MediaFile

Look out iPod, here comes… the Zune… (again.)

OK, well maybe Steve Jobs’ team at Apple aren’t cringing in fear of the latest iteration of Bill Gates’ posse’s portable digital media player. Especially after last year’s initial reaction to Zune — heralded by some as the “iPod killer ” — was, well, underwhelming.

But, hey, it’s a big world out there and hundreds of millions of people do not yet have a portable media player, a fact that keeps companies like Sandisk, Sony, Creative and Microsoft cranking out new versions of their digital video and audio devices.

The talk is that the second generation of Zune, which may be announced later today, may add units using flash memory, making some versions much smaller (though they will hold fewer songs and videos) and better able to compete with the iPod Nano.
(BetaNews)
(Monsters and Critics)
(Engadget)

Keep an eye on:

• Yahoo Inc is making Web search faster by introducing new ways of predicting what users are looking for, while seeking to keep pace with rivals by including video, audio and picture results as answers to text searches. (Reuters)
• Political uber-blog The Huffington Post has hired Betsy Morgan as its new CEO. Morgan is general manager of CBSNews.com, and the New York Times makes much of the fact that she is moving from a “prominent traditional media organization” to an upstart startup that is just over two years old. (NYT )
• Panasonic maker Matsushita said it would launch new Blu-ray optical disc recorders in November that allow more hours of full high-definition recording on a single disc than any others available. (Reuters)
• Unions representing 12,000 screenwriters asked members to authorize a strike at any time after their contract expires at the end of this month. The authorization, if granted, would set the stage for Hollywood’s first industrywide walkout since writers struck in 1988. (NYT)
• Dutch navigation systems company TomTom launched a formal takeover offer for digital map supplier Tele Atlas, at a price of 21.25 euros per share in cash, but Tele Atlas shares continued to trade above the offer price after Nokia made an offer for rival map maker Navteq. (Reuters)
• BSkyB’s purchase of a 17.9 percent stake in Britain’s biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster ITV restricts competition and is not in the public interest, The Competition Commission said, adding that it would now consult on possible remedies, including forcing BSkyB to sell the stake. (Reuters)