November 11th, 2009

Microsoft delivers new Zune HD games; Twitter and Facebook still to come

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 6:54 am

Categories: Apple, Corporate strategy, Gaming, Windows Live, Windows Mobile, Xbox, Xbox Live, Zune

Tags: Facebook, Twitter Inc., Microsoft Zune, Microsoft Corp., Games, Personal Technology, Mary Jo Foley

On the heels of providing a new firmware update to the Zune HD that provided support for forthcoming games, Microsoft is rolling out those games starting on November 11.

The firmware update, version 4.3, enabled 3-D gaming on the new Zune HD. The new six games that are available for download from the Zune HD Marketplace today for free (but ad-supported — there’s an ad at start-up) are:

Audiosurf Tilt: Audiosurf creates a rollercoaster ride from any song.

Checkers: A classic checkers game that can be played against a computer or a buddy.

Lucky Lanes Bowling: Bowl in different game modes: exhibition, blackjack, golf — either against the computer or up to four friends.

Piano: Play your own tune, or play along with music.

Project Gotham Racing: Ferrari Edition: A racing game using multi touch controls and the built in accelerometer.

Vans Sk8: Pool Service: “Put these Vans skaters to the test with all the tricks in their bag and achieve hero status once you unlock their pro model skateboards.”

A spokesperson sent me the following update, as well:

“As we’ve said in the past, we will be delivering additional applications for Zune HD including Facebook and Twitter in the future.”

I bought a Zune HD a month or so ago and have been showing it off to some disbelieving Apple die-hards. “Are you sure this is a Microsoft product?” is often the reaction I’ve gotten. Being able to change the music I’ve got on it whenever the mood strikes (thanks to a $15 per month ZunePass subscription) has been a great way to sample lots of new content. If this device had been available a couple of years ago, when I was searching for any MP3 player as long as it wasn’t an Apple one, I’d have snapped it up long ago…

But, as I’ve noted before, Microsoft isn’t planning to put a ton of resources into developing apps for its dedicated Zune HD players. Microsoft officials have said the not-so-long-term plan for Zune is to turn it into a service. There will be “at least one more” player release coming, but after that, it sounds like Microsoft is planning to integrate the Zune music and video services into its Windows Mobile, Xbox and possibly other third-party platforms. (The new Xbox Live services including Zune video went into public beta on October 21. The go-live launch date is still to be announced. is November 17.)

Microsoft officials still won’t give a firm yes or no answer as to when or if the company will make the Zune HD available internationally. (I ask periodically but still can’t get an answer.)

October 23rd, 2009

Windows and Office cash cows take a hit in Microsoft's first quarter

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 7:17 am

Categories: Channel, Corporate strategy, Gaming, OEMs, Office, Office 2010/Office 14, Resellers, System builders, Vista, Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows client, Xbox, Xbox Live

Tags: Revenue, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Corp., EDD, Microsoft Windows, Operational Accounting, Microsoft Windows 7, Operating Systems, Software, Finance

A day after Microsoft launched Windows 7, its first quarter 2010 results are in. And both Windows and Office — Microsoft’s biggest cash cows — took a hit.

For the quarter, which ended on September 30, Microsoft’s net income was down 18 percent, to $3.57 billion, and revenues down 14 percent, to $12.92 billion — both compared to the first quarter earnings for fiscal 2009.

Because Microsoft beat analysts’ expectations for earnings-per-share and Microsoft has continued to prove it can cut costs, the company’s stock price was up this morning. And because of strong pre-orders for Windows 7 (which didn’t go on sale at retail until October 22, which is during Microsoft’s next quarter), Microsoft’s press release is highlighting “the strong consumer demand for Windows,” even though the Windows division’s revenues were down to $3.98 $2.62 billion from $4.28 billion from the comparable quarter a year ago.

