SAMSUNG’S NEW DESIGNER NETBOOK STANDS OUT FROM THE NETBOOK CROWD

NETBOOKS ARE DANGEROUSLY CROSSING INTO NOTEBOOK PRICING

Samsung’s newest Netbook, the N310, $499.99 pushes the envelope on design fashion over form factor in this most misunderstood laptop computer category. Sure it looks cool, with a simple, yet elegant design by international award winning designer Naoto Fukasawa.

What does it have going for it?  

-An easy-to-use pebble stone keyboard with more space between the keys making it easier to type and is only 7 per cent smaller than a standard keyboard in size.

-The longest lasting battery in its class. Samsung claims 11 hours, but realistically closer to ten, still, great portable technology on one battery charge.

-The other goodies are onboard video camera, WiFi and Samsung’s own ECO certification mark, attesting to the absence of hazardous substances and materials; optimized energy efficiency; and, effective material usage.

It actually looks more powerful than what it really is: another Netbook running on an Intel Atom processor, one MB RAM, like dozens of other brands, including previous Samsung models.

If you are a first-time portable computer buyer or existing Netbook fan, you will love it…it’s like the new Volkswagen Beetle, with generous rubber-like curves and attractively different from other models.

But there’s something about Netbooks that are irritating me and I can’t put my finger on it yet.

I think Netbooks are a computer phase that happened at the right place and time.

Call it a perfect storm. They are noticeably smaller and lighter than notebooks, cheaper and arrived during an economic downturn, making them an attractive buy. Stores don’t like them because they make less money than they do on regular notebooks, which in turn, have better performance and value.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told me in an interview at the recent Windows 7 that Netbooks are many things to many people, but that computer makers will soon counter back with smaller and lighter notebooks that will do more than casual computing and Internet, the de facto category for Netbooks.

Take Toshiba’s upcoming Satellite T110 or larger SatelliteT130 for example. Literally arriving Christmas week, these thin-and-light notebooks are ultra portable and will run circles around Netbooks. The T110 for $699, has a much more usable 11.6 inch display, is 24.9 mm thin, has  2GB of fast and efficient DDR3 RAM, weighs less than 1.8kg and includes an Intel Pentium Ultra Low Voltage Processor and hard drive impact sensor. These are all quality features, until now reserved for much more expensive notebooks.

Can Netbooks do that? I doubt it. That would make them notebooks…or Not-Netbooks, right?

Check out my weekend Edmonton Journal Column on computer buying tips at:

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/Price+doesn+dictate+computer+performance/2335964/story.html

CUT YOUR PHONE CORD…AND YOUR INTERNET CORD!

Newest Wireless HSPA Internet Hubs Rock
Cutting the cord on landline phones, in favour of cellphones, may soon not be the only cutting going on.
Folks who get Internet via cable or ADSL may be cutting those cables too.
Why? Because of some pretty cool new technology from Bell and Rogers that is making fast Internet access easier, even possible in rural areas. Imagine downloading a 100 MB movie file in two minutes, wirelessly!
Rogers’ Rocket Hub, $149.95 with a plan, for example, is a cellular device in disguise. It looks like an upright modem with a power cord, four Ethernet connections and a phone plug. It uses Rogers HSPA network, like cellphones, for data-based wireless Internet from anywhere. Up to ten WiFi equipped computers (including four Ethernet cable desktop PCs) can access the Internet for email, surfing, gaming and more, at speeds equal, if no better to my current Shaw or Telus land connection.
You need to subscribe to a very reasonable data plan from Rogers, starting at $35 monthly for up to 3 GB, up to $60 for up to 10 GB. If you lowball your subscription, Rogers simply charges you the next level for going over for the month.
But it gets better.
You can plug any home phone into the Rocket Hub and talk and receive calls. You can port your home phone number to it and subscribe to a Rogers combo data-voice plan, starting at $50 for up to 3 GB data, unlimited local calling, voicemail, caller ID and call waiting.
Can your current home phone and Internet service beat that?
Rogers is selling the Rocket Hub for folks who live in fringe cellphone coverage areas with less capable and pricier Internet options. I think its for anyone who needs a “phone” and Internet package at a good price.
BTW, one GB of data get’s you 5,000 text emails + 1,000 web pages + 400 photo upload/downloads + 50 minutes on YouTube.
The MiFi 2372 from Bell, $99.95 with a plan, doesn’t have as many features but is ultra portable. It is rechargeable and works with up to five WiFi equipped computers. It comes with a USB cable and software to connect to desktop PCs too. The micro SD slot can hold up to 16 GB of memory as well. It doesn’t do voice (other than Internet based calls you run on computers) but you can carry it in your pocket wherever you go in Bell’s HSPA cell coverage area and have Internet access for computers and cellphones with WiFi capability.
The one downside to extreme portability for the MiFi is its data plan, considerably higher than Rogers, at $30 for 500 MB, $40 1 GB, $65 3GB and $85 5GB.

