“Following the departure of corporate VP Enrico Rodriguez, the company is merging Windows Media Center and Zune software groups into the same Interactive Entertainment Business group that handles the Xbox as well as all gaming,” Electronista reports. “The Mediaroom service for IPTV is also becoming a separate group within the Entertainment and Devices section.”
Electronista reports, “Microsoft has acknowledged that it plans to integrate Zune elements into Windows Mobile in the long term, but the most recent rumors would have it merge Xbox and Zune into Windows Mobile 7 and finally unify all its media efforts into a single platform.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Because merging a failed brand that has been a laughingstock since day one with a highly failure-prone (“Red Ring of Death” to the tune of billions of dollars) game console and cramming elements of each into a phone running Windows Mobile is a sure path to success.
Microsoft had better be very careful with Windows Mobile 7:
• We’ve been pushing the state-of-the-art in every facet of design… We’ve been innovating like crazy for the last few years on this and we’ve filed for over 200 patents for all of the inventions in iPhone. And we intend to protect them. – Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiling iPhone, January 9, 2007
• We like competition as long as they don’t rip off our IP, in which case we will go after them. We will not stand for having our IP ripped-off and we will use any weapons at our disposal [to stop it]. – Apple COO Tim Cook, January 21, 2009
What becomes of Enrico Rodriguez?
A dumb monster with two heads
@mission…
Can you say BING?
Far be it from me (or anyone who reads MDN regularlary) to applaud anything that Microsoft does, but this is probbly th smartest thing they have done in years.
Microsoft HAS to know how much they are stinking up the room with WinMo 6.x, and yet the Zun in it’s most recent incarnation isn’t completely repelent in every way-I even hear (gasp) some people like them!
So merge the Zune and Xbox – for once, make an interesting product that uses crap you grew in your own backyard instead of constantly copying Cupertino. Perhaps a mobile xbox-handheld-system-netflix-playing-runs-word-and-excel will have some market appeal to SOMEONE.
Oh but I forgot – it’ll take you 5 years to figure all that out.
Nevermind…
The rhetorical baying is the tell.
Appropriate. My friend’s X-box went castors up today. Red ring of death. That’s the third time.
Or is it the fourth………
How long can it take to move two marketing guys and their iPhone to copy and call to Taiwan?
With all the infighting that’s still going on within Microsoft, it’s going to be a while yet before this bears any fruit.
For some idiotic reason, Microsoft *encourages* strong competition between its internal units. I’m sure the theory, coming from Salesman Ballmer, is that strong internal competition will produce better results from each team, but a significant side-effect is antagonistic feelings between those teams. Simply mushing them together like this will do nothing to heal those divisive feelings.
Additionally, Microsoft has so many different technologies being championed by different factions, that getting everyone to work together on the same page can be a huge struggle. Especially with the internal competitiveness, there’s a natural human desire to protect “our” pet technology from being marginalized in favor of “theirs”.
As usual, Microsoft have made things far more difficult for themselves than necessary.
BING BING BING
Now known as ZexBox, ZuxBox, or X-Zune. Pick ’em.
This is the announcement MAC feared most. The living room, mobile space and portable entertainment rightfully belong to Microsoft. Everything will soon be tied together with the innovative file formats and connectivity options which only Microsoft can provide. The dark ages of MAC’s misguided proprietary, overpriced Windows wannabe disaster will soon come to an end and light will shine down on consumers again. Redmond brilliantly planted the seed with Zune and a grateful public will soon reap the rewards of a Windows entertainment ecosystem. Buh-bye MAC.
Your potential. Our passion.™
Anyway, maybe the two combined divisions will really mix it up, and soon xBox sufferers will be treated to the Brown Ring of Death. Eww
Maybe they should change the name from “Interactive Entertainment Business group” to “
” rel=”nofollow”>Jackalope Group”…
Like rearranging chairs on the deck of a sinking ship.
I’m sorry. The gist of this article has me smiling so hard my cheeks hurt.
Cool! The next generation Xboxes are gonna be… BROWN.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
MDN uses Bing, do you?
Microsoft should have merged all these teams with the company’s cleaning service. Now that would have been progress!
P.S. I nominate Zune Tang for chief broom jockey and toilet scrubber.
Zunny, you’re so funny!
Thx for your jokes and a good laugh!
This fanboy stuff is cringeworthy, look I’ve got an iPhone, MBP, would never touch a Windows PC. But the 360 is a great games console and hanging the entire criticism on the failure rate is just sad.
The site can be so puerile, how about sticking to facts and stop the playground bitching? This sounds like a decent move by MS
This is the announcement Microsoft feared most. The living room, mobile space and portable entertainment rightfully belong to Apple Everything will soon be tied together with the innovative file formats and connectivity options which only Apple can provide. The dark ages of Microsof’s misguided proprietary, overpriced Windows wannabe disaster will soon come to an end and light will shine down on consumers again. Cupertino brilliantly planted the seed with iPod and a grateful public will soon reap the rewards of a Apple entertainment ecosystem. Buh-bye PC.
The Xune
Saw a video a few years ago wherein Bill Gates laid claim to the digital living room for microsoft, depicting how they will power television, music, movies, through a windows entertainment box, which sat next to him, supposedly discreetly, in a studio living room. It was the size of a truck transmission with a doily on it.
Put the Windows Media Center and Zune software groups in a broom closet, they will fit now.