Hmmm. That’s odd. The new Zunes, which come in Nano-like 4GB and 8GB models, and an iPod Classic-like 80GB model and prices which range from US$149-240, look a lot like iPods. In true Microsoft fashion, though, the maroon colored Nano-ish device is not a Product (RED) item. Its just dark enough to not qualify, but light enough to possibly be mistaken for an iPod Nano. Yeah. Weird. Does Microsoft actually think this will make the Zune popular? Clearly they still think their in the game after having sold 23 of the original model and only had 7 returns.

Now, if you think that the above has an Apple bias, you’d be right. Sure, I’m an unapologetic Apple nerd, but I had no idea there were Zune Zealot. I didn’t think there were enough people who bought them for there to be an entire religion. Of course, I could be inflating this. It could be restricted to just this one guy (WARNING: Really bad language).

written by Tyler Regas

I doubt any of my readers are under the illusion that I am a fan of Vista, and its becoming clear that a lot of people share my loathing. Vendors like Dell, HP, Lenovo, and many others are offering XP Pro roll-back discs for users who want to get rid of the plagued OS. Depending on the vendor you can either get the disc as an option if you choose to degrade (upgrade?) later or charge a fee of US$15-20 to get one if you already bought your system. In case you have any doubts whatsoever, check out this piece over at PC World.

written by Tyler Regas

Did you see Steve Jobs and Bill Gates chatting at D5, the big Wall Street Journal technology shindig? They spoke with Walt Mossberg and another annoying person for nearly two hours on stage about a wide range of things. I’ve seen most of it and its really informational and fun to see the two people most think of as bitter rivals have real brother-ish moments. While each did engage in a lot of marketspeak, they did seem like friends, which is an interesting concept in big technology.

One of the things I found most interesting, though not surprising, was Bill’s ready knowledge of Mac hardware, and I’m talking about first gen Mac. I still haven’t watched the entirety of the program, though, mostly because the WSJ broke it up until 80 parts. Silly. Well, if you haven’t seen it yet, you don’t have to go through the pain of being forced to view it in a tiny embed patch. You can now get it at the Apple iTunes Music Store for free! Yes. You can even watch it on your Apple TV. Get it here.

written by Tyler Regas

I had heard earlier in the day that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were going to be interviewed together by Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal at the paper’s D5 conference. I’ve now been able to watch the 8:05 outtakes reel that the WSJ put together after it happened. There are some interesting ideals being spun around. My fave being that Gates starts talking about the Zune and Jobs pops in and says we like the Zune, too since the entire Zune development staff are customers of the iPod. I’ll have a complete report on my opinions of the interview after I’ve watched it all. You can find all of it here.

written by Tyler Regas \\ tags: Damn Fine Idea!, Enlightening, Laugherating

As everyone who is familiar with me knows I LOVE Microsoft. In fact, I often make annual pilgrimages to the holyland, Redmond, WA. Just kidding! Had you going there… Anyway, MS has let loose with another mobile technology, this time from the Live Labs, the failure which created Live Search. Its called DeepFish, and true to form Microsoft coders have managed to take a fantastic idea and “option” it to hell. I love this quote from Neowin:

It’s free and available right now (but availability is limited) for any Windows Mobile version 5.0 and up device. “The code is actually written to be potentially cross-platform. But because we ship these rapid prototypes in live labs, we’re shipping it just for that operating system for now,” concluded Alex Daley, Senior Product Manager at Microsoft Live Labs.

First, they’re not giving it out any more. Second, if the code is already portable, then there shouldn’t be any reason why they can’t offer beta versions for other mobile OS now. Third, MSN Live Search sucks! Okay, so the last one is only valid if you’re me. Regardless, if Microsoft ever intended to be a cross-platform company, they would have worked a hell of a lot harder to do so already. This is lip service. Don’t expect versions for anything but MS products.

written by Tyler Regas \\ tags: Watchdog