Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft's Gadgets and Consoles Still Ridiculed and Avoided

Samsung phone



Summary: Windows Mobile, Sidekick, Xbox 360, and Zune still lagging, proving that Microsoft is unable to advance beyond the cash cows

Microsoft gadgets like Zune and Windows Mobile phones are simply unable to turn a profit [1, 2], but Microsoft has not given up. New products were recently launched, for example Windows Mobile 6.5 which received terrible reviews and now receives an apparent 'fix release'. According to a couple of separate, independent analysts who spoke about this market over the past month, Android is poised to dominate this space and Android uses Linux.

According to the following article from IDG, Vista 7 is likely to break even further the compatibility between Windows and Windows Mobile.

Windows 7 might as well be Vista when it comes to interacting with mobile devices. Microsoft's total mangling of this mobile opportunity reveals a number of major flaws that the company must address if it's going to continue to dominate the OS world.

[...]

One of Microsoft's fatal flaws is that it thinks in products, not in ecosystems. It builds a lot of attractive pieces, but it doesn't snap together the puzzle. For instance: what's up with the Danger/Sidekick thing, anyway? They bought Danger way back in February, 2008.


It all sounds very unpleasant and ghosts of Sidekick return in light of the Danger/Microsoft fiasco. IDG has this new article which bears the headline: "Ballmer: Sidekick outage 'not good'"

You don't say, eh?

We wrote about Sidekick incidents in:



Speaking of Windows Mobile, Microsoft is proudly displaying mobile applications that it rejected. Not only applications are being rejected by Microsoft but hardware too. We wrote about this last week and now we can find Microsoft's excuse, which substitutes "revenue" with "cheating in games". Yes, Microsoft claims that if some memory chip is not "approved"/"authorised" by Microsoft, then it can actually alter the function of games. It is a rather dubious claim. In their own words:

Chances are you've already heard how the forthcoming Xbox 360 update isn't going to play nicely with "unauthorized storage devices" aka all memory units that aren't licensed by Microsoft. It's a bummer considering how expensive the company's storage devices are, no doubt about it.

Patrick Klepek at G4TV got a spokesperson from Microsoft to explain why the decision was made, in addition to what would happen to those who didn't obey the new rules. According to the rep, Microsoft is looking to "protect the Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE service from cheating, which is the primary purpose and use of these unauthorized MUs."


Evidence is not provided and Microsoft is annoying those who have joined the Xbox swindle. At the moment, Microsoft is not even leading in sales across the United States, its 'home ground' (the Japanese retain/regain the lead and Microsoft is trailing behind).

Lastly, regarding the Zune HD, more bad reviews arrive.

MS needs to pull their collective heads out and get to work here or they will surely lose the PMP fight and very quickly.


From another new review:

If you need your media player to function as a PDA too, the Zune is not there yet, and you’d still be better off with an iPod Touch despite the new benefits of the Zune HD.


Why does Microsoft even keep this product alive? It's losing money, not making any. Microsoft may be driving itself into more unnecessary layoffs that it could avoid by not trying to overstretch in vain. It's the sin of Hubris. The next post will look at the high cost of Microsoft's battles on the Web, mostly against Google.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Who Imitates Who? Plagiarist as Client (From Microsoft), 'Plagiarism' at the Law Firm?
let's revisit the subject
Links 10/06/2025: Jaws at 50 and US Democracy Crushed Very Rapidly (Martial Law Seems Imminent)
Links for the day
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VII: Washing Their Hands After Corruption and Abuse
"Tragedy or comedy?"
Culling Bad RSS Feeds of Bad Sites
Not throwing out the baby with the bathwater
 
IBM's CEO Roasted, Sizzled and Grilled for Dumb and Inconsistent Vapourware Promises
It looks like being a chronic liar is what it takes to lead the company once synonymous with computing
IBM's Goal Is Not (and Never Was) Computer Users' Freedom
More than 1.5 decades ago I found IBM to be an "ally of convenience" because of OpenDocument Format (ODF)
Wayland Shows the IBM/Red Hat Way of Doing Things
IBM is trying to 'kill' X
GitHub is Proprietary, Controlled by Microsoft, and GPL Violation Warehouse
"IRS tax filing software [will be] released to the people as free software" ... In general this is good news
Slopfarm Catastrophe
Seems like BetaNews (or BetaNoise) has just suffered a major data loss and restored the site from a week-old backup
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VIII: Illegal Working Conditions
How many people need to die for these people to get their massive salaries?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 10, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Links 10/06/2025: Apple Hype and Physical Attacks on Bloggers
Links for the day
Gemini Links 10/06/2025: Loon Lake, Farming, and Forth
Links for the day
If 'Microsoft v Techrights' is Dealt With by a 'Microsoft Court' (or a Court Outsourced to Microsoft)
More on that later
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 09, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 09, 2025
Gemini Protocol Turns Six in 10 Days From Now
If you haven't tried it yet, then give it a go today
Live as You Preach
technology is fast becoming dysphoric
Gemini Links 09/06/2025: Addition Addiction and Nitride
Links for the day
Links 09/06/2025: Science, Hardware Projects, and Democracy Receding
Links for the day
Computers Got Smaller, So GNU/Linux Got Bigger
Many people here recognise the lack of urgency (or need) to get expensive new laptops
BetaNews is a Plagiarism and LLM Slop Hub, the Chief Editor Isn't Addressing This Problem Anymore
SS Fagioli is basically a parasite leeching off or exploiting other people's work
Links 09/06/2025: Chaos in Los Angeles and Hurricane Season
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Grows at Windows' Expense and Microsoft Trolls Infest and Maliciously Target Articles About It
Microsoft is - and has long been - organised crime
They Say I'm Mr. Bombastic
They didn't take good lawyers
Links 09/06/2025: Windows TCO and Many Data Breaches
Links for the day
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VI: Political Stunts by Former President Edyta Demby-Siwek and the Connection to Profound Corruption at EUIPO
it's like a money-laundering operation where one politician rewards another at taxpayers' expense
Gemini Links 09/06/2025: Pipelines and Splitgate
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 08, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 08, 2025