Let the Zune smartphone rumors begin anew - Chris Green of IT PRO has written a piece that claims that Microsoft is indeed working on a Zune-based Smartphone device. He writes that “sources close to the situation have confirmed that just a device is in the works..” Of course, one can easily imagine that Microsoft is indeed working on a Zune branded smartphone - especially since as Chris notes, all the pieces are there for Microsoft to undertake such an endeavor.

Consider the following:

1. Microsoft has the know-how on developing a mobile phone platform thanks to Windows Mobile

2. They have the expertise from the folks at Danger whom they acquired several months ago

3. They know how to create a music player thanks to the Zune team (which is really an incarnation of Windows Mobile)

4. They have an extensive online marketplace (though it’s not necessarily cohesive as of yet) thanks to the Zune Music Marketplace and the Xbox Live Video Marketplace.

5. They have a rich development platform.

So yes - Microsoft does indeed have all the pieces to create a Zune branded smartphone.

However, the same questions will arise if such a phone does get announced.

1. How will it compare against the iPhone?

2. Will this alienate manufacturers of Windows Mobile devices now that Microsoft is in the hardware biz with their own phone?

Question one would eventually be answered if such a phone were to come out.. but question two is far more interesting to contemplate.

It’s doubtful that hardware vendors would leave Microsoft’s Windows Mobile platform if Microsoft were to create a competing phone product. The truth is - most smartphone manufacturers that use Windows Mobile do so because their customers demand it. The fact that a Windows Mobile device fits nicely with businesses running Windows platforms is just too hard to ignore.

There are of course alternative operating systems - notably Symbian, and Android - and undoubtedly companies would consider looking into these alternatives if they needed to do so.

Another interesting thought would be as follows:

If Microsoft were to create a Zune branded phone - what if they bundled that user interface with all Windows Mobile-based phones? Yes - the Zune device would not necessarily be unique but it the new software/user interface would help proliferate the Windows Mobile platform far more quickly than otherwise. This would also morph the Zune from a media player device to an entire platform.

Of course, all this is moot until we know for sure that Microsoft is indeed working on a Zune based Smartphone. One thing we do know for sure is - Microsoft is working hard on the next iteration of Windows Mobile.

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Technorati Tags: Microsoft Zune Phone

Long time fans of Joy Division will love this one. Microsoft will launch a limited edition Zune media player with custom artwork designed by Peter Saville on June 17th to commemorate the DVD release of the “Joy Division” movie documentary. The custom black Zune 80 player will come preloaded with the Joy Division movie and will have an adaptation of Saville’s artwork from Joy Division’s “Unknown Pleasures” album etched on the back. 500 of these players will be made available on http://www.zune.net and on http://www.zuneoriginals.net. The DVD release of “Joy Division” is set for the same day and will be released through Genius Products and The Weinstein Company. I’ve already seen the flick and Joy Division fans will surely enjoy the film! The limited edition Joy Division Zune 80 will cost $399.99.

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Technorati Tags: Zune, Joy Division, Limited Edition Zune, Pete Saville, Unknown Pleasures

Want a chance to win a Zune? Try out MSN Mobile for a chance to win a Zune. Microsoft will be giving away one Zune a day for the month of Zune. To get things going, you just need to go to http://www.msnmobilefix.com/zune/ and enter your cell phone number. A text message with a link to MSN Mobile will be sent to your mobile phone. Click on the link and enter the daily contest. Good luck!

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Technorati Tags: MSN Mobile, Zune

There’s an interesting post over at last100.com entitled “How to save the Zune” and written by guest writer Michael Pinto who is the Creative Director of Very Memorable Inc. In the posting, he writes about a couple of methods that could possibly boost Zune sales and make it more attractive to the youth and young adults of today. Here’s a short summary of his suggestions:

• Create a low end price point for the Zune - say $25 dollars - to aggressively combat against the low end iPod shuffle. Focus on form factor vs technology
• Offer limited edition versions of the device aimed at specific niches. Co-brand with trademark brands, artists, etc. (Microsoft to a certain extent did this last year with several limited edition Zunes)
• Come preloaded with music (which the current 2nd gen Zune actually already do). Collaborate with services to offer audio recordings on Zunes after a concert (nice idea)

I think Mr. Pinto is definitely onto something with these ideas but like Matt Rosoff of News.com, I think there’s more work that needs to be done.

