Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft’s Zune music service is definitely not going to bounce back with a vengeance at all, as Zune Pass subscribers have begun to receive word that the service’s Mixview playback as well as channel playlist features will no longer be in effect from August 31st onwards – leaving you with just slightly more than a day left to enjoy such features. Not only that, you can also bid adieu to music video streaming from the Zune desktop software.

As for user licenses that are connected to previously purchased music videos, those are being looked into at the moment, where user access to old content on new machines will be revoked. Users will also be unable to send or receive messages, invite friends or share their favorite songs, playlists as well as look into their play history. So much for “Welcome to the Social”, right? Zune HD apps will also be killed off at the end of the month, so you might want to take out your hankies and start blowing that horn if you ever had a soft spot for the Zune as well as its features and services.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Zune HD killed yet again, Microsoft: Zune players officially dead,

If you’ve seen most of Microsoft’s design language for nearly three years, there’s only one word that sums it up: Metro. In spite of that urban look being the underpinning of Windows Phone, Windows 8 and even the Zune HD, Microsoft now claims to ZDNet and others that it’s no longer fond of the Metro badge. Instead, it’s supposedly phasing out the name as part of a “transition from industry dialog to a broad consumer dialog” while it starts shipping related products — a funny statement for a company that’s been shipping some of those products for quite awhile. Digging a little deeper, there’s murmurs that the shift might not be voluntary. Both Ars Technica and The Verge hear from unverified sources that German retailer Metro AG might waving its legal guns and forcing Microsoft to quiet down over a potential (if questionable) trademark dispute. Metro AG itself won’t comment other than to say that these are “market rumors,” which doesn’t exactly calm any frayed nerves over in Redmond. Should there be any truth to the story, we hope Microsoft chooses an equally catchy name for those tiles later on; Windows Street Sign Interface Windows 8-style UI just wouldn’t have the same ring to it.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

Microsoft downplays Metro design name, might face a lawsuit over all that street lingo originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 17:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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