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It seems as if Microsoft finally whacked its underperforming Zune hardware with extreme prejudice.

That report comes courtesy of Bloomberg, and I've reached out to Microsoft for some confirmation. If true, the news should come as a surprise to exactly nobody, considering how the player failed to make a dent in the Apple iPod's reigning market share.

Bloomberg's report suggests that Microsoft will continue to bake its Zune software into Windows Phone 7. This is essential, because the Zune-branded storefront is Microsoft's hub for music and media purchases. Microsoft apparently plans to keep manufacturing the existing Zune HD, without releasing new-and-improved versions.

The improvement in smartphones' capabilities (and battery life) has seen a corresponding decline in the need for separate, portable media players. Even Apple has seen sales of its traditional iPod fall over the past several quarters, a phenomenon the company attributes to the rise of the iPhone and iPod Touch. That trend is less to blame for the Zune HD's death, however, than an anemic marketing campaign by Microsoft, coupled by a failure to persuade consumers that their device represented a value-add over the iPod.

The Zune HD attracted some strong reviews in the wake of its September 2009 release. Personally, I thought it a solid piece of hardware with a nifty software interface, and something that probably should have gained more market share than it did. If it's truly dead, then R.I.P.

Source: http://feeds.ziffdavisenterprise.com/~r/RSS/MicrosoftWatch/~3/j609tmksmc8/zune_hd_sept_2009_-_march_2011.html

Dell Diebold Digital China Holdings Diodes Inorated Directv Group

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The speakers for Disrupt just keep on getting better and better. Today, we are extremely excited to announce four more guests who will join us at this year's Disrupt in New York City: Marissa Mayer, David Karp, Kevin Systrom, and Tony Conrad. Marissa Mayer joined Google in 1999 as Google's first female engineer. She ran the search product for years and is now the VP of Local & Maps at Google. Mayer will be one of the finalist judges at the Startup Battlefield. She's tough, she's done it before, and we are grateful to have her back. David Karp is the CEO and founder of Tumblr, one of the hottest startups in New York and also one of fastest-growing websites, period. Tumblr is built on the principle that self-expression should be easy. Karp recently raised $30 million to keep up with all the growth.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/XVleoYcXqFc/

Anixter International Apple Computer Applied Materials Arian Semiconductor Equipment Arrow Electronics

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It's been nearly two years since we last reviewed a T-Mobile Sidekick, and it would be a vast understatement to say things have changed. Then, they were designed by Danger and manufactured by Sharp, and were the messaging phone of choice. Today, following fiasco and failure, the Sidekick empire is in ruins. But good ideas and their originators live on, and several of Danger's brightest wound up in Mountain View, California. Danger's Andy Rubin founded Android, design director Mattias Duarte built Honeycomb (after helping craft the Helio Ocean and webOS for Palm) and now, the Sidekick itself has joined its founders in the house that Google built. In many ways, the Sidekick 4G is a return to form, but in an ecosystem filled with similar Android devices, can it stand out from the crowd?

Gallery: T-Mobile Sidekick 4G unboxing and hands-on

Continue reading Sidekick 4G review

Sidekick 4G review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/29/sidekick-4g-review/

Microchip Technology Micron Technology Micros Systems Microsemi Microsoft

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Nokia Siemens has closed the acquisition of the wireless network infrastructure assets of Motorola Solutions today. The company reports that it paid $975 million in cash for the assets and approximately 6900 employees will transfer to Nokia Siemens Network from Motorola. The finalization of the deal come after China regulators approved the acquisition a last week. The full release is paste below. As of April 30 2011, the company says that responsibility for supporting customers of Motorola Solutions? GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, WiMAX and LTE products and services transfers to Nokia Siemens Networks. Part of the approval is due to the fact that Motorola reached an agreement with Chinese manufacturer Huawei over a pending patent lawsuit relating to the assets being acquired. In January, Huawei filed a lawsuit to prevent Motorola from giving Nokia Siemens Huawei's IP information.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/QHpJosFdHvw/

