xvid, along with continued support for Windows Media® Video HD files. These extenders will also lead the industry in supporting the ability to send protected HD content to additional rooms, including recorded TV from over-the-air Advanced Television Systems Committee or Cable Card tuners and movies and music available from providers such as CinemaNow, MovieLink LLC and Napster LLC. Extenders also support Media Center features such as Reuters news feeds, National Public Radio broadcasts, up-to-date sports reports from the FOX Sports Lounge, and subscription music from XM Radio. At the same time, these devices support Parental Controls built into Windows Media Center, allowing parents to choose the content their children are allowed to view.

Consumers have already logged millions of hours of use on Xbox 360s as Extenders for Windows Media Center. Microsoft is working first with Cisco/Linksys, D-Link and Niveus Media to deliver quiet, high-quality products, and the company will be expanding the Extenders' platform to other companies in the future. The new Extenders for Windows Media Center are being demonstrated at the Microsoft booth at the CEDIA EXPO 2007 in Denver Thursday, Sept. 6 through Sunday, Sept. 9.

It's not a concept you'll ever get from us. We're in the Windows Mobile business. We can put Zune into Windows Mobile, we can put Xbox into Windows Mobile. We can pour everything in. We wouldn't define our phone experience just by music. A phone is really a general-purpose device. You want it to make telephone calls. You want to get and receive messages — text, e-mail, whatever your preference is. You may want music, you may want to play games, you may want to carry your contacts with you, and you may want to pay for things. I think we have to think about the phone instead of as a fixed-function device, a phone is really kind of a general purpose device that we need to have clean and easy to use.

Interestingly enough, he does say that they could toss Zune (And Xbox) functionality into Windows Mobile. So let me get this straight. Dump the nice Zune platform and interface, and put a Zune like App on top of the bloat and cheese of Windows Mobile OS? Sounds like it makes sense from the functionality standpoint, but none from the "this gadget is going to be cool" standpoint.– Ben Longo

Ballmer: No Zune Phone [WMExperts via Seattle PI]

Sniping at Google seems odd in a way—shouldn't Microsoft want Google to maintain their "cavalier" attitude toward copyright to keep driving business Bill's way? The other way to look at it is that the remarks go beyond Google and books—Microsoft makes loads of cash off of licensing its DRM schemes. Surveys says this was a message to future content providers and distributors to entrust their wares to Windows Media and other Microsoft DRM since it apparently cares so deeply about copyright. – Matt Buchanan

Microsoft attacks Google on copyright [FT via Valleywag]
Microsoft tars Google with profiting off pirates [Macworld]

Movie content is provided by Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount, Warner Bros., and MGM, and will sit alongside free videos uploaded by users. Exceedingly lame, however, is that all of the studio movies are rentals only, imploding 30 days after you download one or a day after you start watching it.

New flicks go for $3.99, older ones for $2.99. TV show stuff is standard—$1.99 to buy (and keep). Since they're wrapped up in Windows Media Player DRM, you can guess where, how and on what they'll play (or not). Observation: Microsoft must be making a killing licensing their DRM to people, since most of the big digital movie distributors other than iTunes use it.

While overall I find these services to be ill-conceived, limiting and wholly unsatisfactory, if you do decide to buy crippled, overpriced content, a NYT test showed that thanks to BT's p2p setup, it took less time to download a movie than it did from Wal-Mart. Moreover, it seems to solve the issues that the Xbox 360 download service ran into on the first day.

The real question is: "Can BitTorrent compete against itself?" The BT network already offers a vastly superior catalog of content without restrictions (or cost), albeit not so legally. Something else to consider: since they're using your bandwidth to distribute content users pay for, why aren't purchases subsidized according to how much someone uploads?

Verdict: Call us when someone launches a store that offers content worth paying for. Unfortunately, Hollywood doesn't seem so keen on making that happen. – Matt Buchanan

Software Exploited by Pirates Goes to Work for Hollywood [NYT]

There's also mention that the bundled Symtella peer-to-peer file sharing software might not be included after all. The Gnutella-based P2P software would have allowed Nokia N91 owners to share files via the phone's built-in Wi-Fi, but now Nokia's spokesperson is said to be "talking guardedly about sharing N91 playlists by Bluetooth or MMS."

Almost a year late and short features. Not good for a phone announced in April of '05.

DRM Delayed Nokia s iPod Phone [MocoNews]

Related: Live from Amsterdam: Nokia N91 First Pictures
N91 Passes Drop and Tumble, For Real

Update: Nokia tells us that while no individual country dates have been announced, the Q1 worldwide launch is still their last official target.