 is a modulation scheme that is used widely in upcoming 4G standards of the future. But with wireless access gaining momentum, and the all-around arms race for bandwidth, 4G starts to make sense, in a crazy, crazy kind of way.</p>
<p>The idea of a next-gen, high-bandwidth capable phone sounded to these ears like the Zune Phone, so we did some poking, called some sources, and waded into the wonderful world of Zune. One thing led to another, and we’ve determined that there is a whole lot more going on at Bear Creek in Redmond than we figured.
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With 3G on the rise, 4G is still the far future. With popular providers like T-Mobile still struggling to put out their 3G networks, anything beyond is sci-fi. A little digging, however, and we found this press release from August of last year, in which Sprint/Nextel announced its plans to build out a 4G network based on the IEEE 802.16e mobile WiMax standard. The 802.16 standards use OFDM, the exact same modulation protocol as the Microsoft device in the FCC filing.
Beginning to get the picture, yes?
If this all fits together, it looks like MS is working on a mobile WiMax-enabled Zune Phone, which would have download speeds of up to 2Mbps, fast enough for the Xbox-to-Zune streaming we’ve heard about, and fast enough for just about anything else the Zune Phone might be used for.
So now that we know that the Zune Phone is real, and that it’s in development, what else can we say about it? Tons.
The first real news is that we can expect to hear an announcement from Redmond about it before March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, at which time we should learn the name of the device. At the same time, we should also learn other launch specifics, and here’s where it gets incredibly juicy; our source says that, pending FCC approval, the specter-like Zune Phone will hit the streets sometime in May, a full month before the iPhone.
No, really.
Our source says that an iPhone competitor has been in the works for a while, and the idea of branding it as part of the Zune ecosystem, from the brown color through the interface, came as a recent decision as a response to Apple’s iPhone. The source didn’t go into details about features, as they don’t know specifics—they’re not yet all finalized. But there is one thing our source says will not only separate it from other music phones, but from iPhone as well.
Without a doubt, the biggest root of contention with the Zune users isn’t the hardware (which is very good) or the marketplace (which is likewise awesome), but the lack of other users to share music with. The WiFi sharing capabilities were the unique feature that was supposed to set the Zune apart, but unless you had another user in the area with sharing turned on, it was wasted battery, even in airports or Midtown Manhattan. (I’ve still yet to find a single person to share with. – Blake)
The Zune Phone remedies this by allowing you to share music not via WiFi, but via WiMax, so that anyone on your friends list who is online can sample your music, and vice versa. By using the mobile WiMax network, you can be in New York and your friend can be in San Jose and you can send him that Shins song you like.
By taking the proximity limitations from an otherwise sound idea and reversing them macro-syle, Microsoft opens up the Zune experience to everyone, making the ecosystem reach from coast-to-coast. The Social, as they say, goes national. We love the idea, as it really frames the concept of portable social networking in a wide, wide light.
This is a lot of information, and the reader should keep in mind that any part, if not all of it could change, as from what we know, the Zune group is just being brought up to speed on the specifics of the device. Our sources are saying that some of the hardware has been in development for quite awhile, and that the idea of making it a Zune device is relatively new.
With the iPhone having been in the rumors stage for almost two years, it makes sense that MS would have started a response as a contingency. Now that iPhone is out, and Redmond knows exactly what it’s up against, it’s an relatively easier process to finish an alternative, and bringing it to the Zune team and its Gen-Y marketing is the icing on the cake.
Of course, much of this is conjecture, but it’s logical. What’s more, our sources have never let us down and are from diverse backgrounds involved with Zune from the get-go. This is a well-thought-out response to iPhone, works perfectly with MSN Live Spaces, as well as Xbox.
We’re not entirely sure yet how much of this is going to hit, but it’s on our radar, and we’re guessing that now it’s on yours, too.
Zune Phone hits FCC? [Market Watch]
Wimax is NOT 4G. Wimax has nothing to do with telecom, and should not be confused with the next generation telecom protocol superseding WCDMA (3G).
Think: NMT (1g)
Wimax is NOT 4G. Wimax has nothing to do with telecom, and should not be confused with the next generation telecom protocol superseding WCDMA (3G).
Think: NMT (1g) -lt GSM (2g) -lt WCDMA (3g)
802.11a/b/g (wifi) -lt 802.16 (wimax)
Thank you!
