Zune Is The Center Of Microsoft's Mobile Universe

Microsoft is pushing its Zune services to more than just media players and the Kin platform is the next product to use it. Will all of this Zune integration eat away at Apple's market share?

When I mentioned last week that Microsoft was going to formally announce Project Pink, I got it exactly wrong on at least one front - the Kin does indeed have Zune integration, and in a big way. The Zune site already has a page dedicated to the Kin. It will support syncing of music, video, pictures and the Zune Pass subscription. Since it is all going through the desktop player, the whole Zune Social thing will be working too allowing your friends to see what you are playing.
Windows Phone 7 will also sync with the Zune software, dispensing with ActiveSync on Windows XP or Windows Mobile Device Center on Windows Vista/7.
Microsoft is making a pretty serious bet on the Zune software and cloud services being the hub for their mobile devices. It makes me wonder if Zune/XBox integration is on the way. I could easily see Microsoft killing off Windows Media Player in the next version of Windows, bundling Zune instead.
Had Microsoft tried this level of integration years ago, governments around the world would have cried foul over their monopolistic practices, as if they needed a real reason to do so. Today though, they are a distant second to Apple's iTunes/iPhone/iPod team when it comes to portable media and Windows Mobile is falling so fast I forget where it ranks in relation to the other five major players - iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Symbian and WebOS. It is certainly near the bottom when it comes to mind share.