Microsoft

First there was the iPod, then Microsoft tried to take it on with what they thought was a great piece of hardware, the Zune - the end result? Well, the Zune ain’t done too bad, but it’s not going to challenge the iPod’s dominance any time in the near future. Then came the announcement of the iPhone and straight away Microsoft is reportedly going to be releasing a competitor for it around December 2007. You guessed it folks, it’s the Zune but with a phone and Microsoft OS built in.

What will Microsoft think of next?

Alright, it’s a bit silly of me to start criticizing Microsoft for this, because they might actually bring out something worth having, although based on past record I’m seriously doubting this. Electronista are the ones reporting this via a tip from CrunchGear. In truth there’s been no confirmation of anything and this is just be a rumour, but the phone is slated to be a Zune-based mobile phone running a Windows Mobile OS which will work seamlessly (yeah right) with Windows Vista.

[Via MacNN]

In this article from ITWire, Stan Beer talks about his interview with Greg Joswiak, VP of iPod Products at Apple. In the interview, when asked if the iPhone would enable users to “squirt” songs to other iPhone users, Joswiak answered, “Squirt, what’s that?”

Clearly Joswiak’s ignorance was not serious. For those who are unfamiliar, the newfound “song squirting” phenomenon refers to the application loaded on Microsoft’s Zune where users can transmit songs to each other through wi-fi. Personally, I feel this phenomenon is a made-up one. Copying songs to another user wirelessly is a cool idea. But due to Microsoft’s agreement with the record companies, having those squirted songs dissolve after 3 days is a bad idea.

Of course the iPhone would not support something as foolish as “squirting.” For one, Apple has their own deal with the music companies. For another, why would they ever build in a feature that would give even the possibility of a hint that they are following Microsoft’s lead?

What do you think? Is squirting a feature you wish the iPhone would come with?

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, thinks that the iPhone is “by far the most expensive phone in the marketplace.” Whilst it is true that the iPhone is expensive, it’s by no means the most expensive on the market. The 8GB iPhone comes it at $599, converted to pound sterling (for this humble English writer), that’s about £300, which I agree is expensive but considering the Sony Ericsson K800i with its 3.2MP camera debuted at around the £300 mark, I don’t think it’s too steep a price. Of course, I haven’t taken into consideration “rip off Britain”, but that’s neither here nor there.

Steve Ballmer also goes on to mention how the iPhone is “not suitable for business purposes due to its complete lack of a keyboard”, and half-hearted attempt at Push e-mail. As Engadget state, the lack of the aforementioned and 3G services probably tell us that Jobs wasn’t aiming this device at business folk. With Steve mentioning more phones will be arriving next year, I dare say they will design and develop models… more...