"The major improvements are the look and feel of the product. We went with a high gloss black look and feel. The second thing we did is we added two gigabytes of more capacity. So we went from four gigs to six gig. Six gig puts us on par with the latest Apple mini iPod and puts us ahead of most of our competition…over Creative, Dell and iRiver."
Gateway also boosted the battery life…to eight to ten hours….and spare removable batteries sell for 20 dollars. Another plus….the Photo Jukebox can attach directly to digital cameras…to back up photos while you're on vacation and away from a PC. While it can display the pictures…and even create slide shows…the screen is on the small side for viewing …a little over one and a half inches. Can Gateway make a dent in Apple's digital music player dominance? Schindler says…
"We're going to focus really on addressing the needs of Gateway customers. If you want to get into a photo player from Apple it's very expensive. Ours is very affordable."
The 6 gigabyte Photo Jukebox sells for about 250 dollars…and includes three months of Napster to Go service. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.