When political candidates concede a campaign, they praise the "long journey" and talk about how much they've "learned." In the same mode, Microsoft's CEO has all but said he's given up on the Zune.

The Inquirer is convinced that Microsoft will launch a Microsoft-branded Zune phone in February. Not some other brand's phone running Windows, but an actually iPhone-wannabe Microsoft Zune phone. The Inq cites a geek detail to make it real: The phone will use Nvidia's Tegra mobile CPU chip, not unlike this Nvidia…

We've been hard on Common, the "conscious" Chicago rapper who spends an inordinate amount of time making ads for damn near everybody and then coming up with weird justifications for how he's still keeping it real. Now his new TV ad for Zune, the off-brand iPod that Common called "a representation of me," is out. And…

If the Valley was like Hollywood, Hansup Yoon's story would have been the feel-good coming-of-age movie during Oscar season. Seriously, the kid makes a web forum and is able to make more money off Zune than Microsoft? Where's Sorkin on this? Lawrence, today's featured commenter, explains to those drinking the hatorade:

Turning a profit with your startup can't be all that hard. Just ask 15-year-old Hansup Yoon. He created a community discussion site called ZuneBoards in 2006 using free MyBBoard software, got 60,000 users, earned $1,000 a month from Google ads for a couple years, and then sold it for $62,000 this summer. "It is so…

The man who had the Zune logo and "Welcome to the social" slogan" tattooed on his arm and back is getting the ink removed. [Real Dan Lyons]

Robbie Bach, overseer of Microsoft's entertainment division, has been trotted out by PR to counter Apple's iPhone buzz. He trots out familiar numbers about Windows Mobile phones outselling the iPhone. (A challenge: try naming one.) And then he undermines his credibility by admitting to having four Zunes. [SFGate]

After news that NBC had asked Microsoft to develop content filtering technology to keep infringing files off the Zune spread like wildfire, Cesar Menendez, a Microsoft employee working on the Zune, said there was no agreement between the television network and the technology company to implement any such plan.

Part of the deal between NBC and Microsoft to sell television shows to Zune owners is that Microsoft will attempt to build in antipiracy technology that keeps anything you might have downloaded through less than legitimate means off the device. In other words, you can say goodbye to trading MP3 files or videos with…

While in the strictly platonic section of Craigslist, this anonymous Angeleno writes in a tone more suited to casual encounters, what with the desire to "rocket sweet tracks up each other's Zune slots" and the need for "a hearty and steadfast product." I'm willing to bet my Shuffle against your Zune the author is…

Having dropped Apple's iTunes store in a dispute over pricing, NBC Universal will soon start selling downloads of TV shows like The Office and 30 Rock for its Zune media player. If NBC chief Jeff Zucker manages to scrape some sales out of Microsoft's handheld also-ran, it will be a miracle — and the surest proof yet…

The weekend saw the long-rumored sale of Yahoo's paid music service go through. Rhapsody America, a RealNetworks and MTV joint venture, purchased Yahoo Music Unlimited for an undisclosed fee, paidContent.org reports. Word has it Yahoo plans to supplant the service with a free, ad-supported service. To that end, it…

The Web is deriding Microsoft's decision to rename PlaysForSure, its digital rights platform, as "Certified for Vista." It's actually a rare sign of intelligent life in Redmond's marketing cubes. PlaysForSure never spawned the hoped-for army of iTunes killers, and Microsoft itself created another format for its own…

Look where baiting Apple fanboys gets you. Yesterday we noted that the top-selling digital music device on Amazon.com was not the iPod but Microsoft's Zune. Commenter deathbychichi made quick work of this assertion.

The iPod, which along with the iPhone was to propel Apple's Wall Street value beyond even Google's, is not even the bestselling digital media player on Amazon.com. That laurel belongs to some Redmond, Washington-based company called Microsoft. Heard of it?

J Allard, VP of Microsoft's entertainment and devices devision and one of the gurus behind the Xbox and the Zune, has some crazy plans that he hopes will put Microsoft on top of entertainment — and it has nothing to do with discontinuing the brown Zune. In his ramblings to Saul Hansell of the New York Times Bits…

Microsoft wants to buy Musiwave, a company specializing in mobile music services. The deal, among other things, would lay the foundation for a Zune wireless store, matching Apple's iTunes Store for Wi-Fi that lets iPhone and iPod Touch users download songs over the air. This copycat move is just one more sign of…

Woot, the deal-a-day online retail site, offered first-generation Zunes for $150 in August — half price at the time. Then in September, Woot offered more Zunes, this time for $129. In October? $99. Are you seeing the pattern yet? Today, Woot is offering black or white Zunes for $150 $129 $99 $84.99. The Zune's price…