Microsoft: No Plans for Zune Outside US
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Correcting a translation error that sparked a number of reports stating Microsoft planned to release its Zune portable music player in Europe, but not until 2008, the company now says it has no set timeframe. The confusion came in a response Steve Ballmer made to a German magazine.
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Microsoft Corp. said yesterday it expects to sell 1 million of its new Zune music players through the first half of 2007. That figure pales in comparison to Apple Computer Inc.'s market-leading iPod, but Microsoft contends it would be a good start.
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The software maker won't replace tracks bought on iTunes as rumors suggested, but the Zune will come in a unique color.
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Microsoft has cut the price of its Zune music player by $50 even as Apple launches new, improved iPods that now offer Wi-Fi connectivity and touch screens.
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Microsoft Corp. officials said yesterday that the company has spent millions of dollars preparing a version of its Windows operating system without a program for playing digital music and videos, in the event it loses its bid to postpone antitrust sanctions ordered by European authorities.
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Microsoft says it is on track to sell its millionth Zune music player, the software company's would-be challenger to Apple's enormously popular iPod.
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PERSPECTIVE This week's revelations from Microsoft concerning its forthcoming Zune portable media player have been appropriately called a "non-announcement announcement." But analysts tell BetaNews there's still good reason to believe this bewildering new market entry could actually succeed.
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(InfoWorld) - Financial analysts watching the consumer electronics space report that early sales of Microsoft Corp.'s Zune player should give little reason for iPod loyalists and Apple Computer Inc. to fear this holiday season. Since its retail debut on Nov. 15, customer interest in Zune has been lackluster, analysts report. Early reviews of the product have been less than stellar as well. According to a research note published Tuesday by PiperJaffray senior research analyst Gene Munster, only 8 percent of 40 retailers surveyed by the firm recommend the Zune to customers, while 75 percent recommend Apple's iPod. Moreover, some MP3 salespeople hadn't even heard of Zune, even though the players are being sold at their stores, he wrote in his report. Quotes from retail clerks cited in Munster's report range from them claiming they don't know what the Zune is, to comments that Zune is a good option if a customer does not use Apple's iTunes software. "To be honest, I don't really know much about the Zune," one clerk is quoted as saying in Munster's report. Another said, "I don't suggest the Zune because it is really heavy," according to the report. Zune also did not fair well against other MP3 players and Apple's iPod even during its initial week of sales, when the hype surrounding the product was at its peak. According to Munster's report, during its launch week on Nov. 16, Zune held the seventh spot on online retailer Amazon.com's top 10 best-selling MP3 players list, and it fell from that spot to 13 on the list only five days after launch, on Nov. 20. "The buzz that Microsoft was able to generate for the Zune's launch clearly helped the player in its first week, but much of the publicity took the form of Zune/iPod comparisons," Munster wrote. He added that these comparisons show that Zune "failed to match up in the eyes of most reviewers" to the iPod, a fact that negatively affected sales of the device. Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore wrote Monday that the iPod continues to be a strong seller going into the busy holiday shopping season, and the 30G-byte video iPods -- with which Zune competes -- "appear to be immune to the Zune." He said both the 30G-byte video iPods and the new 4G-byte iPods nanos currently are popular with consumers. A note about Apple's performance from financial firm UBS IT hardware analyst Ben Reitzes also said that Zune does not appear to be any threat to iPod at this time. To be fair, Apple has a five-year head start in the music and video player market, and no one expected Microsoft's first entry would be comparable right away to the immensely popular iPod. Microsoft has said it plans to invest significantly in the Zune over the next several years, and the device is expected to become more competitive. Microsoft's 30G-byte Zune costs US$249.99, the same as Apple's video iPod, but is different from the iPod in two key ways. Zune includes an FM tuner and wireless capability that allows users to share songs between devices.
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Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday that it expects to sell 1 million of its new Zune music players through the first half of 2007. That figure would pale in comparison to Apple Computer Inc.'s market-leading iPod, but Microsoft contends it would be a good start.
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InfoWorld - Microsoft has beaten its&#160;goal of shipping over a million Zune digital music players by June, according to a newspaper report.
