LiveSide - News blog : Zune

Zune coming to non-US markets

Kip Kniskern — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:07:34 GMT

A story in the Financial Times today is reporting that Zune services will soon be expanding into a number of new markets:

The Zune-branded service – which includes the most popular films from MGM, Paramount and Universal – will be available in 18 of its largest western markets, including the US, UK, France, Germany and Australia.

The article doesn’t offer any timetable, or any news on whether the Zune HD will be available in these new markets. In fact, there doesn’t appear to be any official word coming from Microsoft, at least in the form of a press release or similar. However, The Financial Times quotes Christine Heckart, general manager for TV, video and music marketing at Microsoft, on bringing Zune to 3 screens (PC, TV, and Mobile):

“The strategy and vision of Zune is to continue to build out that full entertainment experience,” Ms Heckart said. “This is a very important step for us to introduce Zune to new consumers around the world.”

We’re hearing unconfirmed reports that Zune services, and Zune HD sales, are being readied for China and India, but again, the timing, and indeed if these reports are even true, are unclear at this time.

Zune services are set to become a big part of Microsoft’s 3 screen approach to offering music, video, and movies to consumers in a number of markets around the world.

Microsoft to launch new music streaming service “this month”

Kip Kniskern — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:17:07 GMT

According to a report in the UK Telegraph, Microsoft is set to launch a new music service this month. The new service “will offer users the chance to stream music for free and also download to own”. According to Executive Producer for MSN Peter Bale:

“Music is an important area for Microsoft. We are looking at launching a music streaming service imminently. It will be a similar principle to Spotify but we are still examining how the business model will work.

Microsoft closed its MSN Music Download service in 2006, but had offered music downloads in partnership with Nokia through MSN UK and MSN Germany. Those services were shut down in March, in anticipation of an “exciting new service” coming to MSN.

While Microsoft is still “looking at how other similar businesses have structured their business models and trying to figure out what will work best for both consumer and Microsoft”, according to Bale, but the service will draw on lessons learned from Zune, which offers a subscription service for music downloads. MSN will be promoting the new service along with “other parts of the Microsoft network”, and the UK Telegraph report hints that Xbox will be involved as well:

He also hinted the service could be tied in with Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console, but would not be drawn on the details of how a partnership would work. The addition of a Microsoft-owned music streaming service would tie in with an increasingly consumer focussed strategy from company to make its Xbox 360 console the main “entertainment hub” in the family home. Users are already able to download movies through their console and play games against one another online.

Will this new service be an expanded version of ZunePass, which seems to have been gaining traction, a revamped MSN Music Downloads, or a completely new service? We should be finding out soon.

Zune Services And Xbox Live Maintenance On June 16

Sunshine — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:37:07 GMT

On June 16 the Zune Services will be down for maintenance. So no Zune Social, Zune.net forums or Zune Marketplace at that time. At the same time Xbox Live will be off for maintenance too. This means that Xbox Live and the ‘My Xbox’ section of Xbox.com will be unavailable, and the Xbox.com forums will be read-only. The rest of Xbox.com will be available with limited interruptions.

The maintenance will start at 12:01AM PST and can last for up to 24 hours.

Zune HD to include Xbox Live games?

Kip Kniskern — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:05:15 GMT

Yesterday’s Microsoft Press Conference at E3 included a lot of news on Xbox, including some news about Zune video streaming, but did Amazon.com just make a little announcement of their own? In a listing for the upcoming Zune HD, Amazon lists “access to millions of videos, TV shows, and games from Xbox LIVE720p HD video” in their product features list, something we’re not sure we’ve heard before (emphasis ours). Here’s the full features list:

Product Features

Bright 3.3-inch OLED touch screen with (480 x 272 resolution) 16:9 widescreen format display

Integration with the Xbox LIVE network gives you access to millions of videos, TV shows, and games from Xbox LIVE720p HD video output to your HDTV with optional docking station

720p HD video output to your HDTV with optional docking station

Full-screen Internet browser with multitouch functionality

Built-in HD Radio receiver; Wi-Fi enabled so you can instantly stream millions of music tracks from the Zune music store

As part of their announcements yesterday, Microsoft said that Zune video in 1080p HD would be available for Xbox Live subscribers starting this fall:

Starting this fall, a broad selection of movies and TV shows from Zune video on Xbox 360 will be available to start and stream instantly, in the highest video quality and at the push of a button.² No discs, no waiting for downloads and no delays. Get the selection of a video megastore, the best video clarity available and the convenience of on-demand, only on Xbox 360.

