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Microsoft Plans to Open Retail Stores
The Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft plans to open a number of stores to help it sell products.
It remains to be seen whether the effort can add some pizzazz to Microsoft's unfashionable image, which Apple has sought to reinforce with ads that mock its competitor. Mr. Porter, in a statement, said there are "tremendous opportunities" for Microsoft to create a "world-class shopping experience" for the company's customers.
"The purpose of opening these stores is to create deeper engagement with consumers and continue to learn firsthand about what they want and how they buy," Microsoft said in a statement.
The move is a sign of the deeper role consumer-technology companies are playing in the retail business, despite the many risks of straying from their traditional businesses of making hardware and software. Apple, of Cupertino, Calif., encountered widespread skepticism when it first began opening its own retail stores in 2001.
The stores are being immediately compared to Microsoft competitor Apple's stores. As the WSJ notes Apple's stores, which debuted in 2001, became a huge success and have helped drive sales of Macs, iPods and iPhones. The scenes of lines outside Apple stores are widely reported which each new Apple product launch. There's a risk to retail because it is expensive to lease store space and hire people to run the stores but Microsoft must have decided it is worth the risk because it could boost sales of Zunes, Xbox 360s, software and whatever other gadgets Microsoft has planned. Microsoft's stores could also sell the Microsoft clothing line called Softwear. No details yet on an opening date or locations for Microsoft's stores.
Posted on February 13, 2009
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30GB Zunes Fail as 2009 Approaches
 Widespread problems with 30GB Zunes freezing up is being reported by Gizmodo, Engaget, Zunerama and other tech blogs. Some are calling it a Zune Apocalypse or joking that Zune has fallen ill from the Y2K9 bug or Z2K9 bug. Microsoft's Zune Insider blog has an update with the following brief message.
We were made aware of a widespread issue facing owners of Zune 30 devices this morning. We have a technical team working hard to isolate the issue right now and will update everyone as much as possible. Thanks for your patience while we get to the bottom of this.
The Zune support site also has a message noting Microsoft is aware of the outage.
Customers with 30gb Zune devices may experience issues when booting their Zune hardware. We're aware of the problem and are working to correct it. The Zune Social might be slow or inaccessible. Sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks for your patience!
Many are guessing that the error has something to do with the clock function on the Zune 30GB. CNN also has a story on the Zune failure. Hopefully, Microsoft will figure out the problem soon so people can get their Zunes back up and running.
Update 1-1-09: A solution to the 30GB Zune error has been posted. Microsoft says the error will resolve itself and it was a clock-related error.
Posted on December 31, 2008
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