Its not going to have WI-Max. ODFM that you posted as the reason you think it has Wi-Max is also used buy current WI-FI standards, 802.11G and 802.11a
And seeing as the current zune has 802.11g I would assume that the phone would to. On top of that the Spec for Mobile Wi-Max 802.16e (not fixed wi-max) is not even complete and it makes no sense it put fixed Wi-max, 802.16 into the phone.
are we clear now?
pffffttt, debunked already?? whaddya know…
uuhoogoy…sorry, acid flashback…thought we were talking about longhorn for a second….anyone else smell that? i think i stepped in some FUD.
now this is what M$ wishes they were:
http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/en/news-13261-When+the+Korean+GOD+awake%2C+he+gives+us…+the+Samsung+Ultra+Smart+F700.html
so far, the only real competition for the iphone. (bet it doesn’t run win mobile)
M$ can only wish:
http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/en/news-13261-When+the+Korean+GOD+awake%2C+he+gives+us…+the+Samsung+Ultra+Smart+F700.html
iphone’s true competition…
M$ can only wish:
iphone’s true competition…
oops, sorry… ;)
>This is what Microsoft does best: Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt.
You are the one pushing bullshit. None of this stuff is even coming from MS!
Plus their Zune guys are denying it.
Companies file mystery patents all the time (with Apple far out in front btw.) skylarking bloggers are out of control.
nice choice in music, MEGADETH!!!
Lol, hardly the most compelling “debunking”. Most of those points were answered in the original article above.
hopefully it includes a SIP soft phone and adheres to the VOIP standards..
I’m guessing this new zune phone will be compatible with everything; other cell phones, zunes, even the iphone if the iphone had 3rd party application compatibilty (too bad it doesnt) and 10$ says it comes in different colors unlike its iphone counterpart.
I’m still not thinking that this is a Zune Phone.
Instead, I’m thinking it’s actually Zune 2.0
Which, if true, would make it one o the sickest devices ever!
you are retarded dw the zune 2.0 is not a touchscreen
you should know that if you love zune so much
You are catching lots of traffic onto CrunchGear, don’t you? However: it’s still a fake, believe me.
I spent a year in 2005 working in a chip design company that was trying to integrate WiMax D/E with WiFi A/B/G onto a single die core. To say that WiMax is ready for prime time on a national level in 2007 is not just optimistic, it’s borderline overtly stupid dreaming.
WiMax infrastructure is at least a good 5 years away from implementation, hell the specs won’t be finalized for another year, even in the major metro areas. The dazzle is going to be flashy that you’ll be able to use WiMax to transfer songs but just like the Zune now: NO ONE WILL BE THERE TO RECEIVE YOUR SONGS NOR WILL THERE BE A NETWORK TO LET YOU TRANSFER SONGS.
Linkbait ++
Webonics who do you think you are making sense and all. Sounding all mature and educated, you make me sick. Nah, just kidding. Seriously, you hit the nail on the head.
I use a Mac. I have an iPod. I will buy an iPhone (Apple’s not Cisco’s). I like Apple. What I don’t understand is the fact that if I say I don’t like the Zune, that makes me an Apple fanboy/cultmember/whateverelse you guys come up with. What I am is a customer that gets paid by neither M$ nor Apple. It is my choice and I am fair. I love the fact that M$ got into the gaming market, peronally Xbox Live is the best thing to happen to gaming since pac-man.
With that being said, I look at the phone market and I got to tell you, it has been stale for a while. Personally Moto makes the best looking phones in the world but they have a hideous UI. It seems to never drastically change. Palm made the best selling Treo series, and the UI seems to never drastically change. RIM became a hit because of “Push” email. But since their product hit the market the UI seems to never drastically change. Personally Windows Mobile is “deep” meaning everything takes more that 2 clicks to get to. Also WM6 looks just like all the other versions, just add a few new features rebrand it as “New”. The recurring theme is the fact that if companies have no real competition they become stagnant and they keep force feeding you a product and you have to buy it because there is nothing better.
The iPhone is not even out yet and everyone is already knocking it. Microsoft doesn’t want you to buy one so they release info pertaining to a Zune phone. For all of you that can’t wait for the Zune phone I can tell you 1 thing. It definitely won’t be more than $499. I know this for a fact because the CEO of the wealthiest software company in the world’s biggest gripe with the iPhone is, and I quote, ” $500!!! I can’t afford a $500 dollar phone.” Right from Balmer’s mouth. Also another thing I know… you will definitely be able to use 2 thumbs. Bill Gates’ biggest gripe was, and I quote, “I wouldn’t buy an iPhone because I like to use 2 thumbs when I type.”
