Microsoft News Tracker

If your phone has everything but the kitchen sink, I guess you call it a smart device:

Cingular Wireless, Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung) and Microsoft Corp. today unveiled the BlackJack™*, a robust, slim smart device packed with the power and functionality desired by business customers and consumers alike. With the BlackJack™ customers can get rich entertainment features, powerful business applications, and the familiar look and feel of Windows Mobile^® 5.0, turbo-charged by Cingular’s 3G-enabled BroadbandConnect service on the sleekest design on the market.

The stylish and compact BlackJack™ will be available exclusively from Cingular in the U.S. in mid-November for as low as $199.99 (with a two-year activation and unlimited data plan). This ultra-thin 3G device features a full, integrated QWERTY keyboard with a large, high-resolution QVGA color screen.

There’s a full list of all the features by following the link, but I liked Ed Hardy’s summary at Brighthand better:

Cingular offers other WM Smartphones, but this is the first that can access its HSDPA network.

The carrier is emphasizing this device’s multimedia capabilities. Users will have access to Cingular Music, a music subscription service, and Cingular Video its on-demand streaming video service. Video can be played on this model’s QVGA screen

But the BlackJack will be about more than just entertainment. It’s built-in QWERTY keyboard will allow users to more easily type emails, and this smartphone will include Microsoft’s push email system.

In addition to its 3G capabilities, the BlackJack will be a GSM phone with support for the 2.5G standard EDGE. It will also include Bluetooth 2.0, which will allow it to use stereo headsets .

This model is an updated version of the Samsung i320, which debuted in Europe over the summer. The major change is the inclusion of HSDPA support.

He also mentions a $100 mail-in rebate.

Update: Related - Symbian forecasts the death of the PC:

The PC will be on its last legs within five years, if executives from the mobile platform company Symbian are to be believed.

Giving the keynote speech at the Symbian Smartphone Show in London, chief executive Nigel Clifford told delegates that the era of the smartphone was dawning, representing a shift “as profound as the Internet and PC were in the 1990s”.

“Desktops PCs are effectively a flatlining commodity,” Clifford said on Tuesday, while conceding that laptops were eliciting “perhaps a bit more” excitement.

Since I’m a “heavy metal” guy who doesn’t like to type with his thumbs, I hope this means big bargains in store.

Press release:

Seiko Epson Corp. (Epson) and Microsoft Corp. today announced a cross-licensing agreement that allows increased mutual access to each company’s respective patent portfolios. The agreement will enable each company to broaden its product offerings and deliver more comprehensive, cost-effective solutions. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The expansion of the long-standing relationship between Epson and Microsoft will promote the exchange and implementation of patented technologies in many consumer and business electronics product areas.

…

Epson is very active in filing and securing patents, and has maintained an outstanding position in the global patent rankings, particularly in Japan, where it was ranked third in published patents in 2005.

Microsoft has established a solid record of collaborating with other technology innovators and has entered into cross-licensing agreements with leading technology companies that include Cisco Systems Inc., NEC Corp., Nortel Networks, Siemens AG, SAP AG and Toshiba.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Tomorrow is launch day for Microsoft’s Zune “iPod killer” personal media player and predictably the PR buzz is building with a variety of old media ads and some “secret shows” today in cities across the nation:

Zune has just announced 6 FREE secret launch party shows across the country in six different markets (NY, LA, Seattle, Miami, Chicago and Atlanta). Performances include high level acts such as Queens of the Stone Age, Red Hot Chili Peppers, T.I. Lupe Fiasco, The Secret Machines and Morgan Heritage Band & Richie Spice.

Check the link (or Microsoft’s Zune Launch Party page) for details if you’re pining to attend.

The fact that launch day hasn’t actually arrived didn’t prevent some isolated stores from selling Zunes this weekend and one customer’s photo review was the rage of the blogosphere. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the Zune client software wouldn’t install and the arresting error message screen was showing up on tech sites everywhere.

One other kvetch: it turns out that Microsoft is sending out a total of four Zune review units to the press before launch day, because “there aren’t enough to go around.” My guess is that we saw the four reviews last Thursday and it wasn’t a pretty sight. One other tidbit:

Matt Jubelirer, Zune product manager for Microsoft, acknowledges the word Zune doesn’t mean anything and says the absence of the name Microsoft in the Zune advertising campaign and on the player itself is completely intentional.

“We wanted a blank palette,” he told asap during a Zune demonstration.

Gosh, I thought Microsoft was the brand to turn to for home entertainment!

Update: Todd Bishop at The Seatlle PI points out some more less than favorable reviews and notes one of the perils of forking the branding:

Lastly, when putting together this story on the Zune last week, one of the people I spoke with was Steve Wilson of ABI Research, the company that found a higher-than-expected number of iPod users willing to seriously consider buying a Zune. Wilson said he believes one of the key factors was Microsoft’s name recognition. (Survey respondents were told it was a Microsoft product.)

But it’s worth noting that the Zune team isn’t playing up that connection to the parent company in its branding or consumer packaging, aiming instead to give the product an identity of its own in the long run.

Update: I guess the concerts aren’t so secret anymore:

Celebrating the U.S. launch of the new Zune(TM) digital media player and music service, Microsoft Corp. has worked with a number of cutting-edge artists to stage free concerts in public parks and plazas in urban centers across the country. Today at Westlake Park in downtown Seattle at the first of these Zune concerts, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates took the stage to share his excitement for this next step Microsoft is taking in music and entertainment.

Gates outlined the Zune vision to create new ways for people to connect, discover and share music and entertainment experiences. He was joined onstage by John Richards, morning show host of popular community radio station KEXP, to showcase the new Zune-to-Zune wireless sharing feature. Richards wirelessly sent the inaugural song to Gates, who then surprised the crowd by giving away his Zune device to a member of the audience.