Microsoft Attempting to Recruit App Store Developers for Zune HD?

[applealex]

Why doesn't Twitter just make their own iPhone app?

there are so many clients all priced differently

MySpace and Facebook have their own free applications

Twitter is the only major SN that's failed to make one

what's taking so long?

 

[hashholly]

dang, and i was going to buy one thinking i could store it in direct sunlight.

Because you will never take it out of your pocket outside

 

[Eidorian]

I don't subscribe to this line of thinking, but there's a lot of truth to the "I'll buy anything if it's shiny and made by Apple" line in the MacBook Wheel ad over at the onion.

Superior the Onion article sir.

 

[*LTD*]

Pride goeth before a fall.

A lot of nervousness and fear thinly veiled behind many of these comments. I wonder why that is ?

There might be nervousness if the product wasn't three years too late, going up against a product that has defined the entire market since its introduction (and keep redefining it), that is already being eclipsed by a product from the same company.

MS missed the boat completely when it came top music/multimedia handhelds. They have no sense of timing.

Besides, MS seems to be the one on the defensive these days. All those uncomfortable conferences and press meetings where Ballmer doesn't know what to say (aside from the incoherence he's known for) because everyone there has Apple on the mind.

These are different times. Very different.

 

[inkswamp]

Hey, Microsoft, if you want to pre-pay me to write apps for the Zune, I'll do it. Do I still get 70% of the sales proceeds for the app as well?

It looks to me like they're not just recruiting developers, but intentionally targeting developers of popular iPhone apps for direct ports. I guess the idea is that they can then claim to have iPhone apps running on Zune with the intent to confuse consumers.

Funny thing is that I think this could backfire massively. If those ported apps run even fractionally worse on the Zune than on the iPhone (as ports almost invariably do) then it's going to generate a lot of bad publicity. Imagine the scores of YouTube vids showing the "same" app running on the iPhone vs. the Zune.

 

[BongoBanger]

Not to mention, Apple already has tens of millions of touch devices in the marketplace - Zune HD is starting with...zero.

Microsoft is simply not a come-from-behind company - not when they can't leverage the Windows/Office monopoly to their advantage. An underdog needs something special to challenge the leader. HD radio and OLED displays aren't it.

That's funny because they've overtaken Sony in the console market.

 

[hiimamac]

looks like a bulky chunky Iphone 2G

Definately think that Microsoft needs to get their foot into the market but they better come out with a cell phone version as well if they are really looking to compete with the touch and iPhone.

Also its probably not best to have your Photos showing that your device menus that you made are chopped off the screen

Yeah but truthfully we need this. Probably the reason we'll see a 3GS $99 8GB phone. Plus if it has flash and can act as a portable DVD, I think it will do Beth well. Having mote options for streaming instead of iTunes and you tube is alps welcomed.

I use recording software from Apple, Pro Tool, Steinberg, Ableton and so on and the bashes go on for those too but each has great things.

 

[sishaw]

...why you ask?


-HD Radio - this is awesome.


...but DAMN I wish my iPhone did all that. Come on Apple, get with the program.

What radio market are you in? I've looked at the HD radio offerings here in Washington DC several times looking for an excuse to buy a new gadget and come up empty. Several of the HD channels seem to be simply more of the same as the main channel. Others are musical genres I personally have no interest in (bluegrass, Mormon radio, smooth jazz, etc. Nothing wrong with those, I'm just not interested). Others just seem to be the same pre-programmed rock or oldies formats that drove me to get an iPod and give up on radio in the first place. Maybe my area is just behind the curve.

Are there any HD channels that you think are particularly good that I should look out for? "C-Span 2" and "NPR 2" do not count.

 

[hashholly]

That's funny because they've overtaken Sony in the console market.

But thats due to 1. Having a much more expensive console during a recession, 2. More expensive for developers to develop games on the PS3 due to cost, and 3. More difficult to code games for PS3 vs XBOX360. So your left with an expensive console with not alot of games vs. a cheaper console with many more games, average consumer is going to go with the 360 instead unless dying for bluray.....

 

[hiimamac]

I would like apple to put in a radio function as well though. I guess the only reason they're not doing it is because radio can hurt the iTunes Store profit.

I love apple really do but everything they do or don't do, better iMacs, mid range headless mac, no flash, lack of FireWire due to space, not, told you so is so they can stick it to us and get us to buy higher end. Thanks to msft macs are now cheaper and there may be stringer machines coming soon. Also hackntosh systems are really picking up fwiw.

Really. I hope msft and palm pre do really well as well as windows vista.

 

[VenusianSky]

But thats due to 1. Having a much more expensive console during a recession, 2. More expensive for developers to develop games on the PS3 due to cost, and 3. More difficult to code games for PS3 vs XBOX360. So your left with an expensive console with not alot of games vs. a cheaper console with many more games, average consumer is going to go with the 360 instead unless dying for bluray.....