Which is faster? I tried both units from various parts of my home, as well as parking in different areas in town. Overall, I found the Bell MiFi to be a bit faster (maximum download speeds of 650 KB/sec versus 580 KB/sec.) The MiFi only dropped to 450 KB/sec when locked in my car’s trunk, parked inside my garage. Impressive. But the Rogers Rocket Hub did a better job of keeping connection speeds up, when hooking up several laptops with simultaneous downloads.
So, if you are not a hardcore Internet user, consider the convenience these unique hubs offer.
Both units come with pre-configured security, with passwords printed on the back or battery cover. After all, you don’t want your neighbours running down your data plan, do you?
For more information got to:

http://www.rogers.com/web/content/internet-mobile/rockethub

http://www.bell.ca/shopping/Novatel-Wireless-MiFi-2372/69136.details

Check my cellphone gift guide roundup in today’s www.edmontonjournal.com

Ballmer defends the company, talks Netbooks and misses Bill Gates

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's Canadian key note had no "developers, developers, developers", but there was a "Windows, Windows, Windows" Kodak moment. Steve Makris Photo (Sony HX-1 on Anti-Motion Blur)

TORONTO-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer met with Canadian partners and industry leaders this week taking part in a one-day-early pre-launch of Windows 7 before heading south of the boarder for the official October 22 launch of the new operating system.

He didn’t shout “developers, developers, developers” in his keynote but did throw his fists in the air saying “Windows, Windows, Windows” in an exchange during an audience Q&A.

I was invited with a small group of journalists to sit down for a chat with Steve after his Canadian keynote, my first meeting with him. Compared to interviews with Bill Gates, Steve is the opposite. He gets worked up and almost shouts in his public keynotes but is very calm in private interviews, even when I poked him with this question.

Q. Does it bother you when analysts, even some of your co-workers, call Microsoft a version 2.0 company? They get it right the second time around. What are you doing to change that perception?

A. I don’t worry about the perception. I just want the products to be right. If they are not right the first time I won’t hang up my equipment and go home. The goal is to get things right out of the chute. But I think it is important to also say you are willing to continue even if the first incarnation is not right. The first incarnation of many things are not right. SAP didn’t get it right the first time with ERP, Oracle didn’t get it right with databases, Google didn’t get it right the first time with search, didn’t really pop when they started the company in 9-95 …didn’t pop for seven years. Some things do take off from V 1.0 and the first implementation, that’s fine too, but weare trying to make sure we get things right as fast as we can and at the same time that we not be so impatient and immature as to assume that we can’t learn, from getting feedback . So, I am neither sad nor proud of the statement you said. I just think it is important to do great work and also to keep an open mind and listen and be prepared to respond to the feedback you get.”

Having survived that one, unscathed, I asked Steve about his take on Netbooks.

Q. Has the popularity of the Netbooks surprised you? The OEM makers tell me that in order to meet the low cost factour, which is the sweet price nowadays for people due to the economy, Microsoft has to give deep discounts on its operating system for Netbooks compared to notebook and desktop computers. Is that a viable business model or is it just a passing phase right now?  

A.” I think you are going to have a certain percentage of the world say look, I will take the compromise, capability and performance that the Netbook implies in order to get the price.

The thing that I think is a little silly right now is that people think, in some sense, is that to get long battery life and light weight you also have to be underpowered. I think there will be a lot of nice notebooks, that are not underpowered, that have long battery life and have light weight.  

If you ask 10 people what Netbooks mean, you will get a bunch of different answers…to some people  it’s going to mean an atom processor, to some people it’s going to mean cheap, to some people its going to mean light , to some people it’s going to mean small screen, You will get a variety of different answers.

We are going to have a diversity of different solutions…for the lowest cost machine we need to have an operating system that is priced…Windows 7 Starter Edition is that operating system. In fact if a user buys a Windows 7 based Netbook with Windows Starter Edition, all of the full Windows 7 is on the machine, they just have to give us a credit card to activate it.”

