Archive for February, 2010
FMA: Brotherhood available for DTO on PlayStation Network and Zune Marketplace (Mania)
Monday, February 22nd, 2010The Elric brothers are back …
Zune Game: Rock Rain
Monday, February 22nd, 2010How do I transfer mp4 movies I downloaded from Limewire to my Zune device?
Monday, February 22nd, 2010I downloaded two movies in mp4 format from limewire, and they work perfectly.
The problem is, I can’t get their data to the zune software, and from there my device! Help!
How do I take music from itunes and put it on a zune?
Sunday, February 21st, 2010My friend gave me 14 gigs worth of music but its all in itunes and I have a 120 gig zune and I was wondering how id put it on my zune. The music is off itunes, its in folders but its all protected and it wont let me put it on my zune. Can anyone help?
How Do I put games on my zune?
Sunday, February 21st, 2010I have the games but I can’t figure out how to put them on the Zune
Windows Phone 7 Is a ‘Zune Phone’ (PC Magazine)
Sunday, February 21st, 2010It’s been more than six years since then-Microsoft CEO Bill Gates admitted that Apple caught the company “flat-footed” in the digital music market. Now, the company is expanding the horizons for its Zune technology.
Free Mp4 Converter and How to Use it for Zune/Ipod
Sunday, February 21st, 2010Anybody who gets a Windows Phone 7 Series phone is going to get a Zune within that device
Sunday, February 21st, 2010Microsoft phone system hits reset on digital music | Reuters
To date, Microsoft’s effort to address the digital music market has largely focused on its Zune player and Zune Pass subscription service, which have won favorable reviews but few customers. But with the recent unveiling of its Windows Phone 7 Series operating system at the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona, Microsoft hopes to reboot its struggling digital music strategy.
Even the well-received Zune HD device, introduced last fall, hasn’t been enough to convince music fans to convert to the Zune Pass. The company says it has sold only 3.8 million players since 2006, and NPD Group estimated in November that it has a 2 percent share of the U.S. portable media player market, compared with 70 percent for Apple’s iPod.
So Microsoft has made it a priority to expand the Zune service to other platforms. In November, it added the Zune’s video service to its Xbox Live network, consisting of more than 20 million worldwide users of the Xbox 360 gaming console. Since then, Zune communications director Jose Pinero says the number of daily HD video downloads and streams has doubled. Now, Microsoft plans to use its Windows Phone 7 platform to bring Zune to mobile customers.
“Anybody who gets a Windows Phone 7 Series phone is going to get a Zune within that device,” Pinero says.
Tags: Windows Phone
Windows Phone 7: a transformative move for Zune
Saturday, February 20th, 2010
Microsoft’s incorporation of Zune into its next release of mobile phone software is, to put it mildly, big news for Zune.
Announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the release of Windows Phone 7 Series – the next operating system for Windows mobile phones – includes fully-branded Zune features for music, videos, and podcasts. Beyond that, the look and feel across the Windows Phone 7 user interface – at least as far as the screenshots and video demos I’ve seen in reports from Barcelona – is distinctly “zune-esque”.
Effectively, this puts every Windows mobile device – and there are a lot of them – on an upgrade path that includes Zune. The phones will have built-in ties to Zune Marketplace content, for music, videos, and podcasts.
What does this mean? Well, this is an unprecedented leap for Zune in terms of…
Exposure. Millions of phone users – when they upgrade to Windows Phone devices starting later this year – will be treated for the first time to the Zune user interface. They’ll get a firsthand look at the friendly navigation, and – I’m presuming – the appealing graphical content of the Now Playing animated background artwork and text. Music can be downloaded or streamed to the phone from Marketplace, over either WiFi or 3G networks.
No doubt most of those people would never have ventured to the Zune experience before, and I’m sure many will be pleasantly surprised at the Zune experience. And even more so for those who sign up for a Zune Pass subscription.
Which brings up the question of…
Scale. No doubt we’ll see significant leaps in traffic to Microsoft’s Zune Marketplace, with corresponding growth in download activity. The Zune.net site – which impressively is taking on more and more functionality akin to the Zune software client – will likely see similar growth. Recent upgrades by Microsoft to the back-end Zune infrastructure seem to reveal an anticipation of amped-up demands for Zune services. This has to be a paramount focus for Microsoft, so that the performance of Zune online access and delivery of content downloads are a positive part of the Windows Phone experience.
Software vs Hardware. I expect we’ll continue to see Microsoft-branded Zune players, especially with the positive reception that last fall’s Zune HD received. But now, for the first time, the Zune experience will be available on mobile devices beyond the Zune player line-up.
It’s like the Windows business model: Microsoft’s OS business grew at phenomenal rates because it made the OS available to many hardware partners. Windows was and is available on high-end and low-end PCs from many manufacturers. Not a bad business model to apply to the phone market, if Microsoft can address the need for…
Consistency. With many manufacturers building devices for Windows Phone 7, how will Microsoft ensure a consistent user experience? According to Engadget, Microsoft is laying down strict requirements for manufacturers, including hardware specifications of single aspect-ratio WVGA screens, hardware buttons for Start / Back / Search / Camera / Power, capacitive multitouch, CPU and GPU requirements, WiFi, Accelerometer, FM radio, and high-resolution cameras.
I’ve run this website since July 2006 – a few months before Microsoft released its first Zune player and unveiled the Zune music service. I’ve followed Zune through all of its player generations, through the growth and maturing of its Marketplace, and through the expansion of its online Zune.net experience.
In years ahead, when we look back at the defining moment in the Zune story, it might just be this week’s announcement.
