This is not what it will look like.
Raise your hand if you saw this one coming.
Zune already problematic: The ‘iPod killer’ won’t offer video at launch
Bloomberg TV says that the New York Post is now reporting that Microsoft is delaying the video portion of its Zune device which is to take on the ubiquitous Apple iPod. Bloomberg’s Bernard Lo in Hong Kong interviewed John MacLellan general manager for finance at Microsoft Corp.’s Asia-Pacific operations who stated that the Zune would be out sometime in the next 12 months.
MacLellan discussed the Zune’s WiFi functionality as being an advantage over competitors. Well, until Microsoft actually launches Zune, I don’t know what advantage he thinks they’ll have over Apple’s iPod considering Microsoft doesn’t have a clue as to what Apple will be launching this fall.
During the interview, Bloomberg’s Bernard Lo quoted a recent statement by Rob Glaser, CEO of RealNetworks, which stated something to the affect that Microsoft’s was abandoning their developers with Zune – a key point that was made in a recent Macsimum report.
Bloomberg’s Bernard Lo’s only major error during the interviews was repeating that Microsoft’s next generation operating system dubbed “Vista” would launch on consumer PC’s in time for this Christmas which directly contradicted MacLellan’s own statement that only the business version of Vista would launch in November and that the consumer version would launch in January 2007.
With the news of Zune not having video features at launch, you could already begin laughing at what the media had prematurely labeled as Microsoft’s iPod-Killer. It’s vaporware, all over again.
To hear the full interview with Microsoft’s John MacLellan, click here.
(That mwa-mwa-mwa sound that a lonely trumpet makes after an anticlimax)
WIth the exception of the X-Box. Has M$ ever had a succsessful peice of hardware?
Sony on the other hand is a hardware company and they can’t create an “I-Pod Killer.”
I think we are going to have to wait and let Apple kill the I-Pod on their own.
2 Bloomberg TV says that the New York Post is now reporting…
Great opening sentence…
Smartalix, that should be the startup sound for Vista, with the Charlie Brown adult voice (a muted trombone) the startup sound for Microsoft Update.
Gig, M$ has done a good job with keyboards and mice. And while not aimed at our demographic, they seem to have done well with WebTV.
The question becomes which group at M$ is working on the Zune… and why. My guess is the same group that came out with that not-a-PDA, not-a-Laptop Oragami platform a few months back. that ship sure did sink in a hurry.
The great downward spiral of a once great company.
A mac news site bashing something from MS? Now that I would never have guessed.
I am sorry I will wait until I see it from a site a little less biased.
Is it just me or is anyone else tired of hearing how every company has the next “i-Pod Killer”. God forbid Apple should has some much deserved success.
If other companies weren’t asleep at the wheel thinking of the i-Pods success as being directly linked to the i-Pod itself, but rather put more thought about how beautifully Apple delivers content with iTunes, other companies might actually compete against it.
One other thought, if iTunes can already handle streaming internet radio, how far away could Apple be from adding a source icon for live IPTV. Let’s watch these snoozing companies chase the success of that!
7 …but rather put more thought about how beautifully Apple delivers content with iTunes, other companies might actually compete against it.
Yes,
It has been fun to watch…
Apple starts with beta-testing iTunes on Macs.
“Sneaking” quicktime in with iTunes on windows computers, and showing movies trailers – for free – to beta-test quicktime and server loading.
Having HD-format movie trailers open iTunes for playback – to beta-test the mechanics of charging, via iTunes, for HD-format content.
Selling music videos and short films, while the TV networks slowly realize they can’t afford to duplicate Apple’s existing infrastructure – and so reluctanly agree to let Apple sell the shows for them.
When will the competitors start beta-testing their competing content-delivery systems?
Oh, thats right, they’re still working on their next “iPod killer”. [grin]
“WIth the exception of the X-Box. Has M$ ever had a succsessful peice of hardware?”
They are a software company that took a stab with the xbox, and although it hasn’t made money yet, it was and is a good long term investment.
The xbox team (whatever you call them) lead by Jay Allard is doing the zune. It’s really a question of marketing, not technology. Anybody with a soldering iron can make an mp3 player.
James Hill, the Microsoft peripherals you referred to are actually manufactured by HP with a MS logo. Zune, on the other hand, will actually be manufactured by Microsoft, assuming of course that doesn’t change before the product comes to market. And, as others pointed out, the XBox is not profitable, though it does serve as a loss leader for games.
Podesta, a good point regarding their keyboard and mice work, but as #9 said it’s all about marketing and positioning, which M$ did a good job with regarding these products. The same with the 360, and while it’s a loss leader its made a nice new marketplace for Bill & Co.
As for the X-Box team doing the Zune, that seems to be the go-to group now at M$ for everything. I hope they’re not getting pulled in too many directions. That being said, they’re entering a crowded field without much build up, unlike the massive marketing effort around the 360.
I’ve got two Microsoft five-button trackballs and I guess I’ll just wear them out or until nobody makes software for them anymore. There is nothing else in the market that fits me.
As for the other stuff, well, I don’t own an ipod, and I can’t really see any reason why I should. But I just gave away a fourteen track analog reel to reel recorder (1/2″ tape).
Apple may well have added video to the first generation of iPod players and then shedded the idea like Microsoft. The trick is not announcing the product until it reaches the store shelves. In this way the product is a surprise and not a disappointment.
Well it’s sad that video content will not be available at launch, but sometime later. But with features like Wi-Fi sharing it will have it’s market share, how much only time will tell. I guess it’s too early to brand zune as an Ipod-killer.
I have never really seen a zune before. It looks pretty darn good…