Halo Wars is now here. Have you played it yet? I downloaded some of the demo that was available but never got to play it yet. DARN RESPONSIBILITIES!!! I’m curious what you think though, is it a worth game to include in the Halo family? Or, is it just a game that they’re trying to gain popularity off of just by using the Halo name, characters, equipment and plot?
Let me know.

I confess, I’m addicted to Bubble Breaker on my Windows Mobile phone. The problem is I’m actually getting bored with it. I need to find a good game or two to add to my device to break-up the monotony a little bit.
Solitaire is old as well, so wondering what everyone else is playing? I’m not really interested in any in-depth, drawn out games. Just simple stuff to play when you’re waiting in the car for someone or have a few minutes to kill between appointments.
I play Bubble Breaker as a bit of a de-stresser and opportunity to …read more

There was a recent post on the ZDNet blogs about whether or not Microsoft should ditch their Zune media player to the curb and stop trying?
The revenues dropped significantly in the fourth quarter of 2008, which the article shared is really only a fight for the 30% that’s not already taken by the Apple iPod.
The post had a couple of poll questions that I felt were interesting to take a look at the data as well.

Should Microsoft drop the Zune? NO 60% / YES 40% (1483 votes cast)
Do you own a Zune? NO 46% / YES 40% / NO, …read more

I’ve downloaded the demo trial of Halo Wars from Xbox LIVE. I haven’t had a chance to even play it yet, darn job!
Wondering what everyone else has thought about it if you’ve already downloaded it and played it a bit.
HALO has been one of the top games I’ve played the most since having my first XBOX and now XBOX 360. I’d say HALO along with Tiger Woods golf ever since version 2003.
What’s everyone else’s opinion been of the game thus far? Is it going to be another blockbuster for the franchise or will it be just a blip for …read more

Microsoft and Zune have now given me another great reason to choose the Zune over the iPod for my next MP3 player. The Zune Marketplace now offers subscription services.
With the Zune Pass Subscription I can download all the music I want and keep 10 of them as my own each month. The service costs $14.99/month, so that works out to about $1.50 per song each month. Just $.50 more than I’d normally pay if I purchased it at iTunes or Amazon. So, I can look at it as paying $5/month for unlimited downloads and listening options normally.
Right now I can …read more

Awhile back I blogged about hearing of the Kinoma mobile browser for media. In that time I’ve used the application to take advantage of finding some YouTube videos and browsing flickr for some images to share with friends and family while on the go.
I’ve been very impressed with the browser overall. It took some getting used to it’s own way of navigation and user-interface, but it absolutely lets you view content that’s nearly impossible to enjoy with the default Internet Explorer browser that’s on my phone by default.
I could be wrong, but I think in the time since I …read more

Microsoft has updated the Zune forums website with information about the problems users of their 30GB Zune have been experiencing.
The issue is related to a bug in a device driver related to how the device handles the last day of the year during a leap year. According to Microsoft the issue should resolve itself by today, Happy New Years!
Users should be sure their Zune battery drains completely and then fully recharge. A resync may be necessary to confirm subscription content rights.
Image: Zune logo from website

 
I was just doing some research on Google and noticed that "Zune" was a popular search keyword. Perhaps not too surprising given the recent news of the problems Zune users have been experiencing.
15% of all searches conducted on Google during the time period were somehow related to the Zune music player. Makes you wonder how much traffic someone is getting that may have purchased the Zune keyword.
Image: Snagit of Google Hot Trends website results

Three items on my will-purchase-sometime-in-the-near-future-hopefully list right now include an Amazon Kindle, a new Logitech webcam and the 120GB Zune.
Current 30GB Zune holders aren’t too happy right now as there appears to have been systematic failure of 30GB Zunes across the land recently. Microsoft appears to be aware of the problem, but no solutions are forth-coming yet from them.
Customers using the Zune 30 might experience problems starting their players. We’re aware of the problem and are working to correct it. The Zune Social might be slow or inaccessible. Sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks for your patience!

I’m still …read more

Image: Windows Media Experience website
CodyG from the Windows Team recently stopped by the blog and left a comment on an earlier post of mine where I was asking about extending my media experience to my Xbox 360.
In the comment he let me know I didn’t need to buy anything to accomplish what I wanted, I could use Windows Media Player 11 to share the music from my PC so that it was accessible on my network to be picked up and streamed from my Xbox 360. On top of music I’m also able to share photos and videos as …read more