LiveSide Auto News: OnStar to use Virtual Earth; Zune in GM cars

Kip Kniskern — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:54:16 GMT

Just announced this morning is the news that OnStar, the General Motors “in vehicle safety and security” subscription service, will soon be using Microsoft’s Virtual Earth in their emergency response system. This means that OnStar operators will have access to 3D and Birds Eye images of subscribers’ locations, and have location information. OnStar could also tie into local search listings and routing information, according to Chris Pendleton in a post on his blog.

What’s even better is OnStar is using Virtual Earth 3D to give them a truly immersive view of where users are and the area surrounding them. The solution is an excellent example of how Virtual Earth’s entire platform - high resolution photos, expansive data sets, up to date road maps, 3D experience and routing algorithms can help in an emergency situation such as those that OnStar provides assistance for.

We would add to that list what many consider to be a superior development platform for Virtual Earth, but hey what do we know? ;)

And in more GM news, some new GM cars will be sporting Zune interfaces into their sound systems, as part of a “GM mp3 connectivity kit” available now on the new Camaro and available soon on 27 other GM models.

Microsoft Senior Technology Specialist Michael Gannotti has more on his blog.

Twitter explodes with Zune phone rumors

Kip Kniskern — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:54:17 GMT

This morning a couple of tweets by “OfficeTheMovie”, which has now been confirmed to be not coming from Microsoft (the Office 2010 Twitter account is @office2010themovie), got everyone all atwitter about the possibility of a Zune phone launch next month. @officethemovie just posted again, confirming the hoax:

The tweets, which first said that “June will be an important month for Zune lovers”, and then “New product launch, that's all I'm allowed to say. Hold off from buying an iPhone/Pre. :)”, set off quite a flurry of Twitter activity, and blog posts by Gizmodo and EnGadget (both sites have updated posts debunking the rumors). Mary Jo Foley was able to confirm that the Twitter account was not affiliated with Microsoft, but Zune continues to generate lots of buzz (too bad the sales figures don’t match that).

Microsoft has denied that they are working on a Zune phone, but Project Pink, run by Roz Ho, Corporate Vice President for “Premium Mobile Experiences” and a team coming from Microsoft’s acquisition of Danger, may well be working on reference specs for what might be thought of as a Zune phone. Mary Jo Foley posted some specs for what that phone might require, very impressive!

At least one report has the Pink team running behind schedule, although this is of course hard to confirm as Microsoft isn’t even acknowledging the project.

Zune ad hits at pocketbook

Kip Kniskern — Mon, 11 May 2009 19:17:00 GMT

A new Zune ad campaign featuring financial planner Wes Moss attempts to hit iTunes users right where it hurts: in the pocketbook. The ad, appearing on the Zunepass.net website, calculates the costs for filling an iPod from iTunes versus using the Zune Pass:

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Wes Moss is also featured on the Zune website homepage, as Zune begins a new push, expected to include a Zune HD, wider distribution, and inclusion in Windows Mobile.

Zune HD Specs, What We Do & Don’t Know

RyanRCRea — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:08:00 GMT

With all the rumors flying around this week, Its been difficult to discern the fact from the fan-fiction. To help clear up some of this fog, me and Sean Bradford over at neowin.net decided to put our facts together. We came up with a confirmed list of features as well as some crazier rumors that couldn’t be proven at this time.

An overview of the confirmed Zune HD specs:

3.6 inchish OLED full touchscreen
NVIDIA Tegra powered.
4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and 120GB versions.
HDMI Connection to stream straight to your TV.
HD Radio.
Web Browser.
WiFi compatible, with wireless marketplace.
Released, early fall.
International release of the Zune device itself.
Home AV packs, Car packs, Charge packs.

Unconfirmed rumors (A Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment or confirm):

Camera?
Company insiders tipped us off with the possibility of a limited edition dock accessory in various colors.
3D Xbox Game Support?
Windows Mobile 7 preview bits included? (Maybe these reports mean an early WinMo 7 beta?)

Good stuff, huh?

Be sure to keep it right here, for all the latest Zune news.

Why All The Zune Leaks? The Buzz Is Deafening!

RyanRCRea — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 06:20:07 GMT

I don’t know about you, but my head is spinning from all this Zune news. Well the buzz from the leaks may be deafening, the silence from Microsoft is positively ear shattering.