Microsoft said the first quarter of 2010 was the biggest quarter for Windows sales ever. But the numbers aren’t reflecting that fact, primarily because of $1.5 billion worth of deferrals from programs it offered PC makers to convince customers to keep buying Vista PCs prior to the launch of Windows 7. Company officials also attributed the lower Windows earnings to more sales of netbooks and a decline in premium editions of Windows sold to business customers. Here’s what the company wrote in its 10-Q report, released on October 23:

“Windows Division revenue decreased primarily as a result of the deferral of approximately $1.5 billion of revenue related to the Windows 7 Upgrade Option and sales of Windows 7 to OEMs and retailers before general availability in the second quarter of fiscal year 2010. Including revenue and units associated with the Windows 7 Deferral, OEM revenue decreased $207 million or 6%, while OEM license units increased 6%. The decline in OEM revenue reflected the 8 percentage point decrease in the OEM premium mix to 63%, primarily driven by growth of licenses related to sales of netbook PCs, a decline in premium editions sold to business customers, and changes in geographic mix. Based on our estimates, total worldwide PC shipments from all sources grew approximately 0% to 2% through growth in both emerging and developed markets.”

Things weren’t quite as bad for the Microsoft Business Division, which sells Office and Microsoft’s Dynamics ERP/CRM products. But sales were still down, even though the Office 2010 release is still quite a number of months away. (It is expected to ship in mid-2010.) The company attributed the revenue decrease to a decline in licenses sold for Office 2007 and to a shift to lower-priced products among consumers. The particulars, again, from the 10Q:

“MBD revenue decreased reflecting decreased consumer and business revenue, and included an unfavorable impact from foreign currency exchange rates of $88 million or two percentage points. Consumer revenue decreased $390 million or 34%, primarily as a result of pricing promotions in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009 that drove increased licensing in that period, a shift to lower-priced products, and a decline in licensing the 2007 Microsoft Office system. Business revenue decreased $161 million or 4%, primarily reflecting a decline in licensing the 2007 Microsoft Office system to transactional business customers and a 6% decrease in Microsoft Dynamics revenue, offset in part by growth in multi-year volume licensing agreement revenue. The growth in multi-year volume licensing agreement revenue primarily reflects recognition of deferred revenue from previously signed agreements.”

Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division’s revenues were flat for the quarter. EDD is responsible for Xbox, PC games, Zunes, keyboards/mice and other hardware, and Windows Mobile sales. EDD revenue was flat, with growth in Xbox 360 and games offsetting decreased revenue from other parts of the business. From the 10Q:

“Non-gaming revenue decreased $98 million or 14%, primarily reflecting decreased sales of PC hardware products, Zune digital music and entertainment devices and services, and embedded device platforms. Foreign currency exchange rates accounted for a $35 million or two percentage point decrease in revenue.”

Microsoft’s online services unit continued to lose money, and the Server division’s revenues were relatively flat for the quarter.

This quarter reflects changes by Microsoft in its reporting structure, with Windows Live now part of the Windows client unit, and mobile services moved to Entertainment and Devices.

October 22nd, 2009

Microsoft starts selling PC hardware, third-party software via its online store

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 5:33 am

Categories: Apple, Channel, Corporate strategy, Windows 7, Windows client, Xbox, Xbox Live, Zune

Tags: Software, PC, Online Store, Microsoft Corp., Games, Netbooks, Nettops & MIDs, Tools & Techniques, Personal Technology, Hardware, Management

The first brick-and-mortar Microsoft retail store is opening in Scottsdale, Ariz., today, October 22. But Microsoft has opened its revamped virtual store today, as well, and has added PC hardware and third-party software titles to its mix.

The online Microsoft Store opened for business last November. The online store was a replacement for Microsoft’s Windows Marketplace site. When it opened, the online store only allowed  users to purchase Microsoft hardware and software — games, keyboards, games and gaming consoles, Windows (client and server versions), Office and development tools.  The electronic distribution capability of the online store made it  an ideal complement to netbooks, Microsoft executives said.

