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I've been seeing a bit of Web chatter over the past few days about the Death of Zune. So far as I can tell, that chatter started with a bunch of bloggers, who commented on Nokia and Microsoft's failure to use the word "Zune" during a recent press conference, and gained speed when Mary Jo Foley decided to drill into the topic. "I was worried Microsoft might have decided to pull the plug on its Zune music/movie/TV service," she wrote in a Feb. 15 posting. "Microsoft has shown not all its bets, even those that come to market, are long-term ones." A Microsoft spokesperson apparently told Foley: "We're not 'killing' any of the Zune services/features in any way." They accompanied that with the usual boilerplate about remaining "committed" to the service, which appears on Xbox Live, Windows and Windows Phone 7. Paul Thurrott, in a Feb. 12 posting on his Supersite for Windows, theorizes that Microsoft will preserve Zune's features while phasing out the brand itself, rolling "various Zune services into Windows Live." Whether Microsoft indeed rebrands Zune (i.e., pasting it over with a giant Windows Live or Xbox logo), I think it's unlikely the company will phase out any of its media-hub services. Even if the actual Zune devices never managed to dent the iPod's market share, the Zune platform boasts a solid user interface. Why burn the money and time reinventing it? That being said, the actual Zune player has been dead for some time. You can still purchase a Zune HD from Amazon or Microsoft's online store, sure, but it's basically the same hardware the company debuted near the end of 2009. Microsoft's quiet refusal to upgrade the device, I think, says it all: from here on out, the focus is on Zune software on Windows Phone and, very possibly, the Xbox. Which is sort of a pity, because I thought the Zune HD was a well-built device. Somewhere along the line, though, Microsoft stumbled in pushing the device to users. And now, with Android media players poised to hit the market in greater numbers, its chance at building a standalone "iPod Killer" may well have passed. 
 Source: http://feeds.ziffdavisenterprise.com/~r/RSS/MicrosoftWatch/~3/KQlrDCHdLAs/zune_services_alive_and_well_zune_devices_not_so_much.html MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS MICROSOFT MILLICOM INTL CELLULAR MOBILE TELESYSTEMS NANYA TECHNOLOGY 
[Full disclosure: AOL is the parent company of both MapQuest and Download Squad] MapQuest for iPhone has been highly successful, and now Android users can take the app for a test drive, too. MapQuest had reported more than 1.4 million Android users visiting its mobile website every month, and those users will definitely enjoy the native MapQuest app for Android. Fire it up, and MapQuest shows you your current location. As you can with any good nav app, you can type in a place name to get directions or use Android's built-in voice search. Visiting a friend in a another city and not sure how to get to his house? Just tap the bookmark icon in the search box to flip through your contacts and tap a name to use the stored address as your destination. MapQuest offers detailed turn-by-turn directions, which you can either watch and listen as the little purple car drives along the charted course, or read them in a clean, text-only list. A number of point of interest (POI) choices are listed on the map screen, ranging from gas stations and restaurants, to shopping malls, post offices, parking, and hospitals. All can be displayed or hidden with a tap. Traffic display is also available, as long as you're in a supported location -- sadly, north of the 53rd parallel in Manitoba doesn't get invited to the party, so I was unable to test. Heading to a restaurant? Pop it in as your destination, and tap to call for a reservation from the MapQuest place card. While MapQuest lacks some of the more advanced features Google Maps for Android provides, it's still a very nice navigation app and one which at least 1.4 million people might want to install and test -- it's a very nice upgrade from the mobile Web version. MapQuest Android app with turn-by-turn directions now available originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/16/mapquest-android-app-with-turn-by-turn-directions-now-available/ SYNOPSYS SYNNEX SYMANTEC SYKES ENTERPRISES INORATED SYBASE It hasn't been a very happy New Year for Hotmail users this weekend, at least those who found their e-mails vaporized or unceremoniously dumped in their Deleted folder. Many of those affected users promptly stormed Windows Live Solution Center's online forums. Here's one representative sample, which I also reprinted in an eWEEK article this morning: "When I logged into my account, all [my] email is gone," posted one forum-user Dec. 31. "There should be 1600+ messages in my account. I need it recovered ASAP. I have critical business information in my email." By Sunday evening, Microsoft claimed it had fixed the problem underlying the e-mail