Microsoft PlaysForSure was a certification given by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

to portable devices and content services that had been tested against several hundred compatibility and performance requirements. These requirements include codec support,

digital rights management Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures, such as access control technologies, can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. DRM ...

support, UI responsiveness, device performance, compatibility with

Windows Media Player Windows Media Player (WMP, officially referred to as Windows Media Player Legacy to retronym, distinguish it from Windows Media Player (2022), the new Windows Media Player introduced with Windows 11) is the first media player (application soft ...

, synchronization performance, and so on. PlaysForSure certification was available for

portable media player A portable media player (PMP) or digital audio player (DAP) is a portable consumer electronics device capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, and video files. Normally they refer to small, Electric battery, batter ...

s, network-attached

digital media receiver A digital media player (also known as a streaming device or streaming box) is a type of consumer electronics device designed for the storage, playback, or viewing of digital media content. They are typically designed to be integrated into a h ...

s, and media-enabled

mobile phones A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This radio ...

. The PlaysForSure logo was applied to device packaging as well as to

online music store A digital music store is a business that sells digital audio files of music recordings over the Internet. Customers gain ownership of a license to use the files, in contrast to a music streaming service, where they listen to recordings withou ...

s and online video stores. PlaysForSure was introduced in 2004.
Microsoft plans branding assault
CNET News In 2007, Microsoft rebranded and scaled back "PlaysForSure"
PlaysForSure Network Media Devices and Windows Vista (WinHEC 2007; 1.7 MB)
Slide 13, Retrieved 2007-12-14 from
Digital Media Devices and the Windows Logo Program: New Directions for PlaysForSure Testing

PlaysForSure Portable Devices and Windows Vista (WinHEC 2007; 3.0 MB)
Slide 32. Retrieved 2007-12-14 from
Digital Media Devices and the Windows Logo Program: New Directions for PlaysForSure Testing
into the subset Certified for Windows Vista.
PlaysForSure is growing up!
Retrieved 2007-12-14 Microsoft's Zune worked only with its own content service called Zune Marketplace, not PlaysForSure. The Zune and PlaysForSure music were both Certified for Windows Vista, yet the Zune could not play PlaysForSure music purchased from the MSN Music Store. Microsoft announced that as of August 31, 2008, PlaysForSure content from their retired MSN Music store would need to be licensed to play before this date or burned permanently to CD, although this decision was later reversed.

With the exception of Windows Media Player, all of the PlaysForSure offerings were made or run by 3rd-party companies, while Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division developed and marketed the Zune.

Overview

There exist many tests to obtain PlaysForSure certification. The most commonly referenced requirements include the ability to play files encoded in

Windows Media Audio Windows Media Audio (WMA) is a series of audio codecs and their corresponding audio coding formats developed by Microsoft. It is a proprietary technology that forms part of the Windows Media framework. Audio encoded in WMA is stored in a digi ...

Windows Media Video Windows Media Video (WMV) is a series of video codecs and their corresponding video coding formats developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Windows Media framework. WMV consists of three distinct codecs: the original video compression technolog ...

format with

Windows Media DRM Windows Media DRM or WMDRM, is a digital rights management service for the Windows Media platform. It is designed to provide delivery of audio or video content over an IP network to a PC or other playback device in such a way that the distributor ...

, used by

versions 10 and 11. For this, portable devices must implement

Janus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janus (''Ianu ...

(WMDRM-PD), and network-attached devices must implement an interface to

Cardea Cardea or Carda was the ancient Roman goddess of the hinge (Latin ''cardo, cardinis''), Roman doors being hung on pivot hinges. The Augustan poet Ovid conflates her with another archaic goddess named Carna, whose festival was celebrated on the ...

(WMDRM-ND). However, other important requirements include time to synchronize a device with a PC, UI performance (time between pressing "play" and hearing music), gapless playback, and so on.

Content providers that offered PlaysForSure-certified content

Only audio content were ever offered by PlaysForSure content providers; although Microsoft provided a PlaysForSure certification for video content, as well as a variety of PlaysForSure-certified portable and network video players that could play PlaysForSure-certified video, if it were offered, no online store offered video content that would be certified to play on all PlaysForSure video players. * SoundsRightNow.com * AOL MusicNow (closed) * Yahoo! Music Unlimited (closed) * Spiralfrog (closed) * MTV URGE (closed) *

MSN Music ''MSN Music'' was a part of MSN's web services. It delivered music news, music videos, spotlights on new music, artist information, and live performances of artists. The website also served as a digital music store from 2004 to 2008. History ...