Trevin Chow, Senior Lead Program Manager for Microsoft Store, announced Microsoft’s online sales strategy via an October 21 blog post. The online Microsoft Store opened for business last November

“On the new online Microsoft Store, we’ve added a bunch of new products, including Windows 7 PCs as well as select 3rd party software and accessories.  And let’s not forget a ton of gaming products that have been added including a bunch of the top selling Xbox 360 titles.”

The revamped store includes machines in the desktop, laptop, netbook and accessories categories. It also is selling Zune HD media players.

October 7th, 2009

When will Microsoft's Live Mesh matter?

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 9:16 am

Categories: Azure, Code names, Corporate strategy, Live Mesh, Red Dog, Utility/cloud computing, Windows Live, Windows Mobile, Windows client, Xbox, Zune

Tags: Team, Microsoft Corp., Team Management, Management, Mary Jo Foley

It was April 2008 when Microsoft rolled out a first beta of its Live Mesh synchronization/backup software. The promise was Live Mesh would help users more seamlessly integrate ther PCs, phones, digital picture frames, Xbox consoles — the whole gamut — and not just devices from Microsoft. It sounded almost as though Live Mesh was a precursor to, if not the heart of, the whole three-screens-and-a-cloud strategy Microsoft execs have been increasingly touting.

But maybe not. This week, I asked some of the executives and teams participating in Microsoft’s consumer open-house showcase in New York about how and when they planned to start making use of Live Mesh. The stammers and blank stares said a lot to me.

I asked Robbie Bach, the President of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division about how and when he expected teams in his unit to take advantage of Live Mesh. He didn’t have a whole lot to say. He noted that Live Mesh is more plumbing/infrastructure than something Microsoft plans to offer as a new product or service directly to consumers.

“My Phone (Microsoft’s new Windows Mobile service for provisioning and securing phones) is not using all of Mesh today,” Bach said. Sometime, Microsoft could use Mesh to help replicate files and other information across multiple devices, he said. But that’s going to happen “tomorrow,” Bach said.

Not to be a contrarian, but I’m actually not sure that My Phone is using Live Mesh today, either. I asked Aaron Woodman, Director of Product Management for Windows Mobile about the WinMo team’s intentions around Live Mesh and got a similarly vague statement.

“From a techncal standpoint, Live Mesh is important,” Woodman said. “But it’s more about plumbing. It’s not something we will put in front of consumers.”

A year ago, members of the Mesh team were contemplating how to make consumer devices like Zune and Xbox part of a user’s Mesh. (In other words, to make the kinds of scenarios highlighted in this much-shared Live Mesh marketing/promotional video a reality.) But how and when is this going to happen?

Microsoft has continued to provide beta updates to Live Mesh for the past year and a half. There’s a Live Mesh software development kit out there. Testers who are using the Live Mesh beta seem to really love it, from feedback I’ve gotten. Undeniably, something is changing with Mesh — strategy and/or technology-wise Microsoft has been moving supporting Live Services components of its Azure cloud environment around as of late. But the Softies claim Live Mesh is alive and well and not a victim of the product/head-count cuts Microsoft has been making.

Given the champion of Live Mesh is none other than Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie himself, you’d think product teams at Microsoft would be falling all over themselves to Mesh-ify their products and services.Maybe Microsoft will have something tangible to show and say at the Professional Developers Conference in November, given that it would be the perfect place to talk about Live Platforms Services and the “Live Mesh Cloud.”

But when Mesh will actually figure in Microsoft’s products/services line-up is anyone’s guess at this point.

October 6th, 2009

Microsoft considering making Zune services available to Apple users

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 12:55 pm

Categories: Apple, Corporate strategy, Linux, Windows CE, Windows Mobile, Windows client, Xbox, Xbox Live, Zune

Tags: Microsoft Zune, Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Corporate Communications, Digital Music, Digital Media, Marketing, Personal Technology, Consumer Electronics, Mary Jo Foley

For all you who still believe Microsoft is still consumed with the impossible task of beating the iPod with the Zune, here’s more proof that Zune’s future is all about software and services and not hardware.

Microsoft is considering whether it should port the Zune software and services to other platforms, including Apple’s. There’s no guarantee that the Redmondians will end up doing this — or timetable as to when this could happen — but it’s one of many strategies under active consideration.