Always the salesperson, Steve even gave out his email, steveb@microsoft.com his keynote for folks who want to do business with Microsoft.

Surprisingly Steve has no issue with companies keeping their Vista machines if they are happy with them, instead of having to feel compelled to upgrade to Windows 7. Despite all the negative publicity on Vista, Microsoft feels that Vista was a good product launched in an unprepared eco system. After SP2 the software giant,  rightly so, believes Vista is still a viable solution for many companies.

But the most revealing thing Steve told me was about his long-time Microsoft associate Bill Gates, who as you know, has switched his daily Microsoft work regimen to part time, directing his energy to The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Q. Do you miss Bill?

A. “I don’t miss him as a friend because, we are still friends. I miss him as a co-worker…he is in a couple days a month and he and I were able to launch a board meeting, but it’s not the same, it’s not the same.” 

Interesting.

Industry observers often criticize Microsoft as being run like a family business. Microsoft managers have told me Bill is not missed by all staffers, many of whom prefer the more horizontal style of management. None miss the BillG review, where a project’s success hinged on a one-person career-changing meeting with Bill, who would approve or nix a project. Now, larger groups get involved in project reviews in a more collegial style.

But what may be missed, is the one-two punch combo Bill and Steve ran in the good old days.

And, no one in Microsoft today, can sit down and talk about the entire company like Bill could.

Things change, even for old technology warriors.

Check out my consumer-friendly take in Windows 7 at:

www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/Microsoft+lucky/2140057/story.html

Walk the Walk with Intel

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN BUILD A HOT PC?

Following Intel’s recent launch of its new mainstream i7 and Core i5 processors, the chip giant is hosting a face-off for the world’s top mod enthusiasts in the Intel Core i7 Custom Desktop Challenge. This international throw-down rewards mod masters for creating unique desktops that reflect the power of tomorrow’s technology – from awesome gaming PCs to outstanding platforms for home automation. The deadline to enter is November 16, 2009, so stock up on energy drinks and put your competitors to shame. Get more details at www.intelcorechallenge.com. Since the new kick-ass affordable processors won’t be showing up in Canadian stores for at least a few more months, computer enthusiasts have a chance to show the likes of HP, Dell and Lenovo, not to mention, all those mom-and-pop computer outlets, how it’s done. Geeks of the world…start your chipsets!

INTEL KEEPS MOORE’S LAW ALIVE

Intel’s launch of mainstream high-performance chips for consumers is good news.

The Intel “Lynnfield “  Core i7 and i5 launch along with the Intel P55 chipset for newer motherboards, will bring computing speed up a notch or two, with a wide price choice of computer configerations for consumers.

But don’t expect these new “i” Intel PCs to be in consumer stores before the holiday season, unless you are an ethusiast and want to build your own.

Last year, Intel had introduced the highest end of this chip family with an awesome 8-core i7 3.2 GHz, itself costing more than today’s average selling desktop computer.  

I have been using both these new chips for the past several weeks with Intel’s high performance SSD (solid state drive) 80 GB drive and three gigabytes of DDR3 RAM and an NVIDIA GFORCE GTX 8800 on Windows Vista and the upcoming Windows 7, with a clean install. But I also ran these chips on my working Vista spinning harddrive with tones of legacy programs, to see how the new chips run a PC with “baggage.”

For one, from a cost perspective, expect these PCs to cost more than today’s, with more  expensive DDR3 memory, about 50 per cent more than DDR2 RAM and new motherboards.

There are 774 million transistors in these chips, and unlike current  CPUs, use the new for the LGA1156 socket…in other words, they will not fit on your older PC configuration.  In fact, these new Intel Desktop Board DP55KG I used does not accommodate any IDE connections anymore. Say goodbye to floppies and say hello to SATA compatible internal DVD/RW readers.

Here is a brief listing of what these chips offer:

Intel® Core™ i7-800 processor series

• Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology delivers 8-threaded performance on 4 cores
• Intel® Turbo Boost Technology
• 8M Intel® Smart Cache
• Integrated Memory Controller with support for 2 channels of DDR3 1333 memory
• PCI Express* 2.0 discrete graphics flexibility for multiple graphics card configurations

Intel® Core™ i5-700 processor series

• Intel® Turbo Boost Technology
• 8M Intel® Smart Cache
• Integrated Memory Controller with support for 2 channels of DDR3 1333 memory
• PCI Express* 2.0 discrete graphics flexibility for multiple graphics card configurations

Intel® P55 Express Chipset

• Support for 6 SATA ports at 1.5 Gbps and 3Gbps with Intel® Matrix Storage Manager providing RAID 0/1/5/10
• Intel® HD Audio, 8 PCI Express* 2.0 (2.5 Gbps) x1 ports and 14 USB 2.0 ports with 2 independent EHCI controllers

Here is the three chip size, speeds and internal memory.

