zPhone Fails Before It Starts?

The Zune Phone, or so called zPhone has been talked about off and on.  While Bill Gates flat out says they're not making it, this iPhone fighter seems to not to go away.  With such a possible compelling product, critics constantly pick it apart, even though it doesn't even exist in a finished form yet, and who knows what compelling features it may have if it ever sees the light of day.

Over on Digital Trends there's an article worth taking a look at.  Here's an intriguing tidbit from columnist Rob Enderle:

We may see the future of MP3 players increasingly as Smartphone’s, which Apple seems to be anticipating itself with the iPhone. This view appears shared with the cell phone companies and is likely the reason why few have themselves brought out MP3 players which otherwise would seem to be a natural extension for them (Samsung is one of the few exceptions). This anticipated evolution should eventually force Zune to either fade away like PDAs or force them create a Zune phone.

While I agree with much of the article, the paragraph above doesn't quite gel with me.  I've not been a big fan of the iPhone, or iTouch type of device.  Heck, I never even played an MP3 off of my Palm T/X.  I think there will always be a market for those of us that want separate music and phone devices.  Also, they haven't put hard drives in cell phones, and it'll still be a while before it's affordable to do 80 gigs of flash in a cell phone for storage.

Do I think there will eventually be a zPhone?  Probably, but I don't think it's going to be for at least another year or two.  Let's hope that Microsoft fixes their Zune software, and the Zune 3rd edition hits it out of the park.  Then, they can seriously work on a Zune Phone.

Comments

[Southpaw]

Here is the issue with stand alone mp3 players being phased out or anything like that. Not everyone wants a smartphone. Actually most people don't really want a smart phone. They want a normal phone and then an mp3 player that they can maybe leave in their car or on their bike bag or something like that. People also tend to not want to have to worry about "Oh, is this listening to music going to make it so I can't make that phonecall later to my friend because I will have drained the battery rather significantly?"

We can also look at the amount of wear and tear mp3 players tend to recieved. The average ipod only seems to last around 1-1.5 years. Most of the people in the higher cost smartphone market tend to want a smartphone that'll last for 4 or so years. If their phone is also doubling as their portable mp3 player, it's going to raise the chance of it failing, then they lose both their portable music as well as their cellphone until they are able to get it replaced.

Maybe it's just me though, but an mp3 player built into a phone seems like a gimmick more than something really that practical, and this is coming from someone who carries a blackberry around.

[Pranli]

Southpaw,
I'm the type of person you just described. I want to separate my phone and music. I don't want to drain my cell phone batteries with music. You run the risk of your cell phone malfunctioning when it doubles as a music player and such. "Regular people" just want a decent cell phone with excellent reception. How about a cell that consistantly works well in elevators, tunnels, and anywhere.