[benjimen]

Originally Posted by cab124

... Does it bother just me that Windows Mobile is being referred to with increasing frequency as a "phone" OS? ...

It escapes me how something like this could actually bother you... but... whatever...

I think the Zune-port is great. I don't have a Zune, but I recently installed the desktop client to take a look -- very impressive. While it didn't make me want to buy a Zune (I use my WM phone as a media player) it did make me wish I needed it with my WM phone-os based device. The look of it is much sleeker than iTunes; I was actually surprised it came out of Microsoft.

WMP on my Vista system isn't bad, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be improved -- though there haven't been updates to it in quite a while. While WMP looks OK, the Zune desktop client is much nicer, just doesn't play all the file formats as WMP, or sync with my WM phone.

[benjimen]

Originally Posted by cab124

... Does it bother just me that Windows Mobile is being referred to with increasing frequency as a "phone" OS? ...

It escapes me how something like this could actually bother you... but... whatever...

I think the Zune-port is great. I don't have a Zune, but I recently installed the desktop client to take a look -- very impressive. While it didn't make me want to buy a Zune (I use my WM phone as a media player) it did make me wish I needed it with my WM phone-os based device. The look of it is much sleeker than iTunes; I was actually surprised it came out of Microsoft.

WMP on my Vista system isn't bad, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be improved -- though there haven't been updates to it in quite a while. While WMP looks OK, the Zune desktop client is much nicer, just doesn't play all the file formats as WMP, or sync with my WM phone.

[Stinger]

Nice to see a bit of synergy at last.

[efjay]

At the slow pace MS usually works at, can we really expect to see this during the lifetime of current devices? I'm not sure this is something to get excited about just yet, Balmer seemed to meniton it more as a future concept MS were considering not as something that is going to be implemented anytime soon. Remember we are still waiting for PIE 6, how long has that been in the works?

[Craig Horlacher]

For me would be efficiency of the player. If they can't come up with a video player that is as good as TCPMP/CorePlayer/BetaPlayer then why bother. That's my feeling.

WMP on Window Mobile is so ridiculously inefficient it somehow eats CPU when it's idle in the background. You'd think it would be good for video playback since it uses so many resources but it's not.

Before they make a pretty interface I just want a player that plays video well, supports the built in hardware (like my nvidea goforce 5500).

I just think they need to work on the core to make the player usable first. What good is an sick hot interface if it can't play media well.

[benjimen]

I could easily be wrong, but I suspect it'll be available on WM7 devices and beyond. If the 'life of a current device' includes a WM7 update, then yes...

Originally Posted by efjay

At the slow pace MS usually works at, can we really expect to see this during the lifetime of current devices? I'm not sure this is something to get excited about just yet, Balmer seemed to meniton it more as a future concept MS were considering not as something that is going to be implemented anytime soon. Remember we are still waiting for PIE 6, how long has that been in the works?

[juttonn]

The reason (or one of the reasons) that MS has not pushed this through before is that they hope that consumers purchase both a Windows mobile device and a Zune. I have used my Windows Mobile devices as my only media player for over 5 years. I did purchase the 2nd gen 80 GB zune 9 months ago at target and tried it out. I ended up returning it because I didn't want to carry an extra device and I actually enjoyed the media experience better with Pocket Player for audio and The Core Player for video.

That said, I think this is a good move and I think the only way for MS to move up on Apple in the portable media department (not to mention gaining market share in the phone market) is to make moves like this that give the consumer greater choice, flexibility, and value. Too often companies try to leverage current customers to purchase more, rather than give added value to what they have already purchased. You can more easily afford the former when you are dominate, but need to pursue the latter to significantly grow your market share.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by Cattle-Dog

I would be very disappointed if they only took advantage of the zune UI for media management. I think it should be freshened up and modified to run the UI for the whole phone.

I'm not so sure about that - the Zune user interface is great for media, but it's not a touch-based interface, and it's not designed for rich applications like contacts and calendars. I agree Windows Mobile as a whole needs a UI overhaul, but I'm not sure if the Zune interface is the best way to go overall...

[Rocco Augusto]

Woohoo! Now I won't have to carry my Zune and my Windows Mobile device around with me. Well... you know... once its released into the wild.

[Pony99CA]

For those of us who have never seen a Zune in action, can you give us a list of reasons (maybe with screen shots) why you think this is a good idea?

I have no problems with the current Media Player UI, so I don't know what the fuss is about.

Steve

[Pony99CA]

Originally Posted by benjimen

It escapes me how something like this could actually bother you...

Because calling something as powerful as Windows Mobile a "phone OS" slights the system. It would be equivalent to saying "Nice jalopy" to somebody driving a Ferrari.

Steve