Who Invented the MP3 Player?

Who invented the modern MP3 player? One claim is Remote Solutions, although the earliest product that had a major impact was the Nomad from Creative Labs. It was Apple’s October 2001 introduction of the iPod that really caused the category to take off, although today there is plenty of competition from Sandisk, Samsung, or even Microsoft.

This morning my friend and co-author Rudi Bekkers forwarded a funny story. (Maybe not as funny as Sunday’s story, but certainly less likely to attract flames). As reported by Endgadget and TechDirt, a new company called “Texas MP3 Technologies” claims that the big players are infringing the MP3 chip technology it bought from SigmaTel.

Whether or not the earlier Alcatel $1.5 billion MP3 royalty award counts as a patent troll, this certainly does.

Technorati Tags: iPod, MP3, patent infringement, patent troll, Samsung