Zune Business Dev Executive Moves On

An anonymous reader slipped us a link to the Seattle PI article discussing Bryan Lee's departure from Microsoft. The former business development VP for the Zune has parted ways with the company for personal reasons now that 'Zune was launched and on track'. This means that J. Allard will be stepping up into fill the void. Allard was instrumental in bringing the first Xbox console to market, and was the VP in charge of technical matters for the Zune. An analyst with Gartner is quoted as saying this move means not all is well in the land of Zune, but a rumour on the CrunchGear site indicates that Microsoft is planning on stepping things up later this year with a Zune cellphone. A smartphone designed to compete with Apple in that market it would seem, despite whatever problems may be going on, the company is still rather fond of the strange little brown device.

Me too

[everphilski]

And seeing as a lot of cell phones out there (Blackjack, Q, anything running Windows Mobile) are essentially windows devices already made by windows vendors ... Microsoft is not new to the cell phone game. If anything it is old hat to them. They definitely have a leg up over Apple, who only has the ROKR (which was a failure any way you look at it) to date.

Zune cellphone?

[j00r0m4nc3r]

Jeezus. Is there any single market that Microsoft WON'T try and get its grubby little hands into? I don't really get why companies like Microsoft need to invade every single market they possibly can for no other reason than "because it's there". They're like some sort of cancer. I wish they would just focus on making their OS and dev tools work. Every time my Visual Studio crashes, or my computer reboots without warning, and I lose productivity, I hate them a little more. Not because they are Microsoft, but because all their effort into trying squeeze every last drop of money out of every possible market takes effort AWAY from them making their other shit work right to begin with. How long have they been making OSes? You'd think that at least THAT would work right by now...

Maybe my coffee just hasn't kicked in yet...

Re:Believe it or not..

[malchus842]

I've really been somewhat on the lookout for a decently open phone with fair storage, music playing capabilities and wifi.

Do you really think Microsoft is going to produce an 'open' product in this area? Given that they agreed to a 'music tax' on the Zune, and the limits they place on DRM'd music, I can't imagine that it would be more open than the iPhone (or even close).

Of course, the iPhone isn't the be-all, end-all either, since it too has it's restrictions (e.g. 3rd party applications).

Zune cellphone?

[MightyYar]

but a rumour on the CrunchGear site indicates that Microsoft is planning on stepping things up later this year with a Zune cellphone

And from the linked article:

That gives Microsoft about nine months to get everything together, an entirely possible feat.

Um, no. 9 months is not enough time to bring a phone - even a simple one - to market. The only reason that we know about the iPhone is that Apple had to submit the design to the FCC for approval 6 months in advance. That would presumably give MS all of 3 months to develop this rumored phone. If they somehow managed to get something to market in that time, it would be utter crap! Unless MS already has a phone in the pipeline, or they are intending to use an existing hardware platform like they did with the Zune, this can only be a rumor.

As for the feature set, streaming video from the Xbox? Huh? You mean on your local network? Gee, that's useful. Isn't the Xbox already hooked up to a TV? If they mean from outside the network, that would require either some killer cell phone bandwidth or some way for the Xbox to be available through the firewall... not sure how that would work as a practical matter, and would you really want to leave your Xbox on all the time and exposed to the internet?

Then there's the business aspect... you've just finished alienating all of your "Plays for Sure" licensees, now you're going to alienate all of your Windows Mobile licensees? Also from a business perspective, going up against Apple's iPhone without the development time and polish, only to be released to a skeptical press in love with anything Apple produces... no thanks.

I'm sorry, this rumor just doesn't seem plausible.

A good move...

[aapold]

So, this guy was in charge of marketing the device, while J Allard handled the tech?

By most accounts, the device had decent technology, but everyone thought it was crap?

Sounds like a failure of marketing...

Re:I hate to retread the "old news" moniker...

[morgan_greywolf]

...but does anyone else find it a bit scary how you can read news like this on your Wii at night

Hmm. I didn't actually know you could read news on a Wii. I'm seriously going to have to get me one of these things. Really.

Anyway, I see/hear about a lot of news on a variety of news channels like CNN, NPR, Google News, etc. and then see it on Slashdot later or the next day. I chalk it up to the format: Slashdot reports news that other sites have already published, as submitted by its readership. Nothing new, really. A lot of Slashdotters probably have Wiis given how 'cool' many /.ers think they are, so it wouldn't surprise me to see Slashdot picking up a lot of stories that appear on a Wii.

*shrug*

Left hand vs right hand?

[plopez]

FTA about the record companies and the Zune:
loath to cooperate with Microsoft by easing the digital restrictions on music tracks

SO VIsta is focused on DRM while the Zune wants open exchange. Is this a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing? Is there a fundamental conflict here?

Re:Believe it or not..

