Another one of the articles that don’t seem to like the new Microsoft Zune MP3 Player has surfaced on Engadget. Looks like Microsoft did not make a killer iPod. Well, back to the drawing board. The article also spends time giving Apple suggestions on stuff to steal from the Zune. Uses the words “opulence” and “elegance” a little to much for a man. Hey buddy, it’s an mp3 player not your wife’s jewelry.

As a peer-to-peer implementation at launch, Microsoft has dispensed with the setup issues needed for infrastructure networks today. Nevertheless, the whole rigmarole around the terms of sharing (really more akin to limited and temporary “lending”) seems more trouble than it’s worth. WiFi is worthwhile and community-driven music discovery is a win for consumers, artists, merchants and vendors, but the place to encourage music sharing should be in software or on web sites that can easily reach millions overnight, as Napster and Rhapsody have done. If Microsoft wanted to enable secure and limited portable listening on the Zune device, it would have been a much richer experience for Zune users to have that extended from the Zune software or Zune Marketplace.

Microsoft Zunes MP3 Player is Crap source

Engadget has the scoop on the new Microsoft LifeCam VX-6000. Sure it looks bulky unlike the the Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks Pro that I bought for my wife, but 1.3 megapixel cameras with 30 fps, 1,280-by-1,024 resolutions are much better than lower end ones…You’ll never go back to them.. ….And to get the best voice quality, skip Live Messenger and use Skype…Its the best bet.

Our peeps over at PC Mag have gotten their hands on the higher-end of Microsoft’s two Live-optimized LifeCams announced last month and, for the most part at least, seem to have dug it, giving it a hefty 4/5 rating. True to Microsoft’s claims, they found that the cam was in fact, very easy to use and delivered some nice added features like face-tracking along with the standard pan, tilt, and zoom control.

Is it a marriage made in heaven ? Instead of choosing other “Cheaper” MP3 manufacturers, Microsoft is deciding to outsource the manufacturing of its Zune wireless music player to Toshiba. I guess other players like Creative or Iriver would have wanted to clinch this lucrative deal but its not for them to guess. Specs of the FCC approved Toshiba Zune model include a 3-inch display, 30 GB hard drive, 802.11b/g radio, FM tuner, USB 2.0 connection.

Let’s hope Toshiba comes up with a better looking model than the pics of Zunes I’ve seen. It’s too squarish for me but do have a look at Zune Thoughts that will keep you updated on this MS wonder.

“Toshiba has one of the better received portable media centers out there, so it makes sense that Microsoft would have chosen them,” said Jon Erensen, an analyst with Gardner. “If you look at the GigaBeat F, one of the new portable media centers that was introduced at CES last year, it was one of the better designed pieces of hardware that was out there, so it’s not too big of a surprise that Microsoft would try to work with Toshiba and take advantage of their expertise in that area.”

Gizmodo UK guys are giving us some thoughts on the new Microsoft Zune. Is it worth to put your cents and time into this MP3 player as it could be just a ripoff from a Toshiba Gigabeat player. Hm,,,you would think that Microsoft could at least afford some designers with their fat wallets.

Is the Zune just the Toshiba player with some re-arranged buttons? An insider at Microsoft gives us some food for thought. Stay with us on this. First, Microsoft spun off a good portion of the Xbox 360 team to work on the Zune, including J Allard. They formed a new team called “Pyxis”, which is working on the Zune. Since they only had about a year, from the launch of the Xbox 360 to this upcoming Thanksgiving, they were on a very tight, very aggressive schedule. No real time to design a completely new product from scratch.