That’s what I heard today from Jose Pinero, Director of Communications for Microsoft’s TV, Video and Music Business. I had a chance to chat with Pinero at Microsoft’s consumer open-house showcase in New York on October 6.

As I’m currently using the Zune Pass subscription in conjunction with my Sony Walkman MP3 player, I realized that the service isn’t tied to the device. Sure, you don’t get the Zune HD operating system and user interface, but it’s still workable (with a little finagling).

I’ve been thinking that there might be a number of Apple iPod/iPhone users who might prefer a music subscription service over a pay-per-song one. (And one that’s better than Rhapsody.) Given the problems many iTunes users have trying to run iTunes on Windows, maybe they’d be interested in using the Zune software on their Windows PCs, even if they are iPod/iPhone users.

“We are evaluating a lot of options in terms of platforms,” Pinero confirmed, when I asked about this scenario.

He noted that with the addition of the ability to stream music from a browser that is part of the new Zune 4.0 experience, Mac and Linux users already can stream music to their systems if they have a ZunePass subscription. The streaming capability isn’t limited to Internet Explorer; it works with any browser, he said.

So what would it mean to take the Zune experience to Apple users? simply make it easier for iPods/iTouch devices to connect to Zune Pass and to run the Zune software?  I didn’t get any more specifics from Pinero.

While most pundits and many enthusiasts continue to posit that Microsoft is still focused on trying to beat the ubiquitious iPod, that isn’t what the Zune team is thinking.

“Zune is a music and video service from Microsoft. Period,” said Pinero.

(As I’ve reported before, Microsoft officials have said they plan to deliver “at least one more” version of the Zune media player to market, but beyond that, aren’t committing to continue making Microsoft-branded music/video devices. Their thinking is that users will prefer converged devices and want their music  and video on phones and other portable devices instead of dedicated media players.)

I asked Pinero when Microsoft might be bringing the Zune music and video service to Windows Mobile phones.

“Our next step is mobile phones, but we haven’t talked about a timeline for when that will happen,” he said.

Pinero said Microsoft’s more immediate priorities are to get Zune music and Video services on the Xbox. Microsoft officials said earlier this year that Microsoft plans to make the Zune video marketplace available as part of Xbox Live this fall.

Do you think Microsoft could and should port the Zune software and services to other platforms, especially those from Apple? Any brave and/or crazy Apple iPod/iTouch users out there who have found a way to use their devices with ZunePass?

October 6th, 2009

Microsoft kicks off its Windows uber-branding campaign

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 6:06 am

Categories: Advertising, Apple, Azure, Channel, Corporate strategy, Utility/cloud computing, Windows CE, Windows Live, Windows Mobile, Windows client, Xbox, Xbox Live, Zune

Tags: Phone, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Mobile, Microsoft Zune, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Mobile Operating Systems, Mobile Applications, Handhelds

October 6 is the retail launch of Windows Mobile 6.5-based phones from a variety of handset makers and carriers. But it’s actually something bigger: It’s the kick-off of Microsoft’s plan to convince users that Windows is (or, at least, should be) everywhere they are.

I’m not going to repeat what lots of other blogs and sites already have, in terms of a feature-by-feature review of Windows Mobile 6.5. (Gizmodo’s review has screen shots and details and ends by noting that the Zune HD team has completely one-upped the Windows Mobile team — kind of ironic, given the Zune software team is now part of MediaRoom/Media Center and the Zune Hardware folks are part of Windows Mobile.)

Today is the day when Microsoft and its phone partners start using officially the “Windows Phone” branding for Windows Mobile phones. Windows Mobile is still the name that will be used for the operating system powering phones; Windows Phones is the uber-brand for all phones running Windows Mobile, regardless of the carrier.

That change may seem like semantics, but it’s not. It’s key to the three-screens-and-a-cloud mantra that Microsoft officials are repeating these days. The idea is you have Windows on your PC, Windows on your phone, Windows on your TV and Windows in the cloud and because it’s one big Windows world, everything works seamlessly.