Microsoft certainly made the right move when they launched the Zune and tried to focus the brand at the hardcore music lover (especially the underground movement and new artists followers). They need to expand this to include the general population that listens to digital music. In fact, I think most of the saavy digital music listeners out there know about the Zune but aren’t encouraged or motivated to check it out because there’s not enough that’s unique about the Zune when compared to the iPod. With the devices at nearly the same price point, what are you going to choose? Probably the iPod simply because your friends have the iPod also.

Thus, the Zune needs to be unique enough to make you the consumer want to pick it up. Let’s face it - wireless sharing and syncing are cool but NOT must haves. Thus, outside of that, what distinguishes the Zune from the iPod? Perhaps at most the software but many out there actually enjoy iTunes (I for one don’t).

Thus, here are some of my suggestions (which will overlap with those listed above):

• First, the Zune needs to compete on price. It needs to be cheaper than the iPod. If the Xbox can compete at a cheaper price than the PS3, then the Zune can be lowered in price also (it’s not like Microsoft depends on money generated by the Zune)
• Technically speaking, the Zune needs more oomph to it. It was nice that the Zune worked easily with MP3s and WMA’s etc but it just doesn’t have the feature set of the iPod. Now the general population probably doesn’t realize it but they need to be ooo’d and ahhh’d into realizing that the Zune is cool. Support every file format under the sun. Make it easy to get videos onto the device. Add additional applications to the Zune. Games are nice but we need a calendar.. a notes application, a contacts app.. yes.. in some ways, the Zune could be closer to a Windows Mobile PDA - just without the crappy Windows Mobile UI.
• This leads me to form factor. The device is just getting boring looking. Don’t get me wrong, I love the operational aspect of the Zune - especially the controls on the device and the “back” button. However, the iPod touch is certainly making the Zune look oh so boring. Whip out a Zune and an iPod touch and which one is going to gain more attention? Yes.. the touch folks. So.. the Zune needs more sex appeal. Make it smaller.. make it thinner.. make it a touch screen device if you have to. Or better yet.. create a device with a wicked screen display. Attach a wonderfully loud speaker. Integrate an FM and voice recorder.
• Style. Once you’ve got the form factor, make it sweet looking. Microsoft is already there in many ways with the customizations that people can do with the Zune. Keep it going. Partner with artists, with brands, with other companies and make really cool versions of the Zune.
• Enhance the Social. Yes, I have a Social page on social.zune.net but how many of my friends actually know about it? About two. Yes.. TWO and that’s because that’s how many of my friends that actually own a Zune. So.. I have an idea for the social - make it open to all media players. Yes that’s crazy.. but open it up. Let anyone who has a media player of some sort be able to work with the Social somehow. Make certain features ONLY available to Zune owners thus making people WANT to get a Zune.
• While we’re on the social - make it better. Allow the Zune to automatically update your social account if it’s near a Wi-Fi hotspot. It would be awesome if people could instantly see what track they’re listening to at this moment in time. It’s all about instant gratification

There’s more in that head of mine and I’m sure you have many more ideas too. It boils down to better pricing, more content, sexier styling, better form factors, cooler technology, and more open website. Sounds simple huh?

[Check it out via News.com]

Technorati Tags: How to save the zune, last100, news.com

GameStop has announced that it will stop selling the Microsoft Zune media player citing “it just did not have the appeal we had anticipated.” According to a report at The Street.com, the decision was made about a month ago. The Zune will be sold online at GameStop.com until the entire inventory is cleared out. What did Microsoft have to say about this decision? Adam Sohn, director of marketing for the Zune had this to say: “We have a set of great partnerships that give Zune a strong presence at retail including Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart, and others”. That’s definitely true so let’s hope this isn’t the beginning of a trend (which is highly doubtful).

[Check it out via Crave]

Technorati Tags: Zune, GameStop

Yes Zune fans - we can finally buy television shows on the Zune Marketplace thanks to a new set of features and capabilities introduced with the latest Zune software update. Zune users can choose from over 800 episodes of popular television shows ranging from South Park to The Hills, to Heroes, to my personal favorite - Battlestar Galactica. Each television show has a price of 160 Microsoft Points which is roughly 1.99 an episode.

