Steve Ballmer was interviewed today by CIO magazine and the Zune came up, more or less in the context of “What the devil were you thinking?� In the process of answering, Mr. Ballmer made clear to me at least that for all the attacks and mockery he gets in the blogs and tech sites, he really does GET it.

CIO: Why has Microsoft developed Zune?

Ballmer: At the end of the day, one of the big trends is that all content is going digital. And if we don’t have the software and services that are useful, helpful and valuable for the consumption of music and video, we are sort of not really a player.

Now, we built the Zune hardware with the Zune software - and what you’ll see more and more over time is that the Zune software will also be ported to and be more important not just with the hardware but on the PC, on Windows Mobile devices, etc.

CIO: It seems to me to be a tricky one because Apple is out there, and they have a pretty good product - but also they have this kind of cult following of people who are just going to buy, because it’s Apple. That must be a frustrating thing to compete against.

Ballmer: They may have a cult following in the music business, and we got about 97 percent of PC users using our stuff. 97 percent may not constitute a cult! But I wouldn’t trade that for a cult!

Zune on mobile devices other then the Zune player itself? Hopefully this means that we will soon see the end of Windows Media Player on mobile devices, and have Zune software build into Windows Mobile. Imagine being able to sync media and music on your phone using Zune.

I think I understand now that Microsoft is viewing Zune not as an iPod competitor, but as an iTunes competitor…perhaps with an eye towards unifying the media experience across all Microsoft products using Zune. I think that would be an excellent plan and hopefully will bear fruit in the near future, perhaps as soon as in the increasingly modular Windows 7, and WM 7.

Posted on Behalf of Zealot at Mobilitysite.

I got a tip on an article that is sure to spark a little conversation either way. On the other hand, there are surely 20 reasons why the iPod is better than the Zune. Let's not forget that the Zune is not a competitor to the iPod Touch or iPhone.

Let me also say, this is not my article. There are some things I don't agree with, but hey... It's their article.

Many audiophiles believe that Apple’s iPod range aren’t the best media players on the market with sub-par audio quality and limited functionality. While fancy, they are fairly basic with inflated prices. The iPod’s popularity is fuelled by fashionistas and passionate Apple fans but also by consumers that get caught up in the hype – buying Apple because it’s ‘cool’. The Microsoft Zune aims to change this, and to an extent, they already have. We’ve extracted the top 20 reasons why we believe the Zune is the better choice in the media player war.

Read the rest at Gadgetzone.

One of, what appears to be an Uncle Walt Protege, posted a laughable post on All Things Digital. The dudes name is John Psomething. He posted the following today...

A “regularly scheduled maintenance� outage will take Microsoft’s Zune platform offline for up to 48 hours beginning today. So if you’re among the five Zune owners who comprise the “Social� and you’ve actually noticed that it’s suddenly gone missing–along with Zune Marketplace and the Zune Net forums–and you’re bothered by their absence, this is why. Microsoft (MSFT) offered no explanation for the outage, just a brief apology: “We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause you. Please check back soon. We look forward to sharing our picks, plays and recommendations with you.�

So, what I want to know is why anyone would make a post on a heavily read blog like the iWall Street Journal that only addresses "5 Known Users". Is this post playing up to the iAudience that this blog might cater to? (I don't read the site, so I don't know what they cater too, I am just making assumptions. Wrong or right, I don't care) I have the right to exercise fanboyism here, it's a Zune site after all. Is All Things Digital an Anti-Zune site?

So we have 5 Zune Users. So let's do some math eh? The same jackass, posted this in an earlier bash of the Zune...

Great, but will that make a difference, with the Zune market share hovering at 4 percent (compared to Apple at 71 percent)?

OK, so Apple's 71% Market share quite impressive I admit. I do also realize that the iPod has been on the market for how many years? It was the only "real" digital media player for how long? Zune has been in the game for almost 2 years, fighting an uphill battle too.

Anyhow, if 4% of the market share = 5 Zune Users, then there are only 88 Apple Media Player users. What Media Player do the other 31 people use?

Wait, so my daughter, coworker, and I only have 2 other Zune owners to squirt songs to?

With the rumors and leaks popping up everywhere, I thought it would be a good time to solicit feedback for the Zune Team last week. A couple days later, fellow Zune Fanboy and a super friend, Jason Dunn posted his "State of the Zune Union"...

More Video & Audio Codecs: It's great that h.264 is supported, but there's a lot of content out there in Divx and Xvid formats. Add support for these formats directly on-device. Extend audio format support to include OGG and FLAC. If this is really a music-lovers device, support all the common formats that music lovers use, especially those crazy audiophiles. Apple is a format bigot when it comes to video, you have a real opportunity here

This article is a great read, but to be honest, I disagree with Jason on a couple bullet items. Battery life... Ugh, sure the iPod Classic does a little better, but 20+ hours is plenty of battery for most. I would like them to innovate in other ways. Over the air downloads? Yep... that would work.

Read the rest of Jason's article at Zune Thoughts!

PS. You can keep the features, just give me a damn blue Zune!!!

     Today Robbie Bach president of the Entertainment and Devices division for Microsoft stated that there will be no ZunePhone stating “We don't make phones ourselves. We don't have any plans to make phones ourselves.�

He did say that the Zune will eventually have a touch screen “Take the device independent for a second and just assume that over time where there's a screen, touch will be part of it. It's not going to matter what the product line is. You're going to see it be a cornerstone of the work we do.� So it seems that touch will become standard on Zunes when this happens.

