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More Signs a ZuneHD 2 is Coming

Zealot — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 07:13:17 +0000

These days one of the best indicators of the plans of big tech companies are the jobs they try to hire people for. That has been true for ages with Apple, and now Microsoft is beginning to tip its hand more and more in the want ads. A week ago Mary-Jo Foley reported that her sources in Redmond seemed quite certain there was one more version of the ZuneHD hardware still to come.

Now WMPowerUser is reporting that the Entertainment and Devices Division of Microsoft, specifically the Zune team, is looking for a hardware engineer with the intention of building the “next generation of portable entertainment and communication devices”. It seems clear that Microsoft intends to build the hardware in house and that it isn’t a phone as they are not mentioning any Cellular or telephony experience in the job description. It is also worth noting the last device that Microsoft built in house, hardware and all, was the original ZuneHD.

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Another ZuneHD? Really?

Zealot — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:08:37 +0000

Now this one hit me out of left field. As I saw how completely Windows Phone 7 has been based on the Zune GUI and architecture, I assumed that the ZuneHD had really been just an experiment, a field test for a possible phone OS, and would be a one shot product. Understand, I adore my ZuneHD. It is my primary music player and will likely remain so until it is pried from my cold dead fingers, and even then I would eat your brains to get it back. The only thing I would love more than my ZuneHD is a 128GB ZuneHD…or perhaps a Zune HD 2?

When the ZuneHD was released, in all the hubbub the Zune team coyly hinted that there would be one more player released in the future before the Zune system became a part of all Windows systems, but as sales were only fair despite the critical praise (ok, likely a bit less than fair….alright, probably a good deal less than fair) people assumed this was just marketing talk and the Zune had taken it’s best shot….and failed. Now Mary-Jo Foley at ZDNet is hearing whispers that, against all sanity and proper product management, there may indeed be an updated ZuneHD in the pipeline after all. Be still my beating heart.

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Zune Set to Cross the Pond…Finally

Zealot — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 11:43:43 +0000

It appears that Microsoft is already keeping one of its promises concerning the Windows Phone 7 release. The Zune library is about to go international at long last..and it is taking Zune Pass with it apparently.

A page discovered on the Zune.net UK site reveals that Zune Pass will be available in the UK as well as the pricing that British users can expect, and I would imagine most European rates will be roughly equivalent. A 1 month subscription to Zune Pass will cost £8.99 (which is about the price of a CD) and a 3 month subscription £26.97. A free 14 day trial will also be on offer. Zune Pass allows subscribers to stream unlimited music from the Zune library as well as to keep 10 songs a month.

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XBox 360 To Become Ultimate Zune Jukebox

Zealot — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:18:19 +0000

In the midst of all the jumping and gyrating connected to the star-studded presentation at E3 of Kinect (formerly Project Natal) for the Xbox 360, another announcement was tossed out there as sort of an afterthought. However, to me it sounds like big, big news….namely that you don’t need to depend on services like Last.fm to play music on your XBox anymore. As of the new version you can access the Zune Music Catalog from the XBox 360, not just the movies and TV shows for sale in the Zune Store.

In other words, with your XBox 360 and a Zune Pass, you now have a Seven Million Song Zune Jukebox. Considering the fact that many modern TVs and media centers have excellent stereo speakers, you can now be on the receiving end of the biggest Shuffle in history.

Just another step in the Zune software becoming built in to all Microsoft products….and considering that I much prefer the Zune interface and SmartDJ over the iTunes interface and Genius, that makes me all kinds of happy.

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Zune Pass Price Cut?

Zealot — Sun, 30 May 2010 12:02:16 +0000

Olga Kharif at Bloomberg is reporting on an interview with Zune senior product manager Terry Farrell, where Farrell indicated a major price cut for the Zune Pass may be seen soon.

Zune Pass currently costs $14.99 a month, and even though Apple still has no direct answer to it, RealNetworks Inc.’s similar Rhapsody service cut it’s monthly price to $10 from $14.99 last April. Farrell didn’t say how far the Zune Pass price would drop, but one can assume due to Rhapsody it will drop to $10 or below.

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Heads Roll at Microsoft

Zealot — Tue, 25 May 2010 21:32:10 +0000

Well, the axe did indeed fall, and not only J Allard is leaving the company, but the only head the Devices and Entertainment Division has ever had, Robbie Bach. Technically, Redmond is saying that Allard is going to serve as a special advisor to Ballmer until he leaves the company to pursue his interests in extreme sports (wow, you can NOT make this stuff up) and Bach is retiring to spend time with his family and his charity work…but we all know they have both been shown the door.

An interim solution is going to stay in place at least until Windows Phone 7, with Bach handing over reins slowly and Don Mattrick handling XBOX and Zune software and Andy Lees covering Windows Phone until the smoke clears and a long term leader takes over.

So what do I think it all means? Find out after the jump.

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Shakeup for Windows Mobile, Zune?

Zealot — Tue, 25 May 2010 06:31:38 +0000

The Wall Street Journal is reporting on information they have gotten from “unnamed sources” that Microsoft will be shaking up their “Entertainment and Devices Division” as early as next week. This is the division at Redmond that handles, among other things, XBOX, Zune and Windows Phone. It is also the division that recently cancelled the Courier project.