It is partially, if not more because the 360 came out a year before the PS3. The other part would be the price. Like many others out there, I own both. I actually prefer the 360 for gaming because of the controller, but the PS3 is a much nicer console.

Wait...

How did this thread turn into a MS vs. Sony discussion?

 

[BongoBanger]

But thats due to 1. Having a much more expensive console during a recession, 2. More expensive for developers to develop games on the PS3 due to cost, and 3. More difficult to code games for PS3 vs XBOX360. So your left with an expensive console with not alot of games vs. a cheaper console with many more games, average consumer is going to go with the 360 instead unless dying for bluray.....

Sure. They still came from behind Sony though.

Now I don't think they'll overtake Apple in the PMP market but the Zune HD should do OK because it's a nice piece of kit.

As an aside, does anyone know how many people regularly download apps for their iPod Touch? My mate has one but he never does. I just wonder if the apps is really going to be that big an issue.

 

[mac*jedi*g]

Why are they looking in our yard?

MS touted that their products were "ipod killers". Oh wait, did they forget to have their "10,000+" apps squared away BEFORE they offered their product on the market? I think so. Now I wonder if those highly smart-a88 fans of the Zune beginning to put some pressure on MS to ramp it up on the apps.

 

[jouster]

MS touted that their products were "ipod killers".

Link?

 

[hashholly]

Sure. They still came from behind Sony though.

Now I don't think they'll overtake Apple in the PMP market but the Zune HD should do OK because it's a nice piece of kit.

As an aside, does anyone know how many people regularly download apps for their iPod Touch? My mate has one but he never does. I just wonder if the apps is really going to be that big an issue.

Yes, but it took alot for that to occur....if the PS3 and XBOX360 were similarly priced we may be talking about a different story, Fact of the matter is Microsoft and the Zune haven't effect the Apple market share at all....they took a bite out of creative but Sandisk still is #2 in marketshare, and im not sure if they will be able to pass them with this new Zune....Apple has nothing to worry about.

 

[cleanup]

There are also a surprising number of MS fanbois on this forum, who apparently have nothing better to do than troll around the web.

Do you mean me? I'm not a fanboi of any sort. I have a Windows PC, but a unibody MBP and an iPhone, and a couple of iPods. I used to own an iMac G5 and a black MacBook. And numerous Windows PCs, and some MP3 players that don't support Mac.

I like and dislike things about both platforms, about both companies, about both worlds. It's just tiring seeing all the comments that only have something negative to say about Microsoft or their products because of some way in which the poster doesn't think they match up to Apple's standards. I hope that people try to look at things based on their own merit instead of comparing them to the apparent "gold standard." It gets old. We all know Apple's products are great, but some things aren't so great. And there's nothing wrong with other companies releasing similar, competing products. Let's welcome the competition.

 

[TMay]

Even though the PS2 did totally defeat the Xbox in unit sales, the 360 did defeat the PS3 quite handily, though yes - both were ultimately handed their asses by the Wii. My point was that the Xbox and the 360 have been WILDLY successful, and the fact that they managed to beat the HIGHLY anticipated, FAR SUPERIOR PS3 (I mean come on, it has a built-in blu-ray player...), says a LOT.

Yes, their main tactic is to throw money at the problems to make them go away, but this is a pretty successful strategy for them, or rather, in this particular example.

I'm no MS fan - I think most of what they make is crap. I have a PS3, two Macs, a Hackintosh, an iPhone, an iPod, and my wife has an iPhone too. I have ONE HD that's partitioned to run windoze as well, just for some games that never came out on the Mac (like Total War), and every time I boot into it, I want to rip my hair out.

...I just wish Apple would make things as functional as they make them pretty.

With regards to the xbox vs ps3, last numbers I saw gave a worldwide sales total of 30 M xbox vs 23 M ps3; hardly a defeat, and with the cost reduced thin ps3 on the horizon and with inherent reduced prices, it isn't a given that the xbox will retain its sales crown. If anything, it can be argued that Sony successfully established blu-ray as a standard using the ps3, and that may come to a current advantage over the xbox in sales this winter.

Wii is starting to show its performance limitations, and Nintendo may not be in a position to do much to counter that, while both xbox and ps3 are and have gained much of the features and apps that Wii was noted for. Either way, I give the long term advantage to Sony's ps3 in the console wars.

This from someone who currently has no console and already has a Panasonic bd80 blu-ray player, but is looking forward to a ps3 when the new model(s) arrive.

 

[Westside guy]

That's funny because they've overtaken Sony in the console market.

