More in Music & Videos

This latest (and hopefully penultimate) update to Xbox Music Book includes a short section on account management and half of the “better together” section. All that’s left is a discussion of Xbox SmartGlass....More

With this update, the first draft of the Windows 8/RT, Windows Phone 8, and Xbox 360 portions of this mini-book are complete. There’s still a bit of work to do, but this version of Xbox Music Book represents a nearly-complete look at the bulk of the book....More

Roku isn’t the only company taking on the living room: Western Digital recently updated its line of media players with the low-end WD TV Play. Like the Roku devices, the Play hits a no-brainer price point of just $69.99 and delivers a nice range of online media services. But what differentiates it from the competition is its compatibility with PC-based media on your home network....More

Here’s a new update to Xbox Music Book. This release includes many changes to the Windows 8/RT section of the book, which is now essentially done, at least in first draft form. Looking ahead, it’s time to start examining some publishing strategies and to settle on a final name for the book....More

I don’t recall whether I’ve ever posted two updates to a chapter in a single day, so this may be a first. Here’s a third revision to the Music, Videos, and Podcasts chapter....More

Amazon announced a new Cloud Player app for Apple’s iPad today, further spreading the reach of its cloud-based music service. But the announcement for this app includes an explicit mention of an Amazon strategy I previously revealed, suggesting more to come....More

In tandem with Xbox Music Book, I’m working on the Music, Videos and Podcasts chapter for Windows Phone Book. Here’s an early and rough peek at that chapter, which consists of some introductory material and the section about using videos with the Music + Videos app in Windows Phone 8....More

Users of Microsoft technologies have found themselves in unfamiliar territory over the past year as the erstwhile software giant moves surprisingly quickly to replace old technology products and services with new ones. If you are a user or fan of such things as Zune, Windows Live Messenger, or Hotmail, you know what I’m talking about. And the level of pain you’re feeling is going to vary according to how well Microsoft manages those transition, and how well you can handle change....More

Here’s another interim update to the Xbox Music Book. This version includes more content in the section about the Music app in Windows 8/RT....More

When Microsoft and its partners shipped the first Windows Phone 8 handsets last fall, users noticed something disconcerting: Despite the promised backwards compatibility with previous generation Windows Phone 7.x apps, some favorite apps, including Spotify, were not available for the new platform. Over time, however, these apps are reappearing in native Windows Phone 8 guise. And today, a beta version of Spotify is available....More