<![CDATA[Gawker: Zune]]> http://cache.gawker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/gawker.com.png <![CDATA[Gawker: Zune]]> http://gawker.com/tag/zune http://gawker.com/tag/zune <![CDATA[Microsoft Preparing to Put Zune Out of Its Misery]]> 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. More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5127323&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Zune-phone rumor refuses to die]]> 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 prototype CNET handled. In theory, that means it can do most of what a desktop PC can do. In practice, that means it'll probably be hated on as just much as Vista. More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5098836&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy]]> 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 he's pulled godfather of the beat Afrika Bambaataa into the advertising web along with him! This, along with The Roots signing on as Jimmy Fallon's house band, is pounding my capability for sincere outrage into a sense of zombie-like acceptance. Watch the full ad below and surrender: More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5092327&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Microsoft makes logical business move]]> Microsoft's Department of Losing Money — the Xbox and Zune division — has reportedly frozen hiring. [Silicon Alley Insider] More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5059732&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Lawrence]]> 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: More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5043278&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Teenager pays for college with Zune chat site]]> 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 easy to make money on the Internet," Yoon told the Boston Herald. "I only spent 30 minutes online a day on ZuneBoards." More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5042686&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[We would submit that all tattoos are stupid, not just one of a Zune]]> 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] More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5029145&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[A moment too Zune]]> 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] More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5014599&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Zune no longer taking up valuable GameStop shelf space]]> Microsoft's iPod imitator, the Zune, will no longer be sold at videogame and electronics retailer GameStop according to GameStop CFO David Carlson. They probably need that space for Grand Theft Auto IV, which has sold more copies in a few weeks than Microsoft's portable media player has sold since launch. [Digital Daily] More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=393053&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Microsoft says Zune won't filter your home videos, promise]]> 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.
We think some folks in the industry were expressing hopes for how the entire industry, not just Microsoft, would come to look at content distribution, and some speculation has ensued.
In other words, a bit of wishful thinking on NBC's part. More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=388500&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Microsoft's antipiracy protection may doom video Zune]]> 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 your friends on the Zune — instead, you'll have to use officially authorized sources to charge it up with content. How will the Zune know if the video you're trying to download to the device was downloaded illegally or, say, created by you? Until digital watermarking technology improves significantly, it won't, and even then, who knows. So for you lonely Zune owners, prepare to get even lonelier, because the second the company implements this "feature," it can kiss goodbye to what little market share it now enjoys. (Photo by AP/Ted S. Warren) More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=388228&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Lonely Zune owner reaches out on Craigslist]]> 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 NBC's Jeff Zucker, and that he wasn't being ironic. More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=387840&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Jeff Zucker's Zune revenge]]> 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 that content, not hardware, is king. Don't hold your breath. Microsoft's Zune has always seemed like a parody of Apple's iPod. Want to buy songs? Well, first you buy "points" from Microsoft, which you can then exchange for music at some bizarre exchange rate. Nothing about its user interface seems quite right compared to Apple's polish. The system for TV shows is no better. Though Microsoft also makes the Xbox, shows downloaded to a Zune won't play on the videogame console unless you're adept at fiddling with cables. By going with Microsoft, Zucker is betting that technology doesn't matter, design doesn't matter, and market share doesn't matter. He must really believe in his prime-time lineup. (Photo via Fake Steve Ballmer) More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=387606&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Yahoo unloads music service on RealNetworks and MTV]]> 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 has purchased the maker of FoxyTunes, a plugin for the Firefox browser which searches for music online. More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=352254&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Microsoft kills PlaysForSure quickly, music partners slowly]]> 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 Zune, kneecapping any stores foolish enough to adopt PlaysForSure. More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=333206&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Zune outselling iPod on Amazon ... but not in reality]]> 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. More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=325556&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Zune outselling iPod on Amazon]]> 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? More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=324860&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Xbox mastermind wants to own Hollywood]]> 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 blog, he revealed he's looking to create an entertainment-distribution service that will do all the heavy lifting for content providers. Microsoft's online gaming service and the Zune's Internet interface are built on the same platform. The implication? More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=323767&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Why Zune won't outsell the iPod]]> 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 what's wrong with Microsoft's Zune strategy. It can't settle on one — so it just winds up latching onto whatever is the hot topic of the day. Here's what Microsoft should be doing instead of copying Apple. More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=322169&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Microsoft has lots and lots of Zunes to sell — or no one is buying]]> 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 is falling faster than shares of Apple. After the jump, an excerpt from the product description that pretty much sums everything up. More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=321838&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[If you're making money, you're not worth a damn]]> Microsoft remains in high spirits after its Entertainment and Devices division, responsible for the Xbox and Zune, posted a profit last quarter. This division hasn't made it into the black in years. Papa Steve Ballmer is so proud, he's planning "an upscale campus" for the product group. No doubt Redmond hopes to spur these slackers' performance by making corporate rock stars like J Allard and Robbie Bach feel drunk with power. (Note to Ballmer: Don't take that literally. Actually including a bar may not boost productivity.) What message is Microsoft sending to its less troubled children? If you want nice things, start losing money. More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=320587&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[ First $150, then $129. Now, Woot, the deal-a-day...]]> First $150, then $129. Now, Woot, the deal-a-day online retail site, is selling the first-gen Zune for $99 to any suckers who overpaid the first two times. No refund this time either. [Woot] More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=310708&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Beating Apple requires big thinking, but not this big]]> Doug Morris, head of Universal Music, the most powerful of the four major record-label groups, thinks he has a plan to reclaim the music industry from Apple, maker of the iPod and iTunes. There are scant details and the plan is in flux, but the basic idea, dubbed Total Music, is this: All of the studios will pool their content for online distribution and share in the revenue. The service will be a subscription subsidized by any form of provider: device manufacturers, music stores, cellphone carriers, whomever. The consumer doesn't have to pay for a music service because it's baked in, the music industry finally gets the revenue stream that they've been missing. But we're skeptical. More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=310436&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[What would a Facebook music store look like?]]> Allfacebook.com is reporting a rumor that Facebook will take on Apple's dominant iTunes by introducing its own music store. Few details are provided, save that they are actively looking to hire someone to head the project and discussions with studios have been ongoing. Music applications such as iLike are popular on the social network, and digital music is a natural fit with the site's original college-kid demographic. But could Facebook really pull this off? At this point, we don't really know what a Facebook music store would be. We do know, however, what it's not. More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=307713&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Zuned to failure]]> Microsoft's bullheaded foray into the music-player market, despite Apple's complete domination, seems as silly a proposition as entering the seemingly impenetrable videogame console business in November 2001. The only problem is that the success of Microsoft's Xbox is a fluke which owes much to Sony's missteps and runaway sales of Halo. The Zune, in all its redesigned glory, has no such killer app — just the same music, more or less, as Apple's iPod. And the Zune's main selling point? More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=307148&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Pliant tech press corps bows before Microsoft's Zune]]> Why, in this age of lightning-fast publishing, do members of prestigious national publications like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal still agree to embargoes? Microsoft, it seems, has placed an embargo on its new Zune models, but Gizmodo already has photos, and the Silicon Alley Insider, too, has already scooped its much-larger business-news rivals, with reports that Microsoft will introduce new Zunes with flash-memory storage, competing with Apple's iPod Nano line. Jay Greene from BusinessWeek, Jeff Leeds, music reporter at the Times, and Nick Wingfield of the Journal, we hear, were among the reporters scribbling away at the Microsoft launch event in the Seattle area today. And what did they get in exchange for agreeing to sit on the news? More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=306363&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[ Woot has even more Zunes to "give" away...]]