So much in love with shiny new toys, it's unnatural.
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rumor
2:40 PM on Thu Jul 24 2008
By matt buchanan
5,116 views,
53 comments
very important news
displays
Microsoft just confirmed that Lips is not just an awkward prerelease codename but the final title of the Xbox 360 karaoke game with motion-sensing, rhinestone-encrusted microphone we've been hearing about. Most interesting though is integration with your Zune or—gasp!—iPod for loading your own songs into the game. No more complaining that your local 'oke joint isn't indie enough for you. [Gizmodo's E3 Microsoft Liveblog]
xbox 360
j allard
New details have been leaked about Creative's answer to the iPod touch and Zune, a wireless music player with Wi-Fi media sharing capabilities called the Zen X-Fi. Pictures show the device sporting a chrome-and-black plastic look that's vaguely reminiscent of the iPhone, along with a nine-point directional pad. Besides certain internet features, X-Fi will also come with an SD card slot and a built-in speaker.
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From the same T3 concept design stable that brought us the 2010 Wiimote yesterday comes this piece of pure gadget fantasy. Ramming a XBox 360 and a Zunephone into a slender, shiny little package is always going to be a great idea... and would undoubtedly sell like hotcakes. But considering there's no real Zune phone, and you can now buy bigger cases for the '360 rather than smaller, this is going to stay in fantasy land for a long while. [T3 via Yanko]
8:19 AM on Wed Jun 25 2008
By Kit Eaton
7,813 views,
41 comments
Latest by Sentry: Sadly, the concept 'XBOX' does not work when going portable. Rectangular shaped hand held gamin device = fail. I'll stick to PSP 2. more »
Recently, Disney announced the grand opening of their new Innoventions Dream Home located in Tomorrowland in Anaheim, Calif. The construction was a collaborative effort between Disneyland, Microsoft, HP, Life|ware and home-builder Taylor Morrison—so naturally the home functions more as a big advertising campaign for current products than an actual "home of the future." Still, I wouldn't mind booting out the fictional Elias family from their 5000-square-foot home to get my hands on some of this tech.
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The recent Zune Update a month or so ago added the ability to track your listening habits and reward you for them. Think of achievements on the Xbox 360, except not pedantic ones like listen to every artist that released a single in 2003. These badges are actually quite nice, and display on your Zune Card if you do whatever it is enough times in the previous month. A thousand plays isn't all that hard if you're sitting at your desk all day like us. No cheating, cause we know you'd just leave your player on repeat and turn your speakers off. [Zune via Zune Insider]
microsoft
In an SFGate interview running today, Robbie Bach, Microsoft's president for entertainment and devices, touched on many familiar points: Zune is more than a product, it's a platform, and because of that, we shouldn't be surprised if pieces of it turn up on other devices. However, as for a Zune phone or any other iPhone competitor, Bach stressed that there is a diverse array of Windows Mobile products to choose from, and added, "We don't have any plans to make phones ourselves." As for the old chestnut about a Blu-ray-equipped next-gen Xbox, he said, "That is so far out that there isn't anything to talk about." (He probably won't change his mind by tomorrow.) Update: Apparently there's some hullabaloo over Bach saying, "Just assume that over time where there's a screen, touch will be part of it." Is that a reference to a Zune Touch of some kind? To be honest, it's a fairly un-bold prediction, given the direction of all handhelds everywhere. So yeah, sounds like a touchscreen Zune will happen, but like, duh.
It was all business as usual, but with all due respect, I do have to beat Robbie up over a few other overly precious quotes:
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It's pretty amazing that no one's made an alarm clock radio for the Zune yet—it's been out for a year and a half already—but iHome's stepped up to the plate. The ZN9 has dual alarms, separate weekday/weekend times, backlit LCD, and of course a Zune dock. It's similar in functionality to this other iHome alarm clock we're currently testing, but this one's got an Xbox 360-like tapered case. $99 for the Microsoft fan in July. [iHome]
update
zune
hide your gadgets
Industry numbers group NPD has just confirmed that Microsoft's Zune's sold 2 million units, just slightly under one year after it sold its first million. Where is Microsoft getting the marketshare for the extra million? Mostly from Creative, who dropped from 4% marketshare to 2% from Q1 '07 to Q1 '08. Apple's also gone down from 72% to 71%, so there might be some defectors in the fruit squad as well. Total marketshare for Microsoft now stands at a decent 4%. [PMP Today via Tech Digest]
zune
If you've got time and absolutely nothing better to do, you can graba resource explorer and dive into the Zune software. What would you find? Some images of two new Zunes, both with a black back. The current black 80GB and red 8GB Zunes have a silver back, which are also pictured, so these would be new new. It looks like just bad lighting, but the resource item actually says "black back." We don't know whether these are retail colors or just limited edition Zunes for employees, but we'll probably find out soon. [Zunited News Center]
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