Ina Fried on January 23rd, 2009
Zune(Credit: Microsoft)

There were plenty of weak spots that led to Microsoft’s disastrous December quarter, but one that didn’t get much attention Thursday was how badly the Zune did.

Tucked away in Microsoft’s quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, however, was a startling figure.

“Zune …

Originally posted at Beyond Binary

Continue reading about Zune sales plummeted during holidays

Ina Fried on December 8th, 2008

For those without a fireplace and/or an ability to carry a tune, TV stations have for decades offered the Yule Log, an on-screen fireplace crackling as Christmas Carols play in the background.

According to “The Holiday Yule Log” book, the first televised fireplace was in 1966 on New York’…

Originally posted at Beyond Binary

Continue reading about Yule Log comes to the iPhone

Ina Fried on November 18th, 2008

With the economy tanking and the holidays looming, Microsoft is hoping to salvage some Zune sales by chopping prices.

The software maker plans to announce on Wednesday a price cut for its flash-based models. The 4GB version will drop to $99, the 8GB model will drop by $10 to $139, …

Originally posted at Beyond Binary

Continue reading about Microsoft chopping Zune prices

Ina Fried on November 12th, 2008

Belkin's new $50 cable aims to make the PC-to-Mac move even easier.

(Credit: Belkin)

Back in 2006, Microsoft was only too happy to tout a cable from Belkin that made it easier to move from XP to Vista. It even gave away the devices as part of its …

Originally posted at Beyond Binary

Continue reading about Belkin makes PC-to-Mac switch even easier

Ina Fried on October 30th, 2008

Foo Fighters performing at Wednesday's LA launch party for the BlackBerry Storm. (Photo taken with a BlackBerry Curve.)

(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET News )

HOLLYWOOD, Calif.–The BlackBerry Storm got its chance to be a child star Wednesday as Research In Motion threw it a coming-out party at the …

Originally posted at Beyond Binary

Continue reading about BlackBerry Storm gets hip LA launch party

Ina Fried on October 10th, 2008

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News.com Poll

Judging Joe
If Joe Biden were a tech product what would he be?

Wikipedia (lots of info, not always right)
iPhone screen protector
Copy machine…

Continue reading about Friday Poll: Which tech product is Joe Biden?

Ina Fried on October 3rd, 2008
graphic for Palin poll(Credit: Susan Dove/CNET News)

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News.com Poll

Pinpointing Palin
If Sarah Palin were a tech gadget, what would she be?

Hello Kitty assault rifle
Palm Centro
Speak & Spell

Continue reading about Friday Poll: Which tech gadget is Palin?

Ina Fried on October 2nd, 2008

Updated 3:45 p.m. PDT, with additional Microsoft comment.

Microsoft has indicated for some time that it sees a Zune future in the cell phone arena, but the company has been hard to pin down on just what its plans there are.

There would seem to be two main …

Originally posted at News – Microsoft

Continue reading about Ballmer: Zune coming to Windows Mobile

Ina Fried on October 1st, 2008

Visitors to the Xbox Live support page were offered the following message Wednesday.

(Credit: CNET News)

An unplanned outage hit Microsoft’s Xbox Live service starting Tuesday night, leaving online gamers unable to connect.

The outage started at 8:48 p.m. PDT Tuesday, according to Microsoft. It followed an …

Originally posted at News – Microsoft

Continue reading about Microsoft’s Xbox Live hit with additional outage

Ina Fried on September 19th, 2008

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News.com Poll

McCain as a gadget

If John McCain were a piece of tech gear, which would he be?

Panasonic Toughbook (ruggedized laptop)

Phonograph

Leatherman multi-tool

Presto (…

Continue reading about Friday poll: What kind of gadget would McCain be?