loosy|goosy|ness - Blog

Zune HD is the latest player in the Zune device family, available in 16GB and 32GB capacities and is the first touch screen Zune with HD functionality and powerful technology to give consumers a different way to experience music and video on-the-go.

• HD Radio –Zune HD comes with a built-in FM HD Radio receiver enabling users to tune to more free stations with even better clarity and sound quality.
• HD Video Out – Connect your Zune HD to the optional Zune Premium A/V docking station and watch HD videos, TV shows and movies in your large screen TV in 720p high definition
• Internet Browser and Wi-Fi - Zune HD includes a full-screen Internet browser optimized for multi-touch and Wi-Fi connectivity

Zune Software

• QuickPlay – A whole new user interface that offers one-click access to your favorites, and recent activity on both the PC and your Zune HD
• Smart DJ -  With one click, Zune becomes your personal DJ, creating and serving you an endless playlist based on the genre, style and influences of the song or artist you choose

Zune Services (Zune Marketplace and Zune.net)

• For the first time, Zune Marketplace is offering full-length movies in HD and SD format for download and rental; download HD TV shows and movies and watch them on your Zune or PC.  Or with the optional A/V docking station, watch them in high definition on your HDTV
• Zune.net Streaming - With a Zune Pass, stream music directly from Zune.net from any internet-connected computer.  No client software download needed
• Zune Pass - Access nearly 6 million songs for only $14.99 a month and keep 10 free MP3 downloads each month 
• Zune Pass + SmartDJ - If you have a Zune Pass you can use SmartDJ to stream an endless playlist from the nearly 6 million song Zune catalog from any internet connected PC via Zune.net, no download required

Expansion into Xbox

• Later this fall, Microsoft will bring the Zune video service to the nearly 20 million Xbox Live users as Zune becomes the video store for Xbox Live
• “Buy Once, Play Anywhere” - Consumers will be able to buy a movie once and watch it on multiple devices:  Xbox 360, Zune device and PC

Pricing

• Zune HD 16GB for $219.99 on Amazon (as of 9/17/09)
• Zune HD 32GB for $289.99 on Amazon (as of 9/17/09)

Zune HD is available in the retail channel on Sept 15, but for the time being the Zune HD device will remain US only.

Learn more: http://www.zune.net/en-us/products/zunehd/default.htm

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Apple's MobileMe and Google's Gmail online e-mail services suffered hours-long outages Monday, leaving millions of users unable to access their accounts.

Google restored service within about two and a half hours, but it took Apple approximately seven hours to restore full access to its online mail service.

Apple users first reported trouble accessing the service's servers from their desktop mail clients around 2 p.m. Eastern, and in the next several hours, posted several hundred messages on the MobileMe support forum about the outage.

A notice on the service's main support page acknowledged the problem. "MobileMe members are intermittently unable to access MobileMe Mail using a desktop e-mail application, iPhone or iPod touch," said Apple. "Access to www.me.com/mail is unaffected. Service will be restored ASAP. We apologize for any inconvenience."

By 9 p.m. Eastern that notice had been replaced with an all-clear indicator.

Google's Gmail, meanwhile, went offline around 5 p.m. Eastern, and greeted users with a message reading in part, "We're sorry, but your Gmail account is currently experiencing errors."

A little over two hours later, Google added a notice to its Gmail help page that attributed the outage to "the contacts system used by Gmail which is preventing Gmail from loading properly. We are starting to roll out a fix now and hope to have the problem resolved as quickly as possible."

Shortly after that, at about 7:30 p.m., Google declared the outage over. "Users who were temporarily affected by the 502 errors should now be able to access their account," read a message posted to the Gmail Help Discussion forum. "Thanks for your patience while we worked to resolve this issue for everyone."

Apple users were especially livid, in part because they, unlike Gmail's users, pay for their service, and also because of the multiple problems they had with MobileMe since its launch a month ago.

"I'm so disgusted with Apple right now I don't even know what to say," said a user identified as "Furi0us.Bee" in a message posted to the longest forum thread on the subject.

"This is crazy," said another user, "mac_wa," on the same thread. "I have had more down time with my mac/me mail than any other service I've had... and I pay for this."

But Owen Schultz had one of the best takes of any user. "Dear MS Outlook," Schultz started, "I am so sorry about our breakup several year ago. I have been thinking about you a lot since then. Will you please consider taking me back? Just one more chance? I'm sorry about all the horrible things I said about you and your operating system. You were the best I ever had! MobileMe and I are finished!"

MobileMe's travails -- ranging from an extended migration from its predecessor, .Mac, to an 11-day mail outage last month -- prompted Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs, to issue a memo to company employees last week in which he called the rollout "not up to Apple's standards."

Jobs shook up Apple's management team over the series of snafus, and handed responsibility for the service to Eddy Cue, who heads iTunes.
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Source: www.infoworld.com

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With Microsoft’s announcement today to buy cell phone software maker Danger Inc., the deal may not only strengthen the software giant’s position in consumer mobile phones and strengthen defenses against Google’s Android platform, but also mean a new addition for gamers.

The acquisition will provide more applications to Xbox through existing Danger services, Microsoft said. However, the possibility of a portable Xbox arises from Danger’s wide range of software, which can be made capable of playing some Xbox games, with the company’s gadgets used as the foundation for a portable gaming device capable of making phone calls.

