For those of you getting nostalgic after reading about popular media player Winamp shutting down, there seems to be some good news. According to reports, Microsoft seems to be showing keen interest in picking up Winamp as well as Shoutcast from AOL. A report by TechCrunch quotes sources saying that AOL is currently amidst talks to sell the media player product to Microsoft. The news comes just a day after it was suddenly announced that Winamp will be killed off on December 20 this year. The customisable media player has had a good run for 15 years, since its launch in 1997.
May live to see another day
In 1999, AOL acquired Winamp when it purchased its parent company Nullsoft. Along with Winamp came Shoutcast, a media streaming service the company developed too. TechCrunch reveals that AOL is allegedly planning to shut down Shoutcast too next week. However, there seems to be a glimmer of hope for both the Nullsoft-developed products since Microsoft seems to be interested in them.Of course, we suggest that you take this report with a pinch of salt since only talks are being held as of now. Both AOL and Microsoft haven't issued any statement on the matter yet. Winamp had been the pick of the users as far as media players on Windows went. Following its wild popularity, Mac and Android versions of Winamp were also released but failed to be as loved as the Windows one. Ars Technica spoke to Rob Lord, the first hire and General Manager of Winamp who believed it was bad leadership at AOL that undid Winamp. “There's no reason that Winamp couldn’t be in the position that iTunes is in today if not for a few layers of mismanagement by AOL that started immediately upon acquisition,” he said. Lord may be a happy man with this news today. Now to see if a deal can indeed be worked out between AOL and Microsoft.
ReadMore:Android Games
No comments:
Post a Comment