Processor	Clock speed(GHz)	Max Turbo Frequency (GHz)	Cache	Memory Speed Support	TDP	Processor Generation
Intel® Core™ i7-870	2.93	3.60	8 MB	DDR3-1333MHz	95W	New Intel® Core™ Microarchitecture  (Nehalem) 45nm
Intel® Core™ i7-860	2.80	3.46
Intel® Core™ i5-750	2.66	3.20

 

How do they perform?

Compared to a Intel Core2 Quad Processor Q9650 (12M Cache, 3.00 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB) I have been using, the i5-750 2.66 holds its own at par, but with a higher PCMark Vantage Overall Score 5957 compared to the 4810  of my legacy system, while the i7-870 was an impressive  6226.

In all, the i5 is in fact a better CPU than last year’s king if the hill while the i7-870 2.9 GHz, is ahead of the pack, with a very stable Max Turbo Frequency of 3.6 GHz.

As for my older well used Vista install? Well, I can say with no hesitation that it ran noticeably faster.

Moore’s Law continues.

I am away for a month in Europe, but will be reporting in more detail from computer makers upon my return as well as what new features the motherboard makers will have on their P55 ship sets.

For more information go to www.intel.com

Palm Pre arrives in Canada for surprise visit

BUT YOU WILL HAVE TO WAIT FOR BELL’S NEWEST PHONE

Toronto media got a short-notice invite Wednesday morning for a same-day sneak-peak of the new Palm Pre smartphone, available at Bell in the second half of this year. Reporters could not take pictures but they could see the phone.

A touch of drama for a phone that won’t be in Canada for months and that we all knew about at CTIA Las Vegas earlier this year.

You will have time to think about your next cellphone upgrade, Bell hopes. Should you wait? Before I get into some details about the Pre phone, here is the skinny:

Unless you don’t like everything that the hottest last-quarter top-selling PDA does, the BlackBerry Curve (yes, it outsold the iPhone in the U.S.) or the cool design functionality of the Samsung Omnia or you crave for the seamless multimedia, 35,000 (and counting) cool apps and best Internet experience of the iPhone, don’t bother waiting.

But if you want to manage your wireless life in different ways, Palm’s way, read on.

The Palm Pre is unique in many ways. You can read and see all the details on www.palm.com but briefly, it is a smart-looking PDA with curved sides, even front panel, designed with its own new WebOS platform, does deep multi-tasking and unobtrusive notifying, turns the large screen backlight off when outside for longer battery life and has a large touch screen but no touch keyboard opting for a real slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It’s loaded with 8 GB internal memory, all the goodies like 3 megapixel camera, Wifi, Bluetooth and GPS. Much thought seems to have gone into the Palm Pre from a diversified Palm engineering and design team.

As an option, it has an inductive power charger (a bit slower than a wall plug kind). You can set up HTML or pop email accounts. Palm does not have its own server, like RIM, so unless you get the Pre connected through work with email servers to do the pushing, consumer email accounts will not respond as fast as a BlackBerry phone.  

 Still, there are smart connections with social networking sites on the go, like Facebook, with automatic updates of other Facebook users on your Palm Pre device, when they change their contact information. You can organize and have faster access to both your business and personal contacts. Cool.

“The Palm Pre allows you to keep many applications and Internet sections open at once and move them around the screen with the touch of a finger, even moving them aside so the content isn’t lost,” said Bell Canada spokesperson Julie Smithers.

Palm is pushing the phone’s new WebOS platform claiming it is ready for prime-time application web development with new apps (no business model announced yet) that will be easier to develop than  competitors and the ability to run older Palm software in emulation, in native speed.

Where does the Palm Pre fit for you? It is a new offering, a fresh start from Palm who has managed to outlive its critics. Will it manage to carve itself a niche for customers who don’t care for BlackBerry, iPhone or Windows Mobility phones?

Matt Crowley Palm Product Line Manager in California, was straight forward:

“We are not competing with the multimedia aspect of the iPhone or the full business focus of the BlackBerry. It’s a consumer experience that is not a corporate environment and not 100 per cent competing in the multimedia crazy space of iTunes.”

