Zune Phone (nearly) Confirmed

Just wanted to let you know the iPhone release date was a hoax:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/0.....x-game-on/

Interesting, the next gen phone market is picking up, especially with MS coming out with its own phone. I doubt that the v 1.0 of the Zune phone will be any good, but as they have done so often in the past, the future versions should be able to comete on an equal footing with Apple and the others. we could see PDA phones becoming a commodity in less than 2 yrs. Kudos to Microsoft

I’m glad someone will be pushing apple a bit on the iphone. This will be good for the whole market as competition is always good for the consumer.

On a side note Apple has gotten ridiculous lately with the iphone skin issues and demanding groups to change their name (Ipod Monday). I have lost complete respect for them and their marketing department. Even the PC and Mac commercials while a bit funny are nothing more than attack ads and generally far from the truth.

So, does this mean that Microsoft is now pissing on their Windows mobile customers in addition to their Plays-For-Sure partners?

I think Apple made the announcement of the Iphone to soon. They should have waited. Not only does Microsoft steal their thunder with this news, but will totally school Apple by releasing it a month early.

“If it doesn’t crash, it’s not Windows” - CalacanisCast

“Where do you want to crash today?”

I think I’ll go for the iPhone

(btw, this is in good humor)

the physical casing of the zune device isn’t nowhere near as appealing as the iphone’s

apple has the pedigree in this market

MS is trying to be all things to all people, their brand image - i feel, is getting diluted

in this market, apple will beat MS as the key player

I think I know where this phone came from.

A friend worked for 3 years on a project that sounds very familiar to what MS is coming out with. He and I talked about his project after the iPhone was announced. He was blown away by the iPhone and its integration while being pretty convincing that the project he worked on did not succeed so well.

If his guess and mine are correct, then this will be about as good a competitor to the iPhone as the Zune was to the iPod.

Everybody is talking about iphone and Zune phone, but like I’m a GNU/Linux fan, not only because is anti-MS, becuase is free (like freedom) I would like to see more posts about OpenMoko, a GNU/Linux based phone.

“The Revolution to “Free Your Phone” is Coming…”

Imagine that you don’t have to change your phone to get the new features… http://www.openmoko.com/press/index.html

Saludos desde Chihuahua, Mexico.

Ryan - to be precise, engadget said the FCC letter was a hoax. I may be remembering incorrectly, but I thought Jobs said that the phone would be released in June when he first showed the phone. My notes say that anyway.

Jorge - are there any consumer devices using this? Sure, a lot of techies would love to mod a phone using a stripped linux kernel to create a homebrew iPhone, but this will never be more than 1% of the market.

BTW - if you’re just looking for the next cool gadget, check out the WalkPod on my site (click on my name, it’s the most recent post by a contributer on my site … I don’t want to get accused of spamming by putting a link in here).

I thought it was pretty funny.

Will Sprint even have a nationwide 4G network by the supposed May release date? Aren’t they focusing on just upgrading their 3G to faster speeds right now?

The only thing I like about the Zune is the screen, but now that Apple has shown off the iPhone with a similar (bigger?) screen, it’s a moot point. Most things I have read about the Zune have been very negative, from the software install process to the sharing of songs to the fact that the only thing you can do with wireless is share songs. I mean, it just sounds friggin’ awful. There is no buzz about the product. I feel sorry for everyone who bought one.

Hmm, the OFDM remark is confusing, as listed here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OFDM

OFDM is a modulation scheme used in Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11a/g not b), IEEE 802.16 AKA WiMAX Wireless MANs, IEEE 802.20 AKA Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA) systems and even Flash-OFDM cellular transmission.

OFDM doesn’t per se excludes Wi-Fi (except 802.11b)

@Michael,

Guess I spoke too soon.

I absolutely prefer the look and design of the Zune over the iPod. I’m not one of those people who wants to run around with it or clip it to myself and stroll around town listening to music.

I want a player that I can leave in my car (Zune’s battery life is much better than the iPod’s when left sitting in a car for several days). I want a player that I can drop on the ground once a week and not have ugly shiny gashes in a needlessly shiny and metallic case.

I HATE the iPod that I have now. I can’t even touch it without getting it covered in finger prints. It smells like metal. It’s just an ugly device and I don’t for the life of me understand why everyone loves it.

I’d have bought a Zune already, but I’m waiting for the Zune phone instead. I’ll be ready to upgrade my phone by May anyway.

OFDM will be the center of a lot of discussion in coming months. It won’t just drive technology. It’s going to drive DOWN cost.

In an International Herald Tribune web discussion during ITU Hong Kong last year I asked Samsung CEO, Kaitei Lee what he thought about the idea of a two or five dollar “NGO Dream Phone.” He pointed to Mobile WiMax. Here’s how the discussion and what he had to say.