The reality is not quite like the ads. The operating systems powering these different Windows platforms aren’t all the same. Windows Mobile — for now, at least — is still based on the Windows Embedded CE core. CEO Steve Ballmer lamented to TechCrunch recently:

“We have one and a half operating systems, Windows and Windows Mobile. Windows Mobile is kind of a half because it’s not entirely the same as Windows. And everyday, I say I’d love to get those two things to share more.”

But until Microsoft can figure out how to do that, the company will have to rely on user-interface similarities and common services to further the company’s “One Windows’ message.

Example: Notice the way that Windows Media Center, the Zune HD and Windows Mobile 6.5 all use the same kind of vertical text menus as their primary interface. (However, because OEMs can and do layer their own interfaces over Windows and Windows Mobile, this UI consistency, in cases where it does exist, often gets buried.)

There will be more examples going forward, as Microsoft makes its Zune Video Marketplace, Zune music-subscription service and other premium services common across multiple Windows platforms. But until then, Microsoft’s “Life Without Walls” message still has some pretty solid walls in its path.

Do you think Microsoft will ever get to the point where Windows is the one and only OS that the company is supporting across platforms? Does it actually matter whether the Softies can do so?

September 15th, 2009

Microsoft Zune HD: Going beyond the specs

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 5:36 am

Categories: Apple, Corporate strategy, Internet Explorer, MSN, Windows CE, Windows Mobile, Windows client, Xbox, Xbox Live, Zune

Tags: Microsoft Zune, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows, Media Players, Mobile Operating Systems, Advertising & Promotion, Tools & Techniques, Web Browsers, Digital Music, Digital Media

On September 15, Microsoft and its retail partners began selling the Zune HD in the U.S. Lots of sites have hands-on reviews, photos and feature details about the players and the accompanying Zune 4.0 software beyond what’s already leaked to the Web over the past few months.

I have been more curious about how the Zune fits into Microsoft’s product and services strategy. Here’s what I learned from chatting with Terry Farrell, Senior Project Manager for the Zune.

To Microsoft, the Zune is  more than a media player, Farrell said. Microsoft is fully aware that, currently, the Zune is an MP3 player “with a few million, highly engaged customers,” in Farrell’s words. Microsoft execs have been saying — ever since the company split the Zune team in two and sent the software folks to work with the MediaRoom IPTV folks — that Zune’s future is all about software and services.

See also:

• Gallery: A closer look at Microsoft’s Zune 4.0 music software
• Gallery: Custom-etched designs available for Zune HD

Farrell confirmed there will be “at least” one more generation of Zune media players. Beyond that, who knows? The way the market is moving, dedicated MP3 players look to be on their way out, with users preferring to buy, play and consume their audio and video on phones and/or other devices, he said.

“The bigger story,” Farrell contended, “is about how it (the Zune) is helping us build a new entertainment brand for Microsoft. Among the core pieces of this brand are the Zune HD, MSN and Windows Media Center. The idea is to provide a set of unifying services — the same video service/same catalog — across all of these devices.

It doesn’t mean, as some have speculated, a single app store for the Zune HD and Windows Mobile. Or a common set of games offered across the Zune HD and Xbox. Yes, there will be even more integration between the Zune HD and Xbox (as well as a new $89 A/V dock for non-gamers who are still interested in streaming HD content to their HDTVs rather than onto their gaming consoles). But the handful of games and apps Microsoft is going to offer in November for free on the Zune HD are casual games (think Project Gotham Racing Ferrari Edition), a calculator, a weather app, and Facebook/Twitter clients.

Why not go the Apple route and have one big app store in the cloud?

“Mobile devices are always connected. Our device is sometimes connected to the Web,” Farrell said. That means different kinds of apps and experiences are better suited to a Zune HD than a mobile phone, he said.

