Microsoft revealed recently that it will be porting at least some of its Zune HD apps to Windows Phone. I say “recently,” but the revelation actually occurred 10 days ago on a two-episode-old episode of the Zune Insider podcast. (This explains why no one has heard about this yet: I discovered it second-hand this morning via a Google news alert, but the original report was at AnythingbutiPhone.)
Taking one for the team, I actually listened to the episode in question (119) and can provide the following transcript of the conversation in question.
“A question I keep getting around apps on Zune [HD] … is, what about porting to Windows Phone?” Zune senior business development manager Dave McLauchlan says. “From Zune HD to Windows Phone, right.”
“There are many thousands of apps on the Windows Phone Marketplace … it’s going gangbusters,” he says, “and not so much on the Zune HD Marketplace. And that’s by design, we designed the system such that we would have a very public, very open marketplace for Windows Phone. But … hey, what about the apps that are on Zune [HD]? We had some very good apps there. When are they coming to Windows Phone?”
“The answer to that question is two-fold,” he continues. “Number one, we actually have some developers that have developed titles for Zune [HD] that aren’t Microsoft employees or aren’t on the Zune team. And those guys are very welcome to go and create apps for Windows Phone any time they like.”
“The apps that we have built internally for Zune [HD], we’re actually looking at porting those over to Windows Phone. Right now, our focus for the app team is, more apps for Zune [HD]. Zune [HD] owners would like to hear that there’s more stuff coming. So that’s definitely the case.”
(I can verify that, by the way. I’ve routinely received Zune HD apps in beta over the past several months, including a recently released Email app and, even more recently, 5 games and a note-taking app, none of which have yet appeared on the marketplace.)
“I can’t tell you when or what the exact dates are,” Dave concludes, “but that’s something we’re definitely looking at doing.”
Paul, if you want to keep more of a track of Zune related news, here’s a link to the anythingbutipod forums. This particular link is where Dave sounded out for any questions from Zune fans for the taping of that episode of ZuneInsider PC. I (and others most likely) happened to ask him re: ports from ZuneHD to WP7 :D
You were likely the only actual people to ask this, I’m guessing. If you listen to this, he says “a couple of people.” I can’t imagine this was a pressing concern for anyone. And if I’m reading you right, he asked people if they wanted this, not the other way around.
Not being familiar with the Zune HD apps, I have to ask: What are the best apps for Zune that we should be wanting to see on WP?
There is a bowling app, PGR: Ferrari racing, Audiosurf tilt, Dr. Optics light lab, Skateboarding, Labyrinth, Castles & Cannons. The apps for ZHD are pretty high in quality.
There is also a music trivia app which selects trivia based on music that is locally stored on your device. It’s a cool concept because it’s only from your music.
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It’s not completely earth-shattering news, but most of the Zune HD apps, while few in number, were of great quality. I miss a few of the apps I used to use on my ZHD, so it’s welcome news.
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I can’t think of a single zune HD app I could possibly want runnion on wp7. why they care about a train wreck such as the zune (which I own one and felt abandoned by redmond long ago) is beyond me. I don’t think getting these apps over heals the wounds microsoft.
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