Bonum Certa Men Certa

Latest Microsoft Hardware Failures: Kin, Xbox, and Zune

Microhard



Summary: Why it is notable that Microsoft is not a (primarily) hardware company, given the poor performance of its hardware business

WE will soon post an analysis of Microsoft's latest financial results, which we have already alluded to in [1, 2]. This post deals in isolation with the fact that Microsoft's hardware products (notably phones running Microsoft software and the fiasco-rich Xbox) are not in good shape, even based on Microsoft's results.



Kin



"Microsoft Posts Slumping WinMo Sales," says this one report.

Microsoft said its non-gaming revenue fell $80 million in its third quarter on decreased sales of its Windows Mobile operating system and Zune devices.


Last week we wrote about Kin [1, 2], which seems like another step in the wrong direction. Reuters has this article from IDG which says: "Windows Phone? No App for That"

Looking for the niftiest new mobile app? You might find it on an iPhone or an Android device, but not on a Windows phone. Developers' apathy and a fast-falling market share mean that Microsoft's mobile phone business is in the doldrums. And that in turn may mean trouble for all of Microsoft several years from now.


It is amazing that Microsoft would flush compatibility down the toilet. This was probably one of the few selling points they had. There are other complaints and rants about Kin, many of which concentrate on Microsoft's distasteful advertising rather than Microsoft's distasteful product.

The Microsoft "sexting" story is still being brought up [1, 2, 3] and even Microsoft boosters like Alex Zaharov-Reutt are critical of such advertisements. These ads (one in particular) are apparently gone altogether [1, 2, 3], with many claims that Microsoft "pulled" the offending advert.

Microsoft has announced its decision to pull a controversial advert for its new Kin line of phones after complaints emerged that it promotes "sexting" among teens.

The advert shows a man in a club taking a photo under his T-shirt using a Kin phone and sharing it with his friends. Thereafter, a young woman is shown receiving the message with a smile on her face.


Did Microsoft pull the entire ad or was it just edited? There are somewhat contradictory reports. Either way, another point for which Kin is criticised has to do with the lack of "cut/copy and paste" functionality. Is this being done for the media industry (to please Murdoch et al [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13])? That's just one theory, which Microsoft's Web font DRM [1, 2] brings to mind. Here is another explanation which says that Microsoft intends to keep it that way.

Microsoft Apologetics On Why Copy/Paste Unnecessary



As anyone knows that has been following the impending release of Windows Phone 7 knows, the OS will not support copy and paste operations. Rather than just say that copy and paste is something Microsoft wants to do, they have begun a campaign to try and convince you that copy and paste is unnecessary.


We really need Free(dom) software to counter these rigid mobile platforms that do not allow "cut/copy and paste" (Apple too banned it before, at least when it was implemented by a developer other than Apple's own iPhone programmers).

It is actually unfortunate that Linux phones too are made semi-proprietary these days. Examples include Android and WebOS, which has just shed off a former Microsoft general manager [1, 2].

Abbott, a former Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) general manager, joined Palm in 2008 to head development for webOS.


Why was he hired in the first place? Given how Microsoft ruined Danger, they ought to have known better.

One of Microsoft's key mobile strategies is to fill the Web with Silver Lie content, which will in turn block access from many devices except Microsoft's. Forrester, which lists Microsoft as a major client, plays along with this suppression of web standards.

[Forrester] Analyst: HTML5 far from killing off Web plug-ins



HTML5, the budding specification for multimedia in Web applications, will not displace proprietary rich Internet technologies, such as Adobe Flash/Flex or Microsoft Silverlight, anytime soon, an analyst report released this week said.


Given what Google does regarding codecs at the moment -- not to mention Apple blocking Adobe and Microsoft/Novell [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] -- this "analyst report" may soon be proven wrong. We shall see.

Xbox 360



Xbox reality is one of denial (Machinarium) and censorship. Microsoft wants to control the message and even fire employees who say the truth about error/defect rates that continue to be a major problem (and comically enough, Microsoft brags about "MCV Industry Excellence Award"). Servers of Xbox are slowing down after downtimes that we reported earlier this year and former Microsoft employees are part of the life blood that's left for the product.

Xbox has already lost billions of dollars. This is not success.

Zune Hacked



There is almost not a word about Zune anymore. It sometimes seems like it's in "clearance sale" status. Kin, which reuses some elements of Zune, is equally unappealing as it lags behind the competition (the Linux-based Android grows most impressively). Adding insult to injury, Zune HD as well as previous models of the Zune have just been hacked and instructions for hacking made available.

Neither the hack nor exploit was revealed by ZuneBoards Development Front, so let's see how Microsoft patches the hole.


This is also covered in [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].

A new press release about faulty hardware recycling [1, 2] names two products that are prone to permanent failure.

More than 1,900 U.S. and Canadian Goodwill Locations to Collect Xbox, Zune and Accompanying Accessories for Free Recycling


Maybe these can be recycled into something that's actually usable and respects the owners who bought (actually rented) them.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Pushers of systemd Rewrite History (Richard Stallman Said UNIX "Was Portable and Seemed Fairly Clean")
Unlike systemd
Trajectory of The Register: From News Site/s Into "B2B"... and Into Microsoft Salespeople
Something isn't right at The Register
 
