Robbie Bach’s four startup lessons from Xbox and Zune

Ex-Microsoft exec Robbie Bach

Former Microsoft executive Robbie Bach led the company’s entertainment division through the rise of the Xbox business, which has become a success, by many measures, after billions of dollars of investment and some major bumps in the road. He also led the division through the launch of the Zune music player, which is “probably universally… Read More…

Nokia reviving Zune device? Nope, it’s just a name badge

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Given all the twists and turns in the story of Microsoft’s Zune music devices, a series of posts about a mysterious device from a recent Nokia/T-Mobile news conference piqued our interest this morning. It was a three-inch device, without buttons, described by My Nokia Blog as a “pocket tablet” without a cellular connection, just Wi-Fi. Over the… Read More…

Zune HD post mortem and fond memories from inside Microsoft

zunehd

Microsoft has been sending mixed messages about the future of its standalone Zune music hardware over the past several months, to say the least. Back in March, the company downplayed a report that it was discontinuing the Zune hardware line, but didn’t explicitly deny it. More recently, Microsoft called the Zune HD’s removal from the Zune website a… Read More…

Microsoft’s iPod rival, Zune, confirmed dead by support page

zunehd

A support page for Microsoft Zune confirms what we’ve known for a while: Microsoft will no longer be producing new Zune music devices — officially giving up its attempt to challenge Apple’s iPod in the music device business, but maintaining the Zune music service for Windows Phone and other devices. The strange thing is that,… Read More…

Microsoft Zune cuts price, moves away from monthly song credits

zune

Microsoft’s Zune music service today announced plans to reduce its monthly subscription rate to $9.99, from the current $14.99, but said the new rate for the Zune Music Pass won’t include the credits that allow users to download and keep 10 MP3s each month. However, existing Zune subscribers can opt to remain at the existing… Read More…

Microsoft in hot water over Amy Winehouse tweet, but is backlash really fair?

winehouse

A tweet by Microsoft UK caused an uproar today by suggesting its followers remember the late singer Amy Winehouse by downloading her “Back to Black” album on the company’s Zune music service. The company was roundly criticized for trying to capitalize commercially on the singer’s death, and in a follow-up tweet Microsoft apologized to anyone who… Read More…

Microsoft: Zune HD apps coming to Windows Phone

zune

Microsoft plans to port its internally developed Zune HD apps to Windows Phone 7 in a move that highlights one of the challenges that hampered the company’s dedicated music hardware. Although the Windows Phone 7 interface is modeled after the Zune interface, and each Windows Phone contains the Zune music software, the Windows Phone devices… Read More…

Here it is, the first GeekWire Podcast: We’re back!

geekwirepodcast

One of the pleasant surprises after starting GeekWire was the number of people who asked if we would continue doing a podcast. We’re excited to say that the answer is yes. We’re launching a new weekly GeekWire show in partnership with 97.3 KIRO-FM in Seattle and MyNorthwest.com. In fact, we were back in the studio… Read More…

Goodbye from Seattle: Microsoft ending Zune device

gateszune

Microsoft is finally pulling the plug on its dedicated Zune hardware but planing to keep the Zune music software running on Windows Phone and other devices, according to a source quoted this afternoon by Bloomberg News. Microsoft is expected to continue selling the existing Zune devices but won’t create or sell new ones, according to… Read More…