meltdown: "We have identified the source of the issue have restored email access to those who were effected," a Microsoft moderator posted on the Windows Live Solution Center forums Jan. 2. "We recognize that even though we restored email access, some of the affected users did not receive mail sent to them during the last 24-72 hours." (That moderator gets an "A" for effort, "C" for grammar.) The next morning, Microsoft then claimed problem solved. "We have restored the emails to those who were effected," wrote another Microsoft forum moderator, whose grammar-school language teacher just died of a massive shame-induced aneurysm. "If you are still missing your emails, please post your issue here." Oh, they did. "I've seen some reports of some people having their missing emails being restored, but mine are not," read a note posted on the forums Jan. 3 at 10:31am. "What do I need to do?" Others posted on my original eWEEK article. "Microsoft is lying," wrote someone there. "It's been three days now since I've been able to even log into my Hotmail account, and there are thousands of complaints on Microsoft's online tech forums saying the same thing as of mid-day Monday." "Microsoft lost all of my emails from 2004 through August 1 2010," related another. "They kept telling me that it was my email client. I wrote 8 emails asking for help and they kept referring me to a help page that was of no help. All of my emails are gone." A handful of comments, of course, don't necessarily constitute a trend. However, as Microsoft pushes ever-deeper into cloud functionality and applications, it might do well to take a page from erstwhile rival Google, which has a history of posting detailed explanations for why its various applications occasionally crash and burn. Even Facebook, with its very occasional mass outage, takes the time afterwards to post a public explanation. You don't necessarily have to believe a company's explanation for its failures, but the lack of any sort of answer frees people to conjecture about any and all causes--and on the Web, where even the flimsiest things have a nasty habit of going viral at the speed of light, that sort of thing can snowball way out of proportion. Microsoft would do well to post an explanation of what happened, if it hasn't planned one already. 
 Source: http://feeds.ziffdavisenterprise.com/~r/RSS/MicrosoftWatch/~3/AH0ZQBXc8PI/microsoft_hotmail_went_boom_but_why.html LEXMARK INTERNATIONAL LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS LAWSON SOFTWARE LAND SOFTWARE LAM RESEARCH Did you know that Internet Explorer 9 has add-ons? Like, real, experience-altering extensions? Head on over to the IE Add-ons Gallery and take a gander. Marvel at how the most popular add-on in the U.K. has a mind-blowing 18 ratings. Truth be told, there isn't a whole lot to choose from, but if you do end up using a few add-ons or toolbars, you may run into the Add-on Performance Advisor. If any add-on takes too long to load, you'll see a notification at the bottom of your window (see above) -- and if you click through, you'll be shown a list of all your add-ons and how long they take to load (see right). It's just a matter of clicking Disable on any add-ons that are bogging down your surfing, and away you go!  From the same window you can also select the threshold for slow add-ons (but the default of 0.2 seconds is fine). If you just want to see the general performance of your add-ons and toolbars, click Cog > Manage add-ons and every add-on's load time can be seen. [Admittedly, a better question to ask at the start would've been 'does IE9 have any useful add-ons?' but that was beyond the scope of this post.] For more IE9 tips, see our tips index, or read our complete IE9 guide.Speed up Internet Explorer 9 with the Add-on Performance Advisor originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 17 Feb 2011 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/17/speed-up-internet-explorer-9-with-the-add-on-performance-advisor/ APPLIED MATERIALS ARIAN SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT ARROW ELECTRONICS ASML HOLDING ASUSTEK COMPUTER Now that Nokia has moved away from MeeGo, its mobile OS love child with Intel, will the development of this you operating system be stunted, or will it be able to carry on? MeeGo was formed by combining Nokia's Maemo and Intel's Moblin platforms in February of 2010, and Nokia's announcement last week that it would team up with Microsoft on Windows Phone 7 instead stunned the mobile world. Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/71862.html RED HAT RADISYS RACKABLE SYSTEMS QUEST SOFTWARE QUANTUM  Rdio, the subscription-only music-on-demand service, has massively overhauled its iPhone, iPad and iPod app. Initial response seems positive: the previous version of the app surfed around the 2 1/2-star mark on iTunes, and the new one is already racking up plenty of 5-star reviews. It's still only available in North America, incidentally. The new interface is beautiful (and boy does it make the Android version look ugly -- as always), but more importantly, Rdio 1.0 for iOS also adds a few vital features that bring it into line with Spotify's mobile offering. You now have complete control over offline syncing, and you can easily see what albums and playlists are available for offline play. The music player now sits at the bottom of the screen, no matter which part of the app you're in, too. In the social arena, Rdio continues to kick Spotify's ass. Now when you log in, you'll be greeted with a plethora of exciting options, including quick access to Top Charts, Recommended and New Releases. Spotify, meanwhile, only has "What's new." Search has been boosted, too: not only can you search through millions of individual tracks and albums, but you can now also search for playlists and people; neither of which Spotify can do. Here's hoping that the Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7 incarnations of the Rdio app all receive similar updates in the next few weeks! And that Spotify does something with its almost non-existent social layer... Download Rdio for iOS from iTunesRdio reveals version 1.0 of iPhone app, slicker, faster, better than Spotify originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/16/rdio-reveals-version-1-0-of-iphone-app-slicker-faster-better/ YAHOO XILINX WESTERN DIGITAL VOLT INFORMATION SCIENCES VISHAY INTERTECHNOLOGY Yesterday, I posted a story on eWEEK about Windows Phone 7's possible sales. In the three months since the smartphones hit the U.S. market, Microsoft has offered two sales metrics. In December, the company told the media that some 1.5 million Windows Phone 7 units had been sold by manufacturers to retailers. On Jan. 26, it confirmed with Bloomberg News the number had risen to 2 million. However, Microsoft remains reluctant to discuss how many of those devices might have reached consumers' hands. As someone helpfully pointed out in the comments section to my original eWEEK article, Microsoft's carrier partners would be the ones to provide that data; but I've queried AT&T and T-Mobile on a number of occasions over the past few weeks, and they seem equally reluctant to give any sort of hard numbers. That silence is particularly striking, given how Google and Apple have made a habit of using sales numbers to suggest their respective smartphone platforms are unbeatable in the marketplace. "[Google CEO] Eric Schmidt pointed out that they're activating 200,000 units per day," Apple CEO Steve Jobs told media and analysts during an Oct. 20 earnings call. "By comparison, Apple has activated 270,000 units per day, on average." Instead of offering sales numbers of its own, Microsoft executives keep pointing to research data suggesting some 93 percent of Windows Phone owners are either "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their devices. And in a certain way, you can see their logic: as a new smartphone platform, Windows Phone 7 doesn't have the sort of momentum that translates into iPhone- or Droid-level numbers. "Our numbers are similar to the performance of other first-generation mobile platforms," Achim Berg, Microsoft's vice president of business and marketing for Windows Phones, mentioned in a Q&A posted Dec. 21 on the company's corporate Website. "It takes time to educate partners and consumers on what you're delivering, and drive awareness and interest in your new offering. We're comfortable with where we are, and we are here for the long run." Nonetheless, there are some signs that the launch of Windows Phone 7 may have been softer than hoped. An executive from one of Microsoft's smartphone partners, LG Electronics, told the blog Pocket-lint in a Jan. 14 interview that Windows Phone 7's launch was "less than we expected." Meanwhile, a Facebook page for the Windows Phone application has 366,099 monthly active users. I asked Microsoft if this was the official page for the smartphone platform's Facebook application, and they declined to offer an answer. But given how at least one of the people listed on the page's "About the Developers" section works for Microsoft, I heavily suspect that's the case. If so, that gives a possible baseline for the number of Windows Phone devices sold. There's a precedent here. Microsoft's ill-fated Kin One and Kin Two phones had 8,810 "monthly active users" for their Facebook application, and rumors abounded that less than 10,000 of either Kin had sold before their initial cancellation (Verizon later revived the devices as feature phones). If users of a smartphone's Facebook application are a rough indicator of its total user base--and considering the number of people who use Facebook, this is a safe assumption--and if the Facebook page for the Windows Phone application is genuine and official, then we can assume Windows Phone 7 has sold a minimum of 366,099 devices. That's rough conjecture, though. Until Microsoft and/or its carrier partners decide to offer some numbers, we'll continue to be officially in the dark. 
