New Microsoft mystery: 'Zune Xbox' |
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New Microsoft mystery: 'Zune Xbox'
Woah, the Microsoft job listings are a treasure trove of Zune secrets today.
After we here at TechFlash found new details about the company's plans to expand Zune to mobile phones, analyst and blogger Matt Rosoff was inspired to do his own digging. He found another Zune listing that refers to a "Zune Xbox" -- evidence that the company will connect it digital music initiative and video-game console in new ways.
"The Zune Design team seeks a visual designer who is passionate about software design, software innovation and consumer entertainment experiences," reads the Oct. 21 posting for a user experience designer. "We are looking for a strong, collaborative designer to work closely with the creative directors to propose innovative designs and content solutions for the Zune Device UI, Zune Xbox and Zune PC Application."
A Zune Xbox? What in the heck would a "Zune Xbox" be, exactly?
Rosoff has a good theory -- that Microsoft would let Xbox 360 users access the Zune Marketplace music service from within the Xbox Live online interface. He writes:
"Both Xbox Live and the Zune Marketplace use Microsoft's own pseudo-currency, Microsoft Points. Xbox Live already lets you download video content and stream movies-on-demand from Netflix (if you're a subscriber). You can plug any MP3 player into the Xbox 360 and listen to a mix of your music as you play. So why not take all these pieces to their logical conclusion and let you access the Zune Marketplace from Xbox Live.? Integration would be particularly useful for Zune Pass subscribers, giving them another device on which to use their unlimited monthly listens and 10 permanent downloads."
Under that theory, the Xbox 360 would be one of the "etc." that Steve Ballmer talked about when he told CIO magazine that the Zune software would be available on "the PC, on Windows Mobile devices, etc."
So that would make sense. But do we have any takers for a different conspiracy theory? Does anyone read the job listing to suggest a music device with Xbox-branded gaming features? Or maybe a special-edition console with extra Zune-branded music features?
Yeah, probably not. I think Rosoff's right. But feel free to speculate recklessly in the comments below.
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