Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft’s Zune Player, the iPod killer that never was, is due for a disk space upgrade, as well as price slashes.

64GB on the way

The 64GB version of the Zune HD player is scheduled to release on 12 April in North America. It will cost $349,99 (£228), on Zuneoriginals.com, and will be available in a variety of colours, namely black, platinum, blue, purple, magenta or red. As is common with personal media advertising, Microsoft equates this to 16,000 songs, 25,000 pictures or 20 hours worth of HD video from the Zune Marketplace.

Price slash

Photo: Apple

In addition to the capacity bump, US prices on current Zune player SKUs have dropped by $20 from $220 to $200 for the 16GB Zune, and $290 to $270 for the 32GB Zune.

Not such a smart move

Microsoft’s Zune HD was very well received when it was launched but had two things going against it – personal music players as an industry have been in decline since the launch of the iPhone and other smartphones which have good MP3 capabilities and, secondly, it was launched a short few months prior to Apple’s iPod update. When the iPod Touch was updated, it matched (and beat) the Zune on price and capacity, making Microsoft’s step in the right direction seem non-effectual.

Photo: Microsoft

Given these circumstances, the sales bump this capacity boost will bring about is questionable. To add to these woes, Microsoft itself is about to release the highly anticipated Windows Phone 7 Series mobile operating system, which has a Zune player built into it, a further factor that could eat away at what little traction this capacity update may bring with it.

And in Great Britain?

As of writing, Microsoft have yet to announce when these Zune HD discounts will be passed off to British consumers, and when the Zune HD 64GB version will be made available in the UK.

Photo: Microsoft

The Mobile World Conference is well and truly under way and the rumoured Windows Mobile 7 operating system has been confirmed. Abandoning the ‘Windows Mobile’ moniker, the official name is now Windows Phone Series 7. Other than changing the platform’s name, Microsoft has overhauled the entire product. This new mobile operating system uses completely new code and a refreshing interface akin to that found in Zune.

Unlike Microsoft

Photo: Microsoft

One cannot emphasise enough how much of a departure this platform is from Windows Mobile 6.5. Gone is the desktop-mimicking start button, replaced by an entirely new interface with customisable tiles that behave as a launching pad for the user’s favourite functions. The interface resembles the Zune HD’s, with large clickable icons that mean the outdated stylus can now be tossed for good. The marvel is that for a company of Microsoft’s size that has become known for slight improvements on their products rather than revolutionising them, the Windows Phone 7 Series is as astounding as it is unexpected.

Functions and specifications

Photo: Microsoft

The mobile operating system is heavily focused on social networking and integrates with Microsoft’s other platforms, namely Zune and Xbox Live. Zune’s interface will be a direct port for the stand-alone players, while Live will provide profiles, avatars and Live games.

Microsoft has also abandoned its strategy of allowing various carriers to modify the interface as they see fit. Additionally, the company has stringent specifications on screen resolution, processing speed, memory, button layout and other handset requirements. What these two measures mean is that, regardless of handset manufacturer, the Windows Phone Series 7 will look and behave the same on all devices and, in addition, will have equal performance capabilities across all mobile devices. This will allow Microsoft to both avoid the fragmentation of its platform, as well as create an app store with applications supported across devices.

Manufacturer and carrier partnerships

Dell, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba, Qualcomm, Garmin-Asus, HP, LG and HTC are confirmed to support the Windows Phone Series 7. Samsung, who have their own operating system, Bada, in the pipeline, and HTC, who’ve indicated they intend on increasingly supporting Android OS in lieu of the Windows Phone 7 Series, are in precarious positions now that Microsoft’s operating systems have arrived, so to speak.

From a carrier perspective, AT&T will be the premiere carrier in the US, with Orange being the premiere carrier in Europe. T-Mobile, Telefonika, Sprint, Verizon and SFR have also been confirmed as carrier partners.

Microsoft rolls a 7

Photo: Apple

This was billed by all as Microsoft’s final roll of the dice in the mobile operating system market, and the Redmond-based company rolled lucky number 7. The tech press, if the reaction of the audience in the press conference is anything to go by, hotly anticipates the Windows Phone Series 7. Scheduled to launch in the 2010 holiday season – that’s around November – this latest mobile operating system appears to be a worthy contender for iPhone OS and Android both. It may take a while still for the disbelief to dissipate, but Microsoft have risen to the call to get with the times by seemingly leapfrogging everybody else altogether.