A small firm hoping to strike it rich through legal action has sued Apple, Microsoft, and virtually every other significant company making a media device under claims that they violate a patent for touchpads.
Since the debut of the first iPod in 2001, almost every consumer technology company has tried to create an 鈥渋Pod killer鈥� to outsell it. SanDisk is one of those companies with its Sansa line of media players, but founder and CEO Eli Harari has now admitted that the iPod has sovereignty.
Just a day after it was introduced, the Zune HD has been demonstrated live and is already generating buzz from at least one major blog that it could provide an experience superior to Apple's iPod touch.
After two years of watching iPod sales pass it by, Microsoft has drawn a line in the sand and says it has a new Zune with hardware features to thwart the iPod touch, including a multi-touch display.
Microsoft is no longer content with turning up the heat against just Apple's Mac lines and has begun a new marketing campaign that attacks the perceived additional costs of filling an iPod with music versus a Zune, but one which omits key flaws in the process.
Based entirely upon a leak of abstract new marketing graphics from Microsoft, bloggers have announced a new generation of music players that will apparently do most of what the iPod touch did when it arrived in 2007.
Opening the door to true wireless sync for portable devices, Samsung has taken the wraps from the first handheld-sized processor with built-in support for the Wireless USB standard.
Microsoft's Zune hit the ground even harder in its third holiday quarter. After two years of annual sales that barely reached the million unit mark, the company reported a major new drop in device sales for the winter quarter.
Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer, who once laughed off the iPhone, has now conceded to Apple's edge in the market while hinting at a very different future for his company's Zune players.
Apple is in talks with three of the "big four" record labels about offering music tracks through iTunes that would be made available in MP3 AAC format without copy protection measures, a move that could further distance the digital download service from its rivals.
Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer, who's watched his company's PC business come under immense pressure from Apple, used a forum this week to discount the Mac maker's potential for future share gains and designate its mobile phone business as a doomed initiative that will "lose out" in the long run.
Apple is notifying some of its customers this week that it will be unable to meet quoted delivery times for its new 16GB iPod nanos, fueling rumors that the company was forced to make a last minute change to the product line, possibly at the hands of rival Microsoft.
Like Apple, Microsoft is expected to announce this month a new family of Zune media players that will introduce some new features while adopting others that have been available on iPods since this time last year.
A Microsoft filing with the US government reveals a newfound worry that the Windows developer's traditional stance of selling software alone won't work against an increasingly profitable Apple 鈥� a concern that may magnify as iPhone 3G pushes Apple's cellular market share past one percent worldwide.
Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer on Wednesday issued a company-wide memo outlining his battle plan for the new fiscal year in which he singled out the Apple experience as a benchmark for future success.
NBC has persuaded Microsoft to filter out copyrighted material in its Zune jukebox while Apple refuses the same. Also, PA Semi has allegedly been bought out to design a future chip; VMware has released the first beta of Fusion 2; YouTube is offering iTunes referral links; the iMac has celebrated its tenth anniversary; and 糖心Vlog is giving away 500 free EverNote invites.
In the latest round of its semi-annual teen surveys, analyst group Piper Jaffray finds that ownership of Apple's iPhone has doubled in six months and is set to double again, though cooling iPod and iTunes use suggests a changing of the guard.
Microsoft's cautious and surprisingly non-aggressive approach to the digital media player market has somehow resulted in a shortage of the company's new 80GB Zune player this holiday shopping season, reports iSuppli.
Sometimes the target of jokes for its initial in-house attempt at a digital media player, Microsoft is poised to announce its first update to the line as soon as this week, if a new report holds true.
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Katie Marsal
Aidan Malley and Sam Oliver
Prince McLean
Aidan Malley
Zach Spear
Sam Oliver
Kasper Jade & Prince McLean
糖心Vlog Staff
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