Trying to keep something under wraps in this day and age, is akin to plugging a leaky dike with a tissue. I have absolutely no problem with MS wanting to keep things under covers for competitive reasons. However all you have to do is look out there to see what this buzz is doing for Zune. Before the latest batch of rumors hit the interwebs , the Zune was lost in a wash of Apple news. Now that the leaks have started coming Zune is everywhere. This is the kind of exposure that MS couldn’t pay for, Yesterday the Zune HD story made it to the #2 spot on digg with 2000+ diggs. Zune has even been trending on twitter over the past few days.

Tonight the site WMpoweruser leaked the below image,

I’ve spoken to my sources and I can say the device you see above is real. However, besides Tegra the specs are still a big question mark. From what I’ve heard the UI is also different (how, I’m not sure). No confirmation on some of the crazier ideas. HDMI? Camera? Look for more Zune news in the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned to Liveside.net and Twitter for all the latest news.

Ad Agencies vie for “Pink” campaign: Zune enabled phones coming soon?

Kip Kniskern — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:30:26 GMT

Hot on the heels of Twitter as a source of breaking news, we’re getting a lot of good stuff lately from ad agency watchers like Ad Age and Ad Week. The latest comes from an Ad Week article reporting on a bidding war for a new Microsoft “mobile application”, “with the code name ‘Pink’”. According to the report, bidding is expected to be completed in May, and pits long time lead Microsoft ad agency McCann Erickson against Crispin Porter + Bogusky, creators of the “I’m a PC” campaign, and JWT, who just won a big contract for the upcoming rebrand of Live Search.

If Mary Jo Foley is right, Roz Ho’s Project Pink has something to do with a Zune-enabled mobile device; not a Microsoft built Zune Phone, per se:

(A year ago I speculated that Microsoft officials were carefully choosing their words about the existence of Zune phones. Looks like I was right. There will be Zune phones. There will be other kinds of Zune-enabled mobile devices. But they won’t be crafted — beyond the reference chassis — by Microsoft.)

We’ve already had confirmation of a new Zune device this year, and hints that it may be a Tegra-fied Zune HD, but Zune is about to become much more than just an mp3 player. Zune as a platform, coming from the Mother of all platform companies, Microsoft, should be fun to watch.

What in the world is Tegra?

RyanRCRea — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 06:15:00 GMT

Tegra is Nvidia's 1st foray into the mobile computing realm. Nvidia is the company that makes the awesome video cards for your desktops and laptops. Most higher end machines use some type of powerful GPU made by ether Nvidia or ATI. For instance, my Gateway FX laptop uses a GeForce 8800 GTS & my desktop uses a 9800 GTX. Why are GPU’s good for computing? Once again take a look at the laptop. In most laptops the CPU does the heavy lifting for the GPU also, this is called “integrated graphics”. In the Gateway FX, a GPU handles the task of blasting pixels to the screen, allowing the CPU focus on more important stuff, like processing and cruching non visual data. A setup like this is called “discreet graphics”.

Everything above applies to phones as well, on a much smaller scale of course. Most phones and portable media players can barely handle standard-def content, much less HD. Tegra aims to change all of that with support for 720 & 1080P video, along with advanced 3D gaming capabilities. Tegra promises to revolutionize Phones, Digital Media Players and much more. In the videos posted below, you will see that Tegra has chance to change the way mobile UI's are thought of and used.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Check out some of Tegras drop dead amazing specs

Processor and Memory Subsystem

ARM11 MPCore
32-bit LP-DDR
NAND Flash support

HD AVP (High Definition Audio Video Processor)

720p H.264 Baseline Profile Encode or Decode
720p VC-1/WMV9 Simple & Main Profiles Decode
D1 MPEG-4 Simple Profile Encode or Decode
Supports multi-standard audio formats, including AAC, AMR, WMA, and MP3
JPEG Encode and Decode acceleration

ULP (Ultra Low Power) GeForce

OpenGL ES 2.0
Programmable Pixel Shader
Programmable Vertex and Lighting
Advanced 2D Graphics

Display Subsystem

True dual-display support
720p (1280x720) HDMI 1.3 support
FWVGA (864x480) LCD and SXGA (1280x1024) CRT support
Composite and S-Video TV output

Wondering how this relates to Microsoft?

Back when Nvidia launched Tegra, Microsoft was one of their “featured partners”. Tegra is also primed to launch in "mid 2009" right around the time that MS has few big launches. If everything goes according to plan, expect to see a plethora of devices running on Tegra sometime later this year. If Tegra runs as good as it looks... Sign me up!

What about you, what do you think of Tegra?