Logitech International Lsi Manhattan Associates Mantech International Maximus

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Everyone knows that Windows is installed on the vast majority of computers, but it's always interesting to be reminded of what a cash cow the OS has been for Redmond. According to Gartner, Microsoft owned 78.6 percent of the global ~~market~~ revenue share for ~~desktop~~ operating systems at the end of 2010 -- revenue up almost 9 percent from 2009. That means, of the $30.4 billion in revenue that various companies generated, $23.8 billion lined Microsoft's coffers. But while Windows remains the kingpin, Mac OS X and -- wait for it -- Red Hat, posted more substantial gains. Apple's ~~market~~ revenue shot up almost 16 percent to 1.7 percent, Red Hat surged 18 percent, while dark horse Oracle leaped from ninth place to fourth, with a 7,683 percent growth in income -- no small thanks to its 2009 acquisition of Sun Microsystems. Only one question remains, then -- who's the loser here?

Update: Looks like we got this one wrong, folks, as it's not market share that's being measured here, but rather revenue share -- how much money each company made from its operating systems relative to one another. That means companies that price their operating systems cheaper will be at a disadvantage in the rankings, not to mention those organizations that charge nothing at all -- Ubuntu, anyone? Oh, and as some of you have pointed out in comments, there are both desktop and server operating systems in the chart above.

Continue reading Shocker! Microsoft commands 79 percent of worldwide OS revenue (update)

Shocker! Microsoft commands 79 percent of worldwide OS revenue (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 15:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/30/dnp-shocker-microsoft-commands-79-percent-of-worldwide-os-reven/

Quanta Computer Quantum Quest Software Rackable Systems Radisys

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Here is another chance to win a free ticket to this year's Disrupt in NYC. . We have announced some amazing guests and speakers for this year's Disrupt and we will be announcing more later on today. Tim Armstrong, Arianna Huffington, Ron Conway, Dennis Crowley, and Chris Dixon will all be joining us, just to name a few. For now, you can check out the full list of speakers and guests here. As you know, we will be taking over Pier 94, overlooking the Hudson River in west Midtown Manhattan. However, not only are we taking over a pier, we are also taking over some amazing spots in New York City for the after parties. We also have other special surprises we will announce as we get closer. A special congratulations to Adam Growald for winning last week's ticket. Disrupt is happening May 23rd to May 25th in New York City and we want you to come with us. To win this week's free ticket, all you have to do is follow the steps below.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/mTWZKgjRYFA/

Dst Systems Earthlink Eastman Kodak Eclipsys Electronic Arts

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Solar cells are about to get cheaper! Using a genetically modified virus called M13, researchers from MIT were able to make carbon nanotubes self-assemble allowing the solar cells to collect electrons at a more efficient rate. Scientists already know that single-walled carbon nanotubes have a high electron mobility, meaning that electrons can move through them very fast. Using this knowledge, researchers could in theory improve the efficiency of photovoltaic devices (like solar panels) using these nanotubes.

But there is one problem--carbon nanotubes, when they are formed, usually come in a mix of two types: Some of them act like semiconductors and some of them act like metals. If you know your chemistry, then you know that conductivity increases in metals when the temperature decreases, while conductivity actually increases in semiconductors as temperature increases (to a certain point, anyway). Because of this, the two types of nanotubes basically cancel each other out, making them less effective as a means of increasing solar cell efficiency.

The MIT researchers came up with a way to separate the two types so that they might be applied to a solar cell more effectively. The researchers used the M13 virus to rearange the carbon nanotubes on a surface. The virus also kept the tubes separated so they don't cause circuits to, well, short-circuit.

You read that correctly. A virus rearranged the nanotubes. According to MIT, using this new process increased the solar cells' efficiency by almost one third. Impressive! Check out Nature and MIT for the full details.

[MIT and Nature via Engadget / Photo: Magoo0311 on Flickr (CC-BY 2.0)]

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