(closed) * Musicmatch Jukebox (closed) * Wal-Mart Music Downloads (switched to MP3) * Ruckus Network (closed) * PassAlong Networks (closed) * Rhapsody (switched to MP3) *

Napster To Go Napster, commonly known as "Napster 2.0", was a Streaming media, music streaming service and digital music store, launched by Roxio in 2003 under the purchased name and trademarks of former free peer-to-peer file sharing software Napster in the ...

* iMesh (switched to MP3) * BearShare (switched to MP3)

Hardware vendors that support PlaysForSure-certified media

Archos Archos (, stylized as ARCHOS) is a French Multinational corporation, multinational consumer electronics, electronics company that was established in 1988 by Henri Crohas. Archos manufactures tablet computers, tablets, smartphones, portable media ...

Cingular AT&T Mobility, LLC, also known as AT&T Wireless and marketed as simply AT&T, is an American telecommunications company. Formed in April 2000 as Cingular Wireless LLC, It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T Inc. and provides wireless serv ...

* Cowon *

Creative Labs Creative Technology Ltd., or Creative Labs Pte Ltd., is a Singaporean multinational electronics company mainly dealing with audio technologies and products such as speakers, headphones, sound cards and other digital media. Founded by Sim Wong ...

Denon is a Japanese electronics company dealing with audio equipment. The Denon brand came from a merger of Denki Onkyo (not to be confused with the other Onkyo) and others in 1939. It originally started as Nippon Chikuonki Shoukai in 1910 by Freder ...

* Digitrex *

D-Link D-Link Systems, Inc. (formerly Datex Systems, Inc.) is a Taiwanese multinational manufacturer of networking hardware and telecoms equipments. It was founded in 1986 and headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. History Datex Systems was founded i ...

Ericsson (), commonly known as Ericsson (), is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Ericsson has been a major contributor to the development of the telecommunications industry and is one ...

* iriver *

Kyocera is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational ceramics and electronics manufacturer headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded as in 1959 by Kazuo Inamori and renamed in 1982. It manufactures industrial ceramics, solar power genera ...

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...

Nokia Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...

Palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae ** List of Arecaceae genera **Palm oil * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music ...

* Pioneer *

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

Roku Roku ( ) is a brand of consumer electronics that includes streaming players, smart TVs (and their operating systems), as well as a free TV streaming service. The brand is owned by Roku, Inc., an American company. As of 2024, Roku is the U ...

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

* SanDisk *

Sonos Sonos, Inc. is an American audio equipment manufacturer headquartered in Santa Barbara, California. The company was founded in 2002 by John MacFarlane, Craig Shelburne, Tom Cullen, and Trung Mai. Sonos has partnered with over 100 companies th ...

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...

Software that can stream media to PlaysForSure devices

versions 10 and 11 * SimpleCenter supports the media devices

iPod The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...

, Sony PSP,

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

, Nokia N80, N93,

USB mass storage The USB mass storage device class (also known as USB MSC or UMS) is a set of computing communications protocols, specifically a USB Device Class, defined by the USB Implementers Forum that makes a USB device accessible to a host computing dev ...

, and PlaysForSure certified devices".

Criticisms

A 2005 court case strongly criticised the wording of a

licensing agreement related to portable devices.
Judge blasts MS bid to monopolize music devices
', The Register, 27 Oct, 2005. Accessed 22 Aug 2006. The license prohibited makers of portable devices compatible with Windows Media Player from using non-Microsoft audio encoding formats. Microsoft indicated that the wording of their license was poorly written due to an oversight by a junior Microsoft employee. Microsoft quickly amended their stringently worded license agreement at the judge's behest.

References

External links

Official PlaysForSure website

Response to MTP criticisms by Microsoft's Dave McLauchlan

{{DEFAULTSORT:Microsoft Playsforsure Microsoft initiatives Computer-related introductions in 2004 2008 disestablishments