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Microsoft Zune Phone - Holiday 2007?

J Radical said:
err, this would be a pretty serious thread to iphone (and thus the entire ipod brand)


The Zune is a decent player and has attracted good reviews and interest from PC tech heads. It is also only their first attempt, MS showed with the xbox that they are willing to throw money at a market to establish themselves in the long term. They have also showed that they can develop hardware in a very short space of time regardless of cost.

The iPhone looks like an amazing piece of kit, but it has deal breaking flaws for many people:

No 3G (yet)
Only 4-8 GB storage
VERY expensive
Locked to one network

For a Zune phone to be a threat it wouldn't need to have all the amazing iPhone features, it could simply be an MP3/Video Player capable of making calls and sending e-mails with a 20-30 GB capacity and lower price.

Should they go the whole hog and make a PDA phone, they would be able to call upon all the experience they have in the mobile software business already.

Bitch all you want about idea stealing but you must never underestimate MS.

For me capacity and price are the biggest problem with the iPhone. Apple will surely have to broaden the iPhone line to appeal to average customers. An iPhone nano seems like an obvious move.
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How much storage do MOST phones in general have? Even some of the more expensive ones don't carry much over 1-2GB without the aid of a separate flash card. Why would anyone want an HDD-based phone? The 1.8" HDD would seriously add heft to the phone, not to mention be a battery pig. 8GB is a very generous offering for a phone, and being flash based saves lots more juice.

Anyway, MS will just be following the same pattern that it's started with the Zune, first establish a steady relationship with the third-party, then suddenly come out with your own product to turn around and bite them in the ass, just like they did to PlayforSure with their DRM. Typical.
 
zune

it strikes me as odd how anti-competitive so many users are. what's the problem with a company introducing a competing product? who knows, it may even pressure apple to improve on its award-winning iPhone design. weren't we the ones screaming about anti-competitive behavior on the part of microsoft not too long ago?
 
Havent had the time to read all the responding posts to this. but i am taking a stab in the dark its gonna be some time before europe sees this .because we dont even have zune 1.0 yet let alone the idea of having a zune Phone
 
Zune phone - LOL

After hearing this, like most others I at first figured Microsoft would probably rip off Apple's interface with this Zune phone. But on second thought, I doubt that a Zune phone will be very different than the other smart phones already out there. It's going to run Windows Mobile, just like they do, that's why Ballmer was fiercely talking up Windows Mobile and pooh-poohing the iPhone the other day. It has to run Windows, otherwise Microsoft would be running a marketing campaign against their own product in use by other phone manufactuers, and I couldn't see them doing that.

That means it won't be anything special; probably it'll be able to share music files wirelessly with Zune music players, and that'll be its only differentiating characteristic from all the other Windows smart phones already out there. And we've seen just how being able to share songs for 3 plays is driving Zune sales.:rolleyes:

Oh, and my vote for most likely snazzy Zune Phone (Zhone?) colors - pale yellow, brown, and navy blue. :)
 
Macrumors said:
The Zune phone is reportedly not even in development yet, but is expected to be a "smartphone" and run a modified version of the current Zune interface/operating system. The target launch date, however, is said to as soon as holiday 2007.
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Thus the reason why nothing from Microsoft ever works...
 
Heard during a Zunephone call......."Zunephone has encountered a problem and must hang up. We apologize for any inconvenience. Press "send" to send an error report to Microsoft." *Zunephone owner presses "send"* Coming out of speaker- "You are not connected to the internet. Please dial a valid number, or press "connect" to search for a wi-fi signal." *Zunephone owner presses "connect"* Coming out of speaker- "There is a new version of the "connect" software available. Please press "ok" to download and install the update." * Zunephone owner presses "ok"* Coming out of speaker- "You are not connected to the internet. Please dial a valid number, or press "connect" to search for a wi-fi signal." *Zunephone owner presses "connect"* Coming out of speaker- "Your version of Zunephone is not genuine. Please press "ok" to connect to Microsoft and purchase a valid Zunephone license." *Zunephone owner drops Zunephone in toilet and presses "flush"*
 
freediverdude said:
Heard during a Zunephone call......."Zunephone has encountered a problem and must hang up. We apologize for any inconvenience. Press "send" to send an error report to Microsoft." *Zunephone owner presses "send"* Coming out of speaker- "You are not connected to the internet. Please dial a valid number, or press "connect" to search for a wi-fi signal." *Zunephone owner presses "connect"* Coming out of speaker- "There is a new version of the "connect" software available. Please press "ok" to download and install the update." * Zunephone owner presses "ok"* Coming out of speaker- "You are not connected to the internet. Please dial a valid number, or press "connect" to search for a wi-fi signal." *Zunephone owner presses "connect"* Coming out of speaker- "Your version of Zunephone is not genuine. Please press "ok" to connect to Microsoft and purchase a valid Zunephone license." *Zunephone owner drops Zunephone in toilet and presses "flush"*
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LOL! That was awesome narrative :D
 
I am really looking forward! Could be that it will

a) show again how bad they copy
b) make look the iPhone even better
c) will put more competition into the market - better for all of us ! :)

Exxxxciting ! :)
 
Zune vs MS whatever mobile?

