Zune MAX is an original Zune blog and forums for Zune HD owners to share mp3 music, movies, and XNA games for Zune. We have grown into an all around entertainment blog with mobile technology news and reviews, tips and strategy for Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and Facebook Games.
A source confirms I was on target with my prediction that the event will herald the introduction of Microsoft’s long-awaited new phones for the always-connected crowd. The devices, code-named Pure and Turtle, are both slider phones, each with a touch screen and keyboard, a source told CNET. In the U.S., the devices will run on Verizon Wireless’ network and go on sale within the month following the event.
Microsoft’s invitation for the April 12 event was fairly nondescript, noting only that “It’s time to share.” (Credit: Kent German)
Microsoft plans to unveil the devices at the April 12 event in San Francisco.
However, those wanting an iPhone should really keep their focus on Apple’s April 8 event. Microsoft’s true run at the iPhone won’t come until Windows Phone 7-based devices arrive later this year. Turtle and Pure are more in line with the market Microsoft targeted with the Sidekick, the T-Mobile device it acquired as part of its 2008 Danger acquisition.
While instant messaging was king when the Sidekick first hit the scene, these days it’s all about Facebook and Twitter and other social services. These phones will offer lots of social media as well as the Zune music service. The Sidekick, with its Java-based operating system, were never very adept at media, but these devices have a version of Windows Mobile inside, paving the way for the Zune connection.
It seems the first reviews of the Zune phone are in and even though no and has a device in hand yet many seem positive about what Microsoft plans to offer by holidays 2010.
The Windows 7 Series Zune Phone will integrate the entire suite of Microsoft applications and services including the basic business and contact services such as Office and Outlook but also Xbox and Zune for the first true all in one device with tight integration of the separate ecosystems on 3 different screens.
It’s a long ways off and the mobile smartphone market is going to get a bit crowded with all the competing systems. Who will Microsoft take from if they want to increase marketing share? Will partnerships with existing handset makers be enough to chip away at Apple or will the Windows Phone make a real challenge to their strong position?
Microsoft is not about the let Apple enjoy the limelight when it comes to portable media players and smartphones. The company’s highly-rated ZuneHD portable media player is now a phone.
At MWC 2010, Microsoft’s press event, the Zune phone finally took center stage, welcomed by a number of approving nods from audience attendees – according to a review in CNET.
This Windows Phone 7 Series is truly more than simply a Zune HD with a phone added to it. This portable device actually combines some of Microsoft’s most successful products, such as Windows Mobile, Zune, Xbox and Microsoft Office – who wouldn’t want this device?
It seems the first reviews of the Zune phone are in and even though no and has a device in hand yet many seem positive about what Microsoft plans to offer by holidays 2010.
The Windows 7 Series Zune Phone will integrate the entire suite of Microsoft applications and services including the basic business and contact services such as Office and Outlook but also Xbox and Zune for the first true all in one device with tight integration of the separate ecosystems on 3 different screens.
It’s a long ways off and the mobile smartphone market is going to get a bit crowded with all the competing systems. Who will Microsoft take from if they want to increase marketing share? Will partnerships with existing handset makers be enough to chip away at Apple or will the Windows Phone make a real challenge to their strong position?
Microsoft is not about the let Apple enjoy the limelight when it comes to portable media players and smartphones. The company’s highly-rated ZuneHD portable media player is now a phone.
At MWC 2010, Microsoft’s press event, the Zune phone finally took center stage, welcomed by a number of approving nods from audience attendees – according to a review in CNET.
This Windows Phone 7 Series is truly more than simply a Zune HD with a phone added to it. This portable device actually combines some of Microsoft’s most successful products, such as Windows Mobile, Zune, Xbox and Microsoft Office – who wouldn’t want this device?
New evidence of the coming release of the Zunephone is appearing with details in the latest Zune software pointing t drivers for the new devices. The numbers below are supposed to mean we should see 3 new hardware configurations with the Phone.DeviceDesc description.
Three new hardware devices or stock keeping units (SKU) is certainly interesting. Hopefully what we’ll find are three new Zune Mobile Phones running Windows Mobile 7 and Zune software. We have written previously about the possibiliyt of having a business and personal edition of the new Microsoft phone but the 3rd option is intriguiging. What could the 3rd Zunephone be?
Is the Zunephone release date finally here? Zune news and the buzz online is that Microsoft is finally releasing the Zune phone. The Microsoft Zune phone will feature Zune software and full suite of premium services for music, video and hopefully Xbox video games as well running on Windows Mobile 7. A business edition minus the media features and tailored to corporate communications would also be available, according to the first Zune rumor of 2010.
I like the idea of offering two different models for business and personal use. It makes sense for business users to focus on business features but lets hope the Zune software can be installed if say for instance your business involves music or you want to enjoy your phone after work ours. Maybe you can login to a Business mode with scaled down features and even lock the phone into these settings based on the time of day. Of course that might make to much sense for some business owners or even Microsot. I suppose they just have to have two phones with one login each instead of one phone with two different modes.
The phone will be a partnership and not manufactured by Microsoft, according to the new rumors, and it will not be made in the existing Zune factory. Microsoft will probably do what Google has done and brand a phone by HTC or some other phone hardware maker. Why did we wait two years for this? Why din’t they just port the Zune software over to existing phones a long time ago even if they were working on some super new mobile opertatoing system? By branding the Zune early on as mobile music subscription service it may have had a real chance against Apple and the iPod/iPhone/Mac powerhouse combination it appears they have had the vision to mimic. instead it’s been laughed at as half assed and a joke by everyone who never owned a Zune player.
