Hasta La Gadget!

Given just how shaky the economy as a whole has been of late, Microsoft’s sour news in relation to the Zune isn’t quite as shocking as it might be otherwise. That said, plenty of outlets publicly voiced their concern for the future of the line, but now Microsoft has hit back with assurance that everything’s still moving ahead according to plan. In a recent interview, Adam Sohn, the Zune’s director of marketing, said rather defensively that “every time anything comes up, there is a set of people who pull a Chicken Little and say, ‘The Sky is Falling. Zune is dead.’ ” He continued by stating rather outrightly that Microsoft was “still on track to deliver the next generation of Zune innovation in software and hardware,” noting that the planning was “fast and furious” and that “progress” would be delivered this calendar year. Welp, that settles that, huh?

[Thanks, Roger]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Microsoft sez next-gen Zune hardware / software is still “on track” originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not only Steve Ballmer has smashed again the stupid Zune cellphone rumors, but talking with the Financial Times he has pointed out at the possibility of the Zune hardware doom:

Asked if Microsoft would counter with a “Zune Phone”, Mr Ballmer said: “You should not anticipate that.” He added that the company would stick to its strategy of developing software to support a range of mobile devices. That suggests that, if there is a future for Zune, it lies in planting the software and online service linked to the player in other devices.

Ballmer believes that software is what Microsoft does best, so they need to put that software in as many third-party devices as possible, rather than focusing on their own dedicated music device, a market that he believes is declining. [Financial Times via Alley Insider]

Anythingbutipod and Ihaveazune have done some research and have discovered that the 30GB Zune failing bug also affects its twin brother, the Toshiba Gigabeat S. According to them, the culprit is the power management circuit.

The fiend is Freescale’s MC13783 PMIC—a chipset used to regulate and control power—which is used in the the Gigabeat S Series. This is the model that Microsoft used as the basis for their Zune.

Whoever is guilty here, don’t worry if you are one of the six people who have a Toshiba Gigabeat: According to one user in the same thread, the Zune fix works too. [Anythingbutipod forum thread via Anythingbutipod]

Well, that was a wild way to end 2008, but Zune 30 users should be back in the saddle now that 2009 is here, as of about 7 am EST. In case you missed Microsoft’s sage advice on the issue, you’ll need to let the player completely drain its battery, then plug it back into a power source and all should be right as rain. Hopefully you didn’t do anything drastic like removing the battery (voids the warranty) or use up all 10 of your free Zune Pass songs during those dark, dark hours of Zunelessness.

[Via Zunerama]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Welcome (back) to the Social originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Jan 2009 09:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft’s responded to the Zune 30GB failure, blaming a leap-year handling bug. And they’ve provided a fix. Which is to wait til New Years, when the bug will go away by itself. Huh.

Early this morning we were alerted by our customers that there was a widespread issue affecting our 2006 model Zune 30GB devices (a large number of which are still actively being used). The technical team jumped on the problem immediately and isolated the issue: a bug in the internal clock driver related to the way the device handles a leap year. That being the case, the issue should be resolved over the next 24 hours as the time change moves to January 1, 2009. We expect the internal clock on the Zune 30GB devices will automatically reset tomorrow (noon, GMT). By tomorrow you should allow the battery to fully run out of power before the unit can restart successfully then simply ensure that your device is recharged, then turn it back on. If you’re a Zune Pass subscriber, you may need to sync your device with your PC to refresh the rights to the subscription content you have downloaded to your device.

Customers can continue to stay informed via the support page on zune.net (zune.net/support).

We know this has been a big inconvenience to our customers and we are sorry for that, and want to thank them for their patience.

Q: Why is this issue isolated to the Zune 30 device?
It is a bug in a driver for a part that is only used in the Zune 30 device.

Q: What fixes or patches are you putting in place to resolve this situation?
This situation should remedy itself over the next 24 hours as the time flips to January 1st.

Q: What’s the timeline on a fix?
The issue Zune 30GB customers are experiencing today will self resolve as time changes to January 1.

Q: Why did this occur at precisely 12:01 a.m. on December 31, 2008?
There is a bug in the internal clock driver causing the 30GB device to improperly handle the last day of a leap year.

Q: What is Zune doing to fix this issue?
The issue should resolve itself.

Q: Are you sure that this won’t happen to all 80, 120 or other flash devices?
This issue is related to a part that is only used in Zune 30 devices.

Q: How many 30GB Zune devices are affected? How many Zune 30GB devices were sold?
All 30GB devices are potentially affected.