The WSJ confirms the information we reported here over the weekend that User Experience guru J Allard is on his way out of Microsoft in this reshuffle, which they described as “Major Organization Changes”. No word on what this may mean for division head and Old School Microsoftie Robbie Bach.

While it is clear that Microsoft is eager to try to improve their fortunes now before the two horse race for Mobile supremacy between Apple and Google gets too far, I am not sure these moves bode well for Windows Phone 7 so close to release. Management chaos is never a good thing for a product and it is hard to get your staff really excited for a major release when they are spending their breaktime preparing their resumes, just in case. If Microsoft is really going to make changes, I hope they do it soon, quickly and cleanly so they can reassure their staff and the market and get on with the business at hand.

What other changes may be in the pipeline at Microsoft? Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if the loss of J Allard, this restructuring and the Zune-like interface of Windows Phone means the end of the Zune as an independent product. Ballmer has been saying for a year now that Zune is the software not the hardware, and now that it will be running on every Windows Phone, why confuse the marketplace with the Zune MP3 players. Lots of people said when the Zune HD was released that if it had included phone capabilities it would have put MS back on the map against the iPhone…it looks like Windows Phone 7 is just that, Zune with phone capabilities. Once you release that, why spend development money for 2 percent of the already fading MP3 player market?

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J Allard Leaving with Courier?

Zealot — Sat, 22 May 2010 21:23:01 +0000

I admit I have been dreading this sort of news from the moment I heard that the Microsoft Courier project had been cancelled by Redmond. According to Mary-Jo Foley, reports indicate that the main Microsoftie behind the Courier, the father of the Zune and XBOX projects, J Allard is on his way out of Microsoft.

Allard was one of the people in Microsoft who was deeply involved in innovative product design and was mainly concerned with how to shape and improve the user experience with Microsoft devices. You can see the results of that focus and his unique vision in both the success of the XBOX and the positive reviews of the Zune HD. It is clear that Microsoft brass were paying attention to those successes since the XBOX and Zune user experiences are being ported over to the Windows Phone platform…only apparently without J Allard.

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Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two coming to Verizon

Adam Stafford — Wed, 05 May 2010 19:25:58 +0000

Microsoft’s Kin One and Kin Two should become available tomorrow May 6th for Verizon customers via verizonwireless.com and in stores May 13th.

Microsoft’s new Zune-powered mobile devices aimed at our young generation of social networking music lovers is expected to go on sale tomorrow. The Kin One will sell for $50 and the Kin Two for $100 after mail in rebate and acceptance of a 2-year agreement with Verizon. That seems like a great offer until you take into account an additional $40 for a voice plan and yet another $30 for data.

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Zune System Maintenance and Nothing More

Adam Stafford — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:34:06 +0000

The Zune Marketplace will be down for system maintenance starting tonight as the lovely email says that went out to all of us. As a result you wont be able to access content for purchase or rental, and as Mary-Jo Foley (All About Microsoft) puts it: “That doesn’t mean it’s time to don the tin-foil hats…”

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Contest – Speck iPhone / Mobile Cases

PPCApache — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:30:40 +0000

I have just recently posted my review on Specks CandyShell Case for the iPhone. The great team at Speck Products have generously offered 3 iPhone/ Mobile cases as giveaways for our readers, just in time for Xmas.

To enter, hop over to www.speckproducts.com, find the case you like, add your comment below with the name of the case, colour and why you like that case. 3 Winners will be drawn randomly on the 24th December.

Good luck.

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Twitter App for the Zune Announced (and Released)

Chris Leckness — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:08:53 +0000

Just now on Twitter, Microsoft announced that the Zune has a dedicated Twitter App now. You can grab it from the Zune Marketplace right now apparently. Stand by for more info. I am sure a few of us @mobilitysite will download this today and give it a spin!

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Review: Altec Lansing iM414v2 for Zune HD

Matt Bubernak — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:26:47 +0000

Vendor: Altec Lansing
Price: 99.99

Finding speakers for your Zune device is no easy task,because at the moment there simply aren’t that many options. However, there is some good news; I just got a hold of the Altec Lansing inMotion IM414V2 portable speakers, and was pleasantly surprised. Altec is certainly no newcomer to Zune products, with the M604 , and iM414v1 previously released and it’s evident in the quality of the iM414v2.

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Zune unfairly compared in Business Insider article

Adam Stafford — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:09:52 +0000

Dan Frommer of Business Insider, recently wrote an article comparing the poor adoption of the Barnes & Noble Nook reader’s to the that of the Microsoft Zune media players release in 2006. Stating:

We can’t remember a bloodier beating since Microsoft first unveiled its Zune in 2006.

He goes on to compare the nook and Zune just as we have seen before with many pundits that still believe the iPod and Zune are the same.

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Get your ‘Grammy Nominees Fix’ on your Zune before the Jan 31st Show

Adam Stafford — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:01:37 +0000

The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards is going to take place on Sunday January 31, 2010 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. If you don’t go you will be able to get the following playlist for you Zune via the Marketplace:

The Big 4 Nominees
Pop Nominees
Rock Nominees
Rap Nominees
R&B Nominees
Country Nominees
And Record of the Year which will take you back with the past winners.

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