Speaking of the Web, Microsoft — or, at least, the Zune team — is starting to talk about Microsoft’s entertainment future as being about four screens. Microsoft execs, from CEO Steve Ballmer to Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie, have been describing Microsoft’s long-term “three screens and a cloud” vision. Those three screens — the PC, TV and a portable device — are complemented by a fourth, Farrell said: The Web.

With the Zune HD, Microsoft is including a built-in Web browser as part of the device’s Windows CE-based operating system. (It’s “a version of IE for Windows Mobile 6.5, but highly customized for Zune HD,” a spokesperson said. The version of IE that is part of Windows Mobile 6.5 is IE 6-based.) Users can use an on-screen keyboard and Bing, unsurprisingly, is the built-in search engine on the device.

Many industry watchers cite Apple’s control of the end-to-end experience — everything from the hardware to the software — as key to what makes its products successful.  But that’s not the way Microsoft is going, at least not in the media player market.

“The way to think about the Zune going forward is as a software and services layer,” Farrell said.

What’s your take: Are the Softies are thinking about this the right way?

September 9th, 2009

I don't want an MP3 player/camera/ebook reader/gaming device. Do you?

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 2:27 pm

Categories: Advertising, Apple, Corporate strategy, Gaming, Mobile services ("Pink"/"Rouge"), Speech, Telecommunications, VOIP, Windows Mobile, Xbox, Zune

Tags: Phone, MP3 Player, Microsoft Zune, MP3, Camera, Media Players, Digital Music, Digital Media, Telecom & Utilities, Consumer Electronics

Common wisdom says we’re hurtling toward a world where a single portable device will be all you need to handle a wide variety of consumerish tasks.

But the further we approach that end goal, the less I want to end up there. Today’s Apple music announcements reminded me of that fact.

I am not an iPod/iPhone/iMac user. I have a Sony Walkman MP3 player, an LG (non Windows Mobile) phone and a Windows PC. I also have an Amazon Kindle and a Panasonic camera. I carry a big bag which usually contains at least two or three of these devices at any given time.

I’m willing to cart all this stuff around because I want my phone to be a good phone. I don’t care if it can browse the Web or hold hundreds of pictures that I can flick through at a moment’s notice. If it’s not good at making and receiving calls, it’s not worth having. I want my camera to be a decent camera. I don’t care about capturing video clips on it. I want my ebook reader to allow me to purchase and read books. Even though it has built-in wireless and a browser, I have used it to check the Web once in four months or so.

I thought I might be in the minority in my views about device convergence — until I asked folks on Twitter if they were fans of the single device ideal. Most who replied were not. Some cited battery-life issues as the reason they weren’t keen on the single-device-does-all idea. Others said they weren’t interested in devices that were OK at lots of tasks but great at none of them. I don’t need a camera that posts to Twitter, one of my Tweet-buddies quipped.

I’ve been playing lately with the Zune subscription service. (Hey, I never claimed to be an early adopter; in fact, I’m typically a “wait for at least the third version” one.) With the Zune Pass, for $15 a month, you can download a lot of music and keep 10 tracks a month. The Zune Pass service works nicely with my Sony player — not surprising given Microsoft’s growing emphasis on Zune as software and a service and deemphasis of it as a standalone MP3 player. Yes, there are new and much improved Zune players coming on September 15, but I’m far more interested in the non-hardware-specific components than the Zune HDs themselves, especially given my Sony MP3 player is still working well two years after I bought it.

Maybe those of us who would feel more affinity with a portable rotary phone (thanks for the link, Jake) than an all-in-one multi-touch phone/videocam/ebook reader/gaming/photo display/browsing  pedometer/voice-recording device should stop focusing so much on the next cool gadget and pay more attention to the software/services that make them tick.

(Update: As one reader noted, an all-in-one MP3 player/camera/ebook reader/gaming device also could be called a PC. In fact, Apple almost seemed to be repositioning the iPod Touch as a rival to a full-fledged PC as part of its September 9 announcements.)

July 27th, 2009

Microsoft retail store pitch: Whither PCTV?

