Finally, Microsoft will offer seamless interaction with Media Center, as well as better targeted players - but is it enough?
During the years Microsoft worked to establish Windows Mobile as a smartphone concept, buzz words like "music phones" and "over-the-air music downloads" were all over the place. Microsoft, however, decided to focus solely on solutions for mobile professionals, only to be beaten by a bunch of BlackBerrys.
Now, the company is slowly recognizing that portable multimedia devices that work seamlessly with online entertainment and social services is indeed a viable concept, after all. However, in stead of coming up with a sleek and multimedia-oriented Windows Mobile, the company starts from scratch with a seriously under-performing Zune platform for this day and age. As such, the old offline software giant lags behind for every month that passes by.
In a serious effort to keep up with the competitors, Microsoft is now introducing better targeted Zune players, as well as seamless interaction with its Windows Media Center platform. In addition, Microsoft will roll out Zune social, an online community for Zune users, and a ramped up Zune Marketplace (online MP3 store).
The new Zune players include a $250 Zune 80GB hard-drive model with a 3.2-inch screen, as well as $200 Zune 8GB and $150 4GB flash models. Just like the new 8GB iPod nano, the 8GB Zune will cost the same as SanDisk's 16GB Sansa View. Needless to say, SanDisk is likely to be the winner in this segment.
As for the 80GB Zune, it comes with a slightly bigger screen than the iPod classic 80GB, but at the same price. For a player that is primarily focused on music, we're not sure if a larger screen makes any difference. Still, we think Microsoft has come up with a music player that can compete with the iPod classic.
However, as Microsoft recognizes by incorporating Media Center support in its new Zune players, there's a great future for TV and video content on portable devices. And that's where Microsoft's failure of not coming up with a multimedia-oriented Windows Mobile forces the company into a corner. Now that portable media players are on the verge of a break-through, the latest and greatest Zune player is really just a decent music player at the end of the day.
While Microsoft's recently updated vision for the future is to "provide a great music experience", Apple's recently updated vision is to "provide a great multimedia experience".
Apple's iPod touch comes with a 3.5-inch display, showing 16 million colors with a 320 by 480 pixels resolution. Also coming with a full-fledged Safari browser, the issues found in the iPod touch are nitpicks in comparison to Microsoft's offering, which is nothing at the time being.
So, Microsoft, we urge you to come up with an improved Windows Mobile to run on a serious portable media player anytime soon, rather than keep playing around like fools with Zunes.
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