In case you’re still holding your breath for a Zune Phone, you might also want to cut a flap in the back of your pants to let the monkeys fly out. It doesn’t look likely, folks. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said that the Zune Phone is a no-go as he feels that the market for portable media devices is slowly fading out and that he sees it being replaced by multi-purpose devices. Okay, Steve, no Zune with phone capabilities… but what about a phone with Zune capabilities? Apparently that’s more likely.
I just recently got a 120GB Zune. Do I wish it could make phone calls? Nah. I’m far too impressed with everything else it can do to care. I have a phone. And a Zune.
Do you agree with Ballmer? Do you thing portable media is on its way out?
Can’t wait for the live keynote tonight? Well here are the official notes on what’s happening with Microsoft at CES.
Go ahead and skip right through the strict press rules and regulations and get right to the “Panels and Conferences With Microsoft Participants” section - that’s where the good stuff is!
Interested in what Steve Ballmer and Entertainment & Devices Division president Robbie Bach have to say at their press conference at CES 2009 tonight? Well thanks to PressPass’s virtual press room, you can watch live!
Live - right here - at 6:30pm PST (9:30pm EST) tonight, you’ll be able to watch Steve Ballmer unveil what Microsoft has in store for 2009! What’s WinMo got up their sleeves? Any guesses?
Visit the site often to find the latest news about Microsoft and Microsoft-related announcements during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which runs January 7-11 in Las Vegas.
Stay tuned to WindowsMobile Cool for feature articles, product news, press materials and live updates from the CES show floor!
Global Equities Research’s Trip Chowdhry is spreading the rumor that Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer will be unveiling the Zune phone at CES in Las Vegas on January 7th 2009. Chowdhry claims that the company’s new centerpiece will combine the best features of the Zune media player with the hardware design of Danger’s mobile Sidekick. Think of the iPhone with a slide out QWERTY.
My major issue with a Zune phone is development. Are we to expect a new OS that everyone will now have to develop separate apps for? Will it just be Windows Mobile apps ported to the Zune phone? Hey Ballmer, hows about getting some more info out to the masses? Thanks.
Steve Ballmer has just recently confirmed Windows Mobile 6.5 and already screenshots are popping up on the Internet. From the above 2 leaked screenshots, we can see that the interface is a significant departure from the classic Windows Mobile style. The user interface seems geared towards a touch screen which would make sense considering the volume of touch screen devices that have been launched and are coming in the next year.
The screenshots are a little puzzling in that the Windows Mobile logo changes color between screenshots as well as the battery and signal strength icons switch positions.
Steve Ballmer gave iPhone a tip of the hat when he said that the App Store makes it “easier for developers to distribute their application.” He said “there’s not much money being made” which is strange because in the grand scheme of downloads and mobile content purchases, the App Store is doing great!
Ballmer suggests in the above video that along with Windows Mobile 7, we’re likely to see a Windows Mobile App Store. Developers demand it.
Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer has confirm that Windows Mobile 6.5 will be arriving. “With releases we’ll make this year - releases we’ll make with 6.5 next year, Windows Mobile 7, I think we have a pretty interesting roadmap.” Says Ballmer. So we don’t have much in the way of specifics, but at least we know they have something on the way.
Google and Symbian are moving toward providing their operating systems royalty-free with Google only drawing in money by integrating its services and ad platform. But what about Microsoft? Well, according to Steve Ballmer’s recent chat with Reuters, Microsoft isn’t looking to jump on the free bandwagon any time soon - still charging $8-$15 per phone for the Windows Mobile operating system.
We are doing well, we believe in the value of what we are doing,” Ballmer said. “It’s interesting to ask why would Google or Nokia, Google in particular, why would they invest a lot of money and try to do a really good job if they make no money. I think most operators and telecom companies are skeptical about Google.
What do you think? Are royalty-free operating systems going to be full of hooks or disclaimers? Or is Microsoft just greedy?
There are much talk today about the possibility of Microsoft including Zune software on their upcoming Windows Mobile devices.
Steve Ballmer, the chief executive officer of Microsoft Corporation since January 2000, said recently in an interview with CIO magazine, that Microsoft will soon be porting Zune software over to Windows Mobile devices.
At the end of the day, one of the big trends is that all content is going digital. And if we don’t have the software and services that are useful, helpful and valuable for the consumption of music and video, we are sort of not really a player.
Now, we built the Zune hardware with the Zune software - and what you’ll see more and more over time is that the Zune software will also be ported to and be more important not just with the hardware but on the PC, on Windows Mobile devices, etc.
Who knows when that will be but if I had to bet, I’d bet on Windows Mobile 7.
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