Zune Phone Part of the Future Plans

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20060914:MTFH56298_2006-09-14_21-06-38_N14304886&type=comktNews&rpc=44' target='_blank'>http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/artic...omktNews&rpc=44</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Microsoft Corp. said on Thursday a Zune-branded phone is part of its future plans to expand in the digital music market, now dominated by Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod. "A Zune phone is definitely part of the future of this brand," Chris Stephenson, general manager of global marketing for Zune, told reporters at a news conference. He did not give specific details."</i><br /><br />Bomb...dropped. A Zune phone? That sure came out of left field - what about Windows Mobile and Smartphones? If the Zune brand is a Microsoft "we build it" solution, that means Chris Stephenson is saying that Microsoft is going to build their own phones. That's one wild concept when you consider the impact it might have on Windows Mobile, all the partners Microsoft has, the carriers, and everyone else invested in the current offering. What about Photon, the next-generation version of Windows Mobile? This simple statement from Chris Stepheson is a bombshell - and it spawns dozens of questions.<br /><br />My five-minutes-of-thinking-about-it take? Windows Mobile will continue moving forward, and Photon will stay on track. The Zune phone will be a narrow solution specifically aimed at the music-loving phone users, and be 100% entertainment-centric, lacking in the personal information management goodies we've come to expect from Windows Mobile phones. It will have a great media experience, but will be closer to a feature phone than a real Smartphone. In fact, I'm guessing it will be application-locked just like Portable Media Centers are - meaning no third party applications can be installed on it. So, in some ways, it will just be a really slick "dumbphone".<br /><br />I asked a Microsoft spokesperson for an official response, and here's what he said: "Zune is all about connecting people to their music. It makes sense that Zune could be a part of a phone experience. But there has been no determination of how that will be executed or when it will happen."

[JonnoB]

If MS were smart, they would just add the Zune user experience to an existing Windows Mobile OS - Photon perhaps?

[Jason Dunn]

If MS were smart, they would just add the Zune user experience to an existing Windows Mobile OS - Photon perhaps?

Perhaps...although I'd settle for having the PMC experience on Windows Mobile. That would be killer!

[Phillip Dyson]

If MS were smart, they would just add the Zune user experience to an existing Windows Mobile OS - Photon perhaps?

Perhaps...although I'd settle for having the PMC experience on Windows Mobile. That would be killer!

Im thinking the PMC and Zune experiences will be close enough that it wont matter which one we get. Eventually, anyway.

Leaving WM out of the Zune experience doesn't seem likely for the long term. Microsoft never really plans on building software silos.

[beq]

In regards to Jason's concern (Zune phone colliding/competing with WM product lines), isn't that what's happening to some extent with the initial release of these Zune music players? They're competing with Microsoft's own PlaysForSure initiative and its ecosystem of hardware makers and music services...?

[bcries]

Yeah... I think it would be Microsoft's style to throw everything into the market and see what does well. Kind of like how MCE was sort of a side-project, but now it has "earned" the right to become an important part of Vista.

With mobile devices, we've got quite a mix:
- pocket pc
- pocket pc phone
- smartphone
- portable media center
- "PlaysForSure" music players
- ultra-mobile pc (and everything between UMPC and tablet pc)
- UMPC with built-in WAN? you know it will happen
- zune
- zune phone

There's plenty of functionality overlap - but varrying degrees of standardization/customization (UMPC being the most "open" platform, smartphone sitting somewhere between, and Zune being ostensibly locked to an all-Microsoft interface). At this stage, MS will probably sit back, see what survives, and then run with it. But at some point down the line, I expect to see product lines die off or be "merged" into each other.

Why guess at what the consumer wants, when you're big enough to find out by trial and error? Microsoft is betting that Apple will eventually make a wrong move, and at least one of 10 different MS offerings will finally beat the ipod :)

[ctmagnus]

Initial release: competion for the iPod.

Next release: competion for the rokr.

I just hope that Zune will be better implemented than either as I feel somewhat isolated when I use my iPod, with no connectivity on it other than the iTunes sync mechanism, and the rokr is, afaict, essentially an iPod with a dumbphone integrated into it.

[alese]

That's more interesting to me than "barebones" Zune player, although I like the idea of having Zune integrated into WM even more appealing.

[Yorch]

I said this a while ago, and I still say it today.

Why nobody has created a software that would work in the same way as a Media Center?. Pretty much the same way the Portable Media Center works. A program that would play all my music, my videos and slideshow my pictures. All in a thumb/button-driven design. The funcionality is there, there are plenty of programs that do just that, but there is no program that does this together. That for me would be a killer app, it would work pretty much the Media center work over Windows XP, AND if there is such a program problably there would be no need of Zunas or Ipods or other media players.

[TTown]

The ultimate device would include a pocketpc phone combined with a zune that also incorporates Satellite radio. Sense this is my dream device, there needs to be GPS too, all on a VGA screen.

[Paragon]

Producing a Zune phone seems quite logical to me. Consider the fact that one of MS's main features for this platform is to be as connected as possible to your own data, friends, family, and community, then I think it is an absolute given that it must have wide area connection capabilities. WiFi simply is not enough to fill the bill.....carriers are going to love these things. Just think of the truck loads of money they can make from all those over the air downloads. ;)

Dave

[Craig Horlacher]

Sounds like a Chocolate to me. So far, I don't know that the chocolate is selling very well. Most people around here are still getting razor's. I think Motorola already discontinued the rokr since it wasn't selling well.

The only smart phone I've seen that I would consider using as a phone is the iMate SmartFlip. The reason I would consider it is it's the size of the razor and I like my phone to be small. I wouldn't get it though because it's $500 or more and it wouldn't be able to replace my Toshiba E830.

I think that if Microsoft wants to penatrate the phone market the zune phone will have to be very small. Most people want small phones and are turned off by the size of most smart phones before they even look at the features.

[Paragon]

I think that if Microsoft wants to penatrate the phone market the zune phone will have to be very small. Most people want small phones and are turned off by the size of most smart phones before they even look at the features.

Vector, I think you've missed the point, or maybe it's me that has missed it. I don't think the Zune phone is intended to penetrate the phone market at all. It's primary goal is to be a connected media device. It's not meant to be phone-centric. It's meant to be data-centric.

Dave

[Craig Horlacher]

Vector, I think you've missed the point, or maybe it's me that has missed it. I don't think the Zune phone is intended to penetrate the phone market at all. It's primary goal is to be a connected media device. It's not meant to be phone-centric. It's meant to be data-centric.
Dave

Hmmm, ok. Good point. But then it's sort of hitting an interesting market. Kind of like the Helio maybe but I don't think the Helio is doing very well. It is different in focus though since the Helio is basically a mobile myspace device.