So they've overtaken Sony to claim a distant 3rd place? That was a well-chosen example! Month-to-month sales of the Nintendo DS and the Wii far outstrip everything else.

BTW the PS3 is predicted to overtake the 360 in overall sales by the end of this year - and remember, the 360 had a rather significant head start.

(Just taking it further off-topic...)

 

[TMay]

Sure. They still came from behind Sony though.

Now I don't think they'll overtake Apple in the PMP market but the Zune HD should do OK because it's a nice piece of kit.

As an aside, does anyone know how many people regularly download apps for their iPod Touch? My mate has one but he never does. I just wonder if the apps is really going to be that big an issue.

I posted this a bit earlier, so I'll add this;

Sony still sells psp's and ps2's alongside the ps3. Sony has some catching up to do with regard to the ps3 vs the xbox in worldwide sales, but they have the better console, blu-ray, and infrastructure in place to take advantage of online gaming.

And, no, I don't want to be part of a ps3/xbox flame war, but there is misinformation that needs to be countered.

 

[VenusianSky]

Do you mean me? I'm not a fanboi of any sort. I have a Windows PC, but a unibody MBP and an iPhone, and a couple of iPods. I used to own an iMac G5 and a black MacBook. And numerous Windows PCs, and some MP3 players that don't support Mac.

I like and dislike things about both platforms, about both companies, about both worlds. It's just tiring seeing all the comments that only have something negative to say about Microsoft or their products because of some way in which the poster doesn't think they match up to Apple's standards. I hope that people try to look at things based on their own merit instead of comparing them to the apparent "gold standard." It gets old. We all know Apple's products are great, but some things aren't so great. And there's nothing wrong with other companies releasing similar, competing products. Let's welcome the competition.

I hear ya. I too own products from both, and I have nothing negative to say about either. I couldn't imagine being so closed-minded where I wouldn't even consider something else. Well, I believe it is human nature to resist change.

 

[Westside guy]

Do you mean me? I'm not a fanboi of any sort.

Nope. You made the comment about "it's an Apple forum, so of course it's full of Apple fanbois" or something similar. I was just pointing out that - as you'll have noticed if you hang around here much - it's not just Apple fanbois on this forum; there are plenty of obvious MS trolls as well. That's why my post also included the comment "It's just how the internet is".

It's analogous to certain photo forums I've been on - you get Canon trolls hanging around on the Nikon forums, and Nikon trolls on the Canon forums. It seems there are a lot of people who do nothing all day but hang around on forums, hoping to get attention by being a pain in the keister. It may be internet addiction, it may just be antisocial behavior; but it's the way things are on the web.

BTW - and again, I'm not making a specific reference to anyone - I've never run across a fanboi who thinks he's a fanboi. They've just rationally come to the conclusion that anything not made by their vendor of choice is garbage, and anyone who prefers that garbage is deluded.

 

[TMay]

Do you mean me? I'm not a fanboi of any sort. I have a Windows PC, but a unibody MBP and an iPhone, and a couple of iPods. I used to own an iMac G5 and a black MacBook. And numerous Windows PCs, and some MP3 players that don't support Mac.

I like and dislike things about both platforms, about both companies, about both worlds. It's just tiring seeing all the comments that only have something negative to say about Microsoft or their products because of some way in which the poster doesn't think they match up to Apple's standards. I hope that people try to look at things based on their own merit instead of comparing them to the apparent "gold standard." It gets old. We all know Apple's products are great, but some things aren't so great. And there's nothing wrong with other companies releasing similar, competing products. Let's welcome the competition.

So I guess this would be a bad time to bring up "Plays For Sure"?

 

[layte]

BTW the PS3 is predicted to overtake the 360 in overall sales by the end of this year

By whom? Sony? Nobody sane is making such a prediction.

It would take something magic for them to overturn a 7.5M unit deficit by the end of the year. Perhaps they are going to give them away with boxes of cornflakes.

 

[mr.steevo]

This is a minor point that has been raised by others, but would it honestly kill Apple to integrate a radio receiver of any kind into at least the iPod Touch? My free cell phone from AT&T tunes in to FM channels, it's not like the technology isn't there. The Zune, for all its flaws, is putting HD radio receivers inside - would Steve's stigmata start to leak if the iPod Touch had one as well?

</rant>

Amen.

The touch would be that much better if I could just listen to the news on my commute from time to time. I don't want HD, just a human voice not pre recorded.

As for MS wanting App Store writers to port programs to the Zune? Makes sense to me. The Zune looks like a good music/video player to me so why not have good applications to go with it.

s.

 

[dejo]

This is a minor point that has been raised by others, but would it honestly kill Apple to integrate a radio receiver of any kind into at least the iPod Touch?

Would it kill them? No. Will they do it? Also, no. Radio is dead, man! Look at what the new "The Shack" is doing even.