Technologizer

5Words for Thursday, May 28th 2009

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Wave? Makes me think Jobim… Nice detailed Google Wave overview. Verizon will get the Pre. Steve Ballmer demos Zune HD. Palm Pre syncs with iTunes. Palm Pre very first impressions. Review: Google’s developer conference phone. Chorme for Mac: still coming. Eighteen Android phones by December.

The Zune HD is Only HD to a Point

Thursday, May 28, 2009

10 Comments

The term “HD” is often more about marketing than it is about accurately describing a product’s capabilities. Microsoft’s upcoming Zune HD is the latest example of that trend. The Zune HD looks like it will delivera compelling evolution over the previous-generation Zunes, with features including a touch-screen interface and a widescreen 480-by-272 OLED display. [...]

Microsoft’s Handheld Entertainment Intentions, xYzposed!

Friday, May 15, 2009

3 Comments

As if two rumored Microsoft handhelds weren’t enough, the latest chatter from Redmond holds that the company is designing a new “digital entertainment handheld” to take on Apple’s iPod Touch and Sony’s PSP. The news comes from Team Xbox’s César A. Berardini, who says he waited months to corroborate and clear his report with sources in [...]

Microsoft Tries to Make Subscription Music Sound Sexy. Or at Least Smart.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

25 Comments

I feel really sorry for the companies, such as Real (with its Rhapsody service), Best Buy (with Napster), and Microsoft (with Zune Pass) that sell subscription music services. Rationally, subscription music makes perfect sense: You pay one monthly rate and get access to the service’s entire library. You can gorge all you want, and if [...]

5Words for April 16th, 2009

Thursday, April 16, 2009

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Greetings to you from Malta… Please, Apple, approve iPhone SlingPlayer. TwitPic glitches frustrate, alarm users. Should Apple fear Zune? Maybe. Windows Mobile Zune? Also maybe. Acer’s ultraslim, fairly cheap notebook. Digg bows to DiggBar critics. Non-Apple Mini DisplayPort monitors. Hands on: Verizon’s Hub 2.

5Words for April 15th, 2009

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

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My taxes? Filed. Whew! You? More about Zune HD. Maybe. eBay: we’re spinning off Skype. Net neutrality? Now now, please! Amazon.com: a third of e-commerce. AT&T wants more iPhone exclusivity. Microsoft patches up Office holes. Philips: Two dimensions are enough. I’m afraid to use ATMs. Miss Circuit City? Just wait.

Confirmed: Zune HD is Third Generation Model

Friday, April 10, 2009

59 Comments

Technologizer has learned that rumors surrounding the fourth third generation Zune model are indeed true, and Microsoft’s music player would be getting a high-definition upgrade sometime in the fall, most likely in September or October. Sources close to the Zune team indicate that Engadget’s shots of the marketing materials are indeed authentic, but are fairly [...]

Time Running Out for iPod Competitors

Friday, April 10, 2009

14 Comments

If anything was evidence that Apple’s iPod is ready to be the de-facto digital music device, the latest survey of teens by financial research firm Piper Jaffray should be it. Of the 606 teens surveyed (54 percent male, 46 percent female), those planning to buy a player all responded they were considering Apple’s iconic device. About [...]

Coming Soon: a Zune TV?

Thursday, April 2, 2009

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Despite a recent organizational shake up, help-wanted ads indicate that Microsoft may be taking its Zune brand into the living room, and expanding into new international markets. Today, blogger Long Zheng’s watchful eye took notice of a job listing on Microsoft’s Web site seeking a software engineer to help its Zune team, “deliver great digital entertainment [...]

Is Microsoft Set to Abandon its Top-Down Zune Approach?

Sunday, March 29, 2009

20 Comments

That could be true, if what we’re hearing about the buzz within Microsoft these days is correct. The Zune for all intents and purposes has been anything but a success for Microsoft. Redmond saw that Apple was wildly successful in controlling the experience from the top down, and decided to try to duplicate it. In the [...]

Zune Team Re-org Indicates Refocus

Friday, February 13, 2009

2 Comments

Ina Fried over at CNet has the scoop on the reorganization of the Zune team, which would now be split into two groups. From her post, this is how it will go down: The software and services portion of the Zune team–the bulk of its staff–will be added to the portfolio of Enrique Rodriguez, the vice [...]

A Zune Phone? Yes, Apparently. But Not From Microsoft

Friday, February 6, 2009

3 Comments

Zune phones are likely on their way, but don’t expect them to be produced by Microsoft, Mary-Jo Foley is reporting. Instead, Microsoft will be attempting reproduce the success of its PC business by providing devices makers with reference designs to use to build their own devices In November, I wrote that rumors that Microsoft was planning [...]

Please, World, Like Subscription Music, Won’t You?

Friday, February 6, 2009

23 Comments

Over at CNet, Greg Sandoval has a good story up on subscription music services such as the one that Microsoft offers for its Zune devices. They were supposed to be a big deal, but the idea never spawned any breakout hits. Yahoo and others exited the business, Rhapsody and Napster are niche successes at best, [...]

Zune is Fine, Microsoft Insists

Monday, January 26, 2009

3 Comments

Microsoft was quick to tamp down any rumor-mongering in the blogosphere about its 54% drop in Zune revenues, cautioning that the industry as a whole was down, and that its sales were in line with its expectations. In comments to Seattle P-I’s Joseph Tartakoff, Entertainment and Devices chief Robbie Bach repeatedly assured that the sales [...]

Zune’s Swoon–Doom Soon?

Friday, January 23, 2009

12 Comments

Podcasting News’s Elisabeth Lewin notes an interesting tidbit in Microsoft’s Form 10-Q SEC filing: Microsoft says that its Zune-related revenue “decreased by $100 or 54% reflecting a decrease in device sales.” The 10-Q doesn’t seem to say how many Zunes Microsoft sold, and the company has slashed prices. So it’s a little tough to tell whether [...]

Zunes of Death: The Resolution

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

3 Comments

Well, that’s a relief: The beyond-weird worldwide outage of 30GB Microsoft Zune MP3 players has been diagnosed. Microsoft says it’s due to a faulty driver for an unspecified Zune component that doesn’t know how to deal properly with leap years…and that the glitch will resolve itself tomorrow as the new year rolls in. It’ll deploy [...]