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Microsoft appears to be looking for new ways to tie Windows Mobile phones and Zune media players together, although a Zune phone remains unlikely.Over the weekend, Microsoft developer &quot;Mel&quot; asked an open question on the Windows Mobile blog: &quot;What are some ways the Zune player and a Windows Mobile device can work better together?&quot;Since then,&#160;more than&#160;50 commenters have suggested ways that Microsoft might converge the two devices. The most common idea is to essentially replace the Windows Media Player on Windows Mobile devices with Zune software.&quot;I proposed that WMP should be fazed out in favor of a combined WMP/Zune player which will synch with both Windows Media AND Zune, instead of having to have two separate apps with two different libraries for each device,&quot; wrote one commenter using the name Colin Walker.Peter Henning, another commenter, also suggested making just one media player that works on both devices. &quot;Currently you are just making our lives much more difficult with this parallel development and incompatibilities,&quot; he wrote.A single media player would solve some of the problems that other users complained about in syncing music between a Windows Mobile phone and a Zune. Another commenter going by the name Charlie Quidnunc noted that he has to create new playlists once he transfers music from Zune to his phone because Windows Media Player can&#39;t read Zune playlists.Another complained that he can&#39;t transfer music that he downloaded under his Zune subscription plan to his Windows Mobile device because of DRM restrictions.Offering Zune software on Windows Mobile phones could be one simple way for Microsoft to converge the two, said Michael Gartenberg, a research director with Jupiter Research. &quot;There are any number of ways that Microsoft could go about Zune integration. We might see a Zune application for Windows Mobile devices.&quot;But what we most likely won&#39;t see is a Zune phone, despite many Zune phone rumors. &quot;On one hand, the Zune is a closed proprietary system not built around a partner ecosystem,&quot; Gartenberg noted. &quot;On the other hand, the phone business is built on a partner ecosystem.&quot; Microsoft develops the Windows Mobile software, but hardware makers build the phones. By contrast, Microsoft develops the hardware and software for the Zune.If Microsoft started making a Zune phone, it would compete with its phone hardware partners. &quot;It&#39;s the same reason we don&#39;t see a Microsoft-branded PC,&quot; he said.On the Windows Mobile blog, &quot;Mel&quot; emphasized that wasn&#39;t looking for more suggestions of a Zune phone. &quot;I&#39;m not referring to an imaginary &#39;Zune phone,&#39; and I&#39;m certainly not hinting or speculating about a converged device,&quot; he wrote.Building a better music playing experience into Windows Mobile will be important for Microsoft, which is increasingly trying to make Windows Mobile phones appeal to consumers and not just business users. &quot;For the most part, Windows Mobile has ignored consumers,&quot; Gartenberg said.Microsoft recently announced plans to buy Danger, the developer of mobile phone software that runs the youth-oriented Sidekick device from T-Mobile. Microsoft has also made some executive changes in the Windows Mobile group designed to better focus on consumers.
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The Zune, Microsoft's much-hyped answer to Apple's trend-setting iPod, had a good first four days of sales, says a leading research firm. But consumer electronics analysts don't think Apple has anything to worry about. The NPD Group, which tracks sales at most top retailers, says the Zune digital music device had a 9% market share in its first sales days Nov. 14-18, compared with 63% for Apple. The research firm hasn't reported sales for the all-important Thanksgiving holiday selling weekend.
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Microsoft Corp. said on Thursday its  new Zune music player will be sold at a price matching Apple  Computer Inc.'s market-leading iPod and, as a result, lose  money this holiday season.
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Microsoft says its Zune music player will cost $249.99 in the US when it goes on sale on 14 November.
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Gearing up to compete with MS' Zune too IFA 06 Samsung is to take the digital music fight to Apple by launching its own song download service in the UK, France and Germany, the South Korean giant revealed today. Details of the service remain scarce, but we can say it will be operated by digital music distributor MusicNet, which also powers Virgin Digital, HMV, Yahoo!, iMesh and others.â¦
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Microsoft today unveiled details of its highly anticipated Zune media player in the latest bid to rival Apple's iTunes/iPod combination.
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Microsoft Corp.  sees expanding  the digital music market -- and not necessarily video -- as the  priority for its new "Zune" portable media player, a company  executive said on Thursday.