Links 27/07/2025: More Microsoft Layoffs Coming, Science and Hardware News
Links for the day
Links 27/07/2025: FSF Hackathon and "Hulk Hogan Was a Very Bad Man"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/07/2025: DAW Mixer Chains and Simple Software
Links for the day
The Register MS is Inventing or Giving Air Time to New Conspiracy Theories so as to Distort the Narrative As High-Profile Agencies Fall Prey to Microsoft Holes
But the problem is holes, i.e. Microsoft making bad products; the problem is Microsoft
When You Tell You It's Free, Does That Mean No Charges (If So, Who's Paying and Why)?
there's "no free lunch"
Most Editors at The Register Are American, Including the Editor in Chief, a Decade-Long Microsoft Stenographer (Writing Prose to Sell Microsoft)
It's not easy to tell where the site is based (we tried) because it's hiding behind ClownFlare and CrimeFlare hasn't been well lately
"New Techrights" Soon Turns 2 (A Few Days Before the FSF Turns 40)
We have a lot more to say about LLM bots
When Silence Says So Much
Garrett, a 'secure' boot pusher, will need to defend himself in the UK High Court
The Register in Trouble
There is not much that can be done at this point
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 26, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 26, 2025
Misinformation in Social Control Media
Social control media passes around all sorts of tropes
Slopwatch: Fake Linux 'Articles' and Slopfarms With "Linux" in Their Names/Domains
throwing bots at "Linux" to make some fake articles
Links 26/07/2025: Amazon Shutdown in China, Russian Economy Slows
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/07/2025: History of Time (1988) and Gemini Games
Links for the day
Links 26/07/2025: 50 Percent Tariffs in Amazon, Dying Intel Offloads Network and Edge Group (NEX)
Links for the day
Doing My Share to Tackle Online Slop and SPAM
Trying my best to 'fix' the Web
Blaming Programming Languages for Users' and Developers' Bad Practices
That's like blaming cars for drivers who crash into things
Slopwatch: Fakes, FUD, Duplicates, and Charlatans Galore
The Web as we once know it is collapsing. Some opportunists try to replace it with low-quality slop.
The Register UK Seems to Have Become American and Management is Changing (Microsofter as Editor in Chief)
The Register 'UK' is now controlled by the Directions on Microsoft guy
Many People Still Read Techrights Because It Says the Truth, Produces Evidence, and Does Not Self-Censor
Unlike so many other sites
The Register is Desperate for Money, According to The Register
I decided to check how they're doing as a business
Microsoft Finally Finds a Use Case for Slop?
Create low-quality chaff to shift the media's attention?
Microsoft Windows Lost 400 Million Users in a Few Years, Why Does The Register Double Down on Windows With New US Editor?
days ago they hired a new US editor
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 25, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 25, 2025
For Libel Reform One Must First Bring (or Raise) Awareness to the Issues and Their Magnitude
I myself know, from personal experience
Links 26/07/2025: Rationed Meals in the US and TikTok Repels Investments (Too Toxic)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/07/2025: "Bloody Google" and New People in Geminispace
Links for the day
Response to Solderpunk (Father of Gemini Protocol) About the Gemini Community
Solderpunk responds to non-sequitur
HTML and the Web Used to be Something a Child Could Learn, "Modern" Web is a Puzzle of Frameworks, Bloat, and Worse
When the Web was more like Gemini Protocol
New US Editor in The Register is 84% Microsoft/Windows Booster
It'll be worrying if it carries on like this
Links 25/07/2025: Slop Blunders and China Has Code of Conduct for Lawmakers in HK
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/07/2025: Some Books and Babies and Capital
Links for the day
Links 25/07/2025: NOAA Cuts Endanger Lives, "Europe's Self Inflicted Cloud Crisis"
Links for the day
They Try to Lecture Us on Ethics
They even removed "master" from Microsoft GitHub
The Future of the Web is One Rendering Engine or 'Flavours' of Chrome
The future of the Web does not look bright at all
Best Sites Are Not Optimised for Any Browser, They Work Equally Well With All of Them
Red Hat (IBM) is making rubbish sites
YouTube is a Spamfarm, Slopfarm, and Clickfarm (a Lot of Numbers There Are Fake)
Those who don't fake look unpopular and unimportant
We Don't Do JavaScript and Pages Are Small
Thankfully Gemini Protocol has nothing like JavaScript
'Tech' is Not Technology
Some people use terms like 'Old Tech'
IBM's Debt Rose by Almost 10 Billion Dollars in the Past 6 Months Alone
The "hey hi" circus is coming to an end
Yes, Master
Gaslighting by actual racists
Microsoft Bribes and Buys Politicians to Tell Europe What to Do About Free Software (Which It's Attacking)
Microsoft: we speak for the thing that we are attacking! Follow the money...
Making Backups Quickly and Reliably
Backups are imperative, more so in an age of uncertainty, unpredictable weather, and worsening standards (quality of products going down while prices go up)
Techrights Investigation: Estimating the Point in Time LinuxIac Turned Into LLM Slop (Part of the Time)
Bobby Borisov got lazy
10th Month, Ten Weeks From Now, at Ten AM
In Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 24, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 24, 2025
A Nadella Memo Distracts From Microsoft's Cheapening Of the Workforce
Right now the "MSM" (mainstream media) is flooded/overwhelmed by garbage pieces that relay lies for Nadella
Vanishing Faces of GNU/Linux
Free software projects do not depend on any one person or company to still exist
Microsoft Says It Lost 400 Million Windows Users, Now It's Waiting for GNU/Linux to Stop Booting on 'Old' PCs
When it comes to Windows, Microsoft is fully aware of the issue and statements it made earlier this summer suggest it lost 400 million Windows users
Slopwatch: LinuxTechLab, linuxsecurity.com, LinuxIac, and More
Also: The Register's Microsoft agenda (new editor)
Gemini Links 25/07/2025: Gemtext Aware Titan Editor and Gemini Protocol Comeback
Links for the day