This is getting ridiculous.

Zune phone?! I mean, we all saw that one coming (don't kid outselves, we KNEW they would copy). But really, if it is a smartphone, what is MS really doing? Going against its partners like Moto, Palm, Samsung, LG and all those awlful "smartphones".

I really wish MS makes a Zune phone and really go crash and burn:
- first by succeeding in moderate sales
- second in pissing off all its smartphone partners and make them go the way of Nokia and SE for their Symbian OS
- third, because of the lack of Windoze smartphone makers, the fall of the MS empire!
 
At first I was wondering how they heck they were going to manage to push out a phone that isn't even in development yet by the holiday season of this year. Then I realized, they're probably going to do the Zune thing and repackage someone else's phone, add a few useless features and barely make any effort on the software, since it can always be updated later.

God, I hate Microsoft.
 
indexhero20070109 copy.jpg

Don't tell me you were expecting any different. :D
 
Microsoft have got already two smartphone OSes ( windows mobile and smartphone ) - they really want a third!???

Still, they won't over take Symbian... not for a long time yet.
 
Let's just hope that this attempt communicates microsoft's lack of originality to the people who still respect them.
 
Who cares about a Zune phone, it's obvious from the Zune's sales that most people don't care about it so why would they care about a Zune phone.
 
iPhone won't be resting on its laurels.....

By the time ZunePhone hits the market, iPhone will be adding new models with even more features, includeing 3D. Apple will move fast, just as they did with iPod, and as volume ramps up they will lower the price of the original iPhone and replace it with better features, larger memory, brighter/larger screens, better resolutions, etc.

The game is over before its even started. Think of 1st Quarter Christmas sales (10 million easy), along with upgaded iPods with touch sensitive screens out by July and ramped up for the Christmas Quarter.

What else is in Steve's basket of tricks for the second half of the year?

Keep an eye on the Apple chart for a basing period and a good entry point for long term growth. OS 10.5 release probably will signal the next leg up for AAPL.;) ;) ;)
 
I think that not only will the phone stink but whatever touch screen capabilities it has will likely get some paperwork fed exed to Redmond
 
I dunno... I look at the iPod and think-- yeah, I could hold that to my ear and use it as a phone. I look at the Zune and think "ouch!".

I call it irrelevant. It won't make any more of a difference in the market than any other Windows Mobile phone. The Zune branding is just a way of keeping the Xbox team busy until they have another console to design.

Stridder44 said:
God forbid Microsoft focus on one area like oh say Operating Systems.
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Nope. Bad idea... First rule of business: focus on your core competence.

vitaboy said:
This is just standard operating procedure for Microsoft. They announce an initiative just for the FUD effect. This is pure FUD, nothing but. They do the same with every product in their offering, promising a pie-in-the-sky product that's just "around the corner" but in reality is 3-5 years from release.
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My thoughts exactly. MS does this habitually. The announce anything they can think of in hopes that it will scare people out of the market space, or undercut a competitor because the press or investors think the 800lb gorilla will be in the ring a few months down the road.

That's why Vista shed so many features-- MS didn't care whether they ended up in the product or not, they just needed to announce them for a few months.

That's not going to work here though-- MS is not the dominant player and Zune just proved MS is impotent against iPod. Announcing a Zune phone looks weak.
J Radical said:
err, this would be a pretty serious thread to iphone (and thus the entire ipod brand)

The Zune is a decent player and has attracted good reviews and interest from PC tech heads.
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Anybody else reading stories about MS astroturfing? When was the Zune released?
timswim78 said:
I agree with you. I was just saying that MS has had a mobile phone OS for years, and it is pretty popular.
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BillyShears said:
So Microsoft is building a smartphone using the "Zune OS"? Is that based on Windows mobile? I haven't paid attention to the handheld market in years, but it seems odd they wouldn't use Windows mobile.
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Windows mobile sucks, along with the whole CE product line. It's the hardest embedded OS I've ever had to work with. It looks intentionally designed to test how many contortions a company is willing to go through to put the MS logo on their product.
 
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