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Microsoft files dispute for XboxPhone.com, XboxTablet.com domains

Jun 152012

Looks like Microsoft is going after some domain squatters who purchased a series of domains related to possible new products from the worlds largest software maker. The domains Xbox8.org, XboxCompanion.com, XboxTablet.com and XboxLiveTV.com, are all owned by a Chinese resident named Cheng Juan and Case# 1445083 has been filed with the National Arbitration Forum.

According to UDRP rules, if more than one domain being disputed is held by the same respondent, all of the names may be included in the same complaint and so we may find that Microsoft only actually wants one or two of these names but made the decision to take them all because they can. In the past Microsoft has allowed fansites and website owners to use domains containing their trademarks so long as the domains were used in comliance with trademark laws.

For example our own site ZuneMAX.com was an original Zune blog and online forums discussing the Zune music players and the future of Microsoft gaming and entertainment. We were invited to the Zune launch and participated in Zune MVP events and programs with their open permission to use the domain.

The case for Cheng Juan and these Xbox domains is very different as the owner attempted to sell the domains for their supposed value in the trademarks alone. This type of clear trademark infringement is where Microsoft is most likely concerned. I do find it pretty funny that Microsoft is still facing these domain issues with new products after all the issues they had with Zune.com. ZuneMarketPlace.com and even ZuneHD.com. It’s been five years now and Microsoft is still slow to grab the domain names related to new projects, products and services. It would seem like it’s just cheaper to buy the domains in advance rather than to sue for them later but maybe Microsoft knows something we don’t about trademarks and lawyers and the $8 wholesale price of domain names.

We recently launched a new website for the Xbox Tablet that we hope will become a new community for tablet users and owners to share updates, tips and advice on using the new tablet game players from Microsoft if and when they arrive. Do you think Microsoft is going to go after all Xbox tablet domains?

Zune Music Service Reborn as Xbox Music Service

Xbox No Responses »

Jun 052012

Microsoft is making the full shift over to the Xbox platform with all former Zune platform services with the introduction of the Xbox Music Service as reported on Cnet recently. Today Microsoft unveiled the service as part of their much anticipated press conference at the E3 gaming event.

The Xbox Music service should be a port of the Zune Music service with the same Metro Interface. They may have made it more Xbox like but we’re sure it’s the same base platform.

Unfortunately Microsoft did not unveil the Xbox 720 as so many has hoped for but the introduction of SmartGlass along with the recent patent filings for Xbox Glasses makes the case for an incredible gaming environment. In the near future you will be able to pause your Xbox game at home and leave with your iPad and continue a form of game play.

The integrated music service announced today is a logical first step conisdering they have already developed the platform. Re-branding Zune Music as the Xbox Live Music service will help them build on an already successful brand with Xbox. Abandoning the Zune brand was probably an easy decision after the horrible launch and performance of the Zune line.

Hopefully Microsoft learned a lesson with Zune and the new Xbox Music and Mobile Gaming integration will be a realization of the platforms true potential. The Microsoft ecosystem is huge and the SmartGlass holds the potential to link up with almost every platform out there.

Microsoft has unveiled a revamped music service, called Xbox Music, as it looks to better compete against the likes of Apple’s iTunes, Pandora, and Spotify.

Oldies love songs downloads

Music No Responses »

May 232012

Are you looking for some beebop or other forms of retro music? It’s kinda hard to find some of your old favorites with everybody pushing the new music of today. I can download lots of Lady Gaga or some other artiest but finding great hits by favorite artists like Buddy Holly or Ortis Redding can be more difficult.

When I search for oldies love songs for example I expect to find content from the 40′s and 50′s and not stuff from the 90′s or 80′s. If you do a generic web search on something like Apple or even the Zune music store you often times come up with some Top40 hits type of lists with more commercially successful music being offered. I often times want to find more unique music selection specifically targeted at oldies of the past.

The don’t make music like they used to and I just prefer to listen to my old time hits more than I do the new music you find on the radio these days. Even the old time radio stations are polluted with new style advertisements and interruptions so you never really get that sense or feeling of being alive in the old days.

The IOldiesMusicStore.com website offers an great selection of my favorite hits and I can find oldies loves songs or anything else I want from the last 5 decades in one easy to search and operate website. Their selection is great and the oldies downloads are a great way to listen to some of my old time classic favorites.

Windows Phone Reviews:HTC Trophy Verizon’s first Windows 7 phone

Windows Phone No Responses »

May 102012

HTC Trophy Verizon’s first Windows 7 phone is solid: it has HTC’s usual elegant styling and good build quality, world GSM roaming capabilities and Redmond’s new phone OS that we really like. The Trophy has a 3.8″, 800 x 480 capacitive touch screen, a 1GHz CPU, 16 gigs of storage and a 5 megapixel camera. It has 3G on Verizon along with WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth with A2DP stereo and a GPS. Like all Windows Phone 7 smartphone, it has XBOX gaming and Zune music and video services.

“Spotify Like” Zune Streaming music coming to Xbox

Zune No Responses »

Apr 262012

Looks like Zune will live on in many other forms as the venerable music service and former gadget brand will be morpjhed into a “Spotify like” streaming music service on Xbox consoles. The news is so fresh there are few details but the service is said to be currently in development under the code name “Woodstock,” according to a report Wednesday by the tech blog The Verge.

Who hear wishes they would have done a better job with Zune marketing in the beginning so they would not be foced to rename this service for Xbox?