“HASAN JAFRI: The $100 computer has received praise as an innovative way to share technology and harness its power for development and education. As convergence becomes telecom’s future and more fiber-optic networks are laid, is anyone working on a $2 or $5 phone that could perform, let us say, three functions - take your pick - really well? Are there ideas out there on a well-designed interface for students and/or teachers in remote villages to better connect them with the world? I have wondered often what such an “NGO Dream Phone” would look like and what it might do.

LEE: I have not thought about such an “NGO Dream Phone” yet. Personally, I think it’s a great idea, though I feel that there will be a need for discussion among manufacturers and service providers. If I have a chance to drive this idea, I would be willing to collaborate with my colleagues in the wireless industry to work toward it.

Besides the NGO phone concept, through advanced technology such as mobile WiMax, people can benefit from a more connected world. The applications of mobile WiMax are limitless and it will be deliverable at a much cheaper cost.”

There you have it: MOBILE WIMAX IS LIMITLESS AND DELIVERABLE AT A MUCH CHEAPER COST.

@Ryan

Leave it to the fanboys to mention the iPhone in an article that has nothing to do with Apple

I am quite excited to see what this turns into. They have plenty of options to make this a great device. The high speed network will be HUGE. As long as they can nail the battery life and the UI this will be great.

Let’s not get distracted into thinking the “month before the iPhone” statement is relevant. Apple could delay the iPhone another year or more and their UI would still be the most advanced thing on the market.

Manton - Just yesterday Samsung released a phone in Seoul, South Korea that looks and functions a lot like the iPhone. Apple’s UI was the most advanced thing on the market - for a couple of weeks. They couldn’t afford to delay.

This phone soon to be released by Samsung has better specs:
http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/340/C11680/

As far as OFDM is concerned, this will be another battle of standards between the interested powerhouses in the telcos market. Most people using mobiles on this planet have only just got use to using 3G (CDMA and GSM). The costs associated to upgrade a telecoms network to OFDM in the 4G range will have to be recouped somewhere (namely us the consumers).

Companies should be focussed on delivering a robust solution that is RELIABLE, AFFORDABLE and WORKS. Why? because MOST people only use 20% of the functions on their tech equipment 80% of the time.

Thanks to the internet and sites like this, people are starting to see and smell the steak and not the sizzle

I guess this depends on how good WiMax coverage will be. Also, AFAIK, OFDM is a modulation scheme, not a standard per se. OFDM is used by both WLANS (802.11g, for example) and WiMax (802.16) standards.

If Microsoft is indeed planning a Zune phone, it risks pissing off other handset providers for the OS.

And if iPhone with its sleek design and positioned to cash on the iPod halo effect will face challenges, Zune phone has much more challenges ahead.

I would like to believe this news to be a hoax. But who knows, I, for one didnt believe that Microsoft will be making a mp3 plyer

This gets debunked hard at engadget.

MICROSOFT DOES INDEED HAVE A PHOTOCOPIER

@heri

What in the hell are you talking about? Because they are making a phone? (Wow, that clearly means they must be copying Apple, conveniently ignoring the other hundreds of cell phone makers)…

Get your head out of your ass and think before you make stupid comments.

I could say the exact same thing about Apple copying every other cell phone maker just because Apple is coming out with a cell phone after everyone else.

Don’t make silly comments like that because you just looks stupid.

I’ll make the same comment about this Zune phone that I did bout the iPhone. Where is the keyboard? A mobile device has to be able to send/receive email and SMS or it is incomplete. You just cannot type a message on a touch screen - there is no tactile feedback.

As long as my Zune phone lets me send error reports everytime it needs to crash.

Do you think the iPhone will be faster and more reliable that iTunes radio? Man that’s annoying.

@Tyler Wright

Just as long as the iPhone locks you into their hardware, their service, and their applications …and then rape you repeatably just like mac computer do now. Oh wait, they already planned on doing that (no replaceable battery, little if any 3rd party support, etc). Maybe I can get a freeze on my iPhone as well.

S**t happens, things crash, including your beloved mac.

I see that the FCC has disallowed the filing for the Zune phone!
On what conditions I hear you ask?

The words “Microsoft” and “enigmatic” were used in the same sentence by the Redmond company’s application for a wireless device.

john
http://www.onesteapchina.com

“Last Monday Microsoft filed an application with the FCC for an enigmatic wireless device that could be used to talk over the Internet. The device is described as being used for “consumer broadband access and networking.”

Zune phone. Well, pr is pr
.

Pretty nifty. I think this is a great move. I haven’t bought an iPod or a Zune, but I would buy a cell phone with these capabilities. I just can’t justify the cost solo though so that I can listen to mp3’s in the car (though I want to).

either Apple or Microsoft better put a GPS receiver in their phones or neither will do very well…

but I think Microsoft is better positioned to creame the ‘local’ market, if they leverage off of their mapping & live search and mash this into nice mapping and GPS tools, you would have the perfect phone/PDA/GPS device…

The Wimax has to be ready first.

Why would you want to ‘talk’ over the internet? Again, “No matter how much you smarten it up, a phone is still a phone.” “No matter how far you dumb it down, a processing device (computer) is still a puter.”