I've been getting a hard time from a few commenters over the Zune vs. iPhone headline on a post yesterday.
I responded in the comments a little too soon. I wish I'd first seen the Zune trademark paperwork dug up by blogger Long Zheng and called out by Mary Jo Foley.
Microsoft asked that the Zune trademark apply not only to multimedia players but also to "entertainment and communications devices," including cellphones.
Zune services described in the application include most everything on the iPhone feature list and more:
telecommunication services; electronic transmission of data files, documents, music and videos over the Internet and wireless networks; electronic mail services; web messaging services; text messaging services; paging services; streaming of audio and video material over the Internet and wireless networks; wireless voice mail services; voice-activated dialing services; providing wireless access to computer networks and the Internet; cellular telep...

The Microsoft Zune website still doesn't have podcast support that's as good as iTunes, but the Zune nation does seem to be limping toward easier podcast downloads. Take a look at its "Pass It On" page, and if you follow the NPR Podcasts link and click on a podcast within, you'll see a button labeled "download to Zune".
Zune still doesn't have a huge aggregation of podcasts where you can click to subscribe to your choices, but at least it's a start. But how hard can it be to list podcasts and then let people click a simple button to subscribe to them? Is there a patent issue here? – Charlie White
Zune to have Podcast Support [Zune Info]

That's the latest word from Microsoft, which passed along NPD sales data showing the Zune accounted for 10.2 percent of sales of hard-drive-based portable music players in December.
Robbie Bach said as much at CES but the release adds a bit more detail, and some rah-rah about Zune reaching its goal of becoming "the clear number two seller this holiday behind an entrenched competitor."
"No other single device has been able to achieve these kinds of results in a six week launch period and we remain on track to exceed one million units in sales by the end of the current fiscal year (ending June 30, 2007),' it said, then reiterated that Micrsoft has a "thee-year plan to solidify our presence within this market."
At first I wondered why Microsoft sent out the release, midway between Robbie's presentation at CES and Microsoft's quarterly earnings report on the 25th.
Then I figured out that, duh, it's a counterpoint to Apple's news about a banner holiday for iPod sale...

The upcoming D5 Video player looks like a devilish version of the Zune, with its horizontal LCD and clickwheel for right-handed navigation. The D5 will be light, in true MobiBLU fashion, and come with a 2.0-inch LCD, FM tuner, FM/Voice recording, MP3/WMA playback, and weigh only 51 grams.
Unfortunately it's a flash-based, coming in 1 to 4GB sizes, so you're not likely to fit more than a few videos on there at a time. T'is the price of portability. – Jason Chen
Mobiblu's Chocolate'esque D5 Video Player [Chip Chick]

    Over at ArtistDirect, they have a bunch of MP3’s for free and the whole thing is being sponsored by Zune. As you can see in the image on the right, it includes some popular artists which you would regularly pay 99cents for. Although I do know that Wierd Al’s song is also available on his site [...]

That was the setup on KUOW's "The Works" show last night, where I appeared along with some other guy who writes about Microsoft. KUOW posted a podcast and MP3 replays that will probably work on a Zune.
The show was sort of a farewell to "The Works" host John Moe, who is giving up the show and leaving KUOW on Friday to become a senior reporter with Weekend America.
To help fill the gaping maw left in KUOW's tech coverage, Glenn Fleishman is going to step up his appearances on the station.
On the show, I referenced a Jack Schofield report in the Guardian that pegged the total cost of iPhone ownership at around $3,000. It has interesting comments vetting the estimate.
Schofield's report played off John Markoff's skeptical piece comparing the iPhone with the Mac.
It's interesting how quickly the iPhone hype is being replaced by thoughtful stories raising serious questions about a device that won't even go on sale for another five months.
The hype remin...

This week at Lifehacker:
Screenshot Tour: Microsoft Word and Excel 2007
"The 'productivity suite' everyone loves to hate - Microsoft Office - is coming out with a brand spankin' new version with Windows Vista later this month." CDs vs. Downloads
"The novelty of the 99-cent song has worn off. The ugly reality of Digital Rights Management (DRM) has settled in. The music-download revolution is over. It's time to go back to buying CDs." Seven New Year's Resolutions for your PC
"At the start of every new year, people the world over make resolutions to better themselves, with fitness, health, money, and career goals at the forefront of our minds. But what about your poor, neglected PC?" How to replace a dead power supply
"At least hard drives have the courtesy to make that wrenching death-rattle when the end is near." Bolster your browsing privacy at work
"...you can do your job well while getting in a little...