Digital Daily » Zune Marketplace

Private to 5 Known Zune Owners

John Paczkowski — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:21:32 +0000

A “regularly scheduled maintenance” outage will take Microsoft’s Zune platform offline for up to 48 hours beginning today. So if you’re among the five Zune owners who comprise the “Social” and you’ve actually noticed that it’s suddenly gone missing–along with Zune Marketplace and the Zune Net forums–and you’re bothered by their absence, this is why. Microsoft (MSFT) offered no explanation for the outage, just a brief apology: “We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause you. Please check back soon. We look forward to sharing our picks, plays and recommendations with you.”

Apparently, a Zune outage can exist without being perceived. …

Hi. I'm a Big Mac and I'm a Vente Soy Latte

John Paczkowski — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:20:27 +0000

How neatly Microsoft’s latest Zune promotion encapsulates the differences between its also-ran digital media player and Apple’s iPod. As promised, Microsoft today uncrated its next-generation Zune. Along with it, the company rolled out a Zune 3.0 firmware update that enables the device to download songs directly from the Zune Marketplace over Wi-Fi. And in homage to Apple’s iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store at Starbucks (SBUX), Microsoft announced a similar partnership.

With McDonald’s (MCD). (Did somebody say McDonald’s?)

Under the terms of the company’s deal with the fast-food chain, Zune owners will be given free Wi-Fi access in any of the restaurant’s locations that support it. So, Apple (AAPL) inks an exclusive partnership with an “upmarket” coffee retailer. Microsoft (MSFT) strikes deal with the Golden Arches.

Five bucks and a pound of StumpTown’s Hair Bender says the next episode in Microsoft’s new “Simple Life” ad campaign features Chairman Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld sharing Zune-to-Zune Squirts over Big Macs. …

Microsoft Rubber, Google Glue

John Paczkowski — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:00:57 +0000

[ See post to watch video ]

Rhapsody in YHOO

John Paczkowski — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:57:38 +0000

Yahoo took some time off from fretting over its uncertain future today to ditch its also-ran subscription music service.

This morning the company said it’s exiting the subscription-music market and throwing its support behind Rhapsody America, a joint venture company owned by RealNetworks and Viacom. In the coming months, Yahoo Music Unlimited subscribers will be transitioned over to Rhapsody and Yahoo will begin promoting the new service on its properties.

The deal leaves us with a subscription services market of three: Rhapsody, Napster and Microsoft’s Zune Marketplace. And among those, Rhapsody–with just under 1 million subscribers–will be the leader. “This takes away a competitor, and gives Rhapsody potentially some marketing muscle,” Jupiter analyst David Card told USA Today. “This is good for Rhapsody.”

Indeed. But only if the deal lasts. And there’s good reason to believe it won’t, given Microsoft’s hostile bid for Yahoo. The software giant and Real aren’t exactly old friends.