Just as we approach the beginning of a new year, 30GB Zunes around the globe have decided to take a break. Gizmodo reports that around midnight last night, Zunes started becoming unresponsive and practically useless. Okay, we all knew that Zunes were practically useless, but now that they’ve become unresponsive as well, that’s something to talk about. 

Apparently, around 2:00 AM today, the Zune models either reset, or were already off. Upon when turning on, the thing loads up and… freezes with a full loading bar (as pictured above). I thought my brother was the only one with it, but then it happened to my Zune. Then I checked out the forums and it seems everyone with a 30GB HDD model has had this happen to them. - Gizmodo report. 

I must admit this is the weirdest stunt out of Redmond. When I was reading the report, I didn’t know what to think! At least give it a feel-good 31st December date. What’s with the extra day left? The public however is hell bent on calling this the Z2k9 (or more pricisely, Z2k~9). 

This sure sounds like something out of a Sci-Fi movie, but there’s no need to panic. I mean, even if all the Zunes in the world turned into evil robots, that would mean we would have around 23 brown cripples to take care of. Not a problem at all. Anyway, since we are into naming every event that happens, 

Anyone’s iPod Touch also acting up? If you notice anything weird, shoot us an email. Nothing? We thought so.

A few days ago Neil Santos at City Paper shocked us with startling news that Obama uses a Zune! This new info suddenly cast a doubt in the minds of many a Mac user as to whether they made the right choice. Zune users on the other hand were ecstatic, parading this newfound info as if it were the gospel. Well you can relax now.

“In a stunning reaction that suggests the President-elect’s ability to quickly turn around difficult public relations problems, an advisor has officially rejected the earlier suggestion that he used a Zune as his primary music player. Instead, he clarified Obama’s position as an Apple fan and an owner of an iPod, which he most often uses when working out.” reports Jose Fermoso, for Wired Gadget Lab. 

Of course the first story itself was suspicious by itself, as Obama is a proven Mac user, and as we all know, Zunes aren’t compatible with Macs. But then again, who knew whether Obama has a frankenstein PC in his secret dungeon. Well we’re glad that this is cleared. We don’t expect the new presidency to lie even before taking office do we?

To all you Zune users, please don’t hurt. This is not the end of the world. After all, the Zune did win CNET’s prizefight for the large capacity portable player. Did you know that? I know Apple isn’t even competing in that race, but still, the Zune did win. I hope that makes you better. Oh, and another thing. “Boooo!”

[via Wired]

I’m sure you must have heard by now that the Simpsons have made a visit, or should I say attacked, the Mapple Store. I don’t watch the not-so-funny-anymore Simpsons (Personal opinion! Please don’t hurt me!) so I first came to know about Mapple on twitter.

The scene itself is brilliantly done and stupendously funny for those who know Apple as a company, yes, including you. The funniest moment was when that fat bully runs to the giant Steve Mobs screen with an oversized hammer, a lá the famed 1984 Macintosh commercial. Watch the scene yourself, in an embedded video after the jump. Continue Reading »

Before I say anything, know that these are the words that came out of this same guy’s mouth, “There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance.” Moving on…

Microsoft’s CEO Steve Balmer dismisses the Android platform as financially unsound and doomed to be a failure for Google, reports Suzanne Tindal for Cnet News. 

Speaking at Telstra’s annual investment day, Ballmer said designing Android wasn’t easy for Google. “They can hire smart guys, hire a lot of people, blah dee blah dee blah, but you know they start out way behind, in a certain sense,” says Balmer. 

He questioned Google’s ability to make money with Android. “I don’t really understand their strategy. Maybe somebody else does. If I went to my shareholder meeting, my analyst meeting, and said, ‘hey, we’ve just launched a new product that has no revenue model!’…I’m not sure that my investors would take that very well. But that’s kind of what Google’s telling their investors about Android,” he said.

Personally, I don’t think the Android platform is going to take off in the way the iPhone has, but if Balmer thinks it sucks, then I must reconsider my views.

And just so that you wake up to an awesome friday morning, here’s an awesome video of Balmer doing the monkey dance! Continue Reading »

Apple has posted another ad in the ‘make fun of vista problems’ series, also known as the ‘Get a Mac’ ads. This one, called ‘Bake Sale’, exaggerates the extent to which Microsoft is relying on an advertising blitz to fix Vista problems. An earlier ad (Bean Counter) also followed a similar theme but this one is not-so-subtle. This one will continue to rile Windows users but seems like a conscious strategy from Apple and its advertising agency to create even more dissonance about Vista and thereby urging the fence-sitters (not to be confused with the fence shitters) to make that switch.

Personally speaking, the earlier set of ads that focused on a specific feature or benefit of using a Mac (e.g Magsafe connector translated into the ‘Accident’ ad) or a specific drawback of the PC (trial software or bloatware translated into the ‘Stuffed’ ad) worked better for me. Nevertheless, Apple should continue with this strategy of creating a certain discomfiture about being a PC owner among potential Mac users. The executions may vary in the ‘likeability quotient’ but this strategy is likely to pay dividends, even if it means pissing off many PC users. Take a look at some of the usual ‘insult comments’ over at YouTube.

What do you make of the ‘Get a Mac’ ad series? Time for Apple to let go of this strategy or should they keep at it?

A lot has been said about Microsoft and their efforts to counterattack Apple’s brilliant ‘Get a Mac’ ads by launching their own ‘I’m a PC’ ads, which is a part of their $300 million campaign. After scrapping the Gates-Seinfeld ads, the ads now feature a John Hodgman lookalike who claims, “I’m a PC, and I’ve been made into a stereotype.” The ad is followed by many other humans who claim that they’re PCs. Apparently, as it was with WALL·E, there are a few Apple Connections with these ads too.