But wait.. there’s more! Microsoft updated the Zune online music community with several new features. Here’s a list of the new features from the press release:

• Syncing Zune Cards to a device. Consumers simply drag and drop Zune Cards from friends to a Zune device and get updates on what friends are listening to every time they sync. If the song is available with Zune Pass, subscribers automatically have the full tracks on their Zune while nonsubscribers have full album information and artwork. If consumers hear something they like, they can add it to their collection with one click. Next time the user syncs his or her Zune, he or she will be asked to confirm the purchase.
• Enhanced friends search. Consumers now have the ability to add their name, location and bio to their Zune music community profile, making it easier than ever to find their friends.
• Instant friends. The true power of the Zune online music community is unlocked when friends are added and consumers can follow the music they’re listening to. Now, when new Zune owners join the Zune online music community, they’ll find the top music editors from the Zune Marketplace team already added to their friends list, giving them a head start in finding new music.
• Artist and album reviews. Inside the Zune music community, members have the ability to write and post their own reviews for artists and albums, providing another community-driven feature to support the exploration and discovery of music. The music community helps to find and recommend the best music.
• Reputation badges. Now members of the Zune community can earn badges that are displayed on their Zune Card showing they’re passionate fans or active members.
• Windows Live connections. Windows Live Messenger contacts will now be able to see what users are listening to via the Zune software. Clicking on the tracks displayed in the “Now Playing” feature will connect the Windows Live Messenger friend directly to that artist’s page on the Zune Social.

Finally, Microsoft added several new features to the Zune software application including:

• Auto playlists. Users can create an auto playlist that updates itself automatically as new music is added.
• Browsing videos. Consumers can browse their video collection by genre and series, plus they can preview videos before they play them on full screen.
• Editing album and track information. Users are able to edit track or album information (metadata) quickly via multi-select and drag-and-drop. The advanced metadata editing features make it easy to edit multiple tracks or survey albums and artist information.
• Organizing collections. In addition to sorting by artist or album, consumers can now sort by genre. While browsing by genre they can further sort music by artist, album or release year.
• Gapless playback. Consumers will now be able to listen to an album without the brief gap between tracks, both on their Zune and in the Zune software. This is a must-have for live-concert recordings and compilation albums.
• Syncing groups. Zune software now syncs to multiple Zune players simultaneously. Users can prepare which content on their computer to sync even when their Zune isn’t connected. Consumers can create custom sync groups for music, pictures and videos.
• Zune reminders. Experience is improved when a Zune player’s memory is nearing capacity, via an easy-to-use tool.

While this release is definitely a step in the right direction, it’s still a bit disappointing that not all of the content found on the Xbox Live Marketplace is available on the Zune Marketplace - notably movie rentals. Yet despite this glaring hole, the new updates should bring the Zune somewhat closer to some of the capabilities found on the iPod and iTunes.

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Technorati Tags: Zune software, Zune Marketplace, TV shows

Wondering when the next Zune will be coming out? Well according to GNT, you might very well have to wait until 2009 for the next version to roll out. The French publication quoted Microsoft France’s Francois Ruault as stating that the third generation Zune media player will most likely make a worldwide release during the 2009 holiday season. That seems a bit too long for a hardware refresh if you ask us. When you consider that iPod fans get antsy if no new model or update comes out after some 6-9 months, then two years is definitely far too long of a wait. It’s hard to say whether this will actually happen of course. A new version of the Zune could very well come out first in the US followed by a release worldwide so who knows. In the meantime, I guess we’ll have to make due with the current version as well as the continued rumor mill.

[Check it out via Crave]

Technorati Tags: Zune, Zune 3, 2009

The folks at Pocket Gamer UK have published some hands-on information about Zune gaming over here on their website. Here are some interesting tidbits about game development on the Zune platform.

• Zune development kits will begin shipping to teams this spring with an emphasis on community developed games
• Microsoft is looking to make game development as easy as possible - providing unified tools for the Zune, the Xbox 360 and the PC platform (think common APIs etc)
• The kits will come with networking software and multiplayer games will support up to eight players although the exact number will be dictated by the games at hand

They also played around with the game Zauri which was being demoed by Microsoft on the Zune. According to Pocket Gamer:

Moving your spaceship to blast aliens with your laser is as easy as drawing your finger across the pad. Tap it and you drop a smart bomb. The huge screen made great sense for Zauri – not only did it look crisp and detailed, but it worked well for the top-down action. A simple game, sure, but nonetheless entertaining.

You can read more about this here on Pocket Gamer’s website.