At first glance from a distance,  I think the Palm Pre is a cool-looking PDA, smart in organizing your information, with a bit of iPhone and BlackBerry envy.

Bell is obviously excited about this phone. “We normally don’t pre-announce a device but we only do so when it’s unique,” said Smithers, adding Bell is the second carrier in the world to announce the Palm Pre offering, one more notch to its already largest Palm line-up in Canada.

 So with that, I will have to wait for a first-person experience for this “I’m no iPhone or BlackBerry” device for a final opinion.

Microsoft ups ante on browser wars

NEW BROWSER WARS

Microsoft’s much awaited official release of Internet Explorer 8 last week starts a new chapter on browser wars with much at stake.

Browsers have become the conduit for a fundamental shift to online offerings with unlimited business potential. They are also staging the set in next generation cloud computing where your browser will be like your OS, with everything running online, not your computer, whose final function is slated to be simply a local storage, screen and input device.

Microsoft still holds the lead in market share of browsers, but competitors Silverfox, Apple and Google and niche Opera are catching up. IE’s lead is not because it’s the best browser…far from it. Experienced computer users and purists, including, to be fair, Microsoft bashers, give high marks to browser competitors for cool, cutting edge features and “technical” speed.

In 2004, Internet Explorer had 90 per cent market share and now it is down to 70 per cent, so it needs to convince users its new IE 8 is up to snuff, which frankly is in many ways.

And despite Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 openness in letting you, for example, choose competitors search engines, even keeping your old ones after upgrading, new computer users end up using Microsoft Live services by default, if that is the first option offered.

Not to say IE 8 is not raising eyebrows. The one thing Microsoft is good at, when it has all its ducks in order, is to get it right the second or third time.

IE 8 has a few cool new features that will benefit web sites and end users:

-Web Slices are special “live” web-based shortcuts you easily create, assuming web sites have taken advantage of this feature. You are alerted when the content of these web sites changes, without you having to revisit the site. For example, if you are on the understandably very popular www.workoplis.com site, you can save your job search profile (such as kind of work, city, dates) as a Web Slice in your Favourites bar.  The shortcut notifies you whenever Workopolis has updates in your search profile. This means you don’t have to go back on that site to see if there are new results on your profile. You can set how frequently you want the Web Slice shortcut to refresh. The IE8 online help guide is-well designed including videos showing you how to use the new features. For more information go to: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx

“IE 8 answers the need to make technology that works for everyone,” said Roy Bernhard, Workopolis managing director, information systems. “These web tools are easy for developers to develop and end-users to use.”

Bernhard added there were more than 3,000 IT jobs available in Canada last week, so using tools like Web Slice can give job-seekers an edge in this competitive job market.

For more information go to: www.workopolis.com

-Accelerators are a real time-saver that allows you to do much more within the web page you are on, by simply clicking your mouse over words that have been linked for Accelerators.  As in Web Slices, the web site must have taken advantage of Accelerators, arming key words with these new hidden features. For example, if you highlight text with accelerator features, a special icon shows. CLicking it shows a drop-down list of things you can do, such as mapping, find the itemized word on eBay, map with Live Maps or even translate with Windows Live. Web sites can set their own Accelerator features on any selected text. You can also add additional Accelerators features of your own.

These web technologies and more, were shown to media in Toronto last week on the eve of Mix09, a convention in Las Vegas showing all of Microsoft’s Software Plus Services.

SilverLight, Microsoft’s web media player, now in its third generation, was shown in action on web-based TV. CTV, the first Canadian network to show streaming HD video online impressed me with SilverLight technology playing full-screen streaming video on a 50-inch flat panel that was indistinguishable from traditional cable or satellite feeds.

For now the network is only playing “catch-up” video showing some of its local recent entertainment content like Corner Gas, for free. CTV uses its own online player to play the HD video, automatically changing the quality depending on the users Internet connection speed.

No announced online monetization plans, according to CTV’s Stephen Argent. “We are learning along the way. This is breathtaking technology and fits the ‘user experience is our business model’”, he added.

We are still away from switching from Telus, Shaw or Rogers for delivery of TV content directly to our PCs, but for folks who live off their computer screen, this is the way to go.  For more information go to: www.ctv.ca

Feb Blues with some bright spots

Like I predicted, Technology cutbacks and job losses are starting to flood in, just when some analysts said they could see light at the end of the tunnel. Today, I  don’t believe any comment from technology companies saying they are doing OK.

