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Microsoft to Kill Off Development of New Zune Hardware
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I agree with that poster.
Key partner - Nokia (#1 volume seller of the world)
Did you see sales of Symbian phones from last year? And that is an outdated looking OS. Nokia may be catered for the cheap, plastic prepaid phones here in the USA but they are still highly popular everywhere else.
Android was still for the niche crowd back in 2009 selling about 6M units. They grew by 10X last year. Once people's contracts are up, I can see moving onto other OSes eventually just for their fickle nature and willing to try something different. Microsoft should try to make an Xbox phone. Their Xbox 360 has been successful for them and the Kinect became one of the fastest selling gadgets in history with over 10M in a few months. In two years it will be Android #1 with iOS and WP7 filling up 2nd and 3rd based in volume sales. Based on profits, Apple still wins. BlackBerry is still niche outside NA and webOS is even more obscure.
iPhone's popularity is like Facebook. Once your auntie and grandma have one now, it became "less cool." And it's an industry based on trends and fickle people.
As for nomore Zune players, who cares? Zune software still lives on with WP7 phones. If you aren't Apple, you don't matter in the mp3/pmp market which has become niche anyway thanks to phones. I was using my Zune software and Sony Media Go just to watch videos on my laptop last night. Less crashes than what iTunes does for me. Software will still live on.
This is my personal roadmap with phones -
2010 - iOS
2011 - Android or BlackBerry OS 7
2012 - Nokia WP7 phone w/ Xenon flash or Samsung w/ SAMOLED
Then rotate and rotate it because I am cool like that OWNING the top 4 best OSes out there! Palm/HP webOS is too much like BB's QNX/BB OS 7 for me to consider it.
iOS has the apps, simplicity, best batt life, and best "all-around" features. Android has the geeky customization, cutting-edge hardware first, and the PlayStation games which will coincide with my Sony PSP2/NGP. BlackBerry has the best multi-tasking and slickest OS thanks to TAT. WP7 is there to implement my Zune and Xbox Live stuff while a OLED screen compliments the look of WP7. Also, Nokia will gives us Xenon flash. It all balances out, baby.
It took them longer than I expected...
Dropping sales since 2008, and foreboding news back then from GameStop when they stopped selling them due to lacking demand.
Dropping sales since 2008, and foreboding news back then from GameStop when they stopped selling them due to lacking demand.
Why are lots of other tablets and smartphones described as "iPhone/iPad" killers. It makes it seem like it was made just to compete with Apple's products ... I mean, you never hear Apple's products being called Xoom killers or Galaxy Tab killers, do you?
The excuse they gave me was, they decided to stick with game machines and drop mp3 players...
Who knows - maybe there's going to be some manufacturer out there with mp3 players that use Windows 7 Mobile or Android to compete with the Touch - which is why MS doesn't want to make that hardware anymore...
I bought the Zune (original) on the day it came out. I was new to mp3 players and ipods, etc. My wife already had an ipod and liked it. The Zune, for me, was a good choice. The music subscription service for $15 per month was great.
Where it failed was integration with Windows itself. I was HUGE into Windows Media Center. My living room entertainment center was a Windows Media Center PC equipped with a TV tuner and I bought the $300 Media Center Extender. It was awesome to be able to record TV and watch it on my extender in another room. Why didn't the zune allow syncing of TV shows recorded in WMC? Somebody made an awesome app to take care of this, though. I could watch my recorded TV while waiting for PT (Physical Training) to start. The Zune was great! Even now, I have to run 2 programs to get recorded TV on my ipad.
But they totally failed at marketing the Zune in my opinion. It was a great idea, and a great device. Microsoft though, are a bunch of old fogies trying to be "cool", and it didn't work out.
I'm honestly sad to see it go. I love competition. It drives innovation. Look at all of the iPad competitors coming out. They may fail, but this is what makes better products for the consumer.
Where it failed was integration with Windows itself. I was HUGE into Windows Media Center. My living room entertainment center was a Windows Media Center PC equipped with a TV tuner and I bought the $300 Media Center Extender. It was awesome to be able to record TV and watch it on my extender in another room. Why didn't the zune allow syncing of TV shows recorded in WMC? Somebody made an awesome app to take care of this, though. I could watch my recorded TV while waiting for PT (Physical Training) to start. The Zune was great! Even now, I have to run 2 programs to get recorded TV on my ipad.
But they totally failed at marketing the Zune in my opinion. It was a great idea, and a great device. Microsoft though, are a bunch of old fogies trying to be "cool", and it didn't work out.
I'm honestly sad to see it go. I love competition. It drives innovation. Look at all of the iPad competitors coming out. They may fail, but this is what makes better products for the consumer.
I've seen and heard about the Zune's as much the Xoom. I've still yet to see either of them. Like the Xoom now, all the people who were for them would go on about specs. The Zune HD looked quite cool, in a way the only need to fire the guy pushed for the Poo brown color.
Err...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkman#Walkman_MP3
And I seem to remember the first Walkman MP3 player didn't actually play MP3s...
Not really that bold. iOS, Android, Blackberry OS. All they have to do is overtake Blackberry which due to the popularity of Android took a sudden nose dive.
They did bring back the Sony Walkman and it was DOA. Lots of models with no one wanting to buy them. It was a big strategy for them. Sony doesn't know how to market things anymore. Actually, Sony doesn't know how to design things anymore either.
http://www.google.com/search?q=sony...u&sa=X&ei=ZDqGTYqEHOuP0QHu0eTVCA&ved=0CGcQrQQ
I had two friends that had Zunes. I never really saw what made them "really good media players" that a lot of people on the Internet keep telling me. It's a pretty generic MP3 player. Then Apple came out with the iPhone and iPod touch and boy did the Zune become irrelevant at that point.
Never used the Zune marketplace, and supposedly that's the "killer feature" of the Zune, though.
Never used the Zune marketplace, and supposedly that's the "killer feature" of the Zune, though.
Sony can't even protect their successful products anymore. Look at the upcoming disaster with the PS3 and LG.
Never wanted a Zune, but having one less music player would lessen the competition a bit.
To bad
Sorry to hear that. I really liked the Zune HD interface but MS never created something like the iTune Store. I have seen it in the wild at the university and the interface was actually nice and did things that I wish the iOS would do.
The Zune HD was sweet looking but MS really dropped the ball when they did not put effort into games on it. What I find strange is they are killing the Zune but bringing out a phone interface that mimics the Zune.
You would think that they could integrate the Zune HD their Phone 7 and Xbox to make something like what Apple has done but NO that would be just way to out there for MS.
Sorry to hear that. I really liked the Zune HD interface but MS never created something like the iTune Store. I have seen it in the wild at the university and the interface was actually nice and did things that I wish the iOS would do.
The Zune HD was sweet looking but MS really dropped the ball when they did not put effort into games on it. What I find strange is they are killing the Zune but bringing out a phone interface that mimics the Zune
. You would think that they could integrate the Zune HD their Phone 7 and Xbox to make something like what Apple has done but NO
that would be just way to out there for MS.
Sorry to hear that. I really liked the Zune HD interface but MS never created something like the iTune Store. I have seen it in the wild at the university and the interface was actually nice and did things that I wish the iOS would do.
The Zune HD was sweet looking but MS really dropped the ball when they did not put effort into games on it. What I find strange is they are killing the Zune but bringing out a phone interface that mimics the Zune
You would think that they could integrate the Zune HD their Phone 7 and Xbox to make something like what Apple has done but NO
Pretty sure the windows phone 7 team is the zune team. Music players are kind a waste of time now days since just about everyone has a cell phone along with most being capable playing music.