[joshetc]

Honestly I was hugely disappointed with the also closed iPhone. It lacks features and touchscreen-only REALLY doesn't do it for me. Its pretty hard to drive and read your cell phone at the same time..

It doesn't have to be open but if it runs Windows Mobile, that is open enough for what I intend to do with it. I expect their phone will be just like most Windows-based PDAs, only it can make phone calls as well.

Obviously my opinions are against group-think but I am just speaking my mind. I'm anxious to see whats brought to the table by Microsoft, hopefully sometime this summer.

Re:Believe it or not..

[peragrin]

you shouldn't be driving and trying to read ANY cell phone at the same time.

While I won't ever buy an iPhone.(too many features for me I got an L2 for a reason) It's interface is a lot more novel than your giving them credit for. The touch screen which buttons disappear when you move the phone to your ear? the iPhone is filled with little features that you won't notice until you can compare it againist LG's Prada. Now that will be a good review.

Keyboards, and mice really aren't that great for all interfaces. I have been waiting years for the technology to catch up to better methods.

Give it time

[Saffaya]

Taking the Xbox as example, I would not be surprised if :

_Microsoft seriously commits to this product long enough
_After several incremental iterations

This would end up being a fair product. If not good.

Especially when you read that some of the biggest user complaints stem from 'political decisions' made by Microsoft/media companies and do not come from a technical standpoint.

Re:Applications on a Wireless phone [Crunch Gear]

[geekoid]

of course they were thinking about it, pretty much every technology company has been thinking about it for 15 or more years.
Let see them release something people will use.

Re:iPod then Zune then iPhone then Zone ?

[UnknowingFool]

There are millions of MS based phones already being used around the world which far exceed the functionality of the "iPhone".

I think the debate here is the same of that of MP3 players before the iPod. Well, many players are technically superior to the iPod. The Nomad had more space than the iPod. It's not so much that the iPhone brings a lot of new functions to smart phones. It's that the implementation of these functions may be better. Will the iPhone have a better UI? Will their browser and emails work well? I'm interested too in seeing how it works because most phones suck when it comes to UI. The other day a friend of mine asked me for another friend's number. I figure it would be easy enough to send a text message. For the life of me, there was no way I could do a simple cut and paste from my cell's phonebook. I had to write down the number type it in. It's the little things like that.

Remember, the Newton was technically superior to Palm, but Palm made their device much simpler and cheaper and they sold millions. Palm unfortunately has not been able to keep up with the demands of today's market which wants more functionality and, at the same time, ease of use.

Gaining Zune Marketshare

[Nom du Keyboard]

If Microsoft wants Zune marketshare, they should be basically giving it away. You're not going to remove iPod's cool factor with a device that costs as much, has the Microsoft name associated with it, and offers marginal, if any, improvement. And sharing crippled, DRM-laden, play-limited, songs wirelessly just isn't enough more. Your brown faux iPod just isn't going to impress your friends enough for what it cost you.

Re:If Apple made a Magic Pony, would Microsoft?

[Reality Master 101]

Steve Jobs, Macworld, 2008: "We've invented the iPony!" (pulls back sheet to reveal shining white magical pony prancing on stage) "His name is Starshine, and we made him from moonbeams, fairy dust, suger, spice, and a tiny bit of neatsfoot oil. He can sing, dance, do your algebra homework, and go from 0-60 in 4.9 seconds!"

Meanwhile, all the rest of the ponies outside who are slightly less shiny look shocked at Apple taking credit for their long-time existence.

Re:What's wrong with your Computer?

[Viol8]

A car engine doesn't install its own oil or download new oil via service patches. You have no choice but to do it yourself. MS meanwhile keep banging their drump about A) how good the OS is to start with and B) how amazing their auto update system is.

Re:Zune cellphone?

[drew]

Shareholder Return.

Shareholders (typically) expect that, if you've grown your revenues at a certain rate in the past, you'll continue to grow at that rate. If you exceed your past growth, your stock value goes up. If you fall short, your stock value goes down. Microsoft saturated the Operating System a long time ago. Most of Microsoft's OS revenue comes from people buying new computers. Well before Win2k, computer buying had slowed down to the point that the vast majority of people buying new computers were replacing old computers. Where do they have left to grow? Compared to the Win95/98 days, where many people bought new versions of Windows to install on old computers that didn't have it yet, and many more people were buying their first Windows powered PC, there isn't much room for Microsoft to grow in that department anymore. (At least in the U.S. which also explains their recent intense interest in developing countries) Likewise with Office suites. As Microsoft (or any company) saturates their current market(s), they have to grow (or buy) their way into new markets in order to continue growth.

Re:A good move...

[Tim Browse]

Well, the Zune can't play music you've bought from the iTunes store.

I should say that I hate the iTunes lock-in and don't buy music from it, but you did ask.

(This wouldn't be so bad, of course, except that when it launched, the Zune couldn't play music you'd bought from Microsoft backed music stores, either...doh!)