Paraphrased from ACE's post on ZuneBoards

Samsung Plans to add 3M Mini-Projector to New Handsets

"3M has been touting its mini-projectors for some time now (along with many others), but it looks like they're now finally a bit closer to landing in an actual product, with Samsung reportedly set to begin offering them later this year. What's not clear, unfortunately, is whether the projectors will actually be built into the cellphones (and if so, which ones), or simply offered as an attachment of some sort, but either way you can apparently expect to pay between $200 and $400 for the chance to spread a bit of visual pollution."

So phones with projectors are all well and good, but what what about a full-fledged media player with one?  One like...oh I don't know, the ZUNE!?!  It just seems like a perfect fit to me(at least moreso than a phone, ya know?), and while I personally don't know how much I'd use something like this, it would make sense to put mini-projectors on a device designed to play video before a phone.  Rather than have friends crowd around your Zune screen or even a laptop to show them a video, you just throw it up on a wall for all to enjoy.  What do you guys think, would you have a use for this?  Would the lack of speakers kill it (for a phone or Zune)?  Hit us up in the comments and let us know your thoughts. 

Source

ACE of ZuneBoards posted a good commentary on the Zune's upward swing in market share:

With the entire PDMP market relatively slow-going, one positive aspect (depending how you look at it) is Zune has still able to find ways to increase its market share. And not by minuscule amounts; Zune has been able to capitalize and generate 33% gains in its share of a highly competitive market. No one expected that…

That’s no small feat with the likes of the market-leader iPods being gobbled up by the millions per quarter. Sure, Zune’s 2 millionth device sold still doesn’t compare to the number of iPods or Sandisks sold, but when looking at the numbers more closely, a more accurate depiction of what’s happening will emerge.

Sandisk was only able squeak out a 10% gain as Creative lost ground by 50%. Even the mighty iPod is showing signs of losing relevance with a 1.4% slip. But that’s still not enough? What then do they expect?

Around the blogs, Zune is still given little if any respect. Tech writers drone about Zune’s flat sales when it’s apparent everyone’s sales are flat. Apparently gaining one-third of one’s market share is nothing worth noting. But that’s expected.

These days, over-priced iPods, with their smaller screens, less features, and pay-per-song model, are what pass as cool. No one likes the new kid on the block.

But heads are turning. The numbers show that. Even amidst economic hardships and a slowing of the PDMP market, Zune is still gaining ground and gaining relevance. With the new features and games on the way (officially), Zune is becoming more of a reckoning force that apparently no one wants to recognize. That’s Ok though.

What do you expect?...

Wow. This is just amazing. 1st off, let me tell you that 100% of my music and movies are legit, I think. I don't do the file sharing thing, I don't rip friends CDs, etc... Even though I don't, I know that many folks out there do. I don't think that its right, but who I am to tell them not to. Let them suffer the consequences if they are caught.

What does all this mean? Why are you talking about this nonsense Chris? Simple. According to NBC in an interview, Microsoft is working on working in a "Copyright Cop" into Zune software.

When asked why NBC left Apple and went with Microsoft...

Second, Apple refused to cooperate with NBC on building filters into its iPod player to remove pirated movies and videos.

Further down...

Similarly, the copyright filtering system is still in development and its exact form has not been set.

Mr. Perrette said the plan is to create “filtering technology that allows for playback of legitimately purchased content versus non-legitimately purchased content.�

So, I don't support or agree with you guys that jack free movies and music, but I still do not think that it is the hardware company's job (or business) to police what people play on their device. That is utter BS.

Link to the Article. Thanks Jaxim.

UPDATE : Cesar has posted a statement on this subject...

We have no plans or commitments to implement any new type of content filtering in the Zune devices as part of our content distribution deal with NBC. 

We think some folks in the industry were expressing hopes for how the entire industry, not just Microsoft, would come to look at content distribution, and some speculation has ensued.  Again, no plans are in place toward this end.

Whew, that makes me feel better.

Apparently someone got shafted on Ebay with a counterfeit Zune...

"Just received my 8GB Zune from Ebay. When I saw the box first I was kind of shocked. Text and Printing not aligned to the center of the packaging, no sticker with serial number and Barcode. As well there were no manuals and the earphones and synch cable were not in separate boxes. Then I thought "wonderful you've bought a fake Zune" but the Device looks fine (ok it looks like second quality, dented screw cover (or whatever the chrome cover covers Smiley and some errors in the laser engraving at the back) When I plugged it into my PC it started charging and a few minutes later it started up and shows correct firmware as well. So how can this be? Has someone embezzled second quality devices and made a new Packaging for them? Has anyone else the same experience?"

The post over at Zunerama details how he appears to have been juked. It's quite possible that this "is" a Zune, but one that didn't make it past QA to go to market and was snuck out of the plant under the shirt.

Source: Zune Thoughts

Dan over at Channel9 posted a video interview with Mike Klucher from XNA. He talks quite a bit about what we should expect to see with zune gaming, and how it will be delivered. Among many XNA-related things shown in this video, you also get a sneak peak at a game called "Alien Takeover" demonstrated using a zune 80. The good news is we should see an initial test version out within about 3 weeks, which will allow developers/users to get a taste of XNA on zune. Although they do emphasize the fact it is aimed more toward developers, anyone can download XNA studios 3.0 , and by getting your hands on .zip file of someone's game, you can easily play it. All I can say is,  it's about time we got some more info on XNA with zune!

Check it out over at Channel9

Edit: The video has been uploaded to youtube(Thanks to WetWorker of ZuneCards.net), so you can watch parts 1&2 after the break.

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