Pioneer Studios Closed by Microsoft

[Adan Galvan]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-20064439-75.html' target='_blank'>http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-20064439-75.html</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"The idea behind Pioneer was to breathe a culture of innovation into the all-too-often stolid company. As it's grown, Microsoft has become increasingly bureaucratic, a place where creativity could often be crushed under a mountain of meetings and dependencies on other Microsoft products."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/wpt/auto/1306240312.usr681.jpg" style="border: #d2d2bb 1px solid;" /></p><p>Although today is a huge day for Windows Phone, let's take a moment to mourn the loss of one of the most innovative labs at Microsoft. Pioneer Studios, first opened up by J Allard (the executive behind the Xbox), had the mission of innovating and creating products that could help Microsoft compete against competitors such as Apple. The dual-screen courier was the most famous and sought-after product to ever be announced, but unfortunately the product was scrapped before it ever hit the light of day. The studio was involved in much more than just the Courier, having lent their skills in the development of Windows Phone 7, Zune, and the failed Kin. Although the studio is closing, let's hope that the employees and their ideas persist and find their way into other Microsoft products.</p>

[Jason Dunn]

I feel like this is a bad sign...Microsoft needs to become more design and experience-driven rather than features-driven.

[after_forever]

The studio was involved in much more than just the Courier, having lent their skills in the development of Windows Phone 7, Zune, and the failed Kin. Although the studio is closing, let's hope that the employees and their ideas persist and find their way into other Microsoft products.What took so long to shut them down? Let us hope that the employees find work in a fast food restaurant. I bet they might get inspired by how much technology is inside of a cash register.
What in the world has this group done that actually helped Microsoft compete against competitors such as Apple?
Windows Phone 7: Too little to late in the game. They had the market some years ago but failed to keep pace. Late to bring new ideals and hardware to the customers. After learning about this studio, maybe this explains why WP7 was released with only about half the features found in WM6.5 working in WP7.
Zune: Same story line as above, Great product in the day, but never kept pace with the competition.
and the failed Kin: enough said.