The big news over the past few days has been the partnership between Microsoft and Nokia. With Nokia given exclusive rights to further customize the platform and the ability to make great hardware, the partnership looks promising. However, one thing that has been left out of the discussion has been Zune.
According to Paul Thurrott, Microsoft is looking to remove the Zune branding and will move the services into the Windows Live and other business sectors. Thurrott writes,
My sources tell me that the Zune brand is on the way out and that all Zune products and services will be moved into other businesses, including Windows Live. Zune will essentially cease to exist under this plan.
The news comes as a bit of a surprise considering that amount Microsoft invested to promote the Zune platform. But, at the same time, if Microsoft is looking to bring the WP7 platform and Zune platform closer together, uniting them under Windows Live services does make a bit of sense.
No matter the final outcome, the Zune services you know today will most likely not go away; they will more likely just be rebranded.
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