The Zune HD is real!

RyanRCRea — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 00:58:00 GMT

A few hours ago engadget leaked screenshots from a video for the Zune HD. Microsoft's 4th generation of its vastly under loved Zune media player. I can confirm that those are in fact real screenshots of the “Zune HD” (not sure if that is the final name or not).

If you remember from my previous post, the new Zune hardware is just the tip of the iceberg. The Zune team is hard at work getting ready to turn the Zune platform into something amazing. As soon as I can share more details, trust me I will. For now I’ll leave you with the photo leaked by engadget. Is that one sexy Zune or what?

The Future Of Zune, Windows Mobile & More

RyanRCRea — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:48:17 GMT

It’s that time of year again, every Spring & Fall the Microsoft rumors start flying (Hey, Apple can’t have all the rumors to themselves).

With so many great products in the pipeline its no wonder people are excited. Most people are expecting Windows 7, Windows Mobile 6.5, Updates to Zune & Windows Live Wave 4 all to make an appearance before the end of the year. Numerous sources at Microsoft have also confirmed to us two upcoming updates for Zune. The smaller “Spring” update and the much more comprehensive “Fall” update Which according to the gossip around Redmond will be more like a mid to late summer update.

Windows Mobile 6.5 & 7

As you already know Windows Mobile 6.5 will be arriving sometime this summer, and its a worthy stepping stone from 6.1 to 7. I’ve installed a very early beta version on a HTC Touch-Pro which you can see here. Windows Mobile 7 however promises to be the release that takes Win-Mo to the next level. With deep Zune integration and much more. There have been a lot “leaked” screenshots of the upcoming OS over the past few weeks. With even Microsoft itself teasing something or another on their “Software + Services” Web site. According to a source deep inside Microsoft, all of these “Screenshots” are ether fake, mock-ups or really really old.The source goes on to say, that Windows Mobile 7’s UI is much more radical and new-thinking then any of the screenshots that have leaked yet.

Zune

Zune has always been a touchy subject, Microsoft keeps telling us that Zune is doing well. The media and most blogs rail on the Zune like there is no tomorrow. Blogs had a field day earlier this year when Microsoft quietly broke the Zune team into two pieces. With the device team being absorbed by Windows Mobile team and the software team joining up with the entertainment and devices group. Unlike most splits, this one had good ramifications. For one thing it deeply embedded the Zune team within the Windows Mobile Dev. Team. Our source tells us that purchasers of the New Zune will see the benefit’s of this marriage 1st. Basically when the 3rd or 4th (depending on how you count generations) generation launches this late summer or fall. You will be getting a sneak peak at some of Windows Mobile 7’s features a year early. Of course this will not be the only update, The Zune team is working hard on bringing some completely new services to the Zune platform. These are services that will really set the Zune apart, trust me when I say that . One of these future updates will fill a gap in the Zune marketplace that has been a sticky spot for even for Apple & the iPod.

Are you excited yet? I know I am. Keep checking back right here on Liveside for all the latest updates. You can also follow me on Twitter for even more Microsoft news

Sneak Peek at Windows 7 Mobile & Zune?

RyanRCRea — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 14:43:00 GMT

Windows Mobile 6.5 is not even here yet, but that is not stopping Microsoft from teasing 7 so far.

In the video below, titled “software + services”. We see someone using a OS that we believe to be a mock up of Windows Mobile 7. We also see him using a music app, that looks suspiciously like Zune. Complete with Zune’s “twist” interface.

Watch the video at the link below and decide for yourself,

http://www.microsoft.com/softwareplusservices/Default.aspx

WMPoweruser also grabbed some screenshots from the video

CTIA Keynote Preview

RyanRCRea — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 04:04:52 GMT

On April 2…. yes April 2nd ,Robert Bach will take to the stage and make the day 2 keynote at CTIA’s 2009 trade show.

He is president of the Entertainment & Devices, a group that includes Zune & Windows Mobile. You can expect the usual dog & pony show for Windows Mobile 6.5 and its upcoming app store.

According to sources close to MS, You can expect at least one surprise announcement related to Windows Live wave 4. Which is due this fall

The announcement may be the long rumored Windows Live-Facebook integration. Which would allow users to link both networks together and view Facebook’s updates on www.home.live.com.

It would seem Microsoft is very intent on making Windows Live a one stop social gateway. With the ability to view Tweets from Twitter & now with the addition of Facebook updates, You have a very well rounded social experience.

Keep a close eye on the keynote.. you’ll be glad you did.