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Technorati Tags: Zune Games, Zauri,

A posting over at the Windows Mobile Team Blog recently went up entitled “Zune + Windows Mobile = Better Together?” asking a simple question:

“What are some ways the Zune player and a Widows Mobile device can work better together?”

If you’re an owner of both devices, then you might want to chime in your thoughts over there. I for one USED to own a Windows Mobile device but I must say that I’ve since moved over to the Apple iPhone. Would I go back to a Windows Mobile device someday? Sure - if the user interface was enhanced to the point of being productive! However, having used a Windows Mobile device before and knowing what it’s like to work with a Windows Mobile device, I thought I’d add in some thoughts here (and see what all of you thought).

In no particular order, here are some things that could be greatly enhanced:

• Network connectivity between a Windows Mobile device and a Zune. Make Zune Sharing more than sharing between Zunes - share between all sorts of devices. Using Wi-Fi is a good first step towards this but the Zune might very well need Bluetooth down the road to achieve greater compatibility with a wide range of devices. However, choosing the protocol is only the first step. Making sharing dead simple is the most important thing. Connecting to a Windows Mobile device should be AS SIMPLE as connecting to another Zune
• Simply the software needed to manage and operate a Windows Mobile and Microsoft Zune device. For devices with software ALL originating from Microsoft, things are WAY to complex. Here’s where one could learn a thing or two from Apple. Everything goes through iTunes on the Apple platform. Whether it’s the iPod, iPhone, or Apple TV - you have one device and one interface. You could make a point in saying that iTunes is a bit bloated now but it works and it’s also powerful at the same time. In order to sync with Windows Mobile devices, you need Microsoft Sync on Vista, (or ActiveSync on XP and earlier OS’s), and Microsoft Outlook for contact and calendaring. Multimedia management is then handled by Windows Media Player. Ah but then switch on over to the Zune, and you have a completely different media management system in the form of the Zune Software. Don’t get me wrong - I love the Zune Software and would love to see it be used as the central media player on Windows from here on out.. but too many pieces of code depend on Windows Media Player these days (Think Windows Media Center). Somehow, Microsoft needs to go back to the drawing boards and rethink all of this. How can we have a drop dead simple centralized system that allows us to sync all sorts of devices?
• The Zune Social is a good first step in integrating social networking into the multimedia business but it isn’t new at all. Think Last.FM and many other companies that have been working on this. What we need is a social networking initiative that is far more compelling and engrossing. Something that goes beyond just adding friends and seeing what they like to listen to. It would be cool to see things like: what concerts are my friends attending in the next few weeks, what local clubs or gigs are they checking out? What new books or podcasts are of interest to my friends which might be interesting to me. My friend is stuck at the airport and has nothing to do but twitter all day long - wouldn’t it be cool if I could get those messages or status updates on my Zune? How can a friend simply get a hold of me through a single ID somewhere? I’ve snapped a picture on my Windows Mobile device and I want to share it to my friends - no matter where they are and on whatever device that they are using.. how can I do that. Social networking to the max but yet simple too!
• Most music listeners have playlists - it’d be nice to be able to share playlists from friend to friend and device to device. Go on Zune Social, and share your overall playlist. Seeing what someone else is listening to is nice and dandy but I’d rather just download their favorite lists and see what I might be interested in. Better yet - if I have a playlist on my Zune, how cool would it be for me to share it with my friends using a Windows Mobile device?

OK.. I’m running out of ideas but I’m sure there’s more brewing in my head. What are some of your own ideas? Post them up on the Windows Mobile Team Blog!

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Technorati Tags: Zune, Windows Mobile

The next time you walk into a school classroom, you just might happen across students using the Microsoft Zune for of all things, learning! That’s right.. learning! Eric Langhorst, a social studies teacher in South Valley Junior High School in Missouri, is working with Microsoft to see how the Zune could be used in classroom learning.

Langhorst, who won Missouri’s Teacher of the Year award, has already been “recognized nationwide for incorporating technology to enhance student learning”. He’s known for creating what he calls “studycasts” which are basically podcasts which can then be downloaded and viewed on a PC, an iPod, or of course, a Zune.  Now, Langhorst is working with Microsoft to see how the Zune can be used to further education in the classroom.

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Technorati Tags: Eric Langhorst, Zune, Microsoft Zune, Education, Classroom, Studycasts