Microsoft’s much-abused media player rides into the sunset, the iPad 2 goes under the knife (with its little cover, too!), and one rocker says Steve Jobs gave the music industry a bad name. The remainders for Monday, March 14, 2011 are living on a prayer.
The Zune Is Finally Dead (Business Insider)
It’s official: the Microsoft Zune has gone the way of the Kin, the Courier, and Bob. While Microsoft will not be putting any further juice into developing the portable media player, it will continue to offer the existing versions for sale—which, at the rate they’ve been selling, should take them well into the next decade without having to build any more.
iPad 2 Wi-Fi Teardown (iFixit)
If there’s a new Apple gadget out, then it’s a fair bet that iFixit will take the sucker apart. While the iPad 2 didn’t yield much in the way of surprises (sadly, no unicorns on treadmills were found powering this tablet), iFixit didn’t stop there. The intrepid crew moved on to disassembling one of Apple’s Smart Covers, which they discovered contains an astounding 21 magnets (plus 10 in the iPad itself). I suppose it’s only a matter of time before Motorola feels the need to one up Apple by turning the Xoom into a giant refrigerator magnet.
Apple rejects ‘wave and pay’ for new iPhone (The Independent)
According to a rumor in British paper The Independent, Apple won’t be putting Near Field Communication (NFC) chips into its next iPhone. NFC forms the basis of systems that allow people to use their phones as virtual wallets, paying for goods by waving the phones over sensors installed at retail locations. I’d be happy if they held off, because the last thing I need is a wallet with a built-in computer chip telling me that I shouldn’t be buying that box of cookies.
Bon Jovi says Steve Jobs killed the music industry (The A.V. Club)
In an interview with The Sunday Times Magazine, rocker Jon Bon Jovi has blamed the death of the music industry on Steve Jobs, saying the Apple CEO “is personally responsible for killing the music business.” Frankly, the way the music business was going, I’m not sure we wanted it, dead or alive.
Phil Schiller confirms white iPhone coming ‘this spring’ (Twitter)
We’ve long known about Apple senior vice president Phil Schiller’s not-so-secret Twitter account, but it’s rare that the executive says anything work-related. However, he took a brief detour over the weekend to post a reply to one user, saying that the white iPhone will be available this spring. Granted, that’s nothing new, but it does give us an opportunity to really think about Schiller’s fascinating choice in avatar images.