1. ’I’m a PC’ campaign created with Macs

Can you believe that! Flickr user LuisDS has found out, through the metadata of the official creative copy of the “stereotyped PC user” and other photos appearing on Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” website, that the images were created on a Macintosh. And it doesn’t end there. Microsoft, instead of using their own Expression Studio software, which they claim “takes your creative possibilities to a new level”, were found using Adobe Photoshop CS3 (on a Mac, no less) from Adobe’s popular Creative Suite. Expectedly, Microsoft folks have now covered up their mistake by removing all the data from the images. Not just that, this article on RoughlyDrafted goes on to claim that the ads were audio-mixed on Macs too. I guess it’s true, creative minds always choose a Mac.

[Milind: As a sidenote, the Windows logo, packaging, the blueprints of Bill Gates’s house, a lot of previous Microsoft ads, and most PC magazines were also created on a Mac.]

2. Pharrell Williams uses a Mac too

Pharrell Williams, or simply ‘Pharrell’, the American music producer, songwriter, and rapper, features in the Micrsoft ads along with other celebrities such as Eva Longoria and Deepak Chopra, claiming “I’m a PC”. Well, okay; but as it turns out, Pharrell is also an ardent Apple lover. According to MediaBistro, Pharrell owns an iPhone and has gone on record singing praises for his iPod in interviews. Not just that, he also apparently uses a Mac.

It seems you can make anyone talk what you want them to as long as money is involved. [Ed note: You know what they say, “you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink”.]

3. John Hodgman, Mr. PC himself, uses an iPhone 

OK, so this isn’t exactly related directly to Microsoft and its campaign, but it’s about the PC guys adoring Apple and is quite interesting. John Hodgman, Mr. PC from Apple’s ‘Get a Mac’ ads, was recently seen using an iPhone. I wonder how he finds time off his busy schedule of stopping users from ‘Switching to a Mac”. Although it is not too clear whether he bought it himself or Steve just gifted him one, seeing the popularity of the ‘Get a Mac’ ads, but the fact remains that he’s still drooling over the ‘Gadget of the Year’.

I think I get it now: it doesn’t matter what type of PC user you are (since PC is more of a generalised term; you may be a PC user using Windows, Linux distros, or BSD), there’s nothing that can stop you from adoring an Apple product.

I’ve grown up gazing at Amul Ads on hoardings on the way to my school. There’s this one place in Chennai in Anna Salai which had a new one every month which would make heads turn as we passed through that busy junction.

This month’s ad features a brilliant rendition of the iPhone. Note the use of various Amul products as iPhone icons and the tagline: “Lots on the menu”. Amul ads, as many of you may know, are a crossover of current issues at hand and Amul products (generally butter). Some good examples: “Amul - A Hard Hobbit to Break!”, “Bips Smacking!”, “Butter-Touille”, “Voluntary Delicious Intake Scheme”, etc.

If you thought Apple or Vodaphone did amazing ad campaigns, think again. The folks at Amul have been doing some wonderful campaigns since 1976, and without any flashing electronic/vinyl hoardings—just plain old paintings. You can see Amul’s Ads through the years on their website.

Whatever happened to Bill’s plans of retiring and dedicating his life to helping the world with his great schemes of philanthropy? I sure thought it was a damn good way to retire. However, from what I can see, all he is doing right now is helping Microsoft burn up cash on petty jokes and self-deprecating humour.

If you look at the latest ad, the second spot in their $300 million campaign, you cannot draw any other conclusion. In fact, this is even worse than the first one with Bill’s underwear joke. A full four and a half minutes long, it speaks of Microsoft for two seconds, and that too just in passing. Seriously guys, what’s happening here? Is the top brass at Microsoft playing the most expensive prank on us?

If, for some reason, you think I’m exaggerating, see for yourself. You have been warned that you will lose four and a half minutes of your life watching this, so don’t blame me later on.

Comedy Central has been broadcasting a lot of iPhone related stuff lately. The latest to come out of their funny factory (yes, it’s an actual factory that mass manufactures funny—sort of like Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, only not for chocolate) is a discussion on why the iPhone is pure evil. They have even compiled a list of four reasons and all, so it must be true.

It’s all light hearted fun, of course, and none of them actually hate the iPhone. It’s a satire, in fact, on the people who claim to hate the iPhone and give some really lame reasons for doing so. Check it out in the embedded video below. If it doesn’t play, you’ll have to visit the Comedy Central website to spend three-and-a-half minutes of your time watching a useless video—totally worth it, I say.

There’s a little bit of foul language (nothing graphic though), so you might want to send the kids away before you hit the Play button. And don’t let them read this disclaimer. Oops, too late!

The watchful folks over at Engadget found that Dell was trying to make a dent in the Apple universe with a cheap shot video of their Latitude E4200. What Dell doesn’t realise is that the Apple universe is guarded right now by the moulded steel of the iPod Touch, liquid metal of the iPod nano, and the swirling planets of iTunes 8. Sorry Dell, bad timing, and more importantly, poor ad.

The ad sports the same manilla envelope that Apple uses, except that with the Dell in it, the envelope looks like its going to burst open. The ad then cleverly tries, but fails, to hide the sheer thickness of the Latitude as compared to the Air. Engadget notes that even the music is stolen from some Lenovo ads that aired a couple of months ago. What’s next Dell, gonna copy the iPod people as well?