Check out the article below and other Zune rumors on Bing or Google for more ideas on that they have been working on for so long.
Zune Phone Could Fulfill Microsoft’s ’3 Screens’ Wish
Microsoft’s mobile play is still a mystery, but reports about WinMo 7 and a Zune-like Microsoft phone provide new clues.
There are more rumors that Microsoft will finally release the Zune phone. My question in all of this is who cares at this point? I mean we have been asking about this for over 2 years now and in that time the iPhone has become the defacto smartphone standard and even Google jumped on the mobile bandwagon with the Nexus One.
Tech years are longer than dog years and these past two years may as well have been 20 as far as Microsoft is concerned as a competitor in the mobile marketplace. Windows Mobile 7 looks like vaporware and if it ever is released it wont be anything more than a new shine on old code.
Microsoft screwed Zune and their entire mobile market play by waiting what amounts to an eternity to release a look what we copied from someone else device. Does anyone but us Zune fans care about the Zunephone.
Microsoft is planning to introduce a Windows Mobile-based phone in the coming weeks in order to keep up with rivals Apple and Google, according to a financial analyst.
Jefferies stock picker Katherine Egbert said the company would likely unveil the device next month at the Mobile World Congress in San Francisco.
Leah Gabriel Nurik over at ChannelInsider.com writes about whether there is a relationship between the delays in Windows Mobile 7 and the newly released photos of what is being called the Zune phone or new smartphone from Microsoft.
We’ll never know the truth but there must be a connection there that explains the frustrations I’ve had with Zune all together. I’ve been waiting to see a Zune phone for a long time and my expectation was that it should be a super device that trumped all the existing devices. It seems it has taken them a long time to get to this and the delays in WinMo 7 are the integration of their Premium Entertainment services including Zune music and Xbox gaming.
Microsoft has to come large in the smartphone market if they plan to take back anything from Apple and the dominant iPhone. The apps store alone has just passed it’s two billionth download and the phone is hugely popular with mainstream America. For Microsoft to build the dream device with music, movies and portable Xbox games must be a huge task that is taking a long time to finish but seems well worth the wait if they can deliver the ultimate mobile device.
An online leak of phone prototypes has the industry buzzing about whether Windows Mobile 7 is being held up to accommodate development of new type of device.
The repeated delay of Windows Mobile 7 is throwing the rumor mill into overdrive following the recent online leak of photos thought to represent phone prototypes from a development project at Microsoft called Project Pink.
Gizmodo has photos of two new phones from Microsoft that are said to be results of the Pink Project. The photos are of two different QWERTY keypad sliding devices and offer no details or specifications at this time. These are not being called Zune phones but they may be as close as we get for now.
They seem simple and kinda child like and with names like Turtle and Pure they just may be a family friendly line of phones with entertainment features from Zune that anyone can use.
First reviews seem to think the phones are not sleek enough or lack style but I imagine they may offer function over form and the tech geeks don’t always know whats going to sell. The Pink Project is not just about Zune but more about Microsoft reclaiming ground in the smartphone market lost to Apple and Blackberry.
Microsoft sees it’s way back to the top through partnerships with companies like Sharp and LG where Microsoft inspires design and provides the platform while the top manufacturers and service providers line up to produce devices and offer telephone and data services. How well this will work or what exactly they are doing remains to be seen but for now I expect we’ll hear a lot more noise before we ever get a Zune phone in our hands.
These phones are going to be made by Sharp, who’ll get to share branding with Microsoft. Sharp produced the Sidekick hardware for Danger, who was bought by Microsoft almost two years ago. Pink will be primarily aimed at the same market as the Sidekick, and the branding and identity for it is highly developed, pointing toward a later stage in the development cycle.
The prior relationship between Danger and Sharp is the only reason we can think of why Microsoft stuck with Sharp for the new phones, and perhaps why they look so much like remixed Sidekicks. (Kind of yucky, that is.) The youth bent is somewhat surprising, if Pink is going to be their big consumer phone play, building off the expertise of Danger and members of the Zune team.
Zune HD reviews are in from Cnet Crave and they have nothing but good things to say about the new Zune player from Microsoft. ZuneHD devices hit the shelves at local retail stores on Sept 15 and it has been a good launch for the new touch screen mp3 player from Zune.
It seems everyone expects the Zune HD to be a phone but its only a music and game device with Zune games available that should really kick butt. The Zune HD is a high powered player and the Tegra chip was made for high end graphics and video game play. The Games for Zune HD applications were made available recently along with the new game player and it seems we can expect Microsoft to offer us up some great games.
OK, so my official CNET review of the Zune HD is up and running over at CNET Reviews. It’s worth checking out, but if you don’t feel like taking 10 minutes out of your day to soak it all in, then I’ll make it real clear to you with just two sentences:
Buy the Zune HD if you love music.
Buy an iPod for everything else.
That’s it. And I don’t mean for that to sound dramatic, condescending, or pro-Apple or pro-Microsoft. If we met on the street and you asked me “iPod or Zune?”, then that’s the answer you’d hear from me. The Zune HD does a phenomenal job showcasing and organizing music in a way that invites exploration and interaction. And if you have the extra $14.99 per month to throw at a Zune Pass music subscription, then welcome to the music orgy.
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