“Microsoft is a global leader with our Windows Mobile software and expanding mobile services,” said Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. “The addition of Danger serves as a perfect complement to our existing software and services, and also strengthens our dedication to improving mobile experiences centered around individuals and what they like.”

Microsoft intends to combine Danger’s applications, including HTML Web browsing, instant messaging, games, multimedia, social networking, and Web email into Xbox, as well as MSN, Zune, Windows Live, and Windows Mobile.

Danger’s broad software portfolio also provides the opportunity to play lightweight Xbox games in future versions, according to Dan Frommer from Forbes.

“Another plus: Because Danger doesn’t build its own gadgets, Microsoft can pick the manufacturing strategy that makes the most sense,” Frommer said. “For now, it can keep outsourcing devices to partners like Motorola, which also makes Windows Mobile phones. And later, if it wants, Microsoft can merge Danger’s gadgets into its Zune line -- or use it as the basis for a portable Xbox that also makes phone calls.”
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Source: gamerush.zoomshare.com

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Windows Mobile 6.1 will be unveiled officially in about 2 weeks at Mobile World Congress 2008 (watch our first-hand reports from there!) but already now somebody has managed to play with it!

Here are the highlights:

• Office Mobile now includes also One Note Mobile application - apart from Word Mobile, Excel Mobile and PowerPoint Mobile, one new application is available - it can record voice notes and drawings and textual notes
• Internet Explorer now has function "Zoom Out" what enables page-overview mode and better overall navigation through web pages
• Windows Mobile 6.1 still is based on Windows CE 5.2 so no upgrade to Windows CE 6.0
• SMS chat view mode is available so SMS messages can appear in threaded-way - more comfortable to follow SMS conversations
• instead of "Settings / Memory / Running Programs" now a Task Manager is available with possibility to set settings of executed threads/processes like CPU (indication of dual-core Windows Mobile devices?) and memory
• new menu item "Managed Programs"
• the much expected improvements in usage for finger based navigation - are nowhere to be found! (apparently users will need to wait till 2009 for Windows Mobile 7 to get them)

To learn more visit Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional review (in Portuguese but several screenshots are in English and worth seeing).
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Source: http://msmobiles.com/

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Windows Mobile, like Windows itself, has had a checkered history. Early versions were maligned as being feature-poor and difficult to use. However, in a tale familiar to anyone who has followed Microsoft, the company stuck at it, and the portable operating system started to come into its own. The most recent release, Windows Mobile 6.0, added Vista-like themes to go along with a significant upgrade to the OS internals. Having conquered Palm in the dying PDA market, Windows Mobile was now ready to go toe-to-toe with other phone operating systems and platforms such as BlackBerry, Symbian and various Linux derivatives.

All seemed well in Windows Mobile land, but then Apple released the iPhone running a stripped-down version of OS X and a new multitouch user interface. Despite Steve Ballmer's prediction that the phone had "no chance" of gaining significant market share, a recent survey by Net Applications showed the iPhone actually overtaking Windows Mobile in web browsing share: 0.09 percent for the iPhone versus 0.06 percent for all Windows CE and Mobile devices put together. All of a sudden Windows Mobile phones seemed like they were stuck in the past, and minor UI annoyances stuck out like a sore thumb.

Windows Mobile 6.1.

Never one to back down from a challenge, Microsoft is busily preparing both a minor UI refresh (Windows Mobile 6.1) and a major new release of the operating system (Windows Mobile 7.0). A gallery of screen shots from the 6.1 refresh compiled by Boy Genius shows an emphasis on simplification: the screens are more task-oriented and have less clutter than their immediate predecessor. A new and clearer font adorns the UI, and new features such as zooming, copy and paste in Internet Explorer, and auto-configuring ActiveSync for e-mails are sure to be welcome additions to the platform. In addition, Microsoft is making it easier (and more Windows-like) to switch tasks by adding a standardized task manager to the platform.

As far as Windows Mobile 7.0 goes, there are no leaked screen shots as of yet, but big changes are afoot. Microsoft plans to completely redo applications such as Internet Explorer, bringing the mobile browser up to par with Apple's Mobile Safari. The e-mail and SMS applications are also scheduled for complete rewrites. Microsoft plans to make the user interface even more consumer-friendly.

Beyond 7.0, Microsoft is even hinting at a completely redesigned Windows Mobile 8.0, which will again redo the internals of the operating system to keep up with newer and more powerful mobile hardware. Details for this release are scarce, although Microsoft promises features such as being able to go from a person's address in their contact info directly to a map view with directions to where they live. It all sounds like the iPhone really lit a fire under the posteriors of the Windows Mobile team, and that can only be good news for smartphone users.
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Source: http://arstechnica.com

Further reading:

• Gizmodo has an in-depth interview with a couple of members of the Windows Mobile dev team, discussing what they believe is wrong with Windows Mobile 6 and how they plan to fix it
• Microsoft may have iPhone on the brain as it works on future versions of Windows Mobile, but CEO Steve Ballmer isn't too concerned about Google's Android platform.
• Windows Mobile 6 was released last February. Reread our impressions of it as you look ahead to Windows Mobile 6.1 and 7.0

Related Stories:

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• Microsoft hopes to double smartphone sales once again
• New Windows Mobile "Crossbow" reviews hit the 'Net
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