> Woot has even more Zunes to "give" away at the bargain price of $129. Apparently the fire sale is to clear shelf space for a rumored Zune 2.0 — though at these prices, who will be left to buy the new version? [Woot] More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=302553&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[MTV's history of digital-music failure]]> How long will it take the corporate suits at Viacom to realize that MTV Networks will never, ever, ever succeed in digital music? The latest move, folding MTV's Urge online music store into RealNetworks' Rhapsody service, is just another example of its fumbling. One could point out that MTV doesn't actually broadcast much in the way of music these days; to the extent it's holding onto its youth demographic, it's doing so with a TV schedule packed with reality shows and teen soap operas. Do its viewers even know that the "M" in "MTV" stands for "music"? But never mind that. The reality of MTV is a decade-long history of complete and utter failure in digital music. The timeline of missed opportunities, botched deals, and general cluelessness, after the jump: More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=291819&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Salesforce.com's CEO Marc Benioff, giddy...]]> Salesforce.com's CEO Marc Benioff, giddy with new-found profits, trashes Microsoft's competing offering, saying it "promises to do for on-demand [software] what Zune has done for media players." Ouch, that's low. [MarketWatch] More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=290609&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Search share gained, credibility lost]]> Compete, the website-measurement startup, announced that Microsoft had boosted its share of U.S. search queries by two-thirds from May to June. Microsoft's share is still small: It grew from 8.4 percent to 13.2 percent of the total market, largely at Google's expense. So how did it do it? The answer is simple: payola. Microsoft's Live Search Club offers prizes to search users. But other search engines have offered similar payoffs to spur traffic with far less dramatic results. Here's why Live Search Club is succeeding as a payola scheme — but failing as a business maneuver. More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=279377&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[The missing, but not missed, milestone announcement]]> Earlier today, Valleywag pointed out that it's the perfect time to release bad news. But what if you want and need to release good news into the vacuum left in iPhone's wake? Scheduled to hit the one million unit milestone, Microsoft's Zune group is facing this very decision. With little over two days left in June, did they miss their projections, decide to skip an announcement entirely, or are they waiting to position their release squarely against the din of iPhone mania? More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=273377&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Marketing effort or helping Apple with their recycling campaign?]]> TIM FAULKNER — One expects Microsoft to try every marketing tactic conceivable, especially if it seems hip and new, but can even the most loyal and deluded Zune marketers think this is an effective idea? Does anyone think these are not planted or that five or six dead iPods at the bottom of a three foot tall bin is even conveying the intended message? [Photo credit: fimoculous from Flickr.] More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=263311&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Behind the deal: Microsoft's payment to Universal Music is not protection money]]> Microsoft agreed to pay Universal Music over a dollar for each Zune it sells — and that's all the bloggers and commentators will report. But the New York Times, which broke this news, explains the payment is part of a deal in which Universal will license its music to Microsoft's new music download service. More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=213672&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Steve isn't worried about Zune! No really! Honest!]]> There are two ways to spin the media frenzy over Apple head Steve Jobs trashing Microsoft's forthcoming Zune media player in a Newsweek interview. ("I've seen the demonstrations," he said about the sharing feature. "It takes forever. By the time you've gone through all that, the girl's got up and left! You're much better off to take one of your earbuds out and put it in her ear. Then you're connected with about two feet of headphone cable.") More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=209114&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Motherzuner: Microsoft's new player sounds dirty in Hebrew]]> The Zune, Microsoft's soon-to-be-released media player, sounds like the Hebrew word for "fuck," says Infoworld. More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=209008&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Doin' the TWiT: Pod it cast it rip it Zune it]]> In this week's This Week in Tech podcast (possibly the world's most downloaded podcast), host Leo Laporte is joined by Patrick Norton (host of Digital Life TV), David Prager (from Digg founder Kevin Rose's second venture, Revision 3) and frequent guest Will Harris. More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=203168&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Microsoftie screws up the official Zune message on video]]> The Gear Live gadget blog videotaped a preview of the Zune, Microsoft's would-be iPod killer. Blogger Andru Edwards also chatted with the Microsoft employee carrying the Zune, who says on video that Microsoft is "definitely" trying to make Zune a PlaysForSure product. That contradicts Microsoft's message on the Zune, which says that the player will not be part of the "PlaysForSure ecosystem" guaranteed to handle music and videos with Microsoft's branded Digital Rights Management. (Maybe that's good, since PFS devices can't play songs bought on iTunes.) More »
]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=203152&view=rss&microfeed=true