Microsoft Preps Spotify-Like Music Service – Personal-tech – Digital Content – Informationweek

Microsoft is developing a streaming music service for its Xbox Live network and other platforms, and it may be introduced at the E3 consumer electronics expo in June, a published report said.

Zune’s “squirting” may be resurfacing as “beaming” in Windows Phone 8

The Zune No Responses »

Dec 112011

There’s a new rumor in town that claims Microsoft may be resurrecting an old Zune 30 feature that allowed users to send songs from one Zune device to another via a Wi-Fi connection. Debuting back in 2006, it was called “squirting” (for some reason), and quickly disappeared due to the Zune’s inability to saturate the market. But now the file sharing feature is supposedly resurfacing in future Microsoft products as “Beaming,” and will do a lot more than just sling songs across 30 feet of air.

Xbox App for the Windows Mobile Phone 7.5

Windows Phone No Responses »

Dec 102011

Are you running the new Xbox Companion App for Windows Phone 7.5? Microsoft has finally announced a new app for Windows Mobile Phones that integrates your Xbox controls to your mobile phone. You can now use your Windows Mobile device to stream content from Xbox and Zune Pass to your mobile phone and have your music collection follow youi from the house to anywhere you travel with your mobile phone.

The convergence of Xbox, Zune Pass and the Windows Phone 7.5 has been a long time coming and I know I for one have been waiting to have my proverbial cake and eat it too. Sadly the Windows Phone Series has been an also ran in the mobile platform but maybe this new level of added enhancement and interaction with the Xbox makes the platform more viable.

Do you have your Mobile device and Xbox synced with the Xbox companion app?

Xbox Companion App for Windows Phone 7.5

Microsoft this week released its Xbox Companion App for Windows Phone 7.5, which can be used as a remote control for your Xbox 360-based entertainment, and as a mobile hub for discovering more about all of the content that can flow through this console, including games, TV shows and movies, and music.

HTC 7 Trophy product review

Windows Phone No Responses »

Nov 062011

The good: The HTC 7 Trophy features a compact design and runs the Windows Phone OS, which offers an easy to use interface, as well as Zune, Xbox Live, and Office integration.

The bad: Disappointing camera quality and battery life could be better.

Bottom Line: While not the most advanced or most powerful smart phone on the market, simplicity works in the favor of the HTC Trophy providing simple ease of use, and sweet application integration.

Buy the HTC 7 Trophy in our Online Store!

The HTC Trophy is Verizon’s first foray into the Windows Phone market, and pricing starts at $149.99 with a two year contract and after a $50 mail in rebate. At 4.67 inches tall by 2.42 inches wide by 0.47 inches thick, and weighing only 4.94 ounces the HTC Trophy is sleek and simple, which is attractive in it’s own right.
To start with, like all WP7 handsets the Trophy starts with a 480 x 800 pixel resolution and 1GHz Snapdragon (QSD8250) processor under a capacitive touchscreen. From there we’ve got a bright 3.8-inch S-LCD, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR, GPS, FM Radio, a 1300mAh battery, and 8GB of fixed flash storage with 512MB of ROM and 576MB of RAM. The auto focus camera is also pretty standard with a 5 megapixel sensor, LED flash, and 720p video recording capability. It also packs sensors for gravity, compass, proximity, and ambient light.

However, WP7 currently has limited landscape support. The HTC features an aluminum-like bezel, and a soft-touch finish on the back. The display is sharp and bright, but washes out a bit in direct sunlight. Unfortunately, the display is prone to fingerprinting and smudging. The touchscreen is extremely quick and responsive, and registers most actions on the first try, allowing for quick and easy browsing and zooming.
The virtual keyboard provided by the OS works great, it’s sharp and accurate, and can stand toe-to-toe with that of the iPhone, and is reaches above that of the standard Android option, which is slightly slower, and more prone to mispresses.
Under the display are touch sensitive back, start, and search buttons. To the left is a volume rocker and a Micro-USB port, and to the right is the camera key. The top of the device features the power button and a 3.55mm headphone jack, while the back houses the camera, LED flash, and a crisp loudspeaker.
The feature set is pretty standard for a smart phone in this day and age, including email, organizer, music, video, additional application, gaming, social network integration and various instant messaging options.
Beyond the standard WP7 applications, HTC has provided a few of their own applications including a unit converter, sound enhancer, photo enhancer, and the HTC hub which includes an animated clock and weather widgets, where the weather widgets display real-time, location specific weather information. The Trophy also ships with Slacker and Netflix, allowing [Netflix] subscribers to watch movies and TV shows directly from their phones.
The Trophy also has access to the Windows marketplace, similar to that of the iTunes and Android marketplaces, with about 20,000 free and paid apps available now, and a steady influx of new apps.
Call quality on the Trophy is decent, with audio quality being relatively clear overall. However, during lulls in conversation there is an occasional hissing, which is odd. Speakerphone quality was also decent and clear inasmuch as that goes.

In conclusion, if you are in the market for your first smart phone, or if you don’t necessarily need or desire all the bells and whistles of some of the other devices then the HTC Trophy will indeed suffice. Also, with the powerful WP7 OS and the integration of things like Office, Zune and Xbox live, the Trophy is more attractive than some of the other alternatives. Ultimately, the choice is up to you. Find a Verizon store near you and demo the product, and if it seems right, pick it up.

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