Comments on: Mac(mini) Daddy’s Zing Thing

By: GigaOM Dell Adds Zing, But Will It Sing? «

GigaOM Dell Adds Zing, But Will It Sing? « — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 01:01:56 +0000

[...] bitten by the consumer electronics bug again. It has acquired Mountain View, Calif.-based Zing, a company started by Tim Bucher, a former Apple employee. Terms of the deal were not [...]

By: GigaOM » And now Yahoo wants a piece of iPod

GigaOM » And now Yahoo wants a piece of iPod — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 07:30:13 +0000

[...] has teamed up with Sandisk and start-up Zing to promote a new digital music player with wireless connectivity, reports the Wall Street Journal. [...]

By: jake3_14

jake3_14 — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 20:51:27 +0000

The major reason I use an iPod instead of a competing device is support for the .m4a/AAC format. I used to create MP3s at 160 kbps to get the audio quality I wanted. .m4a gives that to me at a 20% space savings. That means more music on the go.

So far, my concern seems to be in the minority, but I won't switch devices until I see other mfrs. support the .m4a format.

By: mark

mark — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 17:30:50 +0000

Unless there is something that Zing did that is patentable and patented by them, I don't see widespread success because the iPod is heading toward wireless connectivity, and the best of these types of features will show up on a wireless iPod, but with tight integration into the iTunes Music Store, and maybe the rumored Mobile Me (whatever it is).

Technically, Zing needs to integrate as well or better with many other people's hardware and many other people's stores. Definitely not an easy or low-cost task.

By: Ralf Haller

Ralf Haller — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 13:41:51 +0000

It seems to me a sport these days to challenge Apple’s iPod. Examples of the things that surfaced just recently are Microsoft and its partners who are working with DoCoMo e.g. to build a player on cellphones in Japan. The other one was Creative who seemed to have suit Apple for IP violation? And now this one. As I posted on our blog site (www.nice-ventures.com/blog), I think the party that Apple opened seems pretty much closed for the rest now. Heroic trials are of course nice to watch but probably only Microsoft will have the deep pockets to go after it for years before maybe successful…

By: Jeremy Pepper

Jeremy Pepper — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 18:33:26 +0000

This will be the third dotcom with the Zing name. Not sure what that says about the viability, maybe third time’s a charm?

By: Om Malik

Om Malik — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 14:57:52 +0000

PanMan, while I agree that in the current world we are not connected, that doesn’t mean it will always be like that. i think over next five to ten years we will see that transition to always on connectivity. I think more so, this is a platform that could really end up getting traction overseas, and not in the US. iPod – will go wireless as well, at some point.

By: Joel

Joel — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 13:44:31 +0000

PanMan, I believe the zing platform allows for streaming AND storage of music. So you could store all your mp3s before you go boarding – just like you would with an ipod – but you could also download or stream new music once you get back into the chalet with wifi. The value in this platform is that you are decoupled from the proprietary transfer format of the ipod.

By: PanMan

PanMan — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 09:38:28 +0000

This sounds great, but in the current world, you just aren’t always connected. Maybe at work, and at home, but for example, not in between, and certainly not with high enough speeds to keep the music streaming. And certainly not when I’m snowboarding, in the alps. My iPod works wherever I take it, and this device will need some network coverage. The iPod works from the alps to the subway, and anywhere in between. Where I the benifit, the world isn’t as connected yet as such a device would need.