• Zune is officially dead. As a hardware.
    35 replies, posted
I'm just gonna copy&paste the first article I found. But you can search it on Google. The Zune is dead. [img]http://backspacetab.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/zune.gif[/img] [quote]The Microsoft Zune is officially dead and will no longer be produced according to a Microsoft posting on the Zune support pages. One might argue (and fairly successfully) that the Zune has been effectively dead for years now and since the iPhone changed the mobile music landscape and took what little weight was on the Zune’s shoulders and placed it squarely on Windows Phone 7. What makes it officially dead is that Microsoft seems to have come to that conclusion as well. From Microsoft’s statement: [i]We recently announced that, going forward, Windows Phone will be the focus of our mobile music and video strategy, and that we will no longer be producing Zune players. So what does this mean for our current Zune users? Absolutely nothing. Your device will continue to work with Zune services just as it does today. And we will continue to honor the warranties of all devices for both current owners and those who buy our very last devices. Customer service has been, and will remain a top priority for us.[/i] While the Zune hardware will no longer be produced, it seems that the software will not be left out in the cold. The Zune market place is — and looks like it will continue to be — a thing and there are plans to port the lion’s share of Zune HD applications over to Windows Phone 7. This is probably a fitting end for Zune considering that it seems to have turned into a sprawling, but relatively ineffectual brand associated with hardware that came and went years ago. The Zune name is planned to be rebranded into “Windows Live,” a name which gives it a much tighter connection with its most successful relative, Xbox Live. We’ll see how that works out for it.[/quote] [url]http://www.geekosystem.com/microsoft-zune-officially-dead/[/url] The funny thing is that the last 3 days I was searching for a good music player, and guess which one was the one I wanted to buy. However, I'm curious, is this thing gonna make them go cheaper or more expensive?
Aww man, that kinda sucks. The older Zunes with a hard drive were basically the cheaper version of a iPod Classic : They have a lot of storage and they can be used as a self-defence weapon considering how fucking heavy and huge they are :v: I can see why they're pulling out of the business since media players aren't what they used to be. The market is now dominated by "do every thing but phone calls" devices like the iPod Touch or just about any Android device Archos made. The Zune HD just couldn't compete since Microsoft are being assholes and making their OS even more closed than Apple. I'll miss the old bricks, ~150 bucks for 80 GB and a 10 hour battery life was kinda nice...
They're pretty featureless in comparison to Windows Phones nowadays, but either way, WP7 or not, I saw this coming. Way too late to the ballgame to be considered a competitor even though they were better.
I just got a 30 gig brick zune. I don't need an iwhatever or anything. Just a lot of storage space and at least a screen with artist/song select. I won't fall into the apple fad.
Still using my ZuneHD from when it first launched. As a media player, it has no rival really. Still works great till this day, use it all the time. I don't have a smartphone and dont plan on getting one so the zune player was a logical choice for me
They'll live on in WP7, since WP7 phones have a Zune HD built into them. Same interface and all.
i've had a Zune HD since the day it released and it has served me well without any problems. when it comes down to MP3 players there really isn't a better investment, Zunes are tough as nails.
I might grab a ZuneHD while they're relatively cheap
May actually pick one of these up now. I have a iTouch 2nd Gen but it's only 8 gigs, which doesn't hold nearly enough songs for me.
[url]http://www.amazon.com/Zune-Video-MP3-Player-Black/dp/B002JPITXY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317791085&sr=8-1[/url] What the fuck, starting at $225? It retails for $160
They never really supported the Zune that much anyway. I'm surprised it took them this long.
The Zune HD was a beast of a PMP, it looked awesome too.
I absolutely adored my Zune HD, it was such a pleasure to use. Also in my opinion there hasn't been a better looking PMP made, including iPods.