Come on guys, if I were Gates and Balmer I would just come straight out an tell the truth. ” I would not buy an iPhone because I work for Microsoft. ” There’s no shame in that. If I were the CEO of Apple and they asked me if I would buy a Zune phone. I promise you I would say that I would not buy it since I work for the competitor.
Moral of the story folks, I think it’s good that Apple is entering the Cell phone market. Apple is doing something different like multi-touch and a full fledged desktop OS on a phone. And since Microsoft would not make activesync for the Mac, us Mac users finally will have a phone that is as compatible with our desktops as Windows Mobile phones are with Windows. Also the phone is not out yet and there are iPhone skins for Blackberry, Palm and even windows mobile. Not only that, there are already phones announced that look very similar to the iPhone. Oh yeah, one more thing. If you don’t like the iPhone, and you don’t want to buy one that’s great, its also your choice. Just don’t knock me because I want to buy one.
Its April 1 already? Hmm, where did March go?
Ummmm…i really don’t have much time but i’d like to say this….
the zune is MS lowly attempt to copy apple, just like they have done since 1983…get over it MS fanboys…we are the pioneers, you just try to clean up and get our seconds…face it…
the zune is crap. it’s ok. but it’s no ipod.
and the iphone will own…so get a grip.
And no normal consumer will honestly care about 4g.
why are Apple users so touchy?
this is crap its not true look at that stupid picture its a copy of the iphone
This is ridiculous. You all want to argue back and forth and bitch about the competitor’s products, but we all use something! I’ve had a pc, and a mac. I own a zune, and an ipod nano. My fiance and I share them and use them for whatever we feel they are best used for. If you like a mac, whether it be because you enjoy creating digital artwork and doing heavy multimedia, or you just like the sleek (and face it pc guys, apple makes a pretty damned slick product, whether you like it or not!) look of it, buy and enjoy. If you’d rather have the functionality of having an operating system which is widely accepted and supported by software manufacturers, or you just like the fact that you’ve used windows long enough to know how to fix/change anything you need/want to (like myself) then stick with it and have a blast learning to do the same in Vista. The point isn’t who’s got the best shit, or who comes out with it first. The point is this:
There will always be people who like apple products. There will always be people who stay loyal to MS. You need both to stay competitive and drive the market/developement of new products and services. Neither side is interested in getting rid of the other. That would only serve to dilute the playing field and hold back innovation. THESE ARE FACTS. PURE AND SIMPLE, DEAL WITH IT!
Windows people, get over yourselves. We all know that the packaging and look is just as important to us as the functionality. If it weren’t, there wouldn’t be thousands of people online showing off how they cut a hole in the side of their pc and dropped in a couple of neon case-fans! Accept it, and try to learn to be more aesthetically minded when your chance to do something new comes along.
Mac people, we all know your junk is shiny, and you think you’re shit don’t smell. Get over it! You’ve got a long way to go before you’re the end all be all of the consumer electronics/computer world. Try to not only focus on the colors and shapes, but what goes into those glorified shoeboxes of yours. Innovations in hardware are what ultimately will drive the forward progress of our digital lives, not a change in wallpaper and buttons. You want to be really different? Create something truly new from a hardware standpoint, and then share it with everyone you can. What you get back in the form of new ideas and changes will astound and reward you.
That’s all folks, this argument is sucky-bunnies for sure. So get what you want, get what you need, and then go find something you can live without, and get it anyway as a bonus pretzel for spending your time out there exploring the possibilities instead of wasting away yelling at each other for picking the white box instead of the beige one!
Hey! Sorry I’m late. I heard that there was a Zune Phone. Is it going to run ZenZui? Is it really going to be that choppy like they show in the video? I know that’s always been a favorite feature for MicroBoys (applies to more than company of choice). Ya, maybe I’ll call one of your Zune Phones (assuming there’s one in a state near me) and we can discuss the features. “You’ve clicked the accept call button, cancel or allow?” That’ll prevent mistakenly answered phone calls! Microsoft is sucking big time lately, and they know it. Vista? Please! I had to reinstall XP after so that my PC ran mediocre. That’s why I use my Mac as much as possible. Plus I get all of the features standard…I don’t have to pay $400 to get the privilege. Talk about screwed up.