Except for cellphones and games, today’s necessities for survival!

I was at a classy Toronto press launch for Sanyo’s new line of “Dual Camera” Xacti, All-HD camcorders for 2009, out in a few months.

Full 1080p and 720p HD models, Including Waterproof HD Cameras with high still megapixel count will bring consumer all-in-one digicams to a new level. And to show how serious Sanyo is about doing stuff different, many of these models will be out in the original vertical handgun-like model, as well as traditional horizontal ones…still with smart one-handed functionality.  
For more information go to: http://en.ca.sanyo.com/News

TECH TSUNAMI

TECHNOLOGY MEETS REALITY

Well folks, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Just when you thought technology would somehow escape the big black recession hole that has been consuming people, jobs, business and investments, came the first Tech wave of troubling news.

Microsoft is talking louder on expense cuts, including layoffs. The software giant will not be selling as many software licenses to computer makers and businesses will skip an upgrade to a new OS or back-Office system. Nortel officially fizzled to penny stock and Circuit City is closing its doors in the U.S., letting go of 30,000 workers.

Google is laying off 100 folks, which for a company of that size, is small change….but these 100 employees were recruiters!

Technology companies work on a different timeline than brick and mortar businesses. A furniture store for example, feels the pinch the same month consumers are spending less. So would, as we all know by now, car makers.

But technology produces stuff anywhere from six months to a year in advance, under earlier approved budgets and expectations.

The next few months will show the end of that previously healthy cycle and the beginning of today’s economic reality that people cutting back on technology, from enterprise to consumers, will not spend like the last cycle.

That means the chip makers, computer makers and IT business are realizing they won’t be selling as much this next year.

The result?

Warehouses are filling up with an overflow of electronic goods from TVs to stereos, DVD and Blu ray players and computers. And there is a wave of new consumer models coming this way in the spring.  

Hang on to your keyboards folks cause there will be more tech companies making bad news in the next few months.

New Year

Well folks here we are into another year and here’s hoping you all have a healthy, happy and virus, phishing and spam-free year!

Off course this is too much to hope for, especially on the security side of things. It seems people have a better chance of keeping healthy than their PCs do!

Check out my tech wish-list for 2009 in my Edmonton Journal Column at:

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Technology/techie+utopian+vision/1137592/story.html

CES IN TOUGH TIMES?

I am heading down to the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week to mix it up with the movers and shakers in technology and will be reporting from the site. Sure there’s parties and receptions but I am just as excited walking the far edges of the exhibit halls looking for the small vendours with cool ideas. 

Needless to say the tough economy has also affected technology companies and it will be interesting to see how CES play out this year. I know fewer reporters are going this year and that is no surprise.

This time last year it was impossible to find a decent hotel room…even now, less than a week away, there are lot’s of rooms available with new discounts. The best gage of how things are going in Vegas are the cabbies…they have an amazing network of tracking the city that never sleeps economy. 

 

ZUNE WOES FOR CANADIANS

What surprised me more than Microsoft’s original Zune player skipping a beat over a leap year fixable programming bug, was the fact that a portable player can last three years! I use Zunes and frankly, I like them…they are solidly made and have a faster interface than iPods.

My biggest Zune beef, as a Canadian, is not being able to buy music online directly from the Zune Marketplace, open only to U.S. Zune users. Microsoft Canada officials have explained to me the complicated politics of getting agreements with artists and music publishers for a Canadian Zune Marketplace, not to mention the fact that the local iTune and all the other Windows compatible music download sites have most of the market share.

Microsoft Canada goes to great lengths explaining to me that unlike the U.S., more Canadians buy albums than digitally downloaded music. That may be strangely true, but according to the last Nielsen Co.’s year-end figures, more than 70% of  U.S. music transactions were track downloads, outselling albums by a ratio of 2.5 to 1. The report says total album sales dropped to 428.4 million, 14% fewer than in 2007, 45% down since 2000.

There’s even more benefits for U.S. Zune Marketplace members. A Zune Pass subscription which gives Zune owners access to millions of tracks for $14.99 a month now allows them to keep 10 tracks a month for free. Unlike the unlimited plan which restricts transferring music to a PC or burning CDs, the free songs let you do that and more. Unlike the unlimited plan where you lose all songs once you stop the subscription, these song give-aways are yours to keep.

Sorry folks, I have to go analog and buy myself another album for my Zune…