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No App Store For Microsoft's Zune HD
Xerfas writes 'Microsoft's Zune HD, set to go on sale Tuesday, will not feature an open application store like its competitor the iPod Touch. It will come with some unique features, though, like an HD radio tuner, and with software that has been well-received by users. Those capabilities will determine whether the ZuneHD sells well — and whether Microsoft decides to keep selling its own music player, said Matt Rosoff, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft.' The Zune marketing manager was quoted in the Seattle Times on whether the Zune would open up for 3rd-party apps, and he gave a response of such mind-numbing PR-speak that John Gruber of Daring Fireball was moved to provide this English translation: "No, because our mobile strategy is a convoluted mess."
Do apps matter?
That depends on a couple factors, the first is what you want or need in a portable device, and secondly what is your device capable of.
for me having a phone with GPS and internet capability means that I'm never more than inches away from a map, thus I'm lost a whole lot less than I used to be. Product reviews and internet prices are always in my pocket, so I'm a smarter consumer even for impulse buys. If I get stuck away from home in a rainstorm on my bike, I can check to see if I'm screwed or if the rain will blow over while I sit under a bridge and wait.
So no, apps are not needed, but they sure made my life better without having to carry another item.
Sheldon
You know, I know this is slashdot and all, but this is a VERY biased article.
They don't have an open app store yet because they want all the games to be free, and developed in house, which isn't as bad as this summary makes it sound.
They aren't merging with windows mobile's store because they want to make extra sure the Zune is perfect, and I absolutely don't blame them.
I'm pretty annoyed that whoever wrote this summary was this biased, the Zune HD looks awesome and its really unfair to try to make it look bad on a site that gets 2 million hits a day. If it ends up being bad, that's one thing, but give it a freakin chance.
-Taylor
Worldwide Military budgets: $2100 billion. Worldwide Space Exploration budgets: $38 billion. Really, world? Really?
Beta testers. They have opinions that are ignored unless they properly align with prepared marketing assets.
Save the Music; Save the World at http://www.TuneTriever.com (Our latest Android game)
Are these damn players becoming like cell phones? Do app stores matter? Makes no sense to me.
In the case of the iPod Touch, it's become a highly popular gaming platform, not to mention having things like iCal, wifi, safari bundled, etc etc. It's either filled a void by providing a hybrid PDA+music player+gaming device, or created that void and told people that they need this. Imho it's a bit of both.
Reply to That ||
*Zune HD AV Dock and an HDTV (all sold separately) are required to view video at HD resolution. Supported 720p HD video files play on the player, downscaled to fit the screen at 480 x 272 â" not HD resolution. Zune Pass subscription required; streaming via wi-fi available in U.S. only. HD Radioâ is a proprietary trademark of iBiquity Digital Corp. Learn more about HD Radio here.
So does that mean I need a "zune pass" to play video on my zune? What the hell is a zune pass anyway? Ok, so I look it up, but now why do I need it again?
...is how this time, M$ decided to leave behind their prior Zune models with any new features in the update. Discontinuing them should have been the sign. As a 18-month owner of a Zune80, I'm seriously disappointed. The only new features we legacy Zune (18months is legacy now?) users get are for the desktop app, which personally I only use to manage my device, and nothing more. Since I have it running on a Windows Media Center PC, why do I need yet another app that does pretty much the same thing, especially from the same vendor. Even more, in a time of recession, where I don't want to drop another couple hundred for a replacement device that's hardly showing its age or need for replacement, why would I possibly want to replace it?
If you read the Zune forums, its full of device feature requests for simple things...unicode support, crossfade, better playlist management, better integration with Windows apps (there is currently none for WMP or WMC). All of these pretty much since Gen-1 of the device, and all have been disregarded since the Zune marketing team felt it necessary to take this route instead.
Its simply a sad example of greed overtaking common sense at the expense of a bit more hard work. A philosophical example of modern capitalism and American excess too?
Anyone wanna buy a Gen-2 Zune80 is Good condition? I'll use the $ to buy a MiniSD for my cellphone to consolidate my gadgets instead.
Your opinion of what is relevant in the market is proportional to how much of that market you comprise.
The fact of the matter is, these apps and a convenient source for them are very much in demand. I highly recommend you at least borrow someone's iPod Touch of iPhone, check out the app store (right from the device!) and see if there isn't something there you would like to have.
My 3GS is not only my phone, my ebook reader, my mp3 player, my backup navigation device, my portable dictionary, my (surprisingly good) camera, my portable gaming device, compass, and, and even a crude level, in fact it's the first device I've owned that's fast enough and user friendly enough that I'd call it a general purpose portable computer. I held out on getting an iPhone until the 3GS and it was worth the wait.
I'll get off your lawn now.
Question everything
Have you ever heard a CD that you would confuse with a live performance?
Are you *really* serious? I don't buy that at all. You must not have had a very good CD player or summin. I have a *large* collection of LP's, 45's, and CD's, and most of my library I listen to is on my iPod now. I've spent enormous amounts of time comparing the AAC version of what I've recorded to the original. Can't tell a difference.
What I have found is that CD's tend to unmask the weakness of the original recording, making it a little less pleasurable to listen to. An extreme example is Journey "Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin". If you listen to it on a cheap radio over FM it's not too bad. Listen to it on LP it sounds better. Listen to it on a CD with high-end equipment (I have Mackie studio monitors) and it sounds absolutely friggin horrible. It's not the mastering of the CD or the quality of the A/D conversion, it's the original recording. Now go and listen to James Taylor "Everyday" - the remastered version - downloaded from iTunes. That's probably some of the best quality audio you'll ever hear.
Oh, and IAASE (I am a studio engineer)
Well, actually, many folks argue that the Xbox was a general purpose computing device, being essentially a Pentium III machine. The same argument is often made about the Xbox 360.
It cannot be said that Microsoft didn't lock them down, even if you said the lockdowns weren't completely effective. And don't forget that people have been prosecuted/fined/sent to prison for modifying them so that unofficial programs can be run on them.
On the PC front, I have 3 words: Protected Video Path
The difference between spam and poop is that you don't have to dig through septic tanks looking for real food. -- Me