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 8:14 am

Categories: Advertising, Apple, Channel, Corporate strategy, Fiji, Vista, Windows 7, Windows client, Xbox

Tags: Media Center PC, Microsoft Corp., PCTV, Microsoft Public Relation, Media Center PCs, Retail, Personal Technology, Home Entertainment, Mary Jo Foley

At the end of a week chock full of Microsoft news, the bloggers at Gizmodo got their hands on al PowerPoint deck full of mock-ups of Microsoft’s planned retail stores.

Microsoft public relations has tried to put a damper on the deck, claiming the presentation from creative agency Lippicott is based on early prototype and concept briefings. As the Giz guys note, however, the PowerPoints in question are dated July 7 and Microsoft execs have said the first stores will open this fall (next-door to Apple’s stores). If Microsoft is still floating “early concepts” just a few months before the lights are set to come on, something’s amiss….

Back to the deck. Gizmodo describes the Microsoft stores as taking “the best elements from the Apple Store, Sony Style and other ‘flagship’ stores and mashing them all together. (There’s even an “Answers bar”… sound familiar?)

The Giz editors say they’re surprised how much the Microsoft stores will push the PCTV concept. PCTV is part of Microsoft’s IPTV, a k a “Mediaroom,” on-demand/live-feed products/strategy.

Blogger Chris Lanier, who specializes in covering Microsoft’s digital-media technologies, notes that it’s pretty murky as to exactly what Microsoft plans to push in its forthcoming retail stores regarding “PCTV.” Is it IPTV/Mediaroom? Is it Windows Media Center? Something to do with the Xbox? And most importantly, is Microsoft’s evolving direction anything that existing Microsoft users will want?

From Lanier’s July 26 post on the leaked store-concept deck:

“It has been my theory that Microsoft is slowly ditching the concept of using and promoting Media Center as a whole home entertainment experience and moving to the ‘TV on your PC’ concept which they have been actively promoting over the past 6 months. This concept is something that most Media Center enthusiasts don’t want to believe as it turns Media Center into a product that most current users have no interest in.”

In recent months, Microsoft execs have been emphasizing Microsoft’s three-prong “three-screen” approach to delivering technology — with the three being the PC, the TV and the mobile device. At the same time, Microsoft has been alienating a lot of its Media Center faithful with various decisions, while simultaneously downplaying and de-emphasizing the Ultimate SKU of Windows (which, up until now, has been the Media Center centerpiece).

Microsoft’s retail stores will be highlighting Windows 7, Windows Mobile/Windows Phone, Xbox, Zune and the Surface. Hopefully, they’ll provide more of a clue about where Microsoft is intending to go in the TV realm once their doors open….

May 26th, 2009

Microsoft confirms Zune HD, video-service tie to Xbox

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 7:03 pm

Categories: Code names, Corporate strategy, Xbox, Xbox Live, Zune

Tags: Microsoft Zune, Microsoft Xbox Live, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Xbox, Game Players, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Mary Jo Foley

A week before E3, Microsoft has let its Zune announcements out of the bag, confirming it will start shipping new Zune HD multimedia players this fall and connect them to Xbox consoles via a “connected entertainment” Zune video service.

The new Zune HD will feature a touch screen, built-in high-definition (HD) radio receiver, HD video output, WiFi and a built-in Internet browser. The images look largely like the promotional images leaked earlier this year (though the circle on the back of the unit which many took to be a camera actually seems to be a screw).

From Microsoft’s press release:

“Zune will be a premium partner in the Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace, bringing an exciting catalog of TV and film to the platform. Zune will occupy the first slot within the Xbox user interface in the Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace, exposing the Zune brand experience to millions of new consumers for the first time. At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) next week, attendees will see firsthand how Zune integrates into Xbox LIVE to create a game-changing entertainment experience.”

(In other words, the long-rumored Zune VideoX service seems to be the first piece of Microsoft’s long-promised “connected entertainment” scenario.)

What’s your take? Is HD Radio an interesting differentiator? Will users care about access to the Xbox Live Video Marketplace content/games on their Zunes?