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Re-activateSince 2006, giant Microsoft with its Zune digital media player tried to topple the Apple iPods' dominant hold on the digital music and video players. But now, it seems the software maker may be bowing out of the race.
A Bloomberg news story says Microsoft is considering the end of its Zune players and will instead concentrate on the Zune software for mobile phones. Such a move, states the report (based on undisclosed sources), may help Microsoft gain ground in the race for smart phones—an area where it currently lags behind both the Apple iPhone and various devices powered by Google's Android software.
With an estimated 77 percent of the mobile player market belonging to Apple, Microsoft Zune players and software did seem to be the proverbial David. Still, each subsequent version of the Zune player not only matched its Apple rival but also beat the iPod when it came to hardware features.
Microsoft's third-generation player, the Zune HD (in both 16- and 32-GB sizes), for example, features a power-sipping OLED touch screen that our testers found to be as bright and sharp as the iPod touch's screen. And the Zune featured not only an FM radio tuner but one for HD Radio as well. What our lab testers did find lacking in the latest Microsoft Zune was its software. (The complete review of the Microsoft Zune HD, as well as the full Recommendations and Ratings of MP3 players, are available to subscribers only.)
If Microsoft does pull the plug on Zune players, is this a good move for consumers? Will it really help the company in the area of smart phones? And is it one of the signs that the mobile-device world will soon be dominated by one device: the smart phone? Weigh in below.
—Paul Eng
Microsoft Is Said to Stop Releasing New Models of the Zune [Bloomberg]
Zune hardware apparently dead, software and services live on [CNN]
What The Zune Taught Microsoft [San Francisco Chronicle]
—Paul Eng
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