[QUOTE=TheLolrus;32634062]They never really supported the Zune that much anyway. I'm surprised it took them this long.[/QUOTE] Yeah, but honestly the device stands so well on its own that it really didn't need much post launch support. What support they gave was pretty solid all around - there's now enough apps for the HD to fill the basic voids (weather, notes, WLM messenger, etc), even if 99% of the focus was on developing the zune marketplace. Which is miles better than iTunes, especially if you get and can use Zune Pass ($15/mo for unlimited subscription to their entire music library, and at end of each month you are rewarded with 10 songs to keep for good even if you cancel). Mixed with Smart DJ Zune Pass effectively works like an offline pandora (or online one if you are in wifi range). If you own a smart phone and already pay an expensive dataplan for it there's no real point in getting a media player unless you really care about higher audio quality and much better battery life enough to have one. For people like me who don't want a smartphone (cost plus I don't need a dataplan contract in my life) and who jsut have a normal flipphone, the Zune/ZuneHD is one of the best PMP's you can get on the market. If you have lots of music offline that you own that you'd rather carry around with you instead of just doing something like Pandora/Zune Pass w/ smart DJ, then the older zunes with HDD's are perfect. Very solid build quality, great audio quality and not too giant.
Shit I have an old (used) iPod Video 30g and I don't want to buy into that 'IT DOES EVERYTHING' fad or trend, however cool the devices might be. My mindset is that if I want to listen to music I'll buy a device that PLAYS MUSIC. I'm not going to use my MP3 player to text the friends I don't have or read the internet I'm already on at home. The ZuneHD was going to be my next major purchase in hardware. I guess that's more of a rant but here's a question: Will this make the prices skyrocket or plummet bitcoin style. I'd go for 50/50 since they're be hard to get but stores will probably be the ones to sell off the stock cheap. What do you dudes think?
Apparently it undied: [url]http://www.neowin.net/news/the-zune-hd-livesagain[/url]
I love my Zune. I think it's a pretty good product and if Microsoft actually made an effort it could've been a real competitor to the iPod but they seem to have completely dropped the ball on advertising
I know, a few obnoxious Apple like adverts and the thing would have sold like crazy.
Update: apparently Zune Pass (which I detailed above) no longer exists. Instead, they have Zune "Music" Pass now. It has the advantage of being $5 cheaper per month than the original Zune Pass (if you get a year subscription you get two months free too, so its even cheaper) at the price of $9.99 a month The downside is that you no longer get to keep 10 songs per month in the billiing period if you decide to end the subscription - so any and all music you download and stream at full quality from the pass will stop working.
I am lamenting the loss of this technological masterpiece. It will be dearly yearned for in it's eternal absence.
[QUOTE=KorJax;32642633]Update: apparently Zune Pass (which I detailed above) no longer exists. Instead, they have Zune "Music" Pass now. It has the advantage of being $5 cheaper per month than the original Zune Pass (if you get a year subscription you get two months free too, so its even cheaper) at the price of $9.99 a month The downside is that you no longer get to keep 10 songs per month in the billiing period if you decide to end the subscription - so any and all music you download and stream at full quality from the pass will stop working.[/QUOTE]If you were so inclined and desperate though, you could always rerecord them to like Audacity or something. Cheap "legal" music.
[QUOTE=Demache;32643647]If you were so inclined and desperate though, you could always rerecord them to like Audacity or something. Cheap "legal" music.[/QUOTE] It not legal as soon as you record it :v: Those Zune HDs are a lot cheaper than the last time I checked. Damn, if it wasn't for the fact I have a smartphone I'd totally get one. They're sexy and the hardware isn't all that bad.
[QUOTE=ze beaver;32643911]It not legal as soon as you record it :v: Those Zune HDs are a lot cheaper than the last time I checked. Damn, if it wasn't for the fact I have a smartphone I'd totally get one. They're sexy and the hardware isn't all that bad.[/QUOTE]That's why I put it in quotations. :v:
[QUOTE=Demache;32643647]If you were so inclined and desperate though, you could always rerecord them to like Audacity or something. Cheap "legal" music.[/QUOTE] At that point you may as well download them. Or rip YouTube videos.
[QUOTE=Clarke;32666599] Or rip YouTube videos.[/QUOTE]Ew, gross.
The best hardware out there, in my opinion really. Very nice, sad that it didn't catch on.
Good riddance, maybe this will let the Archos dominate the PMP market. :D
I love my zune. I took a couple of keys to my screen to prove to a girl it wouldn't scratch. Almost had a heart attack when she straight up stabbed the screen, but still no scratches. Lets see an ipod do that.
I've never used one of these as they don't sell them in Australia and if they do I've never but it's sad to see it go. I think they should released it earlier and given it a better name.
I love my Zune 120. I don't care if Microsoft discontinues them, still not gonna leave my Zune
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