Zune Sales Plummeting

Video game retailer will no longer sell Microsoft's feeble mp3 player

(NEWSER) - GameStop, a national chain of video game stores, has announced it will no longer carry Microsoft’s floundering Zune digital media player, TheStreet.com reports. "We have decided to exit the Zune category because it just did not have the appeal we had anticipated," a spokesman said of the iPod competitor, on shelves since late 2006. Microsoft seemed unfazed. More»

Company has given up on device, will focus on software: source

(NEWSER) - The music has died for Microsoft's Zune music and video player, a well-placed source tells Bloomberg . The company is going to stop producing new models of the player because of tepid demand and will instead focus on providing Zune software for smartphones, according to the source. When Zune was launched in 2006, Microsoft said it could beat the iPod. But the Zune failed to grab market share from Apple: the iPod took 77% of the digital music player market last year while Zune didn't make it into the top 5. Microsoft hasn't officially confirmed Zune's demise. More»

Microsoft player is best yet, but purchasing media is a drag

(NEWSER) - Microsoft's Zune music player has long been the iPod's dowdy stepsister, but the new, fourth-generation Zune HD is finally "a portable media player that you can be proud to carry around," says Katherine Boehret of the Wall Street Journal. The new device features a "stunningly vivid" touchscreen, impressive graphics, a web browser, and a radio receiver. Unfortunately, Microsoft's Zune makeover didn't extend to its online store, which is far more confusing than Apple's. More»

(NEWSER) - Microsoft releases a new Zune every year, mostly to collective shrugs, but this year’s model “might be the Zune that you’ve been waiting for,” writes Mark McClusky of Wired. “You were waiting, right?” The slim, white-and-black Zune HD is “a lovely industrial design,” with a beautiful screen that can display a true 16:9 aspect ratio. It’s also the first touch-controlled Zune, so the “infamous ‘squircle’” of past Zunes is gone. More»

Microsoft advises Zune30 owners to drain batteries, then recharge

(NEWSER) - All 2006 model Zune30s froze up at midnight last night because of a problem handling the last day of leap years, according to Microsoft. The company advises owners to wait until 4pm PST today, drain the device's batteries, and then recharge, reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Microsoft apologized for the inconvenience, and promised that a future program update would fix the bug in the internal clock. More»