After an eternity of denials, obfuscation, rumour and counter-rumour, Microsoft have finally confirmed that they will be launching their own rival to Apple’s iPod range.
In a statement late last week, the company said, “Today we confirmed a new music and entertainment project called Zune. Under the Zune brand, we will deliver a family of hardware and software products, the first of which will be available this year. We see a great opportunity to bring together technology and community to allow consumers to explore and discover music together.”
This announcement posits Zune as a brand name for an entire family of hardware and software products, supported by music, movie and media services, much like Apple’s iPod, iTunes and iTunes Music Store offering.
Billboard Magazine, who broke the story, has speculated that the Zune-branded range of products will include music players, video players, WiFi-enabled devices and possibly even a portable video game device, with Microsoft incorporating social networking and mobile media purchasing.
The first Zune device (which may or may not look like the one illustrated) is scheduled to be launched late this year ready for Christmas, with further devices following in 2007.
Microsoft has already busied itself with the dreadfully punned ComingZune.com viral marketing site which, bizarrely, features a big bloke and a tiny bloke stroking a rabbit to the strains of the excellent Regina Spektor song, ‘Us.’
Because we’re all being strung along by Microsoft’s teaser campaign, details are still very sketchy (like the illustrations on the site) although some rumours suggest that there’ll be a 30GB Zune with the “same pricing, look and feel as the 60GB iPod,” with Wi-Fi functionality letting users share music with up to 10 nearby chums.
We’ll keep you posted with more information just as soon as we hear summat.
Yahoo! and Motorola have cuddled up in their synergetic beds and fluffed up their co-branding pillows to announce a new deal that will see Yahoo! Go pre-installed on millions of Motorola handsets next year. 
With two of the mobile phone big boys onboard, we reckon there’s been a fair amount of backside-kicking going on at arch-rivals Google, who must be well miffed to see Yahoo grab such a huge chunk of the market. 
With more and more phones offering internet access, punters want to be able to easily access services, search the web and grab their mail on the move. 
According to figures compiled by mmetrics.com, a research firm who strut around in the exciting world of mobile market measurement, when it comes to mobile phones there’s a hefty transatlantic gulf in smartphone tastes. 
French say “Nous aimons Nokia”
“Ja ist Nokia gut,” say Germans
Americans go ape for Palm
One of the reasons I found myself being wooed over to the Windows Mobile dark side last year was after Palm unforgivably failed to deliver on their promise of Wi-Fi drivers for the Treo 650. 
Although the lack of Wi-Fi remains a major disappointment on the Treo (it’s also noticeably absent from the latest Treo 700p, much to the consternation of their loyal user base), T-Mobile’s superb unlimited data Web’n’Walk deal more than makes up for it, offering unlimited GPRS data for just £7 a month. 
Although onboard Wi-Fi appears to remains a distant dream for the Treo there is at least the option to use the Enfora Wi-Fi sled (review coming shortly). 
There is, however, a way to access Skype on a Palm via a service called 
The terrible day that the mobile phone companies had been hoping wasn’t going to arrive, is here. Skype have today announced four WiFi handsets that let you send and receive calls without switching your computer on while wanding around – err, like a mobile phone. They’ve been expected for a while, but are finally getting closer to the hands of the public, being as they’ll start selling in Q3 this year. 
We got our hand on the NetGear SPH101 recently and were really impressed with the solid build and how easy it was to use. The Skype interface was loyal to the computer-based editions, with the graphics being an exact replica. 
Yeah, we know: it’s another ruddy phone from Samsung who seem to have a new mobile on the market every tea break, but this one is actually a bit different – honest! 
The phone itself looks much like the usual fare from the overactive designers at Samsung, featuring a familiar slide-out design and mean, all-black finish. 
Specifications
Korean technology company Daewoo Lucoms, have unveiled their new ultra mobile PC Solo M1. 
The Solo M1 features a variety of multimedia features, including video and music playback via Windows Media player, a DMB tuner, a 1.3 MP webcam for video conferencing and a 4-in-1 (MMC/ SDIO/ MS/ MS Pro) memory card reader. 
There’s also a range of optional accessories available, including a leather case, mini keyboard and external optical drive. 
Travellers needing to keep connected might like the cut of the jib of Trendnet’s handy new USB wotsit. Regaling under the lengthy name of the ‘Trendnet HotFlash 802.11g Wireless & 512MB Flash Memory Combo USB Adapter with HotSpot Detector,’ this cheeky little puppy wedges in a ton of functionality into a memory stick sized unit. 
Powered by a built-in rechargeable Li-on battery (which charges up when connected to a USB port), the specs claim a wireless working range of 35-100 meters indoors and 100-300 meters outdoors. 
The planned buy out of the satellite interests of BT Media and Broadcast, the division within UK giant, British Telecom, that operates ‘business to business’ broadcasting industry interests, has fallen at the final fence. 
BT like other large telco’s is finding itself with more Satellite capacity than it can usefully manage, remains committed to a sale and is now considering the long term future of some of its’ other major earth stations. 
T-Mobile is the latest UK mobile service provider to offer its mobile customers Windows Push Email. 
This certainly adds extra value to the T-Mobile package, which currently costs £17 a month, or £8.50 when added to Flext, Relax, or Business 1-Plan contracts. 
For added security and convenience (in case you’re a bit forgetful/half-cut), the wipe feature lets owners decide how many incorrect logon attempts can be tried before the phone shuts up shop.