We already knew the Zune was pretty much dead and gone — the mp3 player, that is, not the service — but until very recently you could still take a stroll down memory lane by going to Microsoft’s Zune page and looking at all the Zune HDs frolicking in the background. No longer. The Zune itself has been expunged from the Zune page and new players will no longer be produced.
It’s actually long overdue. The primary Zune ecosystem moved over to Windows Phone 7 a long time ago, and it seemed strange to have discontinued hardware on a page that should be touting how much better the new phones are than the old dedicated player. Even if that’s not strictly true. → Read More
Yes, you read the headline correctly. The Zune HD, which was recently rolled up and borged into the Windows Phone 7 brand, has received no less than nine new apps. We heard that the existing Zune games and apps would be ported to WP7, but perhaps during that process they decided to brush off a few that were still sitting in the box. → Read More
Yesterday’s widely-propagated reports that the Zune has died (in pure, player form at least) are being downplayed by Microsoft. In a post over at Anything But iPod, Zune Hardware business guy Dave McLauchlan had a few choice words to say about the rumormongering. → Read More
Bloomberg is reporting that Microsoft has finally decided to put an official end to its Zune media player line. “A person familiar with the decision” has informed them that Microsoft will not be putting out any new hardware in the line, and will be henceforward focusing on integrating Zune functionality with the Windows Phone 7 platform.
Not exactly unexpected; the Zune hardware hasn’t changed since mid-2009′s release of the Zune HD, although it has received several significant software upgrades. The writing has been on the wall for a long time, but whether Microsoft would double down (again) or cut their losses was far from clear. Let’s take a quick trip down memory lane. → Read More
Some rumblings at Microsoft regarding the future of their music and video services have been detailed by Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft sleuth extraordinaire. Something called “Ventura” has been tipped as a new “very large scale project” involved in music and video discovery and delivery. It’s clearly not at the consumer stage, and they are probably just working on unified backend services for Windows, Live, and WP7 platforms, but it’s also entirely possible that this work will result in some new consumer products. → Read More
The world needed the Zune. Hell, Apple needed the Zune. Microsoft better not kill off the Zune. Too bad it’s already as good as cooked. Bye bye, Zune. We’ll miss you. As Mary-Jo Foley points out, Microsoft suits are seemingly avoiding using the platform’s name lately. It’s a bit strange seeing how the Zune brand is fairly important to Windows Phone 7. The mobile phone platform uses the Zune name for all things media. But it’s still odd that not only are Microsoft executives not talking about the brand, but also the absence of talk was noticed. Chances are if anything is changing, the brand will survive. It’s the physical media players that might get the pink slip. And that sucks. → Read More
Mac users have been asking for years for a version of Zune for OS X, even if it’s a stripped-down sync utility. The Windows Phone 7 Connector app for Mac is made for use, of course, with your WP7 handset, but apparently a simple terminal tweak is all it takes to make it recognize Zunes as well. → Read More
The Zune Pass is a tempting one for a lot of people, though to be sure the hardware and Zune player aren’t for everyone. But for those looking at subscription services for their music, it’s a pretty solid deal. This annual pass makes it an even better one if you’re willing to shell out for a year ahead of time. → Read More
The world of media distribution is a bad place to be right now. What with major labels all wanting everything from everybody, people like Apple and Microsoft vying for exclusive content, and a ton of different laws governing all this international trade stuff, I’m surprised anybody gets anything done at all. But Microsoft has put in the work and they’re rolling out their Zune music and video services to a bunch of Europe. International reader, you may be on the list.
Of course, pricing and availability for certain programs and features differs from country to country, because a simple worldwide distribution platform is a fairy tale we tell our children, or a scary tale music execs tell theirs. There are variations. → Read More
These rumors aren’t exactly the most substantiated we’ve ever seen, but to be honest, I’d report if a bird flew in my window today just to get the Apple taste out of my mouth. What’s being said is that Microsoft is going to double down on Zune with a Windows Phone 7-esque update. Whether there’d be new hardware is anyone’s guess. Why not? → Read More
Years ago, the music industry could have blamed falling album sales on piracy. “Nobody’s buying the latest Chingy because they’re just downloading a 128CBR rip from Suprnova~!” What’s the excuse now when people have loads of legitimate digital options—iTunes, Zune, Pandora, Spotify, Rdio, etc.—at their fingertips? Oh, right: it’s still piracy. Please update your act. → Read More
This emerging story about how iTunes is bravely entering the cloud cracks me up. Haven’t we been doing wireless sync, and direct streaming for a couple years now with Zune? It’s funny how these things don’t really count until Apple does them. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad Apple is finally jumping on this. It’s not like everyone and their mom has a Zune and is constantly streaming things all the time, but these are features that have been on offer for quite some time now. → Read More
Good news if you were waiting on the Zune 64. It just came up as available on the Zune Originals website, much earlier then the previously expected April 12th. → Read More
Microsoft just dropped the Zune 4.5 firmware update, and it looks promising. I mean, who doesn’t want more video codecs and a smart DJ? → Read More
To follow up with earlier rumors we’re happy to report that the Zune HD 64GB is now a reality. Microsoft just announced the Zune HD 64GB for $349.99, available April 12, just outside of the event horizon that is the iPad ship date. This new device will run the 4.5 firmware. → Read More
If there is one rumor that tends to come and go and agonizes Windows Mobile fans, it’s the one about a Zune phone. Although it’s not officially confirmed, Gizmodo has it on good word that Microsoft will be introducing a Zune phone at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year. More specifically, it will be a Windows Mobile 7 phone with Zune features and capabilities, so it’s not a Zune phone, per se. → Read More
Just wanted to give you all a heads up, we got an email stating that the Zune system is undergoing scheduled maintenance starting in about an hour, and will be down all night. You should still be able to access and use your locally stored content though. Microsoft promises that everything thing will be fine, and you’ll be able to get back to the social in the morning. → Read More
MWC is a few weeks away – it starts on February 15 – and we’re expecting to see a new version of Windows Mobile, version 7, to be launched with hardware soon to follow. We’ve heard some rumors about potential improvements over the current 6.x codebase, but a developer has told us that this new version is so distant from the old WinMo that it is almost unrecognizable. The worst part? It is completely non-backwards compatible, meaning all WinMo apps are about go extinct. → Read More
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=7564013&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1 A major and valid criticism of the Zune HD when it launched was the utter lack of apps. Weather, a calculator, and a game that’s been on the Zune for like a year. It had nothing on the thousands upon thousands of apps and games available for the iPod touch… and it still has nothing on that. But slightly less nothing. There are now a dozen games available for the sexy little player, and they’re really not bad at all. I downloaded the interesting-looking ones and put them on video so you can see just how they perform. → Read More
Zune down! The Zune support forums are awash with users claiming various issues with Zune subscription media. Songs are not showing up, or if they do, they aren’t playing. Sounds like an authentication issue to me, and those happen every once in a while — but for weeks on end? Any of you fine folks out there having trouble? I’ll see if I can scare up any info from the Zune team and post an update later. [Thanks, Aditya] Update: My Zunepal tells me that the DRM reset tool might work, though that’s all the information he volunteered. Anybody brave enough to try it? → Read More