I used to be a fanboy of Micro$oft. But after having to completely re-format because of a glitch that totalled that FAT, I got an iMac. Now, whenever I try and get a PC user to take a look at what majesty the Mac offers, all I get is instults. Whose the ‘closed minded’ group? Anyway, just thought I’d kindle a little bit of fire in the MicroBoys. :)
[Sorry, I was a little bored, and just looking to stir the pot]
microsoft just sucks sry to say for all toughs hardcore microsoft fans….how are they going to make a “zune phone” when it didn’t even sale as a mp3 player
Hmmm, March 17th you say? Seems to have come and gone already with no announcement, only a recent patent filing which sounds less like a company trying to secure it’s innovations and more like MS begging to be sued for patent & trademark infringement.
The “Zune Phone” will be just as lackluster as the Zune, forget about it already because it’s a still-born concept due primarily to the fact that’s an MS attempt to nab the “me too” market.
Very Lame Microsoft & nowadays. Microsoft’s are Best Known for ” Copycat ” of Apple…!
Microsoft’s phone name is confirmed?? Is it Zune phone? Or Zune phone is just what we think.
P.s. I’d like to put video on Zune, I download the software from http://www.zunevideoconverter.com but don’t know whether there is some freeware.
@DrBobGobot
How do you figure the Zune gives people more customization than the iPods? Let’s ACTUALLY look at this:
You can pick between 1 Zune device with 1 storage capacity choice in 3 colors, and only a handful of accessories. Now, let’s look at the iPod:
You can choose between 3 different families of iPod: the Nano, the Video, and the Shuffle. With the Nano and Shuffle BOTH in 5 different colors, and 2 different storage capacities as well as the Video in 2 colors and 2 storage capacities and ALL of them can be custom engraved with a personalized message, AND there are 1000’s of accessories for them. Now THAT’s customization, but then, I could be wrong… oh wait, I’m not.
^^^^^^^^ IDIOT ^^^^^^^^^^
Zune! Are they still making those, I heard they were being discontinued. Really though, I don’t know any one who has a zune, and no one would buy a zune phone. M$ was smart enough to monopolize the computer OS industry, but they can’t win them all. A brown zune was not the answer for the lackluster interest in the zune. The xbox 360 is good though.
Well…if this is indeed true, then the world will be brought on to its knees. I just had a nightmare the other day of what would happen if Apple merged with Microsoft…too scary to think about.
I am waiting for this
Oh! I will be waiting for this sexy eagerly! Does it inlude a Zune like the iPhone containing iPod?
hey send me updates for the zune phone and the zune 30 GB
great now i can watch porn while i lie to girls!
ok the zunephone is something really stupid since the actual zune is already stupid. oh well, people like so i guess i’ll have to like it too…wait, i don’t think so, i will always hate it. see ya.
Then why did you come here to read about it if you hate it??? Just Wondering.
if u have ever read anything new about consumer elctronics, chriis123, than u would know that the zune is becoming even better and moer popular than the ipod. so suck it
Proof that there are people stupid enough to buy a ZunePone ;)
I work with Microsoft and the zune phone is not real we were planing, but did not work out.
Umm… sorry to say this, but- it looks like you’re wrong, zune- fanboy. St. Patrick’s day 2007?
Seriously people get real…A Zune Phone?!?! Yeah I bet. Hey what about windows mobile? That’s what i have & a zune. They work fine apart and that’s how they should stay. Besides Zune Reps have continually denied the Zune Phone’s Existence. So really stop dreaming.
This is awsome but it said it would be out over a year ago do you really think its going o happen soon? the zune-phone is cool but it might come out w/ wm7 in 2009/2010.
TREATED!!!!!
Yeah, maybe it’ll be great… maybe it will be better than an iPod, maybe MS will beat apple in the consumer electronics market…
Unfortunately history tells us that it will be a heavily proprietory POS tied to a bigger POS (windows), deigned by people who do not understand or care about anything other than forcing the technically weak/scared/brainwashed (ie: the MS customer base).
At least the rest of us will get a laugh… maybe this time they’ll make it the shape of a turn also.
The 4g networks become more faster that you think, this tecnology is only software update on ERB’s.
omg its been almost 2 years and…no zune phone or zune touch!!! im really mad because microsoft let me down… along with the rest of america… if a zune phone does ever come out im gonna be on of the first people to know about it… ill check the web everyday if i have to!!!
okay. i love my zune but lets face it. zune is only trying to copy the iPhone. lets just stick with Apple’s mp3 slash phone for now people. zune is great! dont get me wrong, but Apple is better at stuff liek this…
HAHA!! Your WRONG!!! THis article wsa written in 2007, with speculation there was a Zune PHONE coming out…
Well… WRONG! Hahahahaha :-D
Nothings outs yet!
:-P
Ohh, so wrong. Haha.