 Source: http://feeds.ziffdavisenterprise.com/~r/RSS/MicrosoftWatch/~3/MFKdYKlDu98/microsofts_windows_phone_consumer_sales_maybe_366099.html MICROSOFT MILLICOM INTL CELLULAR MOBILE TELESYSTEMS NANYA TECHNOLOGY NII HOLDINGS In the weeks leading up to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's Jan. 5 keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show, any number of rumors suggested that he would use the venue's international spotlight to debut a series of Windows-based tablets. That didn't happen. Ballmer touted the Kinect hands-free controller for the Xbox 360, which sold more than 8 million units in its first 60 days of release. He suggested that Windows Phone 7 is gaining momentum, with some 5,500 apps (and growing) in its applications marketplace. But he didn't whip the cover away from a Windows-powered iPad killer. Yes, Ballmer and other Microsoft executives have spent the past few days of CES frenzy showing off laptops with tablet-like sleekness and functionality, including a neat one from Acer with top-and-bottom touch screens. And yes, Microsoft's enormous mothership of a show booth features (behind glass) a handful of Windows tablets from the likes of Toshiba, Asus and Lenovo. But those tablets seem mostly intended for the Asian market, and the majority of the booth's real estate seems devoted to traditional PCs, Windows Phone 7 devices and Xbox games. Ballmer may have kept the tablet talk to a minimum during his keynote, but he pumped up how the next version of Windows will support system-on-a-chip (SoC) architecture, including ARM-based systems from partners such as Qualcomm, Nvidia and Texas Instruments. ARM chip designs currently dominate much of the burgeoning mobile market, which includes tablets and smartphones. Ballmer told the keynote audience: "Windows support for SoC is an important step for Microsoft and for the industry." He emphasized the need for what he termed "the full range of capabilities for any device," which to me suggested he was trying to draw a contrast between Windows and the lighter operating systems that power mobile devices from Apple and Google. "The power and breadth of software, the always-on capabilities of a mobile phone, great browsing and productivity in addition to the basics like printing," Ballmer added. "Windows has the breadth and depth and the flexibility to define and deliver this next generation." That sure sounds like Microsoft's considering how to best place Windows on smaller and sleeker form factors. But unlike Apple, whose iPad started as a bare-bones platform and has been gaining functionality with each successive update, Microsoft seems to be considering how to best place Windows in its entirety on those lighter form factors. Microsoft at CES seems like a company eager to tout its successes in areas like Kinect, and somewhat unsure about its position vis-à-vis the paradigm gripping the tech industry with regard to mobility: hence, the lack of emphasis on tablets. But you can't help but feel the softies in Redmond have something more in the works, if only to make sure that Apple and Google don't widen their already substantial leads in that space. If so, those announcements didn't come at CES. 
 Source: http://feeds.ziffdavisenterprise.com/~r/RSS/MicrosoftWatch/~3/YQRDuBoQc5Q/microsofts_ipad_killer_tablet_will_it_ever_appear.html POWERCHIP SEMICONDUCTOR PRICELINECOM QIMONDA QUALCOMM QUANTA COMPUTER |
