Tag archive: Zune HD

Microsoft has been something of a tease when it comes to Zune. For the better part of the last year, we’ve simultaneously seen the PMP production come to a halt while Microsoft has insisted there is life yet for the device. The mixed messages came to a head recently when the company announced it was finishing making and selling the Zune while support team members said otherwise, and Microsoft pulled the page explaining Zune software would live… Read More

Yesterday, we reported that Microsoft had officially announced that the Zune HD and hardware was dead and that Windows Phone was the new focus for the brand. That information came directly from a page on Zune.net. Well, now Microsoft claims that it was all a big mistake and that it wasn't official in the first place. Here's what the @ZuneSupport team said on Twitter: “We are still supporting the Zune HD hardware. No official… Read More

The Zune brand is now dead as a hardware line, says Microsoft. The software giant has confirmed that the Zune HD is no longer being manufactured. This is not a new revelation, as Microsoft hasn't introduced new Zune hardware or featured it in some time. Instead, it has migrated the Zune software to Windows Phone, where it lives happily and remains one of the best music players on the market. “We recently announced that, going… Read More

Just a couple of months ago it looked like Microsoft was ready to part ways with the Zune. After being noticeably absent of Zune updates at Mobile World Congress, and the PMP’s difficulty competing with the iPod, Microsoft’s protestations of seeing a “Zune ecosystem” were code for implementing the software into the Windows Phone 7. For Zune lovers, it’s sad news. If anything could give the iPod some viable competition it was the Zune. There’s no… Read More

It’s been a long time coming. Following whispers for some time now that Microsoft has been in the process of moving Zune to the great beyond, today Bloomberg has confirmation of those rumors. According to the site, Microsoft will terminate all production of new Zune music and video players due to a lack of demand. At the same time, an insider says the company will be shifting “its focus to other devices.” Last month, Microsoft failed to make any… Read More

Years ago Microsoft was all geared up to unleash its “iPod killer” Zune media players…only to find that the only thing able to put a dent in Apple's iPod juggernaut was Apple itself, with it's iPhone and other iOS devices. Now, Redmond's attention has decidedly shifted to its new Windows Phone 7 mobile platform and high-profile partnership with Nokia, leading many to speculate about the fate of… Read More

Microsoft’s done a lot of talking at Mobile World Congress this week, but everyone’s starting to notice what it’s not talking about: Zune. Any mention of the media player has been conspicuously missing from the mouths of Microsoft lately, and word is the company plans to kill it off and make way for a new, rebranded product. ZDNet directly contacted Microsoft to find out Zune’s fate. A company spokesperson responded saying, “We’re not ‘killing’… Read More

If you've been thinking about a Zune HD but wished it had more storage capacity, Microsoft has some news for you: the company has just announced a new 64 GB version of its Zune HD portable media player will go on sale April 12, 2010. The 64 GB players will initially be available through ZuneOriginals.com—where customers can trick them out with their choices of colors and custom etching—although the players are expected to make… Read More

Who needs a dedicated personal media player in 2010, when it’s harder to find a cell phone that won’t play media than one that will? You do. Besides being smaller, easier to use and cheaper than a cell phone, a good PMP offers a bigger screen for video, longer battery life, and won’t interrupt your workout with a call from the boss. Check out a few of our favorites.

Anyone remember when the Zune was going to be the iPod killer? As it turned out, one of the big things eating away at Apple's iPod sales is the Apple iPhone rather than any media player Redmond has spun out…but Microsoft has always said the plan to be in the PMP game for the long haul, and now the company has taken another baby-step along that road by lowering the prices on its 16 GB Zune HD and 32 GB Platinum Zune HD to $190 and… Read More

Microsoft has made no attempt to hide which trendy little MP3 player lay in the sights of the recently released Zune HD: Apple's iPod Touch. Apple turned the market upside down when it released the Touch back in 2007, and while Microsoft let its own Zune line languish for two years before responding, the silver bullet Microsoft has finally offered up has clearly been engineered to drop Apple. But will it succeed? With both players in… Read More

When Microsoft and Apple first started competing, Apple was differentiated by having a few products that did a comparatively few things very well. When Steve Jobs came back to Apple (which had clearly drifted from those roots in the 90s) he took the company back to having a few products that did fewer things but all of them very well and, particularly for the iPod, this made